So like the title says, what’s the one thing you would’ve liked to have known before you started to piece together your grow room? Or before you dropped your first seeds? Or maybe 2 or more things? My thought here is to create a fun thread that could also be informative to the new grower. It seems like someone is asking “what do I need?” Or “what do I do now?” At least a few times a week. We all come from different walks, so I assume that there would some differences.
I’ll start…
Nobody told me I could offset veg time with more plants! Long story short, I spent almost 4 months training 4 plants to fill a 3’x6’ area. While there’s nothing wrong with it, running more plants for less time was way more in line with what I was trying to do at the time. Back then, there wasn’t as many resources available online. And despite seeing my research all the way through, I thought to myself “seems easy enough”. So being on a tight budget, I ordered a 5 pack of seeds and thought that would be more than I needed. Hindsight being 20/20, I easily spent more in electrical costs for that first harvest than I would’ve buying 10 or more seeds.
Since, I always look at the cost efficiency of what I’m doing. Not sure if it’s any better, or worse. But I’m always looking for the long term, and if I need to save a little longer to get where I want to be, that’s what I’ll do. Some of you that I’ve had conversations with probably see this, and hopefully don’t think I’m a snob because of it. It’s just what led to what I like to call my “buy once, cry once” attitude. If I know of or have heard of an inexpensive way to do something, I’ll always try to mention that as well.
I wish I hadn’t listened to you tube and lollipoped the plants. I just harvested a sour diesel and got 463g wet. I think if I had been on this forum much earlier, I would have gotten a much bigger yield. I’m not complaining as a first time grower but from what I understand from a bunch of people on this forum, I shouldn’t have .
If I had known more about how led’s are marketed and sold I would have gone down a different path as far as lighting goes. Led’s, but much better quality.
I hear ya! That’s actually similar story to mine. It’s a method, within a method. The best application for that would be something like a true scrog. Where your canopy is full and tight. You wouldn’t have much light beyond the surface anyway, so you clear what’s below to allow more photosynthetic energy to your tops. Works in theory I suppose, but I don’t do it.
Sounds like you had a pretty reasonable haul anyway, so that’s pretty awesome!
Not your fault there at all! To be honest, you’re usually getting something reasonable for your money with just about all of them. The biggest issue is buying and not understanding what you’re getting. As long as the darn things hold up like they’re suppose to you’re alright. It’s shelling out a couple hundred bucks thinking your gonna pull 600-1000 grams and later realizing it will be more like 1-200 that kills you. Been there, done that!
I’m going to have to figure out something about watering if I scrog. I wanted to this flowering period, but as I said on another thread, I really have a problem getting on the ground. One of these times I’m going to be by myself and can’t get back up. It’s really that bad. More incentive to build a watering system. This next grow has autos and feminized plants. I probably should be growing one strain for that I would think.
I didn’t really understand lights. I just bought what I thought was a powerful enough light and hung it in the tent. The only thing I changed at any stage of the plants was how many hours the light was on. I didn’t realize until halfway through flower that I didn’t have enough light for how much grow space I was trying to illuminate.
I wish I had done a ton more research on lighting; as is usually the case (I imagine) for a first time grower, I rushed into it and went with what I thought was the simplest, easiest solution (a full spectrum LED). In hindsight I might still go that way, but I would recognize I need more of them than just one.
I wish these light sellers would be honest and list the true watts. There are a few who do, but most don’t. Some people are buying 1000w expecting 1,000 watts in some cases, getting 200 watts. But @Bogleg, I would have done the same thing. Fortunately I watched a guy on YouTube that explained thoroughly about the different types of lights and what wattage is needed for each light to grow plants well in a certain footage area @Myfriendis410 @dbrn32
Yep. You can certainly work around watering a scrog. It’s entirely possible that running a scrog just isn’t a good method for you. If plant count isn’t an issue, a sea of green (sog) may be a better method for you. If that doesn’t work, maybe single plant grow spaces and implementing some side lighting.
All of which are methods to maximize yeild. Sometimes you just have to try a few things and see what works best.
Indoor growing is expensive, there’s not really any way around it. I think we all get a little sticker shock at some point. And then usually end up spending more in the long run to replace things that we tried to save a little cash on.
Since I have forgotten most of what I learned the first time around… Probably a good thing. The weed of today blows away the stuff from the 70’s.
I came into this with my eyes pretty wide open… I’d have to say that I wish I knew how addicting the whole growing process was. it is crazy good stuff!
Funny you say that. I just watched a video about the trends in cannabis industry. More or less was saying how most of the strains from 70’s and even 80’s are pretty much gone. Specifically how/why terp profiles have changed so much in the us, and that breeders have put so much emphasis on thc content. It went on to predict that classic scents and flavors are coming back even at lower thc.
It’s definitely difficult to keep a level head when growing!
I wish I would have realized how easy it is to clone … because I got a lot of really good strains my first run and I never cloned them and didn’t start trying to clone until after my second run and then realized how easy it was and now I have more seeds then I know what to do with… but it’s all good because normally I’ll run one plant for up to three years before starting another seed of the same strain that I bought …because they’re all different as you know…
PH…absolutely! Didn’t know what it was or its importance to growing until I started hanging around ILGM. Now before every watering/feeding, I’m like a mad scientist with my pH meter, eye dropper and bottles of pH up and down getting the pH to where it should be. One of life’s best lessons🖒
Wish i hadnt been so fearful of hurting or stressing plants. I waited too long to scrog so lst was only option & chickened out on cutting stem. Also wish id realized how destructive humidity can be to flowering plants! Had started to buy stuff for second tent but have sold some of it to purchase dehumidifier.
I think there will be a lot of people right there with you. I wouldn’t sweat it, there’s a lot to be said for simply getting your first couple of grows to harvest. And less is usually more when it comes to beginners.
I wish I would have known that when I was trying to grow back in the day that you take males away from females. No one around me knew anymore than I did so it was plant a seed, water it, give it fertilizer
(usually some sort of manure) and when it got about “big enough”, pull it up hang it and let it dry and smoke. Never knew about buds, trichomes, pistils, the right kind of lights, dark time, I could go on.
Thank you I💖GM!
.
