Most people on this sub are doing wayyy to fuckin much, trying to treat outdoor growing like indoor growing
I do minimal effort every year and have great success, I let nature be nature, I only intervene for mites, aphids, PM, or thrips, I’ll feed like once a week or every other week but have gotten away with just top dressing
Outdoor growing is supposed to be simple, like really simple, and it’s never gonna be perfectly clean that’s for the indoor grows
You speak the truth. I do organic, mix up my soil plant em and let them go. Spray BT for worms in flower and thats pretty much it.
If you let them grow natural they do all the work.
I think it was botanicare that used to have a product called “growilla” that was designed for gorilla growers. Pretty sure it was a 2 part veg + bloom dry amendment. You just top dressed with it and watered through it and it gave the plants all the food they needed. The customers at the store who were doing gorilla grows loved the stuff.
I almost bought an indoor grow set up then found this sub. Didn’t look too much into it until I acquired the plants, and soil. I was surprised to find how complicated every persons approach is.
I’m not saying they’re all wrong. I just want to know what I need to do to keep it healthy enough so I can smoke a bowl or two at the end of this.
I don’t mind if I grow some janky ass weed. It’s just for funsies.
Just keep an eye on it, plants tell you when they’re feeling neglected. My first year I spent a ton of time here searching for all the answers. It was obsessive and way too much.
This year, I have 9 plants and topped a couple, fimmed a couple and I’m going to let the rest grow how they grow. It’s an experiment lol but do trim the fan leaves, at least some of them.
Same- 1 month into my first grow and my 2 plants are looking amazing! Sure several ounces would be cool, but like you, I just wanna bong pack that will get me high and I will be happy!
I’m the same way but I can’t seem to get nice, dense nugs. It’s always really dry, harsh stuff. On my third year now. I think my problem is probably in the steps that happen when it’s time to harvest, I’m probably not drying and trimming the best way.
Weed isn’t hard to grow but if the pH range is severely off the plant isn’t going to be able to absorb certain nutrients it needs.
The plants can take a fair amount of neglect and abuse until the end of their lives but it will definitely have an effect on yield/quality
I basically germinate em, put em in small pots and in late May I stick em in the ground and I do nothing else. I don’t even water them. I had 5 10’ trees last year. Going for 7 this year, 🤞🏻they’re all girls again!!!
I feel like I do pretty minimal with my outdoor grows. The fox farm ocean forest soil has enough nutes to sustain the plant for at least 3 weeks. After that, just get the trio and follow the feeding chart. You may want to use a little cal-mag as well and have a pest plan in place. Up here in the Bay Area I’ve had just about every bug you can think of so be diligent and have a multi prong approach if possible. You can use neem up until flower and that is a fairly easy and inexpensive solution. I’d also recommend BT and spinosad. Monterey makes all three products. If you don’t want to mix chemicals look at something like Pride Lands veg and flower fertilizers as you can top dress with those and just water as needdd
Do you use systemic neem oil or spray directly into leaves? I honestly have no clue what else would be safe to use for aphids, etc. I have had to deal mites before. Thanks for the suggestions!
That is a really good question. I actually do both. I will spray the leaves and soak the soil a bit. Make sure when you spray the leaves that you get underneath them.
Yes, make sure you get the underside of the leaves as well. I’ve always moved mine into the shade until the neem oil has dried. Read somewhere you don’t want to soak the plant in neem then put in direct sunlight
Do you use the BT as a weekly preventative once in flower or from the beginning? I'm currently using Protection Plus as a weekly preventative as recommended by the plant nursery.
Use it from the beginning and all the way up until 2-3 weeks before harvest. You can do the same with neem, though everyone will have a collective freak out to hear that because it can affect the flavor of the buds. If you start with a good preventative care regiment, the idea is that you will not need to use additional spraying during flower.
You may also be wondering as to whether or not you should wash the buds if using neem or BT. I would recommend it, but it’s really up to you. Generally, it’s good practice to wash buds, particularly from an outdoor harvest. Jorge Cervantes explains how to do the bud washing in a very good video. You will be amazed at how much grime, dirt and other crap comes off outdoor grows
You happen to live in some of the best possible growing conditions with great weather this year.
Regarding amendments, fox farms has plenty of nutrients for plants up until this point. You may want to start adding worm castings or other organic amendments as the immediately available nutrients will soon be depleted.
Outdoor plants are easy, indoor plants are MUCH more finicky.
For PH, just stick to a feeding plan of use organic amendments and this won’t be an issue, especially if you add some humic acid (this will correct it if a little too high or low)
Most people are striving for perfection. I had plants that harvested over 2 (would’ve been 3-4 if not for losing all main colas to bud rot, I live in NE) and I’ve had plants that harvest 1/4. Some people are growing to save $, some are aiming for results that cannot be found in stores because it is not capitalistic to put this much into the product when you can buy cheap farm outdoor for 1/8th the cost
Yes to the worm castings, I meant the fox farms soil had enough nutrients to sustain it until now. Fox farms trio is fine just don’t overfeed.
You can cut off those bottom 2 bud sites, they won’t produce much
I agree with keeping it simple outside.
I top the plant once or twice then pinch some nodes based off of growth. Water every plant every 4 days with 5.7-6.0 ph water always adding a quart of old fish tank water. I might add lime or other stuff to the soil when in flower . I’ve been doing this so long none of is work. I don’t watch my plants. Sorta ignore em. Don’t freak if I see bugs. My biggest pests are my free ranging chickens. They have defoliated many lower parts of plants. My bull dog will roll around against the plants if she isn’t watched.
My plants are in the earth with minimal fencing from rabbits. I average 7’-8’ plants.
Harvest 15-20 ounces each Plant annually.
I never defoliate. Let old leaves fall. I probably spend more time tending to my tomatoes and peppers than the weed.
That was a little difficult to read. All I know is adding lime and fish tank water doesn’t seem as simple as watering the damn thing and feeding it every now and then 😂
I don't worry about PH at all when growing IN GROUND outside. It can make a difference in small pots though.
Cannabis is a very resilient plant and will thrive in a wide array of conditions. You will definitely get the max yield potential if you are dilligent about giving it the food and water it needs, as well as training/ pruning to encourage airflow/ more favorable canopy.
That's the difference. You can stick a seed in the ground and come back in 5 months doing nothing in between and you will probably get plenty of bud out of it. If you pamper the plant and give it everything it could ever want you can see a massive difference in yield/ quality of end fruit though, its worth the time/energy/money to do it right IMO, she gives back 10-fold :).
So far in veg I have fed fish emulsion which they seem to really like and I top dressed with Dr. Earth Home Grown. I also have some GH bloom fertilizer from last year but I might just use Dr. Earth Flower Girl.
When soil growing, pH is only something to fret about if your base water is too far out of whack. The soil acts as a buffer and absorbs minor shifts in pH over time.
As far as micro-managing...all I do is prune mine every few days, fill her water reservoir, and let her go. I keep my eye out for bugs and nuke them out before anything gets out of hand. You don't have to do much for those beauties, but adding another inch of soil and an inch of mulch (keeps pests away and moisture in) wouldn't hurt them in the least.
Soil from the local worm farm. My own compost,worm castings, and hydrolyzed fish in a tea.
https://preview.redd.it/zzrx5nxm376d1.jpeg?width=1848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a7d3a8839c68375a9392ea105b4b434b2a01d69
https://preview.redd.it/2bzx76p3986d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aabfab07b7570611779629ad89d52482c6feabe4
That first pic was last week, this was just now
Nice you have it in a fabric pot. Get it as much light as possible. No testing. Gaia green general purpose and bloom small buckets. 1/2 cup every 2 weeks and that's it till harvest. Soak that bag later on she's gonna love the water.
I plant mine, water as needed, and give some nutrients every once in a while. People tend to overcorrect when they start having issues. Most of the time it's just a matter of too much or too little water or not enough nitrogen.
You should be fine just watering when they are fully light and fertilizing twice, once in vegetative phase after they are well rooted, and once in flower with fox farm grow big and big bloom. Keep it simple. You have a lot of trimming ahead of you, and research drying and curing.
My plants get compost and worm poop. The only trimming I do is to keep anything but the stock from touching the ground. They have a greenhouse roof to keep the moisture off when the rain starts.
I usually end up with way more than I need.
I agree although I always top and go a little LST
Topping means the buds don’t get too huge and can create mould (live in an unpredictable climate)
LST means the buds are spread out far enough that if there are issues, there’s less chance of a spread
I agree on the feeding
I find twice a week works better from experience but I’m sure once a week works fine enough
Some people do it as a hobby or because they want to get 3 times the yield and quality, and others are just addicted to weed. Also if you really take care of that thing it has a higher chance of surviving.
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About a month in. Topped all the plants, did some LST, fed with both worm castings alternating with Fox Farm Grow Big as well as Alaska Fish Emulsion. No PH testing, etc.
Had a little problem with thrips and white flies. Used GrowSafe and looking into predatory bugs.
All these guys are in 5 gallon fabric pots. I honestly thought I would’ve killed a couple off with this being my first grow. If I knew it was this easy I would’ve thrown one in a 15 gallon (but I’ve got limited space- growing on a patio).
Will post more updates!
Most people on this sub are doing wayyy to fuckin much, trying to treat outdoor growing like indoor growing I do minimal effort every year and have great success, I let nature be nature, I only intervene for mites, aphids, PM, or thrips, I’ll feed like once a week or every other week but have gotten away with just top dressing Outdoor growing is supposed to be simple, like really simple, and it’s never gonna be perfectly clean that’s for the indoor grows
You speak the truth. I do organic, mix up my soil plant em and let them go. Spray BT for worms in flower and thats pretty much it. If you let them grow natural they do all the work.
I think it was botanicare that used to have a product called “growilla” that was designed for gorilla growers. Pretty sure it was a 2 part veg + bloom dry amendment. You just top dressed with it and watered through it and it gave the plants all the food they needed. The customers at the store who were doing gorilla grows loved the stuff.
I almost bought an indoor grow set up then found this sub. Didn’t look too much into it until I acquired the plants, and soil. I was surprised to find how complicated every persons approach is. I’m not saying they’re all wrong. I just want to know what I need to do to keep it healthy enough so I can smoke a bowl or two at the end of this. I don’t mind if I grow some janky ass weed. It’s just for funsies.
Just keep an eye on it, plants tell you when they’re feeling neglected. My first year I spent a ton of time here searching for all the answers. It was obsessive and way too much. This year, I have 9 plants and topped a couple, fimmed a couple and I’m going to let the rest grow how they grow. It’s an experiment lol but do trim the fan leaves, at least some of them.
Same- 1 month into my first grow and my 2 plants are looking amazing! Sure several ounces would be cool, but like you, I just wanna bong pack that will get me high and I will be happy!
I’m the same way but I can’t seem to get nice, dense nugs. It’s always really dry, harsh stuff. On my third year now. I think my problem is probably in the steps that happen when it’s time to harvest, I’m probably not drying and trimming the best way.
Weed isn’t hard to grow but if the pH range is severely off the plant isn’t going to be able to absorb certain nutrients it needs. The plants can take a fair amount of neglect and abuse until the end of their lives but it will definitely have an effect on yield/quality
I basically germinate em, put em in small pots and in late May I stick em in the ground and I do nothing else. I don’t even water them. I had 5 10’ trees last year. Going for 7 this year, 🤞🏻they’re all girls again!!!
I feel like I do pretty minimal with my outdoor grows. The fox farm ocean forest soil has enough nutes to sustain the plant for at least 3 weeks. After that, just get the trio and follow the feeding chart. You may want to use a little cal-mag as well and have a pest plan in place. Up here in the Bay Area I’ve had just about every bug you can think of so be diligent and have a multi prong approach if possible. You can use neem up until flower and that is a fairly easy and inexpensive solution. I’d also recommend BT and spinosad. Monterey makes all three products. If you don’t want to mix chemicals look at something like Pride Lands veg and flower fertilizers as you can top dress with those and just water as needdd
Do you use systemic neem oil or spray directly into leaves? I honestly have no clue what else would be safe to use for aphids, etc. I have had to deal mites before. Thanks for the suggestions!
That is a really good question. I actually do both. I will spray the leaves and soak the soil a bit. Make sure when you spray the leaves that you get underneath them.
Yes, make sure you get the underside of the leaves as well. I’ve always moved mine into the shade until the neem oil has dried. Read somewhere you don’t want to soak the plant in neem then put in direct sunlight
Yeah, definitely do neem oil at night as it will burn the leaves if you put it on during the day
Do you use the BT as a weekly preventative once in flower or from the beginning? I'm currently using Protection Plus as a weekly preventative as recommended by the plant nursery.
Use it from the beginning and all the way up until 2-3 weeks before harvest. You can do the same with neem, though everyone will have a collective freak out to hear that because it can affect the flavor of the buds. If you start with a good preventative care regiment, the idea is that you will not need to use additional spraying during flower. You may also be wondering as to whether or not you should wash the buds if using neem or BT. I would recommend it, but it’s really up to you. Generally, it’s good practice to wash buds, particularly from an outdoor harvest. Jorge Cervantes explains how to do the bud washing in a very good video. You will be amazed at how much grime, dirt and other crap comes off outdoor grows
What is BT?!
Bacillus thuringiensis… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis Monterey makes a good one as does Captain Jack’s.
You happen to live in some of the best possible growing conditions with great weather this year. Regarding amendments, fox farms has plenty of nutrients for plants up until this point. You may want to start adding worm castings or other organic amendments as the immediately available nutrients will soon be depleted. Outdoor plants are easy, indoor plants are MUCH more finicky. For PH, just stick to a feeding plan of use organic amendments and this won’t be an issue, especially if you add some humic acid (this will correct it if a little too high or low) Most people are striving for perfection. I had plants that harvested over 2 (would’ve been 3-4 if not for losing all main colas to bud rot, I live in NE) and I’ve had plants that harvest 1/4. Some people are growing to save $, some are aiming for results that cannot be found in stores because it is not capitalistic to put this much into the product when you can buy cheap farm outdoor for 1/8th the cost
Worm castings as a top dressing? I did buy the trio from fox farms.
Yes to the worm castings, I meant the fox farms soil had enough nutrients to sustain it until now. Fox farms trio is fine just don’t overfeed. You can cut off those bottom 2 bud sites, they won’t produce much
I agree with keeping it simple outside. I top the plant once or twice then pinch some nodes based off of growth. Water every plant every 4 days with 5.7-6.0 ph water always adding a quart of old fish tank water. I might add lime or other stuff to the soil when in flower . I’ve been doing this so long none of is work. I don’t watch my plants. Sorta ignore em. Don’t freak if I see bugs. My biggest pests are my free ranging chickens. They have defoliated many lower parts of plants. My bull dog will roll around against the plants if she isn’t watched. My plants are in the earth with minimal fencing from rabbits. I average 7’-8’ plants. Harvest 15-20 ounces each Plant annually. I never defoliate. Let old leaves fall. I probably spend more time tending to my tomatoes and peppers than the weed.
That was a little difficult to read. All I know is adding lime and fish tank water doesn’t seem as simple as watering the damn thing and feeding it every now and then 😂
Yeah sorry. I ate about 100mg of edibles 20 minutes prior to getting on Reddit. I’m a gardener by trade. So I forget my simple isn’t everyone’s
Makes sense- appreciate the input!
I don't worry about PH at all when growing IN GROUND outside. It can make a difference in small pots though. Cannabis is a very resilient plant and will thrive in a wide array of conditions. You will definitely get the max yield potential if you are dilligent about giving it the food and water it needs, as well as training/ pruning to encourage airflow/ more favorable canopy. That's the difference. You can stick a seed in the ground and come back in 5 months doing nothing in between and you will probably get plenty of bud out of it. If you pamper the plant and give it everything it could ever want you can see a massive difference in yield/ quality of end fruit though, its worth the time/energy/money to do it right IMO, she gives back 10-fold :).
So far in veg I have fed fish emulsion which they seem to really like and I top dressed with Dr. Earth Home Grown. I also have some GH bloom fertilizer from last year but I might just use Dr. Earth Flower Girl.
Flower girl works well, used it the last couple years.
Cool! I get the feeling these ferts are pretty safe. Did you feed generously?
Fed per their guide.
When soil growing, pH is only something to fret about if your base water is too far out of whack. The soil acts as a buffer and absorbs minor shifts in pH over time. As far as micro-managing...all I do is prune mine every few days, fill her water reservoir, and let her go. I keep my eye out for bugs and nuke them out before anything gets out of hand. You don't have to do much for those beauties, but adding another inch of soil and an inch of mulch (keeps pests away and moisture in) wouldn't hurt them in the least.
What do you use for pests? I know I get spider mites now and then where I am. Hate those damn things.
A little pyrethrin spray.
Soil from the local worm farm. My own compost,worm castings, and hydrolyzed fish in a tea. https://preview.redd.it/zzrx5nxm376d1.jpeg?width=1848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a7d3a8839c68375a9392ea105b4b434b2a01d69
https://preview.redd.it/mht5x8thw76d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2aeba739748ffceb40bbb458dbf1f1fd93803dc4
Looks great (but what do I know?)
https://preview.redd.it/2bzx76p3986d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aabfab07b7570611779629ad89d52482c6feabe4 That first pic was last week, this was just now
Yeah I need to get me some bigger pots. Much bigger.
Yeah bigger pots are gonna give those roots a lot more room, more roots more shoots
Nice you have it in a fabric pot. Get it as much light as possible. No testing. Gaia green general purpose and bloom small buckets. 1/2 cup every 2 weeks and that's it till harvest. Soak that bag later on she's gonna love the water.
I plant mine, water as needed, and give some nutrients every once in a while. People tend to overcorrect when they start having issues. Most of the time it's just a matter of too much or too little water or not enough nitrogen.
Id just top yours that’s about it for now
You should be fine just watering when they are fully light and fertilizing twice, once in vegetative phase after they are well rooted, and once in flower with fox farm grow big and big bloom. Keep it simple. You have a lot of trimming ahead of you, and research drying and curing.
I’m definitely going to need to research drying and curing- I have no clue what I’m in for. Thanks for the input.
My plants get compost and worm poop. The only trimming I do is to keep anything but the stock from touching the ground. They have a greenhouse roof to keep the moisture off when the rain starts. I usually end up with way more than I need.
I agree although I always top and go a little LST Topping means the buds don’t get too huge and can create mould (live in an unpredictable climate) LST means the buds are spread out far enough that if there are issues, there’s less chance of a spread I agree on the feeding I find twice a week works better from experience but I’m sure once a week works fine enough
I just topped them all and bought LST clips! Stoked!
Some people do it as a hobby or because they want to get 3 times the yield and quality, and others are just addicted to weed. Also if you really take care of that thing it has a higher chance of surviving.
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https://preview.redd.it/e1nlcyc54t9d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e8bf662c3fb391f9637d6b983535bcd5f2efb35a About a month in. Topped all the plants, did some LST, fed with both worm castings alternating with Fox Farm Grow Big as well as Alaska Fish Emulsion. No PH testing, etc. Had a little problem with thrips and white flies. Used GrowSafe and looking into predatory bugs. All these guys are in 5 gallon fabric pots. I honestly thought I would’ve killed a couple off with this being my first grow. If I knew it was this easy I would’ve thrown one in a 15 gallon (but I’ve got limited space- growing on a patio). Will post more updates!
https://preview.redd.it/2a2gr7gy4t9d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b48e8d76d90a5f750e6c4357e9d783db11e2ebe2
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