How Many Times Does It Take?

Im on my first grow, and I've already found a few kinks that Id like to work out to make it smoother next time..

But I was curious if anybody here can flawlessly take their plants from seed to a bong, without any problems and if so how many times did it take to get everything fine tuned?

It depends on how detailed you are. I keep a log book of everything I do and try with my plants. I still find ways I can streamline. Do I grow good bud? Yes! Could I get top dollar for it? Yes! But there is always room for improvement.

I must be a total dumbass; I've killed a lot of plants trying to get them to maturity and have yet to get one there. I've made all the classic stupid mistakes like over watering, over nuting, HPS light too close, going out of town and not being able to water them for several HOT days, not having a reliable pH meter and nearly killed my latest grow by giving them pH 1.2 water that my meter said was 6.5. But with the help of Nongreenthumb and many others here on Rollitup I've been able to turn that around and it's all pretty easy now. NGT told me what kind of pH meter to get and that has been a key. I bought a bunch of crap that I didn't need and didn't buy some stuff that I did need. It's possible to pull off a grow from seed to bong but highly unlikely for most people. Actually my IQ is 140 but you get bad information, misinformation, disinformation and no information sometimes and it's mixed in with good information; you just have to sort it out before you fuck up too bad. I started of with hydro because I was told it was easy and was the best. That was a total bust and a complete waste of several hundred bucks. NGT said I should do a grow in rock wool. I did and it is turning out perfectly. I also read a thread from a guy on another forum that grew some amazing plants in 3 gal plastic grow bags using a custom soil mix. That seemed like an easy plan so I am trying out that route also and I couldn't be happier. All of my plants are amazingly healthy and growing about an inch a day. I built an NFT (nutrient film technique) system and have some babies that will be going into that system next week. I'll be starting a new grow journal for that one; they are blueberry strain. Best of luck to you.

My first grow indoor yielded a bit over a 1/4 pound under 250 hps--(4 plants)--
you learn from your plants... they will tell you everything if you know what to look for.... use a simple nutient solution.. mine consists of about 3 bottles and some finishing cha ching..haha..!!! that's about it!!!! my second grow I bought some t5 lights to start them off then to the hps.(2ndweek).. I've seen a lot of sheer stupid mistakes and if you can't figure it out then start a new hobby that you can handle --like watching paint dry, you get my point!!!!
I don't want to act like hot sh*t, I'm not--I've still got tons to learn and understand....
But it's really not that hard... spend some time, spend money, learn all you can-(not from your friends) and the rewards will be what you make them to be!!!!!holla......B.

Jumanji said:

Im on my first grow, and I've already found a few kinks that Id like to work out to make it smoother next time..

But I was curious if anybody here can flawlessly take their plants from seed to a bong, without any problems and if so how many times did it take to get everything fine tuned?

Click to expand...

Start a journal in the journal forum, post me a link and I'd be glad to stop by and help... if I can.

Thanks for the responses guys,

as for the journal response though, Im only growin 1 plant under CFL's just like I said to get an idea of what I really want to do when I get my T5 soon..

So far I've overcomed the over watering problem all us newbs have, and Im going to try a different soil than Expert Grow, a $2.50 bag of (dirty) dirt from a local Wal-Mart

I've been growing for 6 years - I am continually finding improvements I can make.

My first plant was a 3 foot female somebody gave to me bacause they had to get rid of it. Kill it by overwatering and insufficient light sources. Afters reading countless grow guides, forum FAQ's and a few unofficial skirmishes in growing, I did my second real grow. Grew 2 4 foot female indicas from seed to harvest. Currently doing a third. Knowledge is key, learn from your mistakes. And to date I've never encountered one male in my garden of maybe 30+ plants in seperate grows I've done, guess I'm lucky.

i started 4 seeds about 4 months ago, with nothing but 4 cfl light bulbs, a bag of scotts topsoil, a gallon of 20-20-20 miracle grow nutrients, a large plastic tub, a 4'x2'x3' spot under my countertop in my closet, two small house fans, a holiday light timer from home depot, an aluminum baking sheet i grabbed from work, two of those socket splitters, a couple of lamp cords, jugs of distilled water from wal-mart, and some poorly hung mylar.

i just harvested about an ounce from my one good surviving female of some dank sticky nuggets. i got them drying out right now in the closet...got a nice glass jar with a glass lid and latch to cure it in, and this was my first indoor attempt and it went straight from seed and will be in my bong in about 2 more weeks....

next time, i got some big plans, new lights, better soil, fox farms nutes, individual plant containers, and lots of other goodies....

Oh my gawd.....with out even reading the whole posting, I can already say," There are as many ways to grow a garden, as there are Stars in the Sky".....

BTW, Way to go Jesus.....we always knew you were pretty cool...after alll your first miralcle was a quick beer/wine run, at the wedding!! LOL...(ducks before lightnig hits the grow rooms)

I know the feeling (live and learn) I killed my first white widow grow by haveing a good 400 watt MH light 6" above the plants. Built a grow room but still don't have anything to show for it. Got a liquid PH meter now, with calibration solution to make sure it is somewhat accurate, some perlite, vermiculite, Fox Farm light warrior medium, and grow bill, and big bloom.Today i just ordered some cheap seeds to try growing, one of these times it's got to work (i hope)

Ok now let me read the WHOLe posting...(Justtrying to get that one more hit...so's I can upgrade)

pandabear said:

ya man just seems to me if you wanna have less mistakes it doesnt make sense to try every marijuana growing method all at once, but maybe thats why you have the 140 IQ, it may take you a lil longer but get like 4 months of expiriance behind your belt and you will be a pro no doubt and hey you doin soil, hydro, rockwool, and NFT so you got a nice caseload to study

Click to expand...

You have to PRACTICE....kinda like a doctor does....they got a liscense to PRACTICE....the more you try/fail~ the more you learn.
My first grow, way back in the mid 80's, I grew two plants in a small closet, using incandesent bulbs, and a fish aquarium flou.....I was stoked to see little
improvements, using fish emulsion (in soil) and a weak miracle grow solution. first thing that made my di@# hard was watching theese little sacs develop into a "coco-nut"~~~ NUT = Male...guess what happend next?
Well the other turned into a "skank whore", all stringy and lanky...I kept my timer plug behind my drumset, and after a jam session, didnt realise I had accidently knocked the whole plug from the socket....3 days later, as I went to water... I looked in the closet, it was dark, that whoe had bloomed! WOW....I learned some things...........(dirt grow with pearlite,vermiculite,soil)

Next grow was in the Texas Penitentiary....I took a horticulture class, talked my teacher into letting me exp with a hydro set up..(he bought the parts out of his own pocket)It was a Greenhouse grow~ Transplanted seedlings with Roottone into a pearlite and miracle grow solution. Well it was a success/kinda...the res HAD to be made of plexiglass due to security reasons....and alge/fungus were RAMPENT, thus no light in the res!) but my "tomatoes" bloomed before any other plant in the class...(ebb and flow system)
Practice....Practice Practice....Dont go shelling out pounds of dollars on your first grow....I know for a fact that I can not find batteries for my magic wand!
Use your 140 IQ, (mines a stiff13, research, experiment/practice! THEN build the BOMB!!!! Remember the key word's...patience....persistance.



Im going for my first DWC in the next couple days....lights on the way, seeds from Amst. right in front of me....(im in Tx. btw) I wish you as much luck and love as you would your "girls", hope you can spread the love this way soon!
Have FUN!!!

You can be 100% succsessful if you do the right things. Dont be ignorant! In this case, it is not bliss and you will end up with some dead plants. Read, Read, Read, Watch.

Yup, growing weed is easy... and there's no reason anyone shouldn't succeed first time. These days we have the internet, and all the information you need is right here.

Pandabear is right, you tried too hard to do everything at once, and didn't use your common sense to wean out good advice from bad.

Cannabis is the most versatile plant on the planet, it can grow in any soil on the planet. All you have to do is provide it with basic needs. The rest of the learning/understanding comes afterwards.

Start a journal, post a link, and I, and others that know much more, will be able to walk you through to a successful harvest.

I'm growing my first plants at the moment, and because what I've learned on these forums it seems I will be rewarded quite pleasantly. Ok still weeks to go but it looks promising.
Biggest cola 18cmx4.5cm.
It's not impossible to succeed at first time.