Ok, for anyone new to growing, or thinking about doing an outdoor grow, I thought it might be helpful for me to post the mistakes I have made so far in my first outdoor grow.
(1) Fertilizing too early. I killed about ten seedlings because I hit them with fertilizer when they were only about two weeks old.
Lesson Learned: Do not fertilize your new seedlings with a strong fertilizer when they are young. If you absolutely have to hit them with something in order to feel as if you are doing something, then make a manure tea and use that. If you don't want to make the tea (or don't care to learn how to make your own) you can buy tea from many hydro stores and nurseries.
(2) Over-watering while potted. Luckily I didn't kill any of the plants, but I did stunt their growth some early on.
Lesson Learned: Let the plant dry out in between watering. Each plant will be different as to how much water it uses, even if planted at exactly the same time. There are many different methods of ensuring you do not over-water your plants. You can weigh the pots both wet and dry, feel the soil, look at the soil, or, even better, invest in a decent moisture measuring tool.
(3) Transplanting into an unsuitable native soil. Hasn't caused me any issues yet, but may end up limiting the size of my plants.
Lesson Learned: Heavy clay soils are not the best soil type. While heavy clay soil is fairly common here in my state, I should have found a better site. But, instead I fell in love with my current outdoor site because of its relatively close proximity to a natural water source, concealing features of the old growth blackberry site I am using and great sunlight.
(4) Amending a heavy clay soil. Hasn't caused me any issues yet, but may end up limiting the size of my plants.
Lesson Learned: Amending a heavy clay soil will most likely cause my roots to want to stay within the amended "better" soil. This issue is not as big of a deal because I did dig some relatively large holes (each hole displaced 5 or more cu ft of native earth - about 35+ gallons per hole).
(5) Using an auger to dig in a heavy clay soil without fracturing the sides and bottoms of the hole. Has caused the death of two of my best plants. I incorrectly watered my plants because I mistook over-watering stress for under-watering stress (both stresses appear similar).
Lesson Learned: In a heavy clay soil the walls and bottom of the hole dug should be uneven, not smooth. Use a large screwdriver or chisel to create nooks and crannies in the sides and bottom of the hole. This will encourage the roots to expand into the native soil section.
Actually, if I had everything to do over again, I would have transplanted my plants to a 5 gallon bucket with drain holes in the bottom and sides of the bucket. I would have then buried the bucket into a properly fractured hole. This would have allowed me to have a good quality grow soil and the roots could travel out of the drain holes and into the native soil. Sort of the best of both worlds in a bad native soil.
I hope my grow is helping someone else, but documenting it is most certainly helping me.
Thanks again to everyone who has offered constructive criticism. Special thanks to FDD and TheLoadedDragon. Very special thanks to Uncle Ben.
