Is it really that complicated?

[xmobotx]

When I first started not too long ago I had no idea how to grow a plant, let alone properly handle a screwdriver. I sucked at it but through trial, error, and ICMag I figured it out. Just takes a bit of dedication and work to learn the ins and outs. After that it's really simple. Like everything else. Usually when it doesn't come natural, hard work + follow-through = success.

Strong financial incentives can also help drive motivation (which usually means quicker success).

you have a fine looking garden too i must say

mine ran more along the $23 line - lol

 

[messn'n'gommin']

Right off the bat i'm going to say that I'm a total newbie at this but it just seems to me that it can't be that complicated to grow a weed. With the 10 different ways to grow (hydro, soil, drip-feeding, 100 different soil mixes, nutrients, etc...). Is it really that complicated? What I think is that it's easy to grow it, but to grow it well takes care. Am I in the ballpark?

IMHO, ya! A seed will grow on its own. I'm finding that it's juggling all the elements for the best grow environment that is the hard part.

Namaste

 

[jd4083]

no its really not expensive to grow good quality bud. you should not even say that!

agreed

I understand the point he and others are trying to make and I appreciate why they are doing so, but I don't think it's giving him the whole story. Yes, there are a lot of nuances when it comes to growing top shelf herb...if you make it so. As I mentioned before, some of the best pot I've ever had in my life was a combo of grower experience + great genetics + simple pseudo-organic soil mix and tap water, left to die on the plant.

So the basic answer is that it can be that complicated, but it doesn't have to be...

 

[vin marioni]

decent store bought soil, 7$
some perlite 5$
single fem seed of excellent qaulity $14
lime powder 10$
any lights of atleast 25-40 watts per square foot, floros, cfls, hids. leds, cmh, metal halides etc. they all work.
placing your hand under the light to see if its to hot or sitting in your room to see if its comfy to be in $free



plant seed in container, water when dry. feed when hungry, there u just grew the strongest pot in the world your first try. if u think growing weed is hard your a idiot period. if u cant grow great weed your first try your a moron who cant read n listen to some very basic rules. the pride on this forum of growers really embarreses me if anything, it makes me think weed makes people dumb. true if u look at the hobbiest nuts to the extreme who have gone organi hydro and add everything via plastic bottles n tap water back to there sterile medium that dirt already has in it then u begin to understand why some think its so difficult, u geet a breathable medium at the right ph, and a decent nute, any will work at a decent ph and your genetics are top shelf then your on your way to the best, its that simple

 

[bipotato]

That still comes out to over $23...

 

[smokeymacpot]

That still comes out to over $23...

i could do it for less than $23. infact i think i could do a whole year of growing for that. obviously you would need a free cab and already have seeds, but yeh it can be done. people here have even bought 150w hps's on sale/clearance for $5

its only as expensive as you choose it to be. hunt around and find bargins and you dont even have to use cfls

 

[bipotato]

Bah humbug!

 

[Lazyman]

i could do it for less than $23. infact i think i could do a whole year of growing for that. obviously you would need a free cab and already have seeds, but yeh it can be done. people here have even bought 150w hps's on sale/clearance for $5

its only as expensive as you choose it to be. hunt around and find bargins and you dont even have to use cfls

Says the outdoor grower who's never had an elevated power bill.

Indoor growing of more than 1 plants is fairly expensive. Growing large amounts of connoisseur-grade indoor bud every month is extremely expensive.

1 ounce of Floramite is $30. My lightbulbs are $100 each. Perhaps you don't mind buds with mildew, bugs and cat hair all over them, but I do, and so do my patients.

If your weed has to compete with a thousand other growers, it had better be top-notch or you're gonna have lots of shitty weed allll to yourself!

 

[vin marioni]

the only people who arent happy is cash croppers, i do respect people that grow great qaulity mass numbers, it takes a green thumb and probally a few fingers for that one but more so becuase your dealing with life which is wild then from the difficulty of growing,meaning that your dealing with more then a few, and the variables make it hard to get on point. to produce your own personal its practically free, and the qaulity is coming from genes and your not killing your plants with luv, not any magical growing skills that cant be learned in about 3 minutes.

 

[!!!]

Growing great weed is easy. It's mainly genetics (there's a post here where some dude grew dank bud using fluorescent lights and his urine) but most of the complicated stuff stems around efficiency. Getting the most grams per watt, and on how to maximize one's space.

Commercial growers will usually go the old fashioned way, lots of space, lots of dirt, and lots of light. No complications. There's a thread somewhere on the board dedicated to growing commercially.

But commercial grows aren't very efficient (in terms of space usage, and they don't really have to be!) It becomes a little more complex when you're trying to control heat and smell in a tiny 2x2x2 area, while providing as much light and canopy space as possible.

 

[bipotato]

Growing great weed is easy. It's mainly genetics (there's a post here where some dude grew dank bud using fluorescent lights and his urine) but most of the complicated stuff stems around efficiency. Getting the most grams per watt, and on how to maximize one's space.

Commercial growers will usually go the old fashioned way, lots of space, lots of dirt, and lots of light. No complications. There's a thread somewhere on the board dedicated to growing commercially.

But commercial grows aren't very efficient (in terms of space usage, and they don't really have to be!) It becomes a little more complex when you're trying to control heat and smell in a tiny 2x2x2 area, while providing as much light and canopy space as possible.

I call bullshit on almost everything you just said.

 

[ericcalif]

Ok - but if you are setting up a small non-commercial grow to supply you and some of your family and friends with quality bud you don't need to spend $3,000. Someone who just grows for themselves needs to harvest less than 1lb per year. A setup capable producing 1 lb (or .5 Kg for the Euros) of grade A bud can easily be constructed for much less than $3,000.

Pine

I have to agree. I started with a couple hundred. But then I didn't go all out with hydro-shop expensive equipment and nutes.
IMHO you can grow decent stuff with budget equipment, soil and nutes. The DIY threads have lots of good ideas. It's the top o the line smoke that takes talent, experience and money.

 

[HempAlchemist]

No matter how simple or complicated you make your grow show,the amount of research and planning you put into the show BEFORE you start will make the most difference. Far too many of us falling into the same senario; starting the plants 1st, then building the show around it. Worst mistake a noob can make. Take the time to figure out what your goals are and plan for them. what kinda space do I have? Do i need to build a Cab/tent/greenhouse? etc. There are too many questions to list, but the good news is most of them have been answered. Find an area u want to grow in and start looking at similar grows. IE if indoor look at the ppl doing cabs and outdoor look at ppl in a similar climate.

 

[Lazyman]

No matter how simple or complicated you make your grow show,the amount of research and planning you put into the show BEFORE you start will make the most difference. Far too many of us falling into the same senario; starting the plants 1st, then building the show around it. Worst mistake a noob can make. Take the time to figure out what your goals are and plan for them. what kinda space do I have? Do i need to build a Cab/tent/greenhouse? etc. There are too many questions to list, but the good news is most of them have been answered. Find an area u want to grow in and start looking at similar grows. IE if indoor look at the ppl doing cabs and outdoor look at ppl in a similar climate.

Gotta agree with that, shit I read 5 books and spent 6 months on OG before I bought a single thing. My very first grow was 2 1KW HPS and a 1KW MH on a circular light mover, with a 25-site Ebb and Grow with CO2 and AC. Veg was all flood trays and a portable ac, another 1500w of MH and a 30-site EZ Cloner, (JUNK.) Got up to about 1.5 a light in a year, not bad for a first timer. What a mess though.

Lots of research will save you money and make you more efficient, but you should strive for a higher GPW on every single grow in order to maximize your investment and the resources you consume (power, water, soil, nutes.) Waste as little as possible, grow as much as the room can hold!

 

[Xtensity]

Once you get all your basic supplies....

If growing indoors, have all your lights, fans, set up etc.....

Once you have all that stuff bought and set up, it can be practically free from that point, as side from power bill...

If you do seed runs for your own seeds every so often you wouldn't ever have to buy seeds again, unless you want better genetics.

The first run with all the equipment being bought will always be expensive, but after that it starts to pay for itself and you're practically getting it for free...

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

Right off the bat i'm going to say that I'm a total newbie at this but it just seems to me that it can't be that complicated to grow a weed. With the 10 different ways to grow (hydro, soil, drip-feeding, 100 different soil mixes, nutrients, etc...). Is it really that complicated? What I think is that it's easy to grow it, but to grow it well takes care. Am I in the ballpark?

I think you're totally in the ballpark. The way I look at it is, if you want to 'keep it simple', you'll probably do ok, but you should not expect stellar results from less effort. More effort and attention to details, coupled with a very important choice of genetics, you'll grow better product. I think the important thing to do is choose one of the methods of growing, do some serious research and then execute that method to the best of your ability. Take advice from people that you feel comfortable with and the ones that are showing their qualifications for giving advice by results of their own efforts. There are an awful lot of 'authorities' on this site that give out horrible advice. Latch on to a willing mentor and go with their advice.

mgk

 

[smokeymacpot]

Says the outdoor grower who's never had an elevated power bill.

Indoor growing of more than 1 plants is fairly expensive. Growing large amounts of connoisseur-grade indoor bud every month is extremely expensive.

1 ounce of Floramite is $30. My lightbulbs are $100 each. Perhaps you don't mind buds with mildew, bugs and cat hair all over them, but I do, and so do my patients.

If your weed has to compete with a thousand other growers, it had better be top-notch or you're gonna have lots of shitty weed allll to yourself!

i do outdoor because the sun is free and you can have massive plants.
if i wanted to grow a few ounces for myself in a cab with say upto 250w of light, it is not expensive. if i wanted to grow 100's oz under 16000w then sure its not going to be cheap. but is that what is being asked by the OP? no
where did all the mildew, bugs and cat hair come from? ive never had problems with any of that indoor OR outdoor.
the problem is people like you are biggots and closed minded and buttfuck the guy at the hydro store. its only as expensive as you make it and if your doing a personal grow, it can be done for nearly nothing. if you cant understand that, well your just stupid.

heres a cola from indoor, grown in cheap compost, with perlite and fed when needed with $2 high N houseplant food and $5 tomato food, under a 70w hps

nothing at all wrong with it, infact its pretty much perfect. one joint of it kept me battered for a good 4+hours, you know your weed is good when it does that.

 

[Sirus]

Speaking for myself... It is a lot harder than I thought. Like a few others I did months of reading and research, the more I read the more complicated things became. I'm not out for average results, I want the fire like cayenne!

Ordering the right genetics, only hard part was deciding from the many options...

I went soil because I don't have the time to mess with Hydro. But no miracle grow for me, so mixing the componets and letting the soil "cook" was more time spent than crackin a bag of MG.

I strive for the 70-80 temp range, growing indoors in a tent, this was a bit of a challenge and headache at first. There are still times when its a pain because I have to compensate for outside ambient with my particular grow, even though I'm inside it still makes a difference.

Gear was tough because I went top of the line, finding lowest prices online, ordering, watching the huge chunk outta my checking acct...all a pain in my ass

During the grow, I'm there every day, studying the ladies, looking for any signs of trouble. Mixing nutes, ph testing, run-off testing, checkin meters, all time consuming...

With that said, I am having the time of my life! The more time invested and spent with my ladies, the more I feel connected to them. Like with most things in life.. shit in = shit out. I have seen peeps have unbelivable results with "bare-bones" clf grows using a snorkle, an apple, and a blowtorch.. Although its possible its not as common..

Genetics, knowledge, and "love" seem to be the magic ingredients. Good luck with however you decide to go forth with this endeavor.

 

[vin marioni]

I call bullshit on almost everything you just said.

nope, your wrong, hes spot on. if u can grow dill, basil or a tomato u can grow erb. were lucky its so easy to grow. if u take excessive pride in growing your a tool period.

u can take miracle grow soil, through in a cannabis cup winning seed, and just feed it water its whole life, youll get a low yeild sure as the soil will be bankrupt of nutes by the harvest time but the potency will be exactly what the guy who spends 2000 on nutes will be every single time period, so growing strong dope takes being able to put dirt in a container and pour water on it not to much not to little. sound difficult anyone? all the guys with there ph pens n taking chunck out of therer coco medium to test for ppp make this ''weed'' way more glamourious then it should be. then again alot of you guys actually beleive theres more then a few varities of cannabis out there, most of the people in grow land would consider there to be what 300 varities of weed on the planet..lmfao. even the organni people with there 12 differant kinds of animal ass excretments and blood meals who get deficiencies make me laugh, k.i.s.s=keep it simple stupids..

id say blue light would be something to consider when growing top shelf quality, aside from that, any nutes will do, and so will most waters.
the industry is a huge scam imo, but most industries are, capitialism is the creator of the brand new second hand mentality so many luv to fund, so long as a new name of something old is catchy enough for there ears. i find that most ''dro'' to be dissapointing to be honest, flavourless mono tone high grown in a sterile medium never getting any uv light for the most part, missing countless micro nutrients, a good qaulity mexican alot of times gets me higher then stuff peeps pay 25 a gram for.

 

[bipotato]

No, I'm pretty sure you're an idiot.

If you'd like me to tear & shred your "points" apart one by one and make you look like an even bigger idiot, let me know when to pull the trigger.

But I thought I wasn't gonna be an asshole this time around.