PATIENCE my newbie friends

PATIENCE; What it is, and , what it AINT'

Patience is not a virtue; you heard me, patience is NOT a virtue. Patience, in our little (or big) hobby is no more a virtue than a ph or ppm meter, or nutes. Patience IS a tool, a tool that must be kept sharp and used often.

Let's consider a newbies journey into growing.

The newbie starts by talking with his friends about the price of local weed and it's nasty taste. The newbie then considers growing (of course the newbie sees Mr. Freedom's post in security and TELL'S NO ONE). The newbies first step is to type "cannabis" in a search engine, where he finds his way to multiple cannabis related boards. This is were the newbie first starts to use his Patience tool. There are a lot of things to read, what seeds to pick and why, what medium to use (hydro or soil) and their pro's and con's, what space to use (closet, homemade grow box, or a whole basement). And, what about lights? There are fluros, mh, hps, 250's, 430's, 1000's and, this leads to another search for cheap lights on a certain auction site that we all know of.

At this point the newbies Patience tool is becoming dull. He has spent, perhaps a month, doing nothing but reading about all of the great harvest's by other board memebers, he has sifted through endless grow advice, he has searched out the best seeds, he has found cheap lights, he has a fully remodeled basement just for growing (leave me alone about 2x8 closests; this is my story). The newbie's Patience tool is very dull, so dull in fact that, after reading all availble grow advice he is now MORE CONFUSED THAN EVER.

So, with this dull tool the newbie just starts posting question after question, NOT because the newbie is stupid, quite the contrary, the newbie is VERY well informed at this point, he has just allowed his Patience tool to get dull and now he needs IMMEDIATE ANSWERS.

At this point I suggest that the newbie turn off his internet connection; really; do it; NOW. Turn off your internet and open wordpad, now, write down all that you have learned up to this point. Write the reasons that you are going to use 5 gallon pails to grow your plants and what you expect of this type of grow, include the problems that might be expected in a hydro grow. Write down what kind of lights you are going to be using and the reasons, for example, 430 hps sun agro lighting system; you are using this because you can't afford to buy a 1000 watter and the spectrum of the agro lends itself to both veg and flower. Write what you have learned about different types and strains of cannabis(I would suggest NOT including the outrageous prices some seed companys charge, this will only dull your patience again).

At the end of this, the newbie will have sharpened his Patience tool again. Once the newbie has a sharp tool again, he is now willing to search out the basic questions he has for himself, this will lead to an even sharper tool. As the newbie finds confidence in his new found knowledge of growing aspects, he quickly becomes adept at burrowing through the BS and finding that which is relevant.

It is important to keep the Patience tool sharp; considering the endless research the newbie has engaged in and the endless decision making processes, he has yet to have any of his equipment shipped to him yet. This is where the patience tool is, yet again, dulled. It may help the newbie to remember that the U.S. postal service is about the best delivery system in the world and IT STILL SUCKSSSS!!!! I tell the newbie, don't BE patient, EXCERSICE your patience, feel it getting sharper, stronger and more adept.

The final step's and the greatest challenge,to the newbies, Patience tool is the GROW. After excersicing his patience for at least 2 months ( researching HOW to grow, Ways to grow, lights to use, seeds to use, fans, buckets, nutes, ph meters etc, etc, etc.) the newbie is in for the most disasterous time for his Patience tool.

Growing, from a seed to a full harvest, may take TWICE AS LONG as all of the previous research and waiting for equipment to arrive. After the long wait the newbie leaves his Patience tool right next to the boxes his equipment came in, no longer being considered as important, maybe even being considered irrelevant now, the newbie forgets his MOST IMPORTANT TOOL.

Again the newbie should be encouraged to pick up his Patience tool and sharpen it; it will leave him in good stead as his grow progresses.

So, to end my endless diatribe, newbies, take note, your best tool is PATIENCE. Because, no matter what you have done to get ready, up to this point, patience is the key to growing fine cannabis.

Have no fear, my newbie friends, we have, each one of us (experienced growers) been through the scary process of keeping our Patience tool sharp and we are willing to help you keep your's sharp as well. We understand the impatience that can grip ones heart when, upon seeing a wilted leaf on our beautiful new seedling, we panic and instead of USING OUR PATIENCE tool, we run to the grow board and quickly ask what is wrong.

I am not suggesting that newbies don't post questions, quite the contrary, post away, we will answer all. But, before you post, use your Patience tool, calm down, check the things that, we know, that you already know; the ph, the water, the temps, the ppm's, air flow.

When you do this you are benefiting yourself, you have searched the most relevant reasons for your wilted leaf, you have more information at this point and can give this information to us so we can help you the first time, and YOU HAVE SHARPENED YOUR MOST IMPORTANT TOOL;
YOUR PATIENCE.

Many, many moons ago...before I ever decided to take on this enlightening and fulfilling hobby, I found myself reading EVERY book ever published on the topic. Even several that were out-of-print. Before I ever even purchased my first light, or any of the other necessities needed to have a quasi-successful grow, I purchased every piece of literature on the topic that I could find. (The internet wasn't flourishing then quite like it is now...books were still the best way to go.)

So, after reading countless books - many full of great advice, others full of so-so advice - I thought I was ready to tackle my first organic grow. I made all sorts of silly calculations based on the varying degrees of information I had obtained from my books, and jumped headlong into what I thought was going to be a fruitful & productive first grow. Boy, was I ever wrong...

Right off the bat, I ended up killing some seedlings by either over-watering, or letting them dry out completely. Those that did survive my initial experimentation were notably stunted, and took quite a while to resume normal growth. Then, I realized that a 1000W HPS in a closet, with little to no ventilation, wasn't very suitable for strong growth either. Took me a while to figure out what I needed to do, but I finally got it, and had air flowing freely in and out of the closet. And just when I thought I was back on track, and well on my way to a bountiful harvest, I ended up killing several more of my plants by over-fertilizing them! Needless to say, I was distraught. So, I had one or two plants left - obviously the strongest of all that I had started - and after successfully getting them to grow a few feet tall, I induced flowering with great exhilaration.

A few weeks later, I discovered that they were both males...:cursing:

I knew where it all went wrong, but still concluded that this was simply too difficult to do correctly. So I resorted back to buying crappy quality buds from sketchy & non-reliable black market dealers...confident in the fact that this was my only option. But, after wasting countless dollars & much time haggling with shady dealers, I decided to give growing another shot. I knew that nothing I could have possibly grown could have been worse than the garbage that I was buying, so I saw little incentive to keep going the route I was going.

I still made some mistakes on my second grow, but at least managed to harvest a small quantity of skimpy (but potent) buds. Now that I realized it was possible to grow my own medicine, I decided to get serious about it. I discovered ways to make the best of my situation, and constantly refined everything I "knew" about growing. Every time I started a new grow, I prepared myself for a learning experience...and knew that I would be learning many new things along the way. Even now, after having many successful grows under my belt, I'm still learning something new every time I start a new crop.

So, while patience is certainly a tool that new growers should utilize and "sharpen" frequently, the same can be said about perseverance and humility. I know a lot more now than I did back when I started, and have a method that never fails to produce a great harvest. Still, I'm not afraid to ask for help when I need it, and am always willing to try new methods that have worked for others.

nah jump in head first , and record every thing so u know where fucked up

Experience is something you don't have...until right after you need it.......:i feel stupid:

Organic Rasta, That was a pretty good read. I hope many this to heart.

I'm right where you said confused and need to step back.
I need a mentor to gain knowledge wisdom and experience from.
Id like it to be stinkyattic since we live in the same part of the country give or take 150 miles lol

I wish someone had told me these things a few years ago. Thank you Organic Rasta and Mr Clandestine. This was not just for the newbie. Even some of us with four notches on our spade, still need to be reminded.:hippy:

that story is so beautiful im going to tell it to my future children as a bed time story.

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Originally Posted by hippiemommaida

Thank you Organic Rasta and Mr Clandestine.

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It was a pain to force myself to remember all the screw-ups I used to make, but it was fun to write! Thanks for reading. :jointsmile: