Live Stoner Chat Hi All. I'm a new grower with lot of questions.

[mdmike52]

Hello:
My Intro... I'm a 62 year old new grower. Haven't smoked in over 30 years so I'm pretty excited about it. My job has random drug testing but I Retire in about a month and hope to have a few buds ready soon after. Woopeee!! I have been an avid vegetable gardener for the last 25 years but growing weed has all different rules so I'm having to relearn a lot. I have planted 2 White Widow Auto Flowering, Feminized plants about 4 weeks ago and already am pretty confused. I will post a question shortly in the new grower section.
Hope I can learn a lot from you guys because going from website to website is getting confusing. Lots of different opinions out there and not much opportunity to ask a specific question. Guess that's true for regular gardening too. Well I hope to be an active member of your site and hope someday I can contribute something myself.
Thanks
Mike

 

[armanidog]

Welcome. You now have a new hobby.

One site that helped me a lot in getting started when i needed some general info was http://www.growweedeasy.com/
I'll bet the Widows are starting to take off these days.
Are you growing inside or outside?
Read some of stickies in each forum here, they all have good info.

 

[DABaracuss]

Welcome to AFN ..If you look around and you will find the answers you need here cuz you bounced to the right place now! We have all the answers when it comes to autos LOL

 

[F.N.]

You my friend have come to the right site for learning how to grow some great weed simple as that allot of people use LEDS on here too. I am so happy for you to be retiring and getting ready to fire up and enjoy the FREEDOM.

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

Welcome to AFN, mdmike!
And congratulations on retirement!.
Ask away, Brother, and since you've found the new growers forum, this would be a great time to start your grow journal. We love pics and details, and they help us to help you with any questions or issues.
Happy Growing!

 

[Happy Horticulturist]

Hey man welcome to the group. Get your journal started and update it regularly with pictures and all the relevant information. That's the best way to get feedback. Reading can be difficult but getting advice in a real life scenario is the way to learn.

 

[Alaskan1]

Mike! That's some good planning, retiring and having the buds ready right when you retire.
Growing is a fun hobby. Just what a retiring guy needs! Congratulations on your retirement. Check out the grow journals. Grab a camera and start your own. Welcome!

 

[Waximus]

Welcome aboard, Mike
Retirement AND White Widow.... Can't beat that!! lol
Glad you found us. In the time I've been at AFN, I've learned more than I knew there was to learn! Let us know if you need assistance, and there's the 24 hour Live Help Thread to post urgent issues- locust plagues to crawly thing identification.. lol
I wish you great joy in your retirement, and success in your new "hobby"!
Tokes to you!

 

[late]

Hi, I am 63 and also went over 30 years without using pot.

I am going to assume you plan on growing indoors. Here are my thoughts... take your time. In fact, don't plan on starting the grow before late Sept. Heat can be a real problem. When the ambient here hits the 70s, I have to turn the lights off for 6 - 12 hours to keep the temps in the tent below 90F.

Take advantage of your gardening skills. Don't start with hydro. Learn the basics, and if you still want to, try then.

What I have is a 8 sq ft tent. It's enough for me, although I do mostly edibles and that is a lot more efficient than smoking.

Don't smoke, vape. Lots of good vapes out there, I have a Magic Flight Launch Box. It's cheap, but good. There are better vapes, lots of them, but they cost more.

With HPS, the rule of thumb is 50 watts/sq ft. I wouldn't go over that. LED is trendy, but the good ones are quite expensive.
I have a 400 watt HPS. 600 watts is the most efficient hps, but not by a lot. Get a digital ballast, and make it a good one.
Fire is something I worry about.

You will also need a good strong fan to pull the air through the carbon filter. Another place you don't want to cheap out.

Hard to beat the GO Box for beginners.
Amazon product ASIN B004PS4B08
There are a lot of different pots. This is what I use.
Amazon product ASIN B0013YYY9U
You will want one of these...
Amazon product ASIN B0013BKDO8
You will want a nutrient free seed starter mix and a light potting soil made for pot. You will need to add a bunch of perlite to that. I have had good luck with Dr Earth Pot of Gold, but I was able to get that locally, so that's why I use that. Just be careful not get something hot that can burn seedlings.

I like to take a fine sandpaper and abrade the flattish end and ridge of the seed. If you get the seed I suggest, it doesn't need that. It's just that since I started doing that, I haven't had a single dud.

Autoflowers hate being transplanted. I just read about a great way to deal with that problem. Get 2 starter pots (some guys use solo cups. Cut the bottom out of one, and then put that into the other one. When it's time to transplant, just remove the lower cup and place in dirt.

Seedlings can dry out easily in that mix. So I start them with a small grow bulb outside the tent. I then get them used to the tent by slowly ramping up the hours 1/2/4/8/16

Your worst enemy is the desire you will have to keeping adding more nutes and water. As the plant grows, it will need more, but everybody goes too far in the beginning.

A fantastic seed for beginners is World of Seeds Afghan Kush Ryder.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Welcome Mike. yea, great timing and congratulations on your retirement. You will find a lot of interested and helpful folks around here. Look forward to following your journal.