Outdoor Growing Guide v 1.0

[200sx]

Hello and welcome

 

im writing a short how-to on outdoor marijuana cultivation from ideas and knowledge i have picked up along the way. Outdoor growing will utilize the best and most wholesome light source we have available, yes thats right the sun

 

First things first you'll want to select a grow site. Will your plants be able to be smelled by nosey neighbours or locals? will the local fire brigade spot them when using a hydrant outside for a fire? or in the case of a guerilla grow, do bushwalkers or bird watchers patrol that area oftnen, what about motorcycle mounted rangers and the like? These things amy sound trivial now, but when your fully flowering G13 WW cross is found and ripped, it will be a giant kick in the balls. So pay attention and stake out you potential grow site for a while, make sure your girls will be safe.

 

Then think about wildlife. When plants are small the best protection i have come accross ( stealth permitting ) is those black plastic nettings that go around the stems of plants for protection, i.e planted by the government, or the clear plastic ones of the same purpose. but for larger plants a chicken wire fence set around four wooden stakes is the go. ( THCaholic has some good examples surrounding his grows on this very site, check it out )

 

When selecting a strain, especially if you havent grown before, it would be wise to pick one known for its outdoor strengths, and resiliance to the elements ( although all mj will grow with the right attention ) perhaps something afghani or hawaiian perhaps. Any seedbank can help you out with this, and also gives recommendations for plants that thrive in outdoor environments.

 

From personal experience, and that of many growers i know, it is best to germinate your seeds in a small dish of cotton wool and purified water. My usual rule of thumb is once seeds pop and develop thick inch long roots, its time for their medium.

Sterilized potting mix is the go here, with small amounts of organic ferts mixed in, and some 5 cent piece size white stones for drainage. All this should be in a self draining pot.

 

Personally i wouldnt recommend seeds be put out in the elements unattended untill height of 6 or so inches is achieved, as brittle infant stems are prone to snapping in wind. This means finding them a nice quiet place to grow in the garden or somwhere, untill they are large enough to move out on their own ( *tear* )

 

At this time i would recommend a transition into a larger pot done in the following fashion. Fill your larger pot one third full with prepared soil. Then squeeze current pot around the sides untill soil and plant becomes loose, then tip pot on its side, supporting the stem of the plant between your index and middle finger, then tip pot upside down. The plant and all its soil still intact should slide right out. Then place plant, and root system with soil still intact and in original pot shape into the 3rd full larger pot. now slightly tease the roots on the plant out a little, before completly filling new pot with soil and giving your baby a new home i would now recommend a nute with 'thrive' as ive found this to spurt my plant on and make it shoot up very quickly, although always be careful of the levels of nutes your plant receives, as this can be a very lineball situation between stunt and burn sometimes.

 

Water your plant twice weekly, or as needed when hot. and fertilise every fortnight, i still find thrive to be the best nute ive used for this stage.

 

After a couple of months, if your plant was planted at the right stage ( after Cup Day and into the start of summer) You shall start seeing some preflowers emerging, between the nodes and main stem of the plant. They are round where they join the plant, but come to a point at the top. Initially these are called 'indifferent primordia" which basically means they could be either male or female flowers. Now soon after, if all goes well you should notice two hairs poking from these growths, indicating that these are now Calyx's, and you have a female. Joy!

However if these growths begin to develop stalks and grow outward, then you have a male, which should be killed in order to prevent pollenation of any other females. Unless of course you are after some seeds.

 

From now on its a case of the right nutes, light and care to get the highest yield possible from your girl, as im not the most experienced in this field, ill let you browse at your leisure the many threads on this site as to the right nutes etc for flowering.

 

Hope youve enjoyed this beginners guide to the outdoor grow as much as ive enjoyed writing it, other members feel free to fill in any blanks or make any corrections here. ive tryed to keep it simple and not go into too much detail, so yeah

 

take it easy and may your grow yield good things. peace!

 

-ben

[pipeman]

hey 200sx, thanks for the effort. I moved this post into general outdoor growing, as I think it would be good to get the input of other members and I hope it sparks a discussion that helps build a complete outdoor growing guide.

 

Lets see what others have to say....

[dirty]

thanks for the post man,

its great to have some reference material to compare your grow to!

do you ride in a 200sx?

[dirty]

hey 200sx I got your PM, thanx dude

 

I sent one back but I am not sure if my PM's are working, can you let me know

 

take it easy man

[SweetJane]

Entertaining read there...mainly sound advice, though I think starting seeds in cotton wool is a bit "70's" (the sort of thing my parents did) Cotton wool fibres can damage the tiny delicate hairs on the roots, moist paper towels are less damaging alternative

[200sx]

to be honest i have found most of my seeds to germinate better on cotton wool than any type of toweling etc. But as yet my best results were achieved from a sponge , i know of a lot of people who do this too tho

[Luke Skywalker]

Best results are usually obtained from direct sowing IMO.

[Spurious]

ditto

[SweetJane]

Yep, I agree, direct sowing is the best

[wade ounce]

yeah, i just put them into screened seed raising mix, then onto the window sill.

 

200sx just wondering, have ya come across any ways to stop possums?

 

has anyone. without fencing?