Thinking of giving up

[Mercy1959]

Hi, everyone. First post here as a new member. Last year I was an avid reader of this forum, though not so much this year.

I'll try to be brief. I've only attempted growing autos. I do not have the budget to buy more than about a half dozen seeds at a time. Out of 18 to 20 seeds attempted in last 18 months I have successfully grown 1 plant only to completion. And the end result was amazing.

I only grow outdoors in my hot coastal climate. And I try to be stealthy to the point wife and kids do not know. And here is my conclusion. I am a 2nd rate gardener at best but my god these plants are the most difficult I have encountered! A few have not germed, or germed and got leggy and broke from keeping in the shade, so next attempt I moved to the sun which fried the seedling. Those that made it further have been plucked out by birds, landed on and broken by birds. Its not that I do not try to adjust, but it is always something else. Last years 1 successful plant, looking back, was a bona fide miracle.

That plant came from seed from a vendor in Canada; was happy with them until US customs started pilfering my order. In fairness the company shipped a replacement but outcome repeated itself. So I switched to a domestic company, no complaints as I think the problems are with me. 1 seed left that I am holding for late summer/fall but not hopeful.

I dont want recommendations on the advantages of indoor growing, for me not an option. I grow plenty of plants outside but the cannabis seems to be marked for death.

Thanks if youve read this far. Looking more for advice on guerilla growing in my own back yard.

Stay safe.

Mercy1959

 

[derek420colorado]

Hi, everyone. First post here as a new member. Last year I was an avid reader of this forum, though not so much this year.

I'll try to be brief. I've only attempted growing autos. I do not have the budget to buy more than about a half dozen seeds at a time. Out of 18 to 20 seeds attempted in last 18 months I have successfully grown 1 plant only to completion. And the end result was amazing.

I only grow outdoors in my hot coastal climate. And I try to be stealthy to the point wife and kids do not know. And here is my conclusion. I am a 2nd rate gardener at best but my god these plants are the most difficult I have encountered! A few have not germed, or germed and got leggy and broke from keeping in the shade, so next attempt I moved to the sun which fried the seedling. Those that made it further have been plucked out by birds, landed on and broken by birds. Its not that I do not try to adjust, but it is always something else. Last years 1 successful plant, looking back, was a bona fide miracle.

That plant came from seed from a vendor in Canada; was happy with them until US customs started pilfering my order. In fairness the company shipped a replacement but outcome repeated itself. So I switched to a domestic company, no complaints as I think the problems are with me. 1 seed left that I am holding for late summer/fall but not hopeful.

I dont want recommendations on the advantages of indoor growing, for me not an option. I grow plenty of plants outside but the cannabis seems to be marked for death.

Thanks if youve read this far. Looking more for advice on guerilla growing in my own back yard.

Stay safe.

Mercy1959

That puts you in a tough spot. But it can be done. Don’t give up, if you have a problem with birds can you put some sort of low profile cage or wire around it? They won’t really grow that well in shade but If you are ok with getting just a few grams of bud then I’d say yeah go for the shade and keep em tied down to the wire. Also look into strains that are smaller. Like a 24carat or auto blues from Mephisto. Ideally you would want to put it in a place that gets at least a few hours of direct light per day. Hope this helps

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

This is the daily life battle a farmer lives his entire life - as long as he is a farmer! Each time you have failed you learned something - failure sucks. Do something different. You cannot control the environment you must allow it to control you. Plant your seed when nature will give you the most favorable conditions. Spring after all danger of frost has past. Be creative about keeping the birds away for the first two weeks. I just put an old window screen over my lettuce seeds with a couple of bricks to hold it up off the plants. Then there is everything else mother nature can and will throw your way. I grow my vegetables and flowers organically and an acceptable loss is 20% of the "Garden". You might get a bumper crop of tomatoes but your okra all dies in a bug attack. When you only have one plant in the garden well that is a statistical duck! Get the most seed you can for the least amount of money then plant 4 seeds for every one plant you want to keep to get your odds up a bit.

 

[Arthur]

If you have to hide it from those most important to you, go do something else.

 

[420Forever]

If you have to hide it from those most important to you, go do something else.

oh boy, arthur'z back! how growz it growbro-? (ok, that sounded sillee now that i say it back to meself fuck it, it'z me b-day & all, and me more than a bit buzzzzzzed atm ,so... ) ppp

 

[Arthur]

oh boy, arthur'z back! how growz it growbro-? (ok, that sounded sillee now that i say it back to meself fuck it, it'z me b-day & all... ) ppp

Hey brother! Things be boppin' along! Have my first round of my own autos going, and F2 seeds maturing on the plants out back.

 

[Mercy1959]

That puts you in a tough spot. But it can be done. Don’t give up, if you have a problem with birds can you put some sort of low profile cage or wire around it? They won’t really grow that well in shade but If you are ok with getting just a few grams of bud then I’d say yeah go for the shade and keep em tied down to the wire. Also look into strains that are smaller. Like a 24carat or auto blues from Mephisto. Ideally you would want to put it in a place that gets at least a few hours of direct light per day. Hope this helps

Hi, Derek. When the seedlings are germing in a 3 inch pot I keep them inside a 5 gal. bucket, half full of dirt, with a bbq grate on top. When they get big enough I transplant into the bucket. Plants that survive that far eventually hit the grate. I have contemplated a wire cage but since then I havent had any plants make it that far. Maybe its the genetics of one supplier vs. another that has led to my decline in results when I should be getting thru a learning curve not bending the curve down.

Im not so much concerned with stealth as why TF the more I try to adapt my methods, the worse they get. Too much sun, not enough sun, some seeds germ, some dont.

But thanks for the recommendations, Ill check them out. Id rather grow a little bud than none at all, and hopefully increase from there. Sincerely, thank you.

 

[Mercy1959]

This is the daily life battle a farmer lives his entire life - as long as he is a farmer! Each time you have failed you learned something - failure sucks. Do something different. You cannot control the environment you must allow it to control you. Plant your seed when nature will give you the most favorable conditions. Spring after all danger of frost has past. Be creative about keeping the birds away for the first two weeks. I just put an old window screen over my lettuce seeds with a couple of bricks to hold it up off the plants. Then there is everything else mother nature can and will throw your way. I grow my vegetables and flowers organically and an acceptable loss is 20% of the "Garden". You might get a bumper crop of tomatoes but your okra all dies in a bug attack. When you only have one plant in the garden well that is a statistical duck! Get the most seed you can for the least amount of money then plant 4 seeds for every one plant you want to keep to get your odds up a bit.

Hey, Man O'Green. You're right, I am placing too big a bet on one seed at a time. Its a numbers game like everything else, especially in an environment that calls the shots. Though your 20% losses are more like 95% for me. But I bet if I plant 4:1 even I cant mess that up. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Olderfart]

Sorry to hear about your frustration. Outdoors can be a challenge - it sent me indoors last winter. Even though I got a few ounces of bud, I got pretty fed up with the mold, slugs, and gnats. I have dealt, I think, with the slugs and knats this summer, but mold conditions outdoors are tough to control.

Anyway, good luck if you take it on again.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@Shiva's Mistress has done a lot of "gorilla" grows and maybe she has a pointer or two?