• Here is a link to the full explanation: https://rollitup.org/t/welcome-back-did-you-try-turning-it-off-and-on-again.1104810/

First 'real' grow, hoping for some advice.

Capt. Trips

Capt. Trips

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone.

So I'm getting ready to start my first outdoor grow. I didn't plan on growing this year, but I found some old bag seeds that have been sitting in a box in my closet for at least ten years, probably longer. I decided to try germinating them and ended up getting pretty excited about the possibility of growing my own buds. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, they didn't sprout. I was pretty disappointed. Now my mind was made up - I have to grow this year!

I bought some feminized seeds from Crop King Seeds (Early Vixen), and now I'm anxiously waiting for them to arrive. They should be here in the next day or two, and I will immediately germinate. I know I'm starting a bit late, but the spot in my yard where I will be growing them gets quite a bit of sun all day. I live on Vancouver Island and we typically have pretty long, warm summers. I'll be growing them in pots, preferably at least 15 gallon, depending on what I can find.

I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with Early Vixen. Will I be giving them enough time to produce a decent yield of some good quality bud? I know quality and yield depend on a lot of factors, but my main concern right now is time. The flowering time is supposedly 8 weeks. Am I wasting my time (and seeds) starting this late?

Also, I've been doing a lot of reading about different soils. I have access to bulk Sea Soil, and that's what I've been thinking about using, but I haven't been able to find much information about using it for weed. Has anyone here ever used it for this purpose?

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any advice would be very much appreciated.
 
Jussblaz3420

Jussblaz3420

Well-Known Member
Im in new york and right now its still to early to plant outdoors, frost date is may 15th, but as for the soil n pots n what not, go organic, ive personally never used fox farms ocean forest but heard many good things about that soil and it seems to be one of the most popular / used soil's today. And 15 gal pots is a little excessive, i usually go with 5gal but if ur skeptical go with 7gal or 10 the biggest. Do you plan on moving the plants around at all? 15gal pots are gonna be heavy... Like really heavy, especially after watering...
 
Darrin661

Darrin661

Active Member
There's alot to learn on your first grow,but you can do it,I would stay with 10gall and under though,like they said 15 is gonna be heavy in full flower.Good luck
 
Capt. Trips

Capt. Trips

Well-Known Member
Darrin661 said:
Are you Planing on Topping,FIMing or Scrog?
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Since this is my first attempt at an actual grow, and I still have so much to learn about even the most fundamental basics of growing, I was planning on keeping things simple and letting nature take its course, with the exception of some fertilizing. I've been reading a bit about topping and would love to give my plants any help that I can, but I'm so afraid of damaging them because of my inexperience. I'm even nervous about when it comes time to fertilize, simply because I've never done it before. I'm undecided about trying topping, etc. I want to do this right and end up with a monster stash of nice buds, but I'm a total noob and I don't want to screw it up.

My seeds came today, germinating as we speak! I guess I have plenty of time to do some more reading while I wait.
 
Capt. Trips

Capt. Trips

Well-Known Member
Darrin661 said:
Thats awsome man,Hell yeah.what germination method you useing?and remember used distilled water.
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Uh oh. I didn't use distilled water, just lukewarm tap water and paper towels. Do you think the tap water will kill them? I hope I haven't murdered my babies on the first day.
 
Darrin661

Darrin661

Active Member
Paper towels is great method man, thats the way i do it too,ohhhh damn you should of let the tap water set a little because of the PH and chlorine..But you should be fine....hopefully,how many seeds you have germinating.?
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
NEVER USE PAPER TOWELS OR PLACE YOUR SEEDS IN WATER!!! These waste time and only increase your chances of failure.

If you plan on growing from seeds and eventually taking clones then buy:

- a heat mat
-a cutting tray w/2" dome(for seeds) and 7"dome(for clones)
-Root Riots, Rapid Rooter, or other strater plug(I do not recommend rockwool for a newbie)

Wet starter plug with distilled water, put seed 1/4" down into starter plug, place in propagator with heat mat turned on and the lid on. Put light on them immediately, just make sure it's not to close-they only need ambient light until they break soil, then move your light as close as you can without burning your seedling. Check daily that cube isn't getting too dry. 3-5 days for long white tap roots and a nice little sprout above ground. Using a paper towel or shot glass of water takes 1-3 days before you even plant the damn seed, this method takes away any risk involved with those other methods and is much quicker.

For clones, you use the same exact set up but with the 7" dome. Take your cutting, dip in rooting gel, stick in root riot and into the heated propagator. There is a little more involved, but that is the basic idea with clones.

For the success rate and ease of use it's probably the best $40.00 I ever spent on growing. I wasted so much time with all the other methods. Do yourself a favor-heated propagator, dome on,
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
No, tap water is FINE to use granted that your tap water is ok. Less then 250ppm and you should be cool. Some people make a big deal about water quality, but it's usually the ph of people's tap/well water that gives them problems more then the disolved soilds-many of which have little to no effect on our plants.

Really, more important then distilled water is the ph of that water. Just so happens people have more success with distilled or RO water because it usually has a much more cannabis friendly ph then their tap water. They tried with their tap and failed, then they used distilled and didn't have a problem, so they chalk it up to bad tap water. It definitely helps you avoid problems during the earliest stages of the plants life but if you can't use your tap to sprout seeds then your not gonna be able to use it to grow and you need to find out where your going to get water.

If you really want a high success rate sprouting seeds, keep the ph @5.8-6.5. Most distilled and tap water is around 7.
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
Chlorine damaging your plants is a myth. Chlorine is bad if you use beneficials in your soil. Even then, most municipalities have such a low chlorine content it doesn't matter.

If chlorine was that damaging to plants then everyone's gardens that are watered with it would be in trouble. Don't let all these things scare you-I wish someone would have been able to seperate fact from fiction for me when I started. I had to do research OUTSIDE of cannabis forums to get the truth.

When I use to tap water do I let it sit out overnight? YES I do, do I think it actaully makes that much of difference? No I don't. Something like chlorine in your tap water isn't going to fuck up your seeds though, and if it does then you shouldn't be drinking that water.
 
Capt. Trips

Capt. Trips

Well-Known Member
Darrin661, I only have five seeds. I figured I'd be better off starting small for my first time. I'm sure I'm going to make lots of mistakes, so this will be a learning experience. I already know a lot more about this stuff than I did before I came to this site!

Squidbilly, thank you for the advice. I may have to give that a shot the next time I try this. So if they don't sprout within a few days does that mean they're dead, or could trying a different method still make them come to life?
 
Capt. Trips

Capt. Trips

Well-Known Member
Two of them have cracked and I can see the start of tiny little roots in them, although they aren't actually sticking out yet. Another one looks like it might have cracked, but it's hard to see and I don't want to touch it any more than I have to. No change in the other two yet, but it's been less than 24 hours since I started them. I'm was really hoping for all of them to pop, but I guess it's still too soon to know for sure.

How often should I check them, just once a day?
 
A

artjax

Member
Just wanted to pop in and say that I'm about a week away from harvest in my first grow, Early Vixen as well. She has been AWESOME and also, really doesn't throw off too much scent until about 5 or so weeks in to flowerevix.jpg . I grow indoors so our experiences will likely be different, but just wanted to let you know that I'm enjoying the strain, the "taste" I took a few days ago was pretty incredible and can only get better! This photo is at 6 weeks into flower.
 
Capt. Trips

Capt. Trips

Well-Known Member
Wow! She looks amazing! It's nice to finally see a picture of some Early Vixen from someone other than the seed bank I bought the seeds from. Great job on your first grow! I know mine probably won't look anything like that being grown outdoor, but I'm pretty damn excited to see what becomes of them. Thanks for posting!

Here are my little baby vixens...P1030838.JPG P1030837.JPG
 
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