Some advice for a newbie please : )

Well, as the title suggests I am a newbie at growing, and plan to start growing this spring (roughly 25 seeds of First Girl ordered from amsterdammarijunaseeds.com). I have done quite a bit of research on growing in general, and growing outside. There seems to be a grey area with regards to fertilizers/nutrients and such, quite a bit of difference in opinion. I'm looking for advice on when exactly to start growing (live in NY), and the best germination method for growing outdoors. Also, specifically, I could really use some help on the whole nutrient and fertilizer thing, it can be overwhelming for a newbie. For any experienced growers, could you help me out with a sort of schedule of when to feed the plant and what to feed the plant. I would greatly appreciate it. Although I am a first time grower, I do not want to waste my time of course and want to do it the right way. Thanks in advance for any help!

if i was you i would get a cheap floro then start your plants indoors till theye like 2-6 inches or as tall as u feel they need to be then transplant outside as far as food i dont feed my outdoor plants just let them go naturally but when i plant them i dig good size hole and fill it in with miracle grow potting soil with self contained nutrients allready in it i water it every now and then but as long as there is no drought they seem to do fine naturally in the miracle grow. But i would germ. inside then take them outside hope i could help man ..

well tlisk, ferts are a lot about personal prefrence. basicly a good 20-20-20 fert is good for the veg stage, and a good bloom fert with less N and more P like 10-30-20 is good for the flowering phase. i tend to stay away from miracle grow because i and many others have had problems with it, but FUNKYRHINO seems to use it so ???. i prefer to use watter soliuable ferts and just feed when i water. if i'm planting a plot that i don't want to keep a close eye on i will use some time released 20-20-20 and some water holding gels. then around aug. i'll spread some bone meal down to boost the P. here in tenn i usually plant sometime in april outside using some peat pots and after the plants start to out grow their pots i'll plant them in the plot.

hope this helps

peace

hi tlisk....very good advice from the previous posters. i'll tell you what works for me and i live in northern michigan. looks like you got the right idea in selecting an early finishing strain. i get cow manure from a local farmer and dig my holes, then mix manure with the existing dirt from digging the hole. not fresh manure, mind you.....some dry stuff. i know some people may cringe at this method, but it has worked very well for me. good luck on your grow :) littleguitar

thanks a lot guys, you cleared a few things up for me :) if anyone would like to throw in their opinion feel free

peace