First Time Grower’s Experience and Observations

jwik

Member
First up, this is not a blow by blow grow journal but more how I went about certain things and my experiences throughout the grow.
Decide what you hope to achieve. Smoke, High, Pain relief, medicinal etc
Research and select the strain you think will achieve this. High Indica, sativa or both etc
Research grow methods depending on space available, stealth etc. Lots of variables here.
Keep in mind there will be some odour associated with growing cannabis. In some cases this could become a problem.
I grew my plant, Kosher Kush, for medicinal purposes to make RSO (Rick Simpson Oil) and topical salve and cream. I researched growing cannabis for quite some months before I purchased any seeds or equipment. Before purchasing any equipment, I made sure I had my seeds in hand in case I experienced any difficulty in purchasing seeds. I personally had no trouble purchasing seeds.
I purchased the following equipment:
Seed: Kosher Hush (For high THC content)
Growing Medium: Coco
Grow Bag: 5 gallon
Tent: 80 x 80 x 180cm Tent. (this size because I am restricted for grow space)
Light: Mars Hydro TS 1000 LED grow light.
Exhaust Fan: 6” Carbon Filter Exhaust fan & filter (to extract hot air and odour}
Inlet Fan: 4” Inlet fan (to bring fresh air into tent)
Air Circulation Fan: 6” Oscillating Fan (to circulate fresh air around plant)
pH Meter (for checking pH levels of nutrient solution)
That’s it.

After visiting a hydroponic shop that specializes in cannabis growing I purchased, on their recommendation, enough nutrients as it turned out, to supply a capital city’s botanic gardens for about 5 years. I’ve since learned that this is not necessary. I started the seeds in Jiffy pellets and moved them into solo cups and from there to the 5 gallon grow bag.
On a suggestion from another growing on this forum, I used only Rhizo, 1ml per litre for root stimulation from about week three to the switch to 12/12 flowering stage, and A + B throughout the grow, 2ml per litre initially and increased to 3ml per litre as the plant grew. At the 12/12 flowering switch I kept the B at 3ml per litre and decreased the A to 1.5ml per litre until the final flush. With this recipe I had green to green the whole way through. No wilting leaves no burnt tips. I kept the pH levels between 5.5 and 6.5
I’ll probably get howled down by experienced growers on this forum for doing it this way but I tried to keep the whole process as simple as I could. Remember, I knew absolutely nothing about cannabis. I’d never seen it, touched it, or smoked it. I’d only ever seen it on TV during police raids. In fact, I thought you smoked the leaves, that’s how much I knew about it. When I started to research it, I found there were hundreds if not thousands of opinions and methods on how to grow cannabis. I tried to pick the eyes out of these opinions and grow it as simply as I could. It’s very easy to get stalled on information overload. Having said that, don’t take too many shortcuts that could be detrimental to your plant. It still needs water and nutrients.
I grew one plant of Kosher Hush from seed and the result of this, my first grow yielded 17 ounces from that one plant. I was pretty happy with that so I must have done something correctly. I had a go at mainlining with moderate success. I think this method is worth the effort but just a tip, don’t leave it too long to start training the plant like I did. I wasted a bit of time leaving it a bit late. I don’t know if I’d have achieved a higher yield by using more nutrients but this being my first grow, I’ve got nothing to compare it against. But there must be a limit to how much one plant can produce. I was happy with 17 ounces of buds/flowers. So, there you have it.
What I’ve said here is NOT advice, it’s just how I went about it. Good luck.
 

jwik

Member
Yes Rookie, I was happy with first grow. I've just started my second grow and I don't think I'll change much, except making a better fist of mainlining. More experienced growers here might suggest some nutrient changes to achieve a better yield but I don't know enough about it to change anything at this stage. But that's what this forum's all about. To learn.
 
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