You in the mountains or in the plains? the Nooga is a great place to grow, so if you are in that area.... you have great soil....
I didnt start a log this year... but what I did was start 4 indoors under 24 hour light in Feburary. I keept them topped and once it was about 11 and a half day and 12 and a half night, I put them outside in their buckets. They sexed for me, and started to bud up a little. I killed the three males, and planted the female. She grew all summer and if not yealding close to a half pound on her. And it smokes real nice. When it is damn fresh, she tastes sort of like cedar... She was planted near a cedar tree. When dry, she has a very smooth taste and does the job fine... I will be taking her down this weekend.
Now if you are north east of the Nooga... I hear the mountains are very different and you must tend to them most and use different nutrients.
Crack open the logs on growing.... and read some of the grow logs... allot of good info there on the generality of growing, and once it is time to grow ask for specific info on the area you are in.... Also, a trick that helped me.... I went to a local nursery and asked specific questions about the local soil and how best to grow tomatos, this helped allot compared to my gro last year. No tweaking to do next year... just growing....