I'm not a 100% sure if this thread fits here, but since this section is dedicated to beginners, as I once was/still am, I felt like this kind of debate was needed and could be useful for stablishing a path of thinking from start to way along the road growing. I've seen lots, lots and lots²²²²¹³¹²³ of debate along the growing forums (Absolute Beginners and Indoor Growing), and there's mainly 2 things that always strike me. 1-The majority of the new growers are always striving for perfection, like they need to achieve it tomorrow, even though they don't know how to buy the right soil. 2-Seasoned growers also strive for perfection, since they've been in the game for 4, 5, 10, even 30 years! But they seem to pass away info in a more 'relaxed' way. Advices are more towards the "You should do this, but it's important you learn what you're doing in a more deep sense." I would put this as "It's not what you gain by attaining your objectives, but what you become along the way." Sometimes it seems as if people come to the forums trying to find deep scientific and 100% sure information. The discussions rage around very high-end techs for growing and yield maximizing. Everything has to be like rocket science. If you stunt your plant for 2 days of its 120-180 days of life, you're doomed! It's all ruined! I used to think this kind of stuff during my first month as a grower, but later on this craving disappeared. My grow is not near 50% right, and will not yield great, but it will yield! Know what I mean? Now I feel relaxed and more deeply connected to the plant, and it's needs. Everything pretty much resumes to watering, checking lights, some LSTing and patience... although I would question patience here. I don't have the urge for finishing it "tomorrow"! Seems as if everything is going well and all I do is check for problems once in a while, feeeling confident that one day it will be done. Some people simply don't ever rest, it seems to me. It seems they fidget with their plants every single day, waiting to see if it will grow another inch in 15 minutes, right in front of their eyes. There's always something new to do. More nutes. Another soil. Another bulb. Another ventilation system. More nutes. pH testers. Nutes again. pH problems. Tap water, or supermarket water? Smell problems... And here I am thinking: How come I never had any problem along the road, vegging with 95W CFL's, flowering with 5x 25W CFL's, 1 4" cooler blowing, another 4" cooler exhausting. My plants don't stink that much. Perhaps it's because I grow only one? I never used any nutes. Never had pH problems. Never had pleagues, or fungi. I don't know if I'm being understood. I hope I am. Have you ever been through this? Has the craving receded at one point along the road? Have you ever felt like you were too much concerned about the tidbits rather than feeling the vibe of growing your own stuff? I'm imagining how good it will be to have a smoke out of something I grew! Something I cared for. No matter the quality, it has to be awesome. I wanted some input here. I hope beginners will catch on, along with experienced growers. Perhaps keeping the thing simple is the right way to start. Perhaps this would make it possible for not so experienced growers to actually grow something from start to finish without having to deal with tenths of problems along the way. I sincerely hope this puts lots of minds at ease and give them time to enjoy the art. Godspeed everyone. Please don't go Duke Nukem on me! LOL
Being an ew user here, and a new grower, I definitely get what your are getting at. There definitely seems to be some Do's and Don'ts, but sometimes it seems as there is an attitude of rigidity about techniques, information from both us newbies and the "experienced" growers alike. I think a lot of this energy people are putting into their grows seems to be with the hope of maximizing their yield, whatever that means. I don't really have room to speak on if that energy is well spent or wasted, but I've come to terms with the fact that all I can do is what I can do, then wait and see! I've made more than a few noob mistakes, made some of those same hyper critical question posts, and all that shit a typical newbie here makes. And I am just a few weeks in, I'm sure more will come from this user. BUT I am climbing in the same boat you seem to be riding OP, there is only so much you can do... its a learning process...
Excellent post. These same ideas hold true when you look at other aspects of life. You don't learn how to cook by following a recipie, you learn how to cook by screwing up. Leave out the baking soda when making pancakes? You'll quickly learn how baking soda acts as a levening agent to help you produce the desired effects. But most probably won't understand this since they buy microwavable or pre-mix pancakes. Though I'm new to this myself, I spent many summers helping with the garden and house plants. Growing is as much art as it is science, if not more so. I've read so many threads here and on other sites, stating that meters and guides are all fine, but if you really want to know what to do, listen to what your plants are telling you. It'll take time and effort, sure, but I think it'll be well worth the time and effort to learn the art of growing. I don't want to grow the purple kush that hydrosun grows, I don't want to grow the 'chesaw' that DrBud grows. I don't want the super-funk-a-licious bud that someone else grows. As I embarq on this new hobby, I want to find the strains and methods that best suit myself as a grower/smoker and suits my wife who suffers from RA and the vicious side effects that go along with her meds (honestly, I'm hoping that we can find the right strain to help her get off most of her meds completely). Bottom line? Don't be afraid to screw something up... it's the best way to learn! -Potn00b PS: where can I find some seeds for that super-funk-a-licious? I'd like to sample it!
I have a completely different experience -- the majority of newbies want to know how they can do it without all the learning, they want to know what shortcuts they can take, they ask how it can be done the simplest, the cheapest, the fastest. Basically they want to know if they just throw some seeds in some dirt and then several weeks later be clipping big fat buds, and once they find out that's not how it works they want to know what bare minimum effort will get them there. They want to grow in Rubbermaid tubs and computer cases and cardboard boxes and their sock drawer. They want to grow a plant in 8 inches of height. They want to grow without proper equipment, ferts, supplies, air ventilation. They wonder if they really need a pH meter. Or fans. Or timers. Or total darkness. They want to supply their entire setup from Walmart. They germinate a seed that now has a taproot 2 inches long and needs to be in soil immediately and only then do they first come one here in a panic wanting to know what to do. They ask for advice about a problem and can't post a pic. They want to grow "just for fun." They want to grow for zero dollar cost. Not all newbies, mind you, and I have great respect for those who do start out wanting to learn or at least realizing early on that they need to. These are the future successful growers, the ones who will have the experience to pass down to others in the future. But the majority? To my experience the majority of noobs are the opposite. That's why so many newbies come and go here -- how many noobs were we helping on this site a year ago who are still around? Two years ago? Three, four? A minority. And the rest, did they learn everything there is to know about MJ and so no longer need to come to this forum? No, they got frustrated and turned their fleeting attention span to something else.
It all depends on your goals as a grower and really how serious are u about your hobbies in the first place. Out of all the questions I've read on here, the people that seem to really be listening r the ones growin for medical reasons. Like the op, people with medical conditions know how expensive medications are and how bad they r for their body. So they choose to truely listen and try to learn how to make the best medicine they can possibly produce for them or their loved ones. But for every person who takes a serious approach and saves their money to buy the best equipment they can afford, there is 20 highschoolers tryin to hide their two plants from their mommys with a $50 budget. The truth is it takes time, money, and effort to produce even decent mj, and unless your willing to save up for a lil while to buy the right stuff needed for a successful grow, then just keep buyin your bags from the guy down the street. None of this is meant to be an insult to the noob grower, just more of a warning. If your gonna do it halfass, you're gonna get halfass results. If your serious about baseball u don't go to walmart and get the cheapest set of cleats, the shittiest plastic glove, and the no name brand cheapest bat. Now u might not be able to afford the same stuff A-rod sports when he takes the feild, but your gonna save and buy the best possible eqiupment u can afford to give u the best chance to be successful. Do it right or don't do it at all!!
Took the words right out of my mind. This is true in MOST cases of new growers. That is why feminised and Auto-flowering strains have become the big hype among new growers. I am a very experienced grower, and when I'm not growing, I'm constantly reading and researching new techniques, new products, etc... I live and grow by this motto: A good grower has learned, a great grower never stops learning.
Toasty, now that you mentioned it, I must say I haven't noticed that, but it's true! I, myself, started with a low budget and tried to go along with it, 'cause it was a cheap grow, or no grow, so... But I gotta tell the truth now. I learned a lot around here. And I mean a LOT! My grow box, an adapted old closet, is gonna be trashed as soon as this first grow is done. I've come to realize that it's never a cheap thing if you wanna grow it seriously. A cheap setup gave me lots of problems along the way, and that's why I keep returning here and trying to find solutions. I'm gonna start a completely new, really stealth, grow box, 'cause now I know I really need it for a more painless successful grow. I guess it comes a time when you realize that cheap tricky tactics simply won't do, and that you should come here first and learn some of what you need before you even try to germinate a seed. But as you mention about how people come and go, I realize how sad it is. I see all sorts of repeated newbie questions on the forums. It's always the same thing. Always the same problems. I done it myself sometimes. But I was very well guided by the seasoned growers here on how to find what I needed on sticky's, or doing a "Search". Today I try to pass the little experience I have along, but I must admit it's a chore when I see "How much yield should I expect?" from someone who has just put the seeds into the soil, or "Light setup", from someone who haven't even got the seeds, or clones. Still I try to go into some of those posts and give some guidance. I can't even begin to imagine the way you, older members, feel. But, anyways, I guess some newcomers are beginning to feel the vibe of the forums. I hope they will linger and share their experiences, and help build a better community.
I completely agree. Everyday I just see question after question that really if they took 5 seconds to look at the stickies and read them they would find their answer. Me being a nice guy and all I try to help who I can with what I've learned from this site as well as my own experiences, but it does get tiring seeing the same quesitons posted on a near daily basis. I'm helping these newbs fully knowing that they will most likely never return here. The path of grower as you say is reserved for the few that can be patient and know they will make mistakes, but they want to learn from those mistakes not just give up and turn around and try to learn to play guitar. I spent a solid 3-4 months just reading the info offered here and other forums as well, fuck, I still spend time reading, probably even more so now that I have an idea of what I'm doing as far as growing. So many people have great ideas that could benefit my grow room as well, there's always something new to learn. Yeah I still have my questions but I try my best to figure the answer out for myself just cause odds are the info is there you just have to look for it.
Toasty is right, it seems like everyone does that. I've even done the rubbermaid tubs cause i thought it would be cool and easy, but it turned out that actually growing in a closet with a legit set up is actually easier, and better money spent. +rep for toasty because of the ridiculous amount of reading i've done i always see him helping, and giving the most truthful answers on GC