Some quick advice from a Noob to a Noob
here's a quick top 25 list of shit I know now but, I wish I knew before I started growing:
1.) when you're germinating your seeds handle the root gently and I mean *very* gently. That shit will snap off with the slightest amount of friction. So be EXTRA gentle when you're handling it. Use tweezers if you got them. Seriously...they're as delicate as an already cracked egg.
2.) When you're planting your germinated seeds....make sure you plant it with the root pointing down.
3.) If you are growing by CFL, try keep the cfl lights about 3-4 inches away in the beginning when you're plants are sprouting. Anything closer will burn the leaves off the plant. Anything further away and the light will be useless. Try not to burn your plant. Each time your plant gets burned it will go into shock and stop growing until she feels it's safe to grow again (this can stunt growth by weeks!). You can sidestep this completely by just keeping the lights a good distance away (as well as monitoring temperature) and continuing to raise the lights as the plant grows. See my tutorial on building a homemade PVC pipe light stand to learn how to build your own DO IT YOURSELF light stand.
4.) Be mindful of how much heat your CFLs are generating...the more CFLs you add...the hotter it will get. In my grow experience...I saw my plants thrive when the temperature was at 70-80 degrees and the humidity around 40%. I got this humidity and temperature gauge and it really helped.
http://www.amazon.co...curite humidity
5.) If you're a noob...try not to fuck with your plants so much. Part of your job as a grower is to *only* step in when the plant needs you. In the beginning like a true noob...I micromanaged everything (under water, then over watering, not enough light, then too much etc) and I damn near killed my crop. The more you *only* step in when she needs you...the better off she'll be. Trust me. And don't worry if you fuck up. The plant is *very* resilientand chances are it will take any mistake you've make in stride.
6.) Also...always water with ph balanced water...the range of the ph varies if you're growing in soil vs. hydroponic (you can find numerous different ph balancing kits online, I used this and it worked out great for me
http://www.amazon.co...=ph balance kit
7.) when watering, it's a good idea to also spray your plants' leaves down with ph balanced water (it simulates rain). Do this until water is literally dripping off of each leaf. I used an old febreeze spray bottle and filled it with ph balanced water and I always saw results when I sprayed her down on top of watering her.
8.) be mindful not to overwater your girls. For me...I usually waited until I saw the slightest droop in her leaves. Once I saw that I knew she was thristy and I'd water her. Obviously what your temperature and humidity levels are will factor in to when and how much you water her.
9.) don't skimp on getting an oscillating fan. It makes a HUGE difference in plant growth and building strong stems that will go on to hold your fat buds during flower. I read about a grower who didn't get a fan and his plant basically crumbled in on top of itself when it went into flower because his stems weren't strong enough to hold up the bud. But more then increasing your stems' strength, having an oscillating fan contributes to the overall strength and health of your plant. So don't skimp on getting an oscillating fan
10.) if you are going to plant in soil....use a good soil like fox farm ocean forrest. It makes a difference.
11.) Make sure you plant your germinated seed in a 3-5 gallon plastic bucket / container with plenty of water holes at the bottom. Do this so that #1) You don't ever have to transplant your girl. Take it from me, transplanting really fucks with your plant big time and it will send it into shock and possibly stunt growth for weeks!!! 2.) Have plenty of holes at the bottom to allow for maximum drainage and air flow when you water your girls.
12.) try to avoid potting your plant in a clay pot...bc you never know what nutrients the clay pot might be absorbing that your plant desperately needs. With a plastic pot you never have to worry because the plastic won't absorb anything.
13.) for nutrients I used fox farm trio
http://www.amazon.co...s=fox farm trio but you can use whatever you want...but no matter what you use....start off small with your nutrients to avoid nut burn (which can be seen when the tips of your leaves turn yellow). For me, the Fox Farm trio came with a feeding schedule and for the most part I adhered to that schedule but, I started off at 10% of whatever they suggested and then built up from there. Think of the sun as your plants workout, the leaves as it's muscles, and the nutrients as it's supplements. Wait until the plant gets big enough and strong enough before you begin to up the dosage on your nutrients. And do it slowly. Unfortunately there's no formula (at least none that I could find)...just use your own judgement and your intuition. The best advice I can give you is to increase the strength of your nutes *slowly*.
14.) If you want to know the sex of your plant early on....clip off a small branch during veg and place the stem in ph balanced water. Then take that small branch (with it's stem sitting in ph balanced water) and put it under 12 hours of light...and 12 hours of complete darkness. In a week or so...that branch will start showing signs of either being a female or male....and from there you can determine early on the sexes of your plants.
15.) If you're growing by CFL, don't skimp on the lights. Get a bunch. And get the CFL socket splitter connectors (you can find them at home depot). Do this to maximize your output (see my thread for more details). For Veg, go with bright white CFLs. For flower go with a mixed spectrum...for my grow I went with 80% soft white mixed in with 20% bright white.
16.) The most important thing I found in my growing experience was getting my plants' home set up. I tried cutting corners making a home depot wardrobe box for my plants...it was a silly idea and it didn't even work (there were light leaks all over the place). When in doubt....get a small grow tent. They're cheap and they work great. Look on my thread. I got one dirt cheap on amazon and it had ZERO light leaks.
17.) During flower...be mindful of light leaks. A light leak will ruin all of your hard work so when then plant is in darkness...she needs to be in complete darkness. I've heard of people getting green cfl lights in their dark rooms only to regret it later when their plants in the middle of flower reverted right back to veg. So if you can swing it...make it easy on yourself and just get a small grow tent.
18.) Make sure you keep your plant cool during flower. Remember, a cannabis plant in it's natural environment will begin to go into flower around late September/ early October. And by then it's already starting to get chilly. So your plant is used to that and will actually thrive in that drop in temperature...so don't be afraid to keep her in cooler conditions during flower. For me I kept my plant in the air conditioning and she exploded in growth when I did that. I promise if you keep her in 70 degree temps during flower she will thank you for it by exploding with her growth.
19.) Get a light timer to make everything easier for youself. That way it's one less thing to worry about when your lights go on and go off.
http://www.amazon.co...arm light timer
20.) Make sure you plants get plenty of fresh air flow....especially during flower. Even though I had a grow tent...I would open it up during the 12 hours when she was getting light and put an oscillating fan right on her so she was getting plenty of fresh air. I would only zip up the grow tent at night when I put her to bed for 12 hours.
21.) Once you hit flower, invest in a $12 microscope from Radio Shack
http://www.radioshac...oductId=2179604. It will help you really look at your plant's trichomes and help you determine exactly when you want to harvest.
22.) Once your trichomes are at the optimal level of when you want to harvest, let your plant sit in the dark for 24-48 hours immediately before you harvest (I let mine sit in darkness for 48 hours). Letting her sit in darkness for so long will help bump up the THC in the plant...so it peaks at exactly the point of when you're going to cut her down.
23.)For drying I hung each branch upside down. Make sure never to let your branches or buds touch each other (you do this to avoid any type of mold growing on your buds). For drying also keep the temperature low (say around 60 degrees) and keep the humidity as low as you can. For me I just kept them in the air conditioning with the lights off and in a matter of days there were ready for curing.The last thing you want is mold growing on your buds so keep a close eye on them. You'll know when you're branch is done drying when you try to snap it and it *almost* breaks.
24.) For curing, you can use mason jars and toss your buds in there. I found mason jars at my local supermarket but, I also used old pickle jars as well as old vitamin jars.I opened the mason jar about 30 minutes a day every day for the first week or so. Then every now and again as needed.
And probably the most important rule...
25.) Don't mention what you're doing to your friends or anybody. The more people that know....the more people that could easily rat you out. In looking at a lot of people who have gone to jail for cultivating marijuana (youtube is filled with these stories)....you'll find that most of the time it was a so-called "friend" that ratted them out. I've seen case after case on youtube where a simple home grower, minding his own business, was dragged out of his home after the police kicked down his door with a search warrant...all because one of his friends got picked up for a drug charge earlier that week and when the police interrogated his friend asking him "hey where did you get this weed? If you tell us we'll lessen the charges." And immediately the friend rolls over to the cops and says "well I got this weed my friend John Smith...but, he didn't sell it to me...he gave it to me cause he's a grower...oh wait whoops...I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Seriously, you can look on youtube and you'll see sad stories like this and it's heart breaking to say the least. Then of course there are the true fucking assholes of the world....in watching a marijuana documentary I saw a 55 years old woman, retired, growing marijuana to help ease the pain of her debilitating arthritis. Of all things...her best friend ratted her out to the police because her friend felt this 55 year old woman was a drug addict. And it's fucked because this 55 year old woman was sentenced to JAIL by a judge because the state she was growing in....deemed that cultivating a marijuana plant was illegal...and gave her 1 year of prison per plant she was growing (she had 5). 5 fucking years of federal prison at 55 for growing a plant. So as tempting as it is to tell everyone about this killer weed your growing in your garden or in your stealth grow room. Don't. Don't risk it coming back to bite you in the ass. Write your victories, questions, and concerns here on this board where you are guaranteed support and anonymity.
Good luck to all the noob growers out there
Be sure send me some PMs to your thread so I can subscribe.
Otherwise...
Stay high everyone,
Best Always.
-JM
You put a lot of hard work into her and she certainly paid off for ya 
). Not to mention the feeling of having all the pain in my feet completely disappear. And seeing the relief on my girlfriend's face when her arthritis vanishes. Ohhhhh that gift right there is friggin' priceless
