Yeah this has gotten big, fast
I think I answered over 20 questions yesterday and actually I look for NooB questions as I try very hard to dispell the myths, which is hard
one of the hardest things to do is enter a thread and see poor pitiful plants trying to survive, folks I love this plant and sometimes it feels like child abuse which hurts, so I try to help even more !
To those of you that have not gotten an answer I can honestly say sorry if I did not find your thread or did not have "the" answer?
So let me add some hints here for all the NooB's that are serious about learning,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Before I joined this forum in Sept. I spent about 6 months reading EVERY WORD in lots of threads, (always completely straight, you see I never learned anything while I was stoned) sometimes it would take hours just to finish one thread. But what I discovered was that it was like panning for gold, in all the threads I read there was nuggets of info, could be that I would read 40 or 50 pages to get just one good nugget of info. but I got em and now I got a very healthy happy girl that I flipped yesterday
so here is the very best noob advice I can offer
GET A GROW UNDER YOUR BELT BEFORE EVER WORRYING ABOUT YEILD!
MJ is a weed it will grow anywhere, under any light, in any dirt, with very little water.
Best advice offer #2
START WITH SOIL
Hydro is more exspensive and has a higher learning curve and is less forgiving of mistakes.
All of the tweaks, the PH, the Nutes, The Tricks are about getting more yield from the plant and getting it all together and doing it right takes experience, as with any thing we as humans set out to do it gets better with trial error and experience
Best advice offer #3
Ask yourself, WHAT WOULD MOTHER NATURE DO?
Does she know the ph of her rain water?
Are the light cycles constant?
Does she add Nutes?
Does she add mollases?
Are there light leaks? Does she "hide" the moon to stop hermies?
Folks this is just common sense, it's a weed, if you put a seed in dirt it will grow and as a weed it is very hardy it will fight for life and survival just like we humans do (I know this from experience, I've tried real hard to kill them with stupid folklore and forum myths,,,,,,,,,,,,they survived)
So read enough to know that water on a seed ignites an emzyme that starts a process, take a few bag seeds and put them in a small cup of water (room temp) for 6 to 12 hours, now you have started the process and softened the shell,,,,,,,,,,,,put em in moist dirt 1/4 inch deep
read enough to know that timed released nutes "could" be bad or cause a problem, that the soil should be loose and that water should drain through it easily and quickly
understand that you can go up to a week without watering again, in fact do it on purpose because this will let you see the plant tell you it is thirsty and teach you how to understand the plant as it says what it wants
read enough to know that if they are stretching you need to move the lights closer
Know when to hold em and when to fold em, IOW when to try to fix or save them (best is to leave em alone and watch what they do) or when to start over and learn from our mistakes.
and don't stress over it, simply do it, watch it and learn
Once you get that first grow out of the way start playing with the tweaks, slowly and easily. Don't buy 5 different nutes and add them all at once, start with just one, do it, watch it and learn
And here is some advice you may never hear
experiment on your males!!! I see all the time post asking are males good for anything,, the answer is YES they can be smoked (they have thc too) you can collect pollen and make seeds, you can create your own breed and you can PRACTICE topping, LST, supercropping without worrying about causing any harm, Hell I have a bonsai male I've abused. He is 5 inches tall 8 weeks old and has been topped 4 times (he lives in a seperate room) I have learned so much from him! he has been burned by lights, he has been root bound, he gets very little water, he turned purple after the burn and is very pretty to look at, the leaves I have cut off have gotten me high and taste very good, even though it is a different kind of high (no couch lock)
And one more tip troll regular garden forums, get info on soil mixes and and nutes as well as tweaks and tricks (hey they add mollases too) if you post ask questions about tomatoes they are very similar and like a lot of the same things, also the folks there are eager to help and answer questions.
Read REAL gardening books, learn the basics, hell gardening for dummies is a great book and it all applies to growing strong healthy plants.
growing should be related to relaxing, don't stress, fret or worry
Good Luck