Top 10 Mistakes New Growers Make

1. Don't Over water
Over watering kills cannabis plants. Water once the top few inches of the soil dry out.
Hydroponics is harder to over water because rockwool has such excellent drainage properties. As long as the rockwool cubes are not sitting in liquid it is virtually impossible to over water a hydroponic setup. A hydroponic setup could either be watered constantly as the drip method, or once to three times a day as in the flood and drain method.

2. Don't Tell People

Why? They will only be jealous. People love to feel important and that is why they will tell other people; because others will listen to them.
Keep it to yourself.

3. Touch/kill Germinating Seeds

Please have some patience. It sometimes takes 10 days for a seed to sprout. The paper towel method is not recommended because you must handle the seeds when transferring them from the paper towel to your growing medium.

4. Grow seeds from seeded cannabis

One of the greatest disappointments known to the growing man.
90% of what the final product will be is in the seed's genetics and has little to do with the environment the plant is grown in.
Many get their hands on the seed and think they have a gold mine. They will probably grow something like this: hermaphrodites, tall late flowering females coupled with early flowering males. This is because the only pollen that could have produced the seed was from a hermaphrodite or a very stunted and late flowering male the grower did not notice. Unless you are prepared for possible disappointment don't use "unknown" seeds. This is why people buy seeds from seedbanks.

5. Don't Over fertilize.

Fertilize after first 2 spiked leaves appear follow the label. DON'T FERTILIZE EVERY TIME YOU WATER!!!
Start with 25% and work your way up!
Leach the plants with lots of pure water every 2-4 weeks. Organic growing is recommended. Its tastes better and burns much better.
If the leaves suddenly twist or fold under, Leach and Spray with pure water for several days!

6. Don't Under fertilize

Under fertilizing is less common but it happens. If you are one of those people that likes to give the plant just enough nutrients make sure you use a organic soil mixture with blood meal and bone meal or some slow release fertilizer with micro nutrients.

7. Don't Start with Clones. (I personally don't agree with this, I use clones and cuttings)

Start with seeds. Bugs are a pain, So are plant diseases. Many growers are able to grow indoors without pest problems for years. If they do get pests they are probably not enjoying the change from their usual diet to cannabis resin! But as soon as you come in contact with others grow material (cuttings) it is almost guaranteed that its from a long time grower that has many different pests all eating cannabis and bug spray (and surviving) for hundreds of generations!... Think about it.

8. Don't Start Too Early Inside or Outdoors

For several reasons! If you are starting outdoors June 1 is perfect. But if I start earlier I will get bigger buds right? Probably Wrong!
Its strange but usually true. ill explain. Plants started in early spring will get big but they will take significantly longer to start flowering. This is because at the peak vegetative period they sense the light cycles getting longer and longer, until June 21. But they don't realize that its time to flower yet. Finally in the middle of August the plant says "HEY" "time to flower already" and it produces buds in August and September or later they will be tall as trees but thinner buds due to the fact that the sun is not as strong in September. Now if the ganja plants were put out later, as soon as they get a foot off the ground they say "what's going on" I am just in early veggie and the light hours aren't getting longer in fact SHORTER" Then the plants go crazy and since the sun is so bright in July and August you get amazing 6 foot trees that are heavier than the plants started in April!!! in addition to finishing earlier the late started plants are not nearly as noticeable.

Indoors is the same for different reasons. The light cannot penetrate more than a foot or two. So flower when plants are a foot tall. If you wait longer because you want bigger yields, you will get smaller yields and wait longer for them.

9. Don't Provide A Bad Environment.

Always provide air circulation and fresh air even during the night cycle is fine. All the air indoors should be replaced every 5-10 minutes.
Humidity between 30-70% temp aim for around 75-85' Even seedlings need a gentle fan to strengthen the stems.

10. Don't Harvest Too Early.

I know its hard. You see the buds and resin forming at a rapid rate. The buds are potent and you feel tempted to chop em down! The only problem is that another 25% of the weight will form in 2 more weeks. Wait until the plants have totally stopped growing and the white pistils are at least 50-75% brown.
*NOTE: Outdoors if security is a factor make your own call on when to sacrifice the fields. Also take buds continuously in case of thieves.

You forgot the trichomes..!:p

They need to be half clouded half amber!:)

The plants are at their highest THC at that time, if you keep waiting, the THC will only lower..!

Zandor says so.. (or something similar!:o:p)

and for the outdoor grows dont leave trails to your crop.

CLONES FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you.

eh, gotta hand it to you, Thanks to this list here, it help me correct some of the mistakes i was doing LoL Thanks

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Originally Posted by Fabolous

eh, gotta hand it to you, Thanks to this list here, it help me correct some of the mistakes i was doing LoL Thanks

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Well hell it's my job!!!

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Originally Posted by Trichome Creator

DON'T FERTILIZE EVERY TIME YOU WATER!!!

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just wondering trich, is this the case even if my organic bloom fert says to use with every watering?

Some plants probably can be fed with every watering. This practice is not necessary with cannabis.
Your bottle of plant food that tells you to feed with everywatering is depending on sales to stay in business. Observe your plants. Pay attention to them. Learn about them. Once you have done these things your plants will tell you every thing they need. You just need to know how to listen to them.
Good luck and thanks for your contributions. Cannabis farmers are a growing breed.
dai*ma :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by amstron

just wondering trich, is this the case even if my organic bloom fert says to use with every watering?

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Don't fertilize every watering!!! ;)

:thumbsup: thanks for that trich im ni my last 2 weeks and im getting ready for my next grow your help set me right :thumbsup:

TC I have 2 common mistakes that are not on your list dude.

11. Listing to Ed Rosenthal
12. Believing what he say's
13. Following Mel Franks advice.

Those are all big mistakes imo.

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Originally Posted by scobbie

:thumbsup: thanks for that trich im ni my last 2 weeks and im getting ready for my next grow your help set me right :thumbsup:

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No problem! It's my job. :)

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Originally Posted by Zandor

TC I have 2 common mistakes that are not on your list dude.

11. Listing to Ed Rosenthal
12. Believing what he say's
13. Following Mel Franks advice.

Those are all big mistakes imo.

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Touche! Ed does'nt know shit. Listen to Soma,DJ Short or my fave Greg Green.

TC is this a typo?

"Indoors is the same for different reasons. The light cannot penetrate more than a foot or two. So flower when plants are a foot tall. If you wait longer because you want bigger yields, you will get smaller yields and wait longer for them."

I have two plants under 450W of CFL in a small closet.
They are in vegatative state doing very well (hope they are females :)
They were born on Nov 10th 2005. Grown from seed in soil.
They are each 20 inches tall. Not getting much taller but branching nicely.
I was going to give them at least another month in vegatative growth before changing light cycle. Are you saying I should go ahead and change already?
Sure would be nice to find out if they are female since as far as I understand you cant tell until you start them flowering.

Whats your suggestion flower now or wait longer? I was hoping to get them to three feet at least.

Thanks

With powerful HID lights you can let then grow big. With fluros it just doesn't have enough power to penetrate very far. If you let your plants grow larger with fluros your not going to have much bud on the bottoms of the plant. Did you know plants double or in some cases triple their size after you start to flower. If you flower now those plants could end up around 2 feet. I'm doubting they will triple in your case because of fluros but bet your ass they will double in height.

I typed it that way because alot of new growers use fluros and that was the reason it was typed that way. All those growers out there using 1000 Watt HID Lights don't need me to tell them what to do. Their already growing buds the size of their legs. LOL

Result of a good fluro harvest image. I won't show you any 1000 watt pics because you'll be pissed. :D

Thanks TC
The CFLs work for me I am space and light limited
Having a sun in the closet would just be a bit to much for the wife.
I will start flowering ASAP.
Sounds like a good plan anyway if I flower for 8 weeks that will be a total of 4 months from start date. That will allow for 3 crops of 2 plants per crop per year. Good enough for me and myself and that is all I want :)
Damn if they could all just be females :)
Can I clone of the current ones after they start flowering since I will then know male or female and then push the clone back into vegatative?

Cfl's are ok if your money tight.