Hey GC, as you can see this is my first post. I've been tokin' for years, and recently have developed an interest in cultivation. Unfortunately, I am not comfortable with growing right now, since I am in college living in an on-campus dormitory. Another reason I am not comfortable starting yet is the simple fact that I have never grown any plant in my life. Ever. So my question to the community is this: What are some good 'practice' plants that require about the same amount of care as MJ plants require? Keep in mind, I will be growing your suggestions indoors, probably in a closet, just to simulate the environment I'll be using to grow my MJ (eventually). Thanks in advance for the help!
I guess tomatoes are your closest match, but honestly growing isn't that hard of a task. The plant has survived this long on it's own, we are just now learning how to maximize it's potential so don't be scurred . But wait til you are out of the dorms to start growing, my buddy got busted by a chill ra my freshman year but he told him to get rid of the op within the hour or he would report him. Nice guy, but he could have really been fucked.
I got some hops growing and its more of a vine than a plant, not something that would provide an accurate experience of growing weed, tomatoes would probably be better imo. not to mention...those buds might be mistaken for weed should someone see the plant.
I was thinking of hops because they have many of the same problems as weed (mites, mold) and some of the same nutritional needs, since they both belong to the family Cannabinacea.
Ya but they still smell like herb and for the untrained nose aka prudes, it could cause serious problems both academically and criminally. Schools don't take too fondly to illegal on campus activity. Tomatoes, however, require similar fertilizers, feeding/watering schedules, and soils, so it's a good starter plant.
Good point! And they might think he was going to make beer-which would violate some school's zero tolerance policies. Durn laws....(fuss, mutter)
i came into this thread thinking you would ask something along the lines of adding human blood in soil medium as a substitute for nutrients. the questions we ask of our long hours of research.. try raising a bonsai tree. kidding, i would start off with a small herb garden consisting of rosemary. do not restrict your gardening to stricly plants.
I don't see a problem with him growing hops. Even with zero tolerance policies, hops are still legal to grow. Even in an area where alchohol is illegal, I would still guess that hops are legal to grow. And so what if they smell like cannabis and look like marijuana? Worst case scenario the dorm-cops show up. Or best case scenario, they get a search warrant based on the testimony of a confidential informent(AKA someone who doesn't exist.) and they raid your dorm. Then you get to sue the local goverment and you won't even need to worry about going to college as long as you have a good stock portfolio. Edit: I am not even very experienced in growing. Just started. But from my experiences with tomatoes.... they are not close to weed. I'v grown tomatoes indoors and outdoors for years, I've learned from Italians, you get the point.... But when I started growing marijuana I found out that they were significantly different, or that I treated the marijuana significantly different and caused too much stress.
I disagree.. I think tomatoes grow a lot like weed.. I'm on my first grow and had tomatoes going at the same time as my plants.. Heck tomatoes were my inspiration to grow.. Started them two weeks earlier than the weed to practice my germing skills.. Now I have 3 beautiful females and a huge tomato plant. If I had never grown tomatoes I probably wouldn't have known what to do when it came to my plants.. They have quite a few similarities and any of my nutrients for tomatoes has worked very well for my bud. They have a similar structure and budding procedure as in the tomatoes come where flowers are.. Weed comes where hairs are.. You can smell nothing and then touch the stem and smell like weed or tomatoes.. Hops seems more like a vine like grapes for example.. Here are some pics of all three.. It's pretty much just personal preference, but since there is no way tomatoes would get you in trouble I'd go with it.. Your call though.. Good luck with your grow when you do get to start..
Just throwing it out there but strawberries would be a good choice too. You don't have to know another skill like brewing. You wont violate any laws or school rules. But best of all some chocolate and a fondue pot and the ladies will love you. MMMMMMM......Strawberries.
I heard they recently added more hopssssssss My last roommate grew out an onion in a small hydro rig and used all the same nutes used for mj so that might be a decent one to try with.
Thanks for all the advice everyone! I think I'll go with tomatoes, since they seem to have a similar structure to the cannabis plant. Plus I hopefully get to harvest some tasty veggies at the end! Tomatoes seem fairly normal too. I might get some odd reactions if I have Hops growing in my closet... Maybe I'll start a tomato grow journal! That will probably get a lot of attention on here, don't you think!?
although tomatoes require similar feed(as MJ during VEG), temps and humidity, they are totally different when it comes to their watering requirements. MJ requires water only when dry (you know the drill) whereas if you leave, even one day, between waterings with tomatoes, the fruits will crack and split open...they need to be watered daily (at the end of the day) and fed with a high N feed once a week. So you may gain some useful experience in dealing with temps, humidity and P n D (pest and disese) control, but overall, not very similar. Hops would be closer, and funny as it sounds....onions. HTH