First time grower. Thirty year gardener.

OldDogger · Jan 15, 2024

Howdy to all reading this. I've been gardening for 30 years. I can grow some pretty good tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkins, etc., even tobacco in my 1/4 acre garden on my 27 acre farm. This growing season will be different, though, because a highly interesting plant is now legal for me to cultivate. Note: I don't even use pot. I know that word ages me, but it's more comfortable than calling it "weed." I've got plenty of weeds. I don't smoke or use it -- not yet -- but I'm adding the legal quota of plants to my garden and greenhouse this year. I'm doing a lot of reading and podcast listening. Once I translated all the stoner/grower speak into conventional gardening/agricultural terminology, I started learning a lot. For instance, I learned that 99% (an observational estimate) of growers have never grown as much as a cucumber before attempting to grow pot. That's funny, because we all know how much cash you can sink into a small indoor grow setup. I keep thinking that folks would be better off if they practiced with tomatoes or okra, before trying to grow cannabis. It'd save you a lot of money. Cannabis might be a special plant, but it's still a plant. It behaves like a plant. Plus, it's an annual -- easy to germinate and easy to grow -- if you're already a gardener with basic knowledge of how to work the soil and grow food. At any rate, I have seeds from Royal Queen. My first grow will be two autos -- Haze Berry Auto and Purplematic CBD -- and two photoperiod -- Medical Mass and Special Queen 1. All outdoors . Mix of organic and conventional methods, including Jack's Classic fertilizer and Jack's Nutrients. I try to use science proven approaches, and I avoid hype. Hype just makes wallets lighter, IMO. Thanks for reading. I wish you all good growing.

Justlovetogrow · Jan 15, 2024

OldDogger said:
Howdy to all reading this. I've been gardening for 30 years. I can grow some pretty good tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkins, etc., even tobacco in my 1/4 acre garden on my 27 acre farm. This growing season will be different, though, because a highly interesting plant is now legal for me to cultivate. Note: I don't even use pot. I know that word ages me, but it's more comfortable than calling it "weed." I've got plenty of weeds. I don't smoke or use it -- not yet -- but I'm adding the legal quota of plants to my garden and greenhouse this year. I'm doing a lot of reading and podcast listening. Once I translated all the stoner/grower speak into conventional gardening/agricultural terminology, I started learning a lot. For instance, I learned that 99% (an observational estimate) of growers have never grown as much as a cucumber before attempting to grow pot. That's funny, because we all know how much cash you can sink into a small indoor grow setup. I keep thinking that folks would be better off if they practiced with tomatoes or okra, before trying to grow cannabis. It'd save you a lot of money. Cannabis might be a special plant, but it's still a plant. It behaves like a plant. Plus, it's an annual -- easy to germinate and easy to grow -- if you're already a gardener with basic knowledge of how to work the soil and grow food. At any rate, I have seeds from Royal Queen. My first grow will be two autos -- Haze Berry Auto and Purplematic CBD -- and two photoperiod -- Medical Mass and Special Queen 1. All outdoors . Mix of organic and conventional methods, including Jack's Classic fertilizer and Jack's Nutrients. I try to use science proven approaches, and I avoid hype. Hype just makes wallets lighter, IMO. Thanks for reading. I wish you all good growing.

Good luck olddogger you may just find your new growing passion once ya grow pot ya never gunna stop

ArtfulCodger · Jan 15, 2024

Welcome to The Farm!

cpurola · Jan 15, 2024

Glad to see you here.
I started growing 5 years ago when it became legal in Michigan. I am also a long time vegetable and flower grower so I thought it would be a piece of cake. And first year it was.
First year 2019 grow, Afghan Auto in Miracle Gro blue label potting soil. Pretty much grew itself, just added water.

OldDogger · Jan 15, 2024

cpurola said:
Glad to see you here.
I started growing 5 years ago when it became legal in Michigan. I am also a long time vegetable and flower grower so I thought it would be a piece of cake. And first year it was.
First year 2019 grow, Afghan Auto in Miracle Gro blue label potting soil. Pretty much grew itself, just added water.

View attachment 2102731

That looks great. Did you run into some challenges after that first year? I'm thinking that the two autos should be fairly easy. They'll be harvested before powdery mildew hits my garden, which it does every year in late July. The two photoperiod will be more challenging. I'm curious to compare how they behave. What strains have worked for you in Michigan?

Hydrocropper420 · Jan 15, 2024

OldDogger said:
That looks great. Did you run into some challenges after that first year? I'm thinking that the two autos should be fairly easy. They'll be harvested before powdery mildew hits my garden, which it does every year in late July. The two photoperiod will be more challenging. I'm curious to compare how they behave. What strains have worked for you in Michigan?

If you can grow good tomatoes, you be able to grow good weed. They're very similar. But, cannabis takes more precision. Welcome to the farm! Where everyone is here to discuss, help others, ask for help, and show off your grows! You'll get all the help you need here.

SchwiftyGrower · Jan 15, 2024

Welcome to the farm!!! Enjoy your stay, there’s a tons of great information and people here to help you along the way!

cpurola · Jan 15, 2024

OldDogger said:
That looks great. Did you run into some challenges after that first year? I'm thinking that the two autos should be fairly easy. They'll be harvested before powdery mildew hits my garden, which it does every year in late July. The two photoperiod will be more challenging. I'm curious to compare how they behave. What strains have worked for you in Michigan?

Hubby and I use weed to help us sleep. I make an infused oil and make cupcakes or put a teaspoon onto a Lorna Doone cookie.
Helps. He likes Northern Lights and I prefer Afghan.

Any of the Autos are fairly easy to grow. They stay small and finish before the worst of the weather arrives.
I have experimented with different sizes of fabric pots and as you may already guess, the smaller the pot, the smaller the plant. But going alot bigger will not end in a bigger size plant.

The afghan in the picture is in a 10 gallon and I like that size even tho' the roots don't completely fill it. The extra potting soil helps to buffer any under or over watering that may happen. Oh, and I transplanted that one 3 times before I learned on the forum that your not supposed to do that.

cpurola · Jan 15, 2024

OldDogger said:
The two photoperiod will be more challenging. I'm curious to compare how they behave. What strains have worked for you in Michigan?

As far as growing photoperiod plants outdoors, they are alot of fun, but can also be heartbreaking.
Our season is relatively short, frost shows up around middle-end of October and the cold rain starts before that.
So, I look for quick finishers that are also mold resistant. Finding both in 1 plant is challenging especially when the breeders/distributors don't give good regional specific info. But generally I look for Indica heavy varieties.

In 2020 I ordered Auto Afghan and NL seeds from Seedsman and got Photoperiod seeds for free. Did not know what I was in for!
Started them in 15 gallon pots and the roots went through into the ground beneath. They grew into trees!
Topped them once. (should of been 3-4 times) Been giving pot/weed away for years now.
There's a harbour freight greenhouse behind there. LOL
Those are from left to right, Meringue(1), Critical(2), Enemy's Dream(2), Alaskan Purple(3).

Lessons learned:
Plant photos in the ground in the back acre where they have lots more room. Think Colorado hillsides.
Check regularly and often for bud rot. One of the Critical plants was loaded while the other had none.
Plants can bounce back from frost/freeze. But I don't know what that does to the trichomes.
So far I've tried 2 different varieties of FAST photos, Jack Herer and Gorilla Glue. They flowered 2 weeks earlier than others but both became overcome with bud rot.

And if you grow tomato plants from seed you can start these at the same time.

SamSquatch · Jan 15, 2024

OldDogger said:
Howdy to all reading this. I've been gardening for 30 years. I can grow some pretty good tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkins, etc., even tobacco in my 1/4 acre garden on my 27 acre farm. This growing season will be different, though, because a highly interesting plant is now legal for me to cultivate. Note: I don't even use pot. I know that word ages me, but it's more comfortable than calling it "weed." I've got plenty of weeds. I don't smoke or use it -- not yet -- but I'm adding the legal quota of plants to my garden and greenhouse this year. I'm doing a lot of reading and podcast listening. Once I translated all the stoner/grower speak into conventional gardening/agricultural terminology, I started learning a lot. For instance, I learned that 99% (an observational estimate) of growers have never grown as much as a cucumber before attempting to grow pot. That's funny, because we all know how much cash you can sink into a small indoor grow setup. I keep thinking that folks would be better off if they practiced with tomatoes or okra, before trying to grow cannabis. It'd save you a lot of money. Cannabis might be a special plant, but it's still a plant. It behaves like a plant. Plus, it's an annual -- easy to germinate and easy to grow -- if you're already a gardener with basic knowledge of how to work the soil and grow food. At any rate, I have seeds from Royal Queen. My first grow will be two autos -- Haze Berry Auto and Purplematic CBD -- and two photoperiod -- Medical Mass and Special Queen 1. All outdoors . Mix of organic and conventional methods, including Jack's Classic fertilizer and Jack's Nutrients. I try to use science proven approaches, and I avoid hype. Hype just makes wallets lighter, IMO. Thanks for reading. I wish you all good growing.

Marijuana is not addicting but growing it sure is. Have fun, it no harder than tomatoes. Anybody can grow weed but to grow really good weed you have to study and nurture it.

OldDogger · Jan 15, 2024

cpurola said:
As far as growing photoperiod plants outdoors, they are alot of fun, but can also be heartbreaking.
Our season is relatively short, frost shows up around middle-end of October and the cold rain starts before that.
So, I look for quick finishers that are also mold resistant. Finding both in 1 plant is challenging especially when the breeders/distributors don't give good regional specific info. But generally I look for Indica heavy varieties.

In 2020 I ordered Auto Afghan and NL seeds from Seedsman and got Photoperiod seeds for free. Did not know what I was in for!
Started them in 15 gallon pots and the roots went through into the ground beneath. They grew into trees!
Topped them once. (should of been 3-4 times) Been giving pot/weed away for years now.
There's a harbour freight greenhouse behind there. LOL
Those are from left to right, Meringue(1), Critical(2), Enemy's Dream(2), Alaskan Purple(3).

Lessons learned:
Plant photos in the ground in the back acre where they have lots more room. Think Colorado hillsides.
Check regularly and often for bud rot. One of the Critical plants was loaded while the other had none.
Plants can bounce back from frost/freeze. But I don't know what that does to the trichomes.
So far I've tried 2 different varieties of FAST photos, Jack Herer and Gorilla Glue. They flowered 2 weeks earlier than others but both became overcome with bud rot.

And if you grow tomato plants from seed you can start these at the same time.

View attachment 2102860

That's a beautiful garden.

cpurola · Jan 15, 2024

OldDogger said:
That's a beautiful garden.

Thank you! It was quite unintentional but did well.
So in 2021-2023 I grew my photos in the back acre, (we have 2) with mixed results.
In 2021 I bought photo seeds (I thought) from Pacific Seed and they turned out to be Autos. Not a total loss, but not the yield I was hoping for.
The hedgerow of trees next to my garden harbored a leaf wilt that took out most of my plants in 2022. The rest had bud rot.
Last year I planted everything way too close together which weakened them and allowed the bugs and diseases to take over.
I've been harvesting about 25% of my crop each year, which isn't terrible, but bothers me.

Now THIS COMING YEAR will be different! I have plans! (and way too many seeds)

LoveGrowingIt · Jan 15, 2024

Welcome to the farm, @OldDogger! Be sure to keep checking in. I'd like to know your thoughts about the similarities and differences between growing cannabis and growing tomatoes or cucumbers.

First time grower. Thirty year gardener.

First time grower. Thirty year gardener.

OldDogger

Justlovetogrow

ArtfulCodger

cpurola

OldDogger

Hydrocropper420

SchwiftyGrower

cpurola

cpurola

SamSquatch

OldDogger

cpurola

LoveGrowingIt

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