Growing outdoors in northern earth

[Billy Blica]

Hey guys I know its early but Im planning to grow outdoors for the first time.
I've read over ranger dangers kick ass tips, plus a whole bunch of other guerilla grow information here and around the web.

I'm planning to do a couple patches of Lowryder 2 and Lowrder hybrids so I can practically harvest every month outdoors this spring and summer.
I have a few questions to be answered please:

Whats the earliest I can plant? Winter usually ends by the beginning of April around here.

I was going to use polymer crystals to retain water and I hear they are great for that, would'nt have to worry about waterings and such..only problem is that I hear they make the buds taste like plastic! Does anyone know anything about polymer crystals and is there a way of using them without giving the bud a plastic taste? Or something else that works?


I'm planning to grow in a grassland type soil. I want to dig holes and fill them up again mixed with a little top soil and some fox farm marine cuisine. Will I need to do more to be successful?

[Racefan]

If the last frost is at the end of april then I would plant right after that. While cannabis is a hardy plant it doesn't grow well in cold weather.
I've used the crystals before but never noticed a plastic taste. It's been years since I've used them and they might be using different materials though so maybe someone who has used them within the last years or so can chime in with a answer for us.

[Billy Blica]

Im so freaking excited to grow outdoors for the first time this spring..Im going to paint my city greeeeeeen!

Racefan: Thanks for replying, did the water crystals work well for ya? Did you soak them in water before planting? Why did you stop using them? (Sorry lotsa questions)

So after the last frost in April I can plant some autoflowering seeds and expect a yield mid to late June? (2 months)

[Racefan]

No I didn't presoak as the instructions didn't call for that. I used them after planting by poking small pencil sized holes into the soil and pouring a amount in. I did over pour on one plant and ground bubled up with a mound that was all jelly like feeling after watering.lol They seemed to work alright. I stopped using them because rippers forced me indoors. Not sure about getting a harvest in 2 months as I tried a auto flowering strain only once and got 8 males for out of 10 seeds planted. The other two never popped. So my auto flowering experience isn't a good one. If they say it's 2 months to harvest from planting on the package or in the growing description then I would expect a 2 month wait. Maybe some one with more autoflowering experience will chime in with the answer.

[Billy Blica]

So no plastic taste and the crystals worked fine huh? I'll use mine at the bottom of my soil mix/hole and soak them so they expand before going in.