Upcoming Outdoor Grow Season

I’m an outdoor grower living in VA. Finished my first grow a couple months ago. It went reasonably well for a complete newbie. Lots of issues, but learned a lot and had a total blast doing it. Basically, I loved trying to grow these plants! Had hoped to buy an indoor setup and give it a shot, but injured my back and will have to wait until the outdoor season for my next grow.

Last season, I didn’t start to germinate until the end of April. Had a few MAJOR issues because the weather got cold and rainy before I could harvest. I’d like to do it Right this time.

Questions:

• What do I need to do Now, so that I’m totally ready to grow outside again?
• When should I start germinating my seeds? I’ll keep them inside until they’re ready to be transplanted to 1 gallon grow pots.
• I have about 20 gallons of used Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil from last season. Ended up having spider mites at the very end of the grow. Can this dirt be reused for another outdoor grow or is it totally contaminated from the mites?
• IF I can reuse this soil, exactly what needs to be done to prep it?

I figure I have about 3 months to get everything ready for my next outdoor grow.

Any / all advice is Greatly appreciated!!

Starting plants early will only result in bigger plants, not an earlier harvest.
Genetics play the biggest role when it comes to harvest timing. You want plants that start flowering early or finish fast -- preferably both.

There will always be bugs outdoors (good & bad) so reusing soil is fine. I do it all the time, but once soil has been outdoors, it stays outdoors.
Only use fresh soil indoors.

I prefer the "no till" method when reusing outdoor soil, but it's fine to re-mix if you feel like doing extra work.
When it's time to plant, remove the old stump & mulch from last year so you're at bare soil.
Plant seedlings from solos into the previous stump hole. You may have to dig a little to make room.

If you are using organic amendments like crab, alfalfa, kelp, etc spread it on top, close to the edge of the pot. This is called "side dressing".
Add a layer of finished compost or worm castings, then a thick layer of mulch.
Leave some room on top because you'll eventually need to add more compost.

Good luck

I usually start my seeds in the prime of April. This gives approximately 6 months of growing time. If you don't want to spend money on bags try reusable shoppings bags.

KEEP FUNGAS GNATS. Mainly because They're harmless. But they attract some predatory pests that protect your plants;

Hawk518 said:

I’m an outdoor grower living in VA. Finished my first grow a couple months ago. It went reasonably well for a complete newbie. Lots of issues, but learned a lot and had a total blast doing it. Basically, I loved trying to grow these plants! Had hoped to buy an indoor setup and give it a shot, but injured my back and will have to wait until the outdoor season for my next grow.

Last season, I didn’t start to germinate until the end of April. Had a few MAJOR issues because the weather got cold and rainy before I could harvest. I’d like to do it Right this time.

Questions:

• What do I need to do Now, so that I’m totally ready to grow outside again?
• When should I start germinating my seeds? I’ll keep them inside until they’re ready to be transplanted to 1 gallon grow pots.
• I have about 20 gallons of used Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil from last season. Ended up having spider mites at the very end of the grow. Can this dirt be reused for another outdoor grow or is it totally contaminated from the mites?
• IF I can reuse this soil, exactly what needs to be done to prep it?

I figure I have about 3 months to get everything ready for my next outdoor grow.

Any / all advice is Greatly appreciated!!

Click to expand...

Manually flower during best months of season

Hawk518 said:

I’m an outdoor grower living in VA. Finished my first grow a couple months ago. It went reasonably well for a complete newbie. Lots of issues, but learned a lot and had a total blast doing it. Basically, I loved trying to grow these plants! Had hoped to buy an indoor setup and give it a shot, but injured my back and will have to wait until the outdoor season for my next grow.

Last season, I didn’t start to germinate until the end of April. Had a few MAJOR issues because the weather got cold and rainy before I could harvest. I’d like to do it Right this time.

Questions:

• What do I need to do Now, so that I’m totally ready to grow outside again?
• When should I start germinating my seeds? I’ll keep them inside until they’re ready to be transplanted to 1 gallon grow pots.
• I have about 20 gallons of used Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil from last season. Ended up having spider mites at the very end of the grow. Can this dirt be reused for another outdoor grow or is it totally contaminated from the mites?
• IF I can reuse this soil, exactly what needs to be done to prep it?

I figure I have about 3 months to get everything ready for my next outdoor grow.

Any / all advice is Greatly appreciated!!

Click to expand...

My advice would be get new seeds ASAP.
If you want to use soil with mites in it and your weather gets wet and cold at the finish then look for a strain that can handle that.
Have a look on Ace seeds. Their auto zamaldelica could be a winner if you want something sativa and a bit trippy.