Desert Dude Learns Some Things About Growing Weed

[PlumberSoCal2]

I Moved to the Mojave here in '21 after retiring. In 2024 I got the idea to try growing weed and have had some success along with some failures. I started inside and then also did outside this year. I've learned some things, watched a lot of youtube videos and gotten some great advice on this forum so I'm feeling a little better about what I'm doing and I'll go ahead and start my diary with new plants I recently started inside.

Note that It's clearly just a hobby and my plants aren't really going to get much more attention than a typical house plant but having stated that I have upped my game some since starting out. I'm now using the Vivosun self-watering bases with 5 gal bags and more recently I got some far better lights; the 100 watt version of these from amazon. I specifically wanted these because they're on stands and I won't be using a tent or a lot of the fancy stuff I see associated with those. My plants sit in the dining area by the back patio door. We have two spare bedrooms but I'm not allowed to use those because they're "reserved for guests".
Additionally these indoor plants will only get RO water and I'll start them on the GH Flora series stuff coming up.

I went a bit nuts when I started out and bought more seeds than I needed but here I was down to four left from a HGC order on 2/19/25. Two of these Northern Lights #10 Feminized went from towel to pot on 10/16. The one really wasn't taking off as of 10/24 so I put another in a paper towel.

View attachment 2560872

View attachment 2560873

Awesome. You'll find soon enough you don't have enough time nor space for your new "house plants" Enjoy it. Not much compares to making your own medicine

 

[PlumberSoCal2]

I barely got the humidifiers going when the weather changed to cloudy and rainy. Humidity shot up and it's been cooler lately but warmer weather is on the way back soon.

These plants are looking a lot better than my previous two inside attempts, I figure it's the better lights. I have them set on 3 out of 5, wondering if I should go ahead and bump them up?
Wife is busy giving them names. The retard (#2) is now known as Minnie the Midget and #3, which is quite symmetrical and perfect looking, is known as Regina. She's still working on a name for #1.

Minnie is going to need to come out of the starter pot and I'm trying to decide if I want to grab an auto water base/bag from my buddy or just put her into a regular planter pot.

View attachment 2565011
#1 at 32 days, seems to be coming along ok ya think?

View attachment 2565012
Regina at 23 days seems very symmetrical, green and healthy.

View attachment 2565013
Minnie the Midget is 30 days old and still in a starter pot. WTH with her??

You're still learning. There will be weak plants, genetically. There are also user error when we do someing not gentle enough or at the wrong time of day and those should be pulled. I know hard that is but trust me. Do you really want to devote another 3 months to this 1 month old? Honestly, you never know what might happen, all growers have stories about that little engine that could. Me too, many of them but far too much waisted time, especially of they're just "house plants" Sorry, can't let you live that one down

 

[cpurola]

You're still learning. There will be weak plants, genetically. There are also user error when we do someing not gentle enough or at the wrong time of day and those should be pulled. I know hard that is but trust me. Do you really want to devote another 3 months to this 1 month old? Honestly, you never know what might happen, all growers have stories about that little engine that could. Me too, many of them but far too much waisted time, especially of they're just "house plants" Sorry, can't let you live that one down

Couldn't do it, Still have the extras, mutants.

 

[Greg_Midi]

Couldn't do it, Still have the extras, mutants.

View attachment 2565251

They're living creatures and we need to love them all!

 

[pnwbluntman]

It was rather death defying. I'd barely merged onto a busy interstate through the city, was rolling about 60 when suddenly this was sitting there in my lane...

View attachment 2564603

I was a real fucking mess, spent nine days in the hospital with a list of ugly injuries but the worst and most lingering was the severe dislocation of my right shoulder. After a couple operations I ended up with a "reverse total shoulder replacement". I have some nasty photos but I don't want to gross anyone out.

Here's a photo from happier times, shortly after moving here, east of Searchlight NV heading towards CA...

View attachment 2564608

Damn glad you are alright. I have two fractured vertebrae in my back from wrecking on a street about 5 years ago with collapsing my right lung. There's a lot of variables while riding that is for sure. But glad you are still kicking and upright. Idk you, but I have lost more people to bike wrecks then I would like to count. I still ride when I'm not in pain. I just don't ride to commute at the moment, still need a back surgery, as well as I would rather go fast where I don't have to deal with cars and people of those sorts. Glad to see you post on the farm! Mojave is a great place to grow with the right strains. And the Camaro is a great car, I have only test drove one, but they got the power and the driver seat feels like a cockpit, it's like a vette just with more room, vettes and road trips are miserable

 

[amneziaHaze]

You're still learning. There will be weak plants, genetically. There are also user error when we do someing not gentle enough or at the wrong time of day and those should be pulled. I know hard that is but trust me. Do you really want to devote another 3 months to this 1 month old? Honestly, you never know what might happen, all growers have stories about that little engine that could. Me too, many of them but far too much waisted time, especially of they're just "house plants" Sorry, can't let you live that one down

Some lst and do veg a month or half a month longer and it should be an okej harvest. There is a lot of branches hidden on the shadows you will be okej

 

[Greg_Midi]

Damn glad you are alright. I have two fractured vertebrae in my back from wrecking on a street about 5 years ago with collapsing my right lung. There's a lot of variables while riding that is for sure. But glad you are still kicking and upright. Idk you, but I have lost more people to bike wrecks then I would like to count. I still ride when I'm not in pain. I just don't ride to commute at the moment, still need a back surgery,

Over the years I'd managed to avoid a lot of brushes with near disaster but things have changed a lot since back in the day when I started; more traffic, folks that shouldn't be driving and people on their phones. It was an unsecured load by folks that most likely shouldn't have been on the road that got me. There was one grainy photo of the culprits but they were never identified. My bike was totaled (2017 Ultra Limited I'd bought new). My wife had a Royal Enfield 350 and I rode it around town a few times post wipe out but now we've sold it too.

Honestly my 2 up cross country touring days were coming to an end anyway, being older I was beginning to have trouble with my hips and other things but sure didn't need it to end like that! Thank God my wife wasn't with me that day, it was just gonna be a short five minute ride.

Hoping you can get a successful surgery and help managing pain!

 

[pnwbluntman]

Over the years I'd managed to avoid a lot of brushes with near disaster but things have changed a lot since back in the day when I started; more traffic, folks that shouldn't be driving and people on their phones. It was an unsecured load by folks that most likely shouldn't have been on the road that got me. There was one grainy photo of the culprits but they were never identified. My bike was totaled (2017 Ultra Limited I'd bought new). My wife had a Royal Enfield 350 and I rode it around town a few times post wipe out but now we've sold it too.

Honestly my 2 up cross country touring days were coming to an end anyway, being older I was beginning to have trouble with my hips and other things but sure didn't need it to end like that! Thank God my wife wasn't with me that day, it was just gonna be a short five minute ride.

Hoping you can get a successful surgery and help managing pain!

I appreciate it. It's why I smoke between a qtr and a half a day atm. They had me addicted to percs for a couple years before I said enough of that. I have to quit smoking cigarettes for a year so I can get the surgery in Washington State. I should quit smoking those anyways. It's just the hardest thing to kick. And when I go riding, it's usually younger people that just don't pay attention, they could be looking right at you, and in their head they think it's a great time to pull out in front of you . I usually trailer my bikes to the track or to mountain roads that are windy with little to no traffic

 

[Greg_Midi]

Hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My wife's good friend flew in Monday so we were down in Vegas for a couple days. While there we went to Wizard of Oz at the Sphere and I bought a new guitar amplifier at Guitar Center.

My main two plants are doing quite well and the little one is still hanging in there.

#1 (Leia) is the bushiest plant I've had, a miniature jungle! Looking great at 41 days.

#3 (Regina) is not far behind, she's a little more horizontally stretched at 32 days.

#2 (Minnie the Midget) is still a sorry little thing at 39 days. She's stretching to reach the crappy light so I took her outside to enjoy some sun and upper 60's for a while.

 

[grayoldnproud]

Hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My wife's good friend flew in Monday so we were down in Vegas for a couple days. While there we went to Wizard of Oz at the Sphere and I bought a new guitar amplifier at Guitar Center.

My main two plants are doing quite well and the little one is still hanging in there.
View attachment 2570299
#1 (Leia) is the bushiest plant I've had, a miniature jungle! Looking great at 41 days.

View attachment 2570300
#3 (Regina) is not far behind, she's a little more horizontally stretched at 32 days.

View attachment 2570301
#2 (Minnie the Midget) is still a sorry little thing at 39 days. She's stretching to reach the crappy light so I took her outside to enjoy some sun and upper 60's for a while.

L&R Lookin Good. Don't count Minnie out.

 

[Smokeshow]

The girls are looking good! Out of curiosity, what guitar amp did you pick up?

 

[Greg_Midi]

The girls are looking good! Out of curiosity, what guitar amp did you pick up?

I could go on about that experience all day but I'll try to keep it brief haha. I'd sort of decided I wanted a 20-30 watt 12" combo tube amp preferably with the knobs on front. I purposely avoided Fender and Marshall just because of the been there, done that feeling and I already have a DSL15 our drummer gave me that I use. I'd looked at the GC website and had a short list to try out but the reality of what they had in store didn't match up. I spent quite a bit of time trying out what they had and was rather disappointed. I visited the store 3 or 4 times while we were down there. Frustration had set in, we were ready to leave and then I spotted the BOSS Katana Artist 100 watt 12" combo new in box up towards the front of the store and just went ahead and bought it. It looks good, sounds great and won't get lost on a bigger outdoor stage.

 

[Greg_Midi]

L&R Lookin Good. Don't count Minnie out.

I fixed Minnie up with a new home!

 

[Phyto]

Brought back memories for me too. I was 18 when I told Mom I was buying a motorcycle. Think it gave her a few more gray hairs. LOL
My pride and joy, a Honda 1974 CB200.

View attachment 2564526

Those were sooo cool! I had a Triumph 250 trophy for a while back in the day, lost interest after losing a couple friends to accidents. Now all I've got is a pair of Honda CT90's and a Susuki 120 Bearcat. They're great for hunting/riding the trails, plus they get about 100 miles/gal, best part is if I fall off one of those, I'll probably be able to get back up!! The Susuki is a two stroke, and kind of a PITA. It has dual sprockets so to go into low range you have to add a links to the chain. The Hondas have a hi-low switch.

 

[grayoldnproud]

I fixed Minnie up with a new home!

View attachment 2570412

Sunny spot too. Watch her blossom now. Fingers crossed for her.

 

[Hadeznuts]

That light seems to be working good and only for 100 dollars. Thank you for posting it. The plants look great by the way.

 

[Greg_Midi]

Sunny spot too. Watch her blossom now. Fingers crossed for her.

She'll still need to stay inside most the time, shorter days and cooler nights now.

 

[Hadeznuts]

Hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My wife's good friend flew in Monday so we were down in Vegas for a couple days. While there we went to Wizard of Oz at the Sphere and I bought a new guitar amplifier at Guitar Center.

My main two plants are doing quite well and the little one is still hanging in there.
View attachment 2570299
#1 (Leia) is the bushiest plant I've had, a miniature jungle! Looking great at 41 days.

View attachment 2570300
#3 (Regina) is not far behind, she's a little more horizontally stretched at 32 days.

View attachment 2570301
#2 (Minnie the Midget) is still a sorry little thing at 39 days. She's stretching to reach the crappy light so I took her outside to enjoy some sun and upper 60's for a while.

I just realized your calling this light crappy lmao.. but the other ones seem alright?

 

[BearWater]

Hey Greg! dude i just went into a guitar center today for the first time! checked out a little junior combo kit guitar for my oldest : ) my youngest saw the tiny tots electric pink guitar! hahaha! might even get a piano soon!

your piano is beautiful!

 

[Greg_Midi]

I just realized your calling this light crappy lmao.. but the other ones seem alright?

Poor Minnie has one of the older lights, I only have two of those newer better MetryGrow ones.