First off, I have never grown before so this might sound stupid to you pros. If I was to just throw some seeds in the ground out where I normally smoke, after a couple of months would I be able to yield any smokeable weed? And I mean like if I never went back to water, feed, trim, and all that good stuff. BTW I don't plan on growing anytime soon, I've just been wondering about this for a while.
the only way you could do this is if you have like hundreds of seeds, then your guaranteed. But I suggest at least germinating them in a paper towel. Put them in some plastic cups full of potting soil outside then when they are maybe 4 or 5 inches tall transplant them into the ground and just let them grow from there. If you just check on them once in a while to make sure they get water and pull the males, you could have some decent smoke.
If you are intending to grow in soil, I have never found any advantage whatever in germinating seeds in paper towels, it just adds a totally unnecessary extra step. I can in fact list several disadvantages. I start my seeds off about 4 mm deep in my compost mix, keep them warm and moist, they pop the surface in 1 to 5 days. Then transplant them where you wish, but I would wait until they show sex (link below) first, and remove the males. If you were growing tomatoes or cacti you would read the instructions on the packet and put them straight in soil - why treat MJ differently??
Just throwing some seeds in the ground and hoping for a harvest without doing a single thing is near impossible. HOWEVER its not unheard of. Depending on the soil, water. sun. wind, animals and in fact all weather conditions will determine how your plants do. Last year i threw seed everywhere(as well as doing my proper grow) and if any of them sprouted i left them. Didn'T do a thing to them! I ended up harvesting 2 ounces off one little plant which was good been as i didn't do a thing to it. And i still in fact have 5 females growing at the moment threw the winter. I haven't done a thing to them either. It can be done, but very rarely. I would listen to cantharis's suggestions with doing it 'properly'. And become a 'real grower'
Yep I agree with the big C...no good reason to handle the tender sprouts. I get 100% germ rates in solo cups with promix seed starter. I know most do the paper towel thing, but I see no need for it.