First Outdoor Grow

Hello!

I have down a few indoor grows in the past with success (minus the first couple "learning" plants). I wanted to try my hand at an outdoor grow to save on my electric bill. Plus, it would be nice to see how big they can get when you don't have to control their height.

I figured "I've done this inside...how much harder could it be outside?" and as I am reading through your forum, I see the major issue is to be watering and pests.

I see the majority of these pests can be taken care of with BT spray every 3 weeks leading up to final flowering weeks.

There isn't a major water source where they will be planted. I live in the MidAtlantic (near DC/Maryland/Northern VA) Area, and our summers can get pretty hot but this winter seems to be lasting forever. So i have a feeling there is going to be a lot of water trekking. I have started the girls indoors (just chilling under some cfls for now) and am looking to put them to ground in late May. I have read about hardening them in the shade for a week before putting them in the ground.

The soil around me is pretty rocky, so I am going to be bringing in generic organic soil from Lowe's. Add in some pearlite, mix it with native soil and ask my husband to go fish so each hole can have a dead fish in the bottom. After they are in the ground, I was going to cover with mulch to try and maintain moisture.

Okay, so I think I have given you enough information.

Here are my questions:

1. Do you think the addition to water crystals would help me through the drought?
2. I have heard that coffee grounds and egg shells are awesome for keeping slugs away. Is this a good idea?
3. Do I need to worry about deer eating my plants? There are plenty around here. How can I avoid this?
4. Anyone try to use ladybugs bought off of Amazon, how did that work out for you?

Any other advice you have to give, will be appreciated.

Thanks!

1.Never used water crystals. I know peat moss holds water well. I think it can hold up to 20 times its weight in water. Something like that.
2. Egg shells are good to keep slugs away. Also a product called Tanglefoot spread at the base of the plants main stem will stop all creepy crawlers from crawling up. Used coffee grounds are a good source of Nitrogen.
3. Put up some hogwire or chicken wire around your plants for deer
4. Ladybugs will fly away if their is not a constant supply of food for them. Praying Mantis' are better because as they get bigger so do their prey. They eat small bugs when they are babies and the eat bugs almost twice their size when they are adults. Ladybugs only eat small bugs.

Thanks, I will look into preying mantis, peat moss, and hogwire. I appreciate it.

No problem. Hope all goes well and you get a bountiful harvest!

I used ladybugs before....open the package and they were gone in two days...
Water crystals are good....
Be careful with the coffee grounds they are acidic...
Might wanna neem...

I live kind of near you.. The deer are relentless for sure. I always use fencing around my plants, at least til mid June when they have plenty of their natural food sources to munch on.. and usually they don't mess with my mature plants. I'd avoid using the fish or egg shells or you might have some animal.. like a raccoon digging up your babies. I also like to use thorny branches that I've cleared away as a sort of natural fencing around my plots. Good Luck this season!

We are probably neighbors, WV. Sure sounds like it.

Sounds like you've done a fair bit of research, but where did the fish idea come from lol. I havn't heard of that one and I would think it mite attract critters like blazin said.

I've read through a few gorilla grows where people have used tarps and other things to catch rain water.
Good Luck!!!!

More than likely.. Nice to finally talk to someone from the area on here.

Way back in the day, I was looking up good soil mixes to grow in. One of the most popular ones was the one with the fish. It seemed rather plausible. I think maybe Ill try it with a couple plants. Not too many raccoons around here I've seen, however possum might be an issue. I would imagine it being planted 2ft deep should be okay?

Fish is a good idea but u may wanna let it decompose a little before planting

No harm in trying anything.. You never know, it could help your babies out a lot. We have so many animals on our property its ridiculous.. I'm worried about the asshole down the street that runs his hunting dogs. I'm hoping they don't pick up on my scent. I'm afraid that if I use my dogs hair that I've been saving that they'll head that way to check it out. If anyone has any ideas on how to keep those dogs away, I'd love to hear them.

Set up a fence around ur ladys and post a no trespassing sign, if theyre on your property then ur neighbor has no business snooping around with his dogs