Opinions Needed for growing outdoors

[LoveGrowing]

I will be attempting to grow outdoors this upcoming season.
Last year was the first year I have ever grown before and it was a success for the most part. Last year a friend helped me but this year I will be doing it solo. We previously used a grow light to start seedlings but this year I wont have a grow light and I don't intend to buy one.
My plan was to put the seeds in those growing blocks (can't think of what they are called) and just dig a hole for it after the last frost in the spring. I would of course mend the soil free from other roots and plants in the area. The blocks should absorb moisture and nutrients better for when there is a extended period of no rain. The planting spot is remote and I wouldn't be able to check on them that frequently which is why I will also not be using planting soil. The soil should have plenty of nutrients to get the plant past the seedling stage of growth. Last year I also didn't use potting soil or any planting medium and didnt have any problems.
What I am hoping is that since there will be no transplanting all the plants will grow nice and straight and be less likely to topple over due to any significant amount of wind. I realize that I will loose out on around 6 weeks or so of growing time not starting the seedlings indoors. There would also be no need to harden the plants off or any transplant shock so it might be only a loss of 4-5 weeks I'm thinking.
I would eventually use some sort of insecticide for the pests and some slow release nutrients.
Has anyone used slow release nutrients before? I tried it last year with a addition of stuff you mix in the water and the plants didnt mind. The main reason I want to use mostly slow release plant food is because water gets heavy and the location is so remote.

Any opinions about my plan of attack would be greatly appreciated.

LoveGrowing Reviewed by LoveGrowing on 12-16-2011. Opinions Needed for growing outdoors I will be attempting to grow outdoors this upcoming season. Last year was the first year I have ever grown before and it was a success for the most part. Last year a friend helped me but this year I will be doing it solo. We previously used a grow light to start seedlings but this year I wont have a grow light and I don't intend to buy one. My plan was to put the seeds in those growing blocks (can't think of what they are called) and just dig a hole for it after the last frost in the Rating: 5

[kingjustin]

Slow release nutes always make me cringe because it's hard to control when and how much gets released. I've grown outdoors successfully (indoors not so much), and had good results with burying a planter with the bottom cut off in the soil as well as just dropping seeds in the soil.

Are you referring to rockwool cubes or jiffy planter cubes or something?

[LoveGrowing]

Yes I was referring to the rockwool cubes or something similar.
When I used the slow release nutrients I just sprinkled them around the stalk base. I figured when it rains would be the only time the nutrients would be released in any significant amounts. I did have one plant that didn't grow much at all during the growth stage so I spread a lot of the pellets around the base covering the whole ground. I did it as more of a experiment because it was so late in the season and the plant wasnt going to amount to much anyways. About a month after I did that the plant grew 3 times its size real big and bushy. There were no signs of over fertilization just healthy green leaves. The only downsize was the plant never produced any decent buds that got dense. Long story short frost got to it early in the flowering I believe and the plant was kind of a mystery plant because it didn't looked like what it was supposed to be. It could have been a bad seed or maybe the nutrients didn't allow it to flower correctly or it just didnt have enough time idk.
Anyways that's my experience with slow release nutes. I think growing outdoors you can get away with over fert because it will disperse in the ground more easily. The stuff I used said it was good for tomatoes so it would be good for cannabis in my opinion.
So you said you have had good luck with just dropping seeds in the soil? What was your germination rate and what do you think about using the cubes?

[LoveGrowing]

Oh and the bottle for the nutrient pellets said that it would feed the plant for up to 5 or so months which is perfect for what I need. For it to last that long I would imagine that it would be really slow release. What do you use for insecticide?

[kingjustin]

About 1 out of every 4 germinated, you just have to be patient and make sure you are past the occasional frosts. I'm not sure about rockwool cubes- I wouldn't want the cube to get tipped over if it rained too hard, etc. And for insecticide I made up an organic one with some hot peppers and it worked wonders. Kept all the little forest creatures off too.

[LoveGrowing]

I wouldnt plant until the local farmers would because they plant when there is almost no chance of frost. I was thinking about just putting the seed in the block then burying it just under the soil. Now that I think of it some of the ones that were in cubes last year tipped over but I think it was mostly because we didnt bury them like they should have been. Would you say you have had better experience with using the planter with the bottom cut off than just seed dropping?

[LoveGrowing]

I think I'm just going to plant the seeds by hand and see what happens. You should only put the seeds half inch under the soil right?

[kingjustin]

Yes, as long as the soil isn't really loose. And I had much better success with the bottomless planter.

[LoveGrowing]

:thumbsup: I was thinking of even making a mini transportable greenhouse. Just something that the seedlings could start off in earlier in the spring. Not sure how I would go about that yet but I am looking into it. Should be cheaper than buying a grow light I'm thinking.