Help First time grower, here's what I got - Tell me what I need to do!

[420romeo]

I apologize ahead of time for probably not using the correct vocabulary or terminology (still a noob)
This is my first real shot at trying to grow my own bud. I live in Colorado wayyyyyy out of the way so security is NO problem.
I bought a plant from a legal licensed grower for $20. The strain is Jack Herer (heavy sativa) and is about a foot- 1.5 feet tall.

My plant is in a large whole I dug and filled with good soil. I have been tracking daylight and am looking to get 8-11 hours of Direct daylight per day.

I have been watering it moderately twice a day (morning, mid-afternoon).

I am NOT new to smoking but AM a Noob when it comes to growing.

What do I do about flies and other insects? I don't want to use pesticides!

Am I watering correctly? More/less?

I have read online that you can give your plant direct and indirect sunlight, with as much direct sunlight as I'm getting, should I make an effort to pursue more indirect light in place of direct sunlight?

I have picked off all leaves that have begun to turn brown at all, I was told you should do this so your plant doesn't spend lots of energy trying to repair a doomed leaf.

I've heard of topping, so that your plant doesn't get too tall, and I've heard of trimming the sides to make it grow taller.

I have also heard of putting certain 420-friendly chemicals in with my plant when it gets of age to help it grow, I am clueless in this area

I planted it in the middle of July, when should I expect to cut it down? How tall should I expect it to get in that time period?

I'll save the hangin drying and all that other stuff for another thread.

I am very committed to making this process as successful as possible! I am going here for quantity, a little more than quality if that helps!

Any help, advice, or tips are very much appreciated! Thank you to ALL responders!

 

[Antics]

Re: HELP First time grower, here's what I got- Tell me what I need to do!

First, this link will help cover pretty much every topic you can imagine: How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know
I looked up pretty much everything I came across, and found the answers there.

Now for your specific questions, I'll do what I can.

I've read some things about something called neem oil. I believe it's used for spidermites. Now another product, SNS and I think it has a number after it, is made using all natural oils, and works as a repellant for insects.

Watering: The most common watering method I hear, is Cannabis likes a good healthy watering. You water your pots until you start getting run-off from the bottom of the pot. I believe you want to see 10% runoff? But I'm not 100% sure on that.

Then you don't water them for a while. you wait until the top is completely dry, then the tricky part, you need to wait until the soil/medium inside the pot gets almost dry. I like to say VERY LITTLE moisture. If you wait too long, the leaves wilt, then that's your sign to water. The leaves will perk right back up. I can't say for your specific situation, since you're not growing in a pot, and being in the ground is going to change things a lot. Your weather will also play a big part in dictating how you water.

Unsure on the indirect/direct sunlight. Personally, if the leaves don't show heat burn, I would give them all the direct light they wanted.

On a younger plant leaves don't usually turn brown. Pictures of affected leaves will help us assess the situation.
Also what is the soil PH? Water PH? Are you feeding nutrients? How much? How often? What soil did you put in the hole?

I don't think a plant tries to repair a leaf. They will repair stems, but not leaves as far as I know. The leaf is there to collect sunlight, store food, and this is where photosynthesis occurs.

I haven't heard of trimming the sides to make a plant grow taller. Most people like a wider plant to create a fairly level canopy to soak up an even amount of sunlight and create more main colas on one plant. Growing it tall basically gives you one main cola.

I hate the word chemicals. I recently started calling them "Synthetic nutrients" If you mean something OTHER than nutrients, please elaborate?

September? October? Somewhere in there (I'm an indoor grower, sorry!) If this is a photoperiod plant, and not an autoflower, it will start to flower as the days start getting shorter in the fall.
And just to compare, if this was an autoflower, it will flower automatically based on an internal lifespan, regardless how long the days are outside.

Quality over quantity is the best. You came to the right place for help.. the folks here are full of knowledge and super cool, you'll just have to be patient at times, since we all have jobs, lives, families, so there isn't always someone around to answer. But someone will help!

I would suggest you look through the grow journals. Look for outdoor grows to help give you a good idea on the specifics I couldn't help with. And you can check out outdoor grows, and indoor grows to see what training methods folks use, and see how well they turned out, how much they yielded, etc..

Good luck, and make a grow journal to track your progress! It helps a ton having a journal to go back and read through to see how the progress is going.

And last but not least, Welcome to

 

[420romeo]

Re: HELP First time grower, here's what I got- Tell me what I need to do!

First I wanna say than you for even replying. I understand we all have jobs,lives, and our own plants to tend to so I do appreciate all the help I get.

As far as soil, I used a generic gardening mix on top of rich soil I gathered from around my property. I dug my hole about 2-2.5 ft deep, so I probably have about a 2 feet of rich soil that has been tilled, and had rocks/weeds picked out. I've read a lot about oh levels and how important they are although I'm not sure the ph of my soil or water as I do not know how to test it or change it if needed.

Unless another user objects, I will probably water once a day, with a little treat later in the day on some of these hot days we have had but after doing research and reading your response I see that I have to learn how to tell when my plant needs water and when it doesn't. What would heat burn look like and how can i keep an eye out for it?

I am currently feeding it no nutrients but have thought about going to my local head shop or organic gardening store and explain my situation, any suggestions for good nutrients? How often should I feed it to them?

As far as the 'chemicals' I just mean things I can add to the soil to discreetly create greater yields and more potent bud without having to worry about inhaling harmful chemicals when I go to toke my stash

Not sure about the auto flower thing, I assume I should just allow them to go through the flowering and vegetation stages on their own? I mean I can't really induce flowering outside

Thank you for the helpful advice and to all other users again- I have the most secure legal grow spot with amazing sunlight, and a
Committed grower- I HAVE THE ESSENTIALS! Help me raise my baby!

 

[420romeo]

Re: HELP First time grower, here's what I got- Tell me what I need to do!

Btw guys I'm getting 10hrs of direct sunlight and about 2 of indirect

 

[Antics]

Well I'm signing off for the night, so this will be quick and short:

PH meters: digital is best, the cheap $5 ones can work, but not as accurate. Just ask for PH meter at the store, or online.

Once a day works, I would also suggest waiting to water until you see some wilting, and count the days between waterings. Subtract one day from the difference, and that's your watering schedule. Temperature/weather cooperating, of course.

Heat burn will show up as a light tan spot on the leaf. Plant Abuse Chart

Nutes: use a 3 part or 2 part is my advice. NEVER use time release nutes (pellets/balls that you drop on the soil). I have no brand preference. If you're LEGAL to grow, then by all means, the hydro guys will be able to help locally too.

Nutes/additives are typically fed up to 1-2 weeks before harvest. Then only water is given to flush the plant of extra/excess nutes, additives, etc..

I was explaining merely how the flowering works between the two.

Wxample: Auto vs Photo.

Plant Auto in May, and it will flower in 60-90 days.

Plant Photo, Veg it indoors for 8 months, THEN take it outside and plant it in May.

Have a good one!

 

[youngrob650]

depending on weather i only water 2-3 days about 4 gallons, so less water dude

i like using fox farm nutrients grow big, big bloom, tiger bloom and have some others non FF, hydroplex(for flower stage), Rock(flowering), CalMag(only use it every 3 weeks), ClearEX(for flushing, only use it every 3 weeks as well and at the end for harvest)

for pests i use Organicide or you can buy lots of lady bugs. your choice.

short reply but hope this helps!