noob, question and comments

ok, this is my first grow. she (hopefully) is one month old, grown from bagseed. ive LST'd and was wondering if I shoould FIM or top her. I was thinking not to, since this is my first grow, but i wanted to see what you guys think. btw, i am growing her in soil, with no nutes (first time, this is by choice).

I also just wanted to say that this is like a part time job. I am not even using any nutrients, just water and miracle grow plant spikes. I realize that since i am not using nutes that my yield may not be as big as your monsterous plants, but thats ok. Ive realized that this is prolly a good idea, since i have already killed 3 prior to starting my present plant. ive burnt, overwatered, and even accidentally stuck one in the ceiling fan, oops lol. so for those wanting to start growing, just have patience, be careful and take your time. most importantly, have fun and good luck!

The best suggestion that anyone can give you is to not do anything too complicated until you get the first one thru flowering. On top of that since you have done all the mistakes one could prior to flower, a simple question to ask yourself is "How many mistakes will i make in flowering and do i want to run the risk of killing my 4th plant being that i am now halfway thru the process?" Keeping mind that the more you do to the plant the more you will have to pay attention to it during flowering to ensure that you have a good product.... always remember for the first time K.I.S.S. (keep is stupid simple or keep it simple stupid). Basically it comes down to the risk you want to take of making a mistake and effecting your final harvest or potential for not having any at all. Just my opinion so take it for what its worth.

I would say forget any LSTing, FIMing, or any of the other more advanced techniques that are used for higher yields. Like you said yourself, you don't care that your yield is going to be less than perfect, so there is no reason to use any of the aforementioned growing strategies (which are all aimed at increasing yield). If you want to experiment, go ahead, but just keep in mind if you screw up again, its back to square 1. Whatever you do, I would say you probably want to leave the apical (top) growing tip alone for sure. Experimenting is a lot safer on side growing tips...

And on the nutes - MG plant spikes *are* nutes. They aren't "nutes" in the sense that they aren't specifically formulated hydro nutes, but in the end the bottom line is nutes = ferts = plant spikes. Thats not bad though, because you have to have *something* feeding them. If plant spikes work for you, go for it :). Word of caution, however - solid spikes can very easily cause burns since they are unpredictable and you can't control their release as nearly as well as nutes in a diluent (water) which are applied periodically... Good Luck!