stinkyattic
08-30-2006, 04:21 PM
Okay, everyone grab a No-Doz and hunker down for a long essay.
I had an odd experience last night that sort of put some things into perspective for me, growing-wise.
An acquaintance of mine has recently decided to start growing when he suddenly had a windfall of 4 rooted clones from a friend of his.
He's been telling me he wants me to come down and troubleshoot his garden for a while now... this is where things get weird.
So yesterday after work I drive down there, it's like an hour from where I live, expecting to have something to actually SEE...
He has spent thousands of dollars and built an AMAZING grow setup in his house. I mean, really really amazing. I mean, I'm so jealous I'm turning greener than my plants. 3 rooms, one of those rooms so well hidden that I could smell it but I couldn't for the life of me find the door. Just fantastic.
But when I get in there, what's there, just the 4 rooted clones and 20 sad seedlings from some seeds I gave him a couple weeks ago, so stretched that I don't think they are even salvageable. And the poor clones are wilted from overwatering.
And about $4000 worth of unassembled hydro equipment, plus all the accompanying lights, enough to grow literally hundreds of plants.
But he doesn't know why his sprouts are stretching, or why the clones are winting.
So I get this flash of something my ex told me.
Now, my ex owns a tiny landscaping business and has been at it for 20 years now. Just him and his couple ExMarks and his trusty old bucket-loader.
Every year there's another couple companies that start up, and another couple that fail after only a year in business. His words of wisdom are this:
Start small.
The quickest way to make your business ventures fail is to over-invest in them before you have your plans worked out properly.
He always shook his head at the young guys who'd buy $20,000 worth of mowers and trailers and trimmers and every toy imaginable, but the first time something broke, they had to go running to the crabby old guy at the dealership, who'd be like, "you know you have to change the oil in your lawnmower, not just the oil in your truck? Duh."
So the crux of my official Advice to New Growers thread is this:
Start small.
Grow a garden of vegetables too.
Learn about what plants like, not just cannabis.
Enjoy the process of learning.
Don't expect to have a certain yield in a certain number of days.
You can't force your plants to pay your bills! But they might if you are nice to them.
Practice your techniques, keep current on your reading, and remember it's a living thing and variable.
If you want to eventually grow for profit, treat it as a real business.
Again, start small.
When you see your first profit, reinvest it into your 'business'.
That will guarantee you not necessarily success, because there is no guarantee of that, but you will never lose money throwing up your hands in disgust and saying to hell with it, and selling your gear for half what it's worth to someone else.
I had an odd experience last night that sort of put some things into perspective for me, growing-wise.
An acquaintance of mine has recently decided to start growing when he suddenly had a windfall of 4 rooted clones from a friend of his.
He's been telling me he wants me to come down and troubleshoot his garden for a while now... this is where things get weird.
So yesterday after work I drive down there, it's like an hour from where I live, expecting to have something to actually SEE...
He has spent thousands of dollars and built an AMAZING grow setup in his house. I mean, really really amazing. I mean, I'm so jealous I'm turning greener than my plants. 3 rooms, one of those rooms so well hidden that I could smell it but I couldn't for the life of me find the door. Just fantastic.
But when I get in there, what's there, just the 4 rooted clones and 20 sad seedlings from some seeds I gave him a couple weeks ago, so stretched that I don't think they are even salvageable. And the poor clones are wilted from overwatering.
And about $4000 worth of unassembled hydro equipment, plus all the accompanying lights, enough to grow literally hundreds of plants.
But he doesn't know why his sprouts are stretching, or why the clones are winting.
So I get this flash of something my ex told me.
Now, my ex owns a tiny landscaping business and has been at it for 20 years now. Just him and his couple ExMarks and his trusty old bucket-loader.
Every year there's another couple companies that start up, and another couple that fail after only a year in business. His words of wisdom are this:
Start small.
The quickest way to make your business ventures fail is to over-invest in them before you have your plans worked out properly.
He always shook his head at the young guys who'd buy $20,000 worth of mowers and trailers and trimmers and every toy imaginable, but the first time something broke, they had to go running to the crabby old guy at the dealership, who'd be like, "you know you have to change the oil in your lawnmower, not just the oil in your truck? Duh."
So the crux of my official Advice to New Growers thread is this:
Start small.
Grow a garden of vegetables too.
Learn about what plants like, not just cannabis.
Enjoy the process of learning.
Don't expect to have a certain yield in a certain number of days.
You can't force your plants to pay your bills! But they might if you are nice to them.
Practice your techniques, keep current on your reading, and remember it's a living thing and variable.
If you want to eventually grow for profit, treat it as a real business.
Again, start small.
When you see your first profit, reinvest it into your 'business'.
That will guarantee you not necessarily success, because there is no guarantee of that, but you will never lose money throwing up your hands in disgust and saying to hell with it, and selling your gear for half what it's worth to someone else.