So I thought this thread might be of use to some fellow aussie or hot climate outdoor enthusiast's either now or in the future.
When I first started growing my own I had trouble finding much information specific for us Aussies, especially when it comes to potting mixes and nutrients easily obtained here. My climate is hot with most days in summer reaching around 38-41c, i have found this a little tricky to grow in but very doable with a few tips and tricks I have learned along the way. Just about everything I have learned has come from AFN and a little bit of trial and error.
I figured since I'm starting a new grow I might as well journal a plant from start to finish, show how i do it and the products I use. I live in a VERY remote location and every thing i use can be obtained from Ebay or bunnings. I have grown more than a couple of plants using these products and found you can grow your own meds quite cheap and easily with a little know how. I don't use any special gadgets or the latest and greatest tech, but it seems to work for me.
The first thing i would say to do when you want to start growing your own is read these couple of guides. http://autoflower.net/forums/thread...raining-yourself-to-be-a-better-grower.64226/
http://autoflower.net/forums/threads/maximizing-outdoor-autos-guide-to-growing-under-the-sun.56402/
The second thing i would say to do is read them again! Just about everything you need to know to have a successful first grow, and keep improving your grows is located in them. I would also head on over to the infirmary and familiarize yourself with basic plant deficiencies. It's good to be able to know what your girls telling you.
I'm not the greatest grower in the world and don't pretend to be. I figure this may help someone who is just starting avoid a little bit of the confusion when it comes to what to use that's easily attainable in Australia.
My climate
Living in central Queensland Australia my climate has its ups and downs like anywhere. October through to around March is usually hot hot and more hot, most days are pushing 40c of a day and around 20c of a night. Humidity can swing from 20% to 70%. We usually have little to no rain until around December each year after which the humidity rises. This has been my favored growing season with around 14 hours of daylight.
March through to late September is very mild. With the average day anywhere from 19-25 Celsius and nights dropping down to as little as 3c. This is a much easier climate for growing but with our shortest day being a little over 10 hours of light growing monster plants is difficult at best.
Seed basics
Ok let's talk a little bit about seeds. There's a couple of places I have ordered from with success. I have successfully received my beans from Bonza, Seedsman, cavemen seeds and mephisto. I prefer to be able to order directly from the breeder but this isn't always possible from some companies. I have had great success with mephisto recently, fast and discreet shipping!
There's a million different seed companies around all claiming to have the best genetics they are not all right. Have a look around here and see what is popular. Some I would recommend are Mephisto, Dutch passion, dinafem, sweet seeds just to name a few. Remember it's hard to grow a great plant with terrible genetics.
Seeds are the one thing i don't mind shelling out a few extra bucks for! Don't be stingy about spending cash for good quality seeds, that's the most important part of the grow!
I prefer the larger strains that companies have, but it's horses for courses. If you live in an urban setting and stealth is important smaller strains may be more suitable. Some people may advise you to only grow 1 strain at first...I say fuck that, who in their right mind wants to toke the same thing over and over? If you can run 3 plants, why not try 2 or 3 different varieties?
You certainly get a lot more intune with your ladies when trying to keep up with a couple of different varieties on the go at once! There's a great article about choosing the right strains for your conditions coming out. I will link it in the first post when @G.Leave finishes his master piece, it will answer all your questions about how to choose what's right for you and your garden! I will be running a few different strains this year and i will post in here with the strains I'm having good success with in my climate.
Remember this is just what I'm using, there's thousands of products available that I'm sure you could grow great meds with.
Below are the products i use.
You can get away with just biobizz grow and biobizz bloom and Epsom salts. I no longer use top max. I purchased all nutrients on Ebay except the seaweed (bunnings).
With just these items and a 10gal fabric pot you can grow your own meds with just sunshine and water required. I have grown a few plants without anything more than biobizz grow and bloom and Epsom salts they turned out just fine. I do find biobizz lacking a little bit in later stages of bloom and choose to use a bloom booster. I also like to keep some cal/mg on hand just in case. I also use some other amendments such as blood and bone and well composted horse and cow manure. You can add all sorts of things but to keep this guide simple I'll stick to the basics.
Getting started!
I usually mix about 20% perlite in my my seed raising mix and place in 1gal pots. This time due to high temperatures and starting in cups I have skipped the perlite to slow dryouts. Once you have prepared your pots/cups give them a nice watering until you see a little run off. It's now time to germ your seeds.
There's a million different ways to germ seeds this is mine. I place a seed in a glass of water for 8 hours or so, then plant a couple of millimeters deep in my cup or pot. After a couple of days your seedlings should emerge.
I like to put my plants indoors under lights for the first few weeks of a night and slowly introduce them them to the sun, if you can't do that don't panic you can grow without doing so. Be very careful introducing seedlings to intense sun though. I like to put them outdoors of an early morning when the sun is less intense and move to a shaded spot for the heat of the day., returning them to the sun in the late afternoon. It's usually a couple of weeks before they outgrow the seedling box, at which time it's time to put them into their final pots and outside for good. Myindoor setup is very simple, a plastic tote and a t5 light purchased from Ebay for around $80. I usually start in 1gal pots but have started this grow in a plastic cup with holes drilled for drainage.
A couple of ladies growing that have never been indoors.
Above is a pic of my seedling box Very basic but it does the job!
The above plants are showing classic signs of heat stress badly cannoed and wilting leaves. These are the same two plants shown above, previously healthy.
Beating the heat.
I have been presented with a tricky challenge where I live, the heat! I like to run a 10gal fabric pot lined with a couple of layers of cardboard around the edges. This seems to help insulate the pot a little and also help prevent dryouts. You will want to avoid letting your plants dry out, shit goes south quickly when this happens! I like to very the amount of perlite used in my mix depending upon which season I'm growing in. Hot months I reduce the amount of perlite used to around 10% where as in winter I will up the amount to around 30%. Adding water savings granials is also a good idea season depending.I Also place a thick layer of sugar cane mulch on top of my soil. Its also important to keep enough drainage and airflow to your root system, after all no roots no fruits.
Having good wet/dry cycles is very Important,that's how they feed. You don't want your girls sitting in soggy soil but you don't want them going dry either. When in heavy bloom I feed my girls daily, when in seedling stage its usually every other day.
If you can get away with it plant directly into the soil. This will really help avoid heat, again plenty of mulch is advised. Another good idea is digging a hole large enough to fit the bottom half of your pot, this gives you the ability to move your plants if you have to. Shade cloth or other fabric screening will be a great asset for you also depending upon your location and stealth needs. I have never used a shade house due to security issues but certainly wish I could.
I don't know the science of it but using a seaweed additive a couple times a week seems to help a little with heat stress. I'm also a fan of foliar feeding my girls with it. I foliar feed at around 50% reccomend dosage. If you're going to foliar feed make sure you do so late afternoon when the sun is disappearing, you may fry your leaves otherwise.
High heat and low humidity is the trickiest weather I find to grow in. This mucks with your girls nutrition uptake, usually if i see a deficiency problem of some kind it's in this kind of weather. Unfortunately I'm yet to have much of a solution for this problem. The only thing i can say is go back to the infirmary and learn some more about spotting def problems with your plants, and adjust your nutrients to try and meet your gals needs. It's in this weather I like to have cal/mg on hand.
Bugs
Ahhh these little fucks. This is the most dreaded part of a grow for me. The main ones i battle with are catterpillers, especially in the bloom phase. I check over my plants daily looking for any signs of them. Check the undersides of leaves, that's where the moth/butterflies like to lay their eggs! I ALWAYS keep BT on hand for them now! They can ruin your crop in a matter of days. If I find any eggs on my plants i usually spray with bt just on dark that day. Here the butterflies show up just after rain usually.
Other than the catterpillers the only other thing to cause me much grief is grasshoppers. There's not much I can do about the hopper's, after my plants get past their veg stage they don't seem as interested in them.
A brief summary of lessons Ive learned along the way.
You don't need a million dollar budget to grow your own top shelf meds, in fact you can probably get a good start for under $200 dollars (AUS), including lights, seeds, potting mix and nutes. Speed any extra dollars you have on the best genetics you can afford. As you can see I have a very basic set up but have managed to grow out some great herb, if I do say so myself. Start a journal and keep it up to date with as much info as you can, this will not only help you but others in the future.It takes time and practice to grow a great plant outdoors. Ive learnt more from fuck ups along the way than I have from my success. By keeping a record you can go back and see what you will need to tweak to improve your next grow. Try not to compare your outdoor grow to someone else's, as growing outdoors varies from location to location, their season might be a lot more forgiving than your current conditions or vice versa. Don't be scared to go against the grain, use products and strains that you find work for you, sometimes going against the mob pays off. Be content to just grow a plant from start to finish, with a little smoke at the end as a nice reward.
A couple of Mephisto S.O.D.K. A real pleasure to grow.
When I first started growing my own I had trouble finding much information specific for us Aussies, especially when it comes to potting mixes and nutrients easily obtained here. My climate is hot with most days in summer reaching around 38-41c, i have found this a little tricky to grow in but very doable with a few tips and tricks I have learned along the way. Just about everything I have learned has come from AFN and a little bit of trial and error.
I figured since I'm starting a new grow I might as well journal a plant from start to finish, show how i do it and the products I use. I live in a VERY remote location and every thing i use can be obtained from Ebay or bunnings. I have grown more than a couple of plants using these products and found you can grow your own meds quite cheap and easily with a little know how. I don't use any special gadgets or the latest and greatest tech, but it seems to work for me.
The first thing i would say to do when you want to start growing your own is read these couple of guides. http://autoflower.net/forums/thread...raining-yourself-to-be-a-better-grower.64226/
http://autoflower.net/forums/threads/maximizing-outdoor-autos-guide-to-growing-under-the-sun.56402/
The second thing i would say to do is read them again! Just about everything you need to know to have a successful first grow, and keep improving your grows is located in them. I would also head on over to the infirmary and familiarize yourself with basic plant deficiencies. It's good to be able to know what your girls telling you.
I'm not the greatest grower in the world and don't pretend to be. I figure this may help someone who is just starting avoid a little bit of the confusion when it comes to what to use that's easily attainable in Australia.
My climate
Living in central Queensland Australia my climate has its ups and downs like anywhere. October through to around March is usually hot hot and more hot, most days are pushing 40c of a day and around 20c of a night. Humidity can swing from 20% to 70%. We usually have little to no rain until around December each year after which the humidity rises. This has been my favored growing season with around 14 hours of daylight.
March through to late September is very mild. With the average day anywhere from 19-25 Celsius and nights dropping down to as little as 3c. This is a much easier climate for growing but with our shortest day being a little over 10 hours of light growing monster plants is difficult at best.
Seed basics
Ok let's talk a little bit about seeds. There's a couple of places I have ordered from with success. I have successfully received my beans from Bonza, Seedsman, cavemen seeds and mephisto. I prefer to be able to order directly from the breeder but this isn't always possible from some companies. I have had great success with mephisto recently, fast and discreet shipping!
There's a million different seed companies around all claiming to have the best genetics they are not all right. Have a look around here and see what is popular. Some I would recommend are Mephisto, Dutch passion, dinafem, sweet seeds just to name a few. Remember it's hard to grow a great plant with terrible genetics.
Seeds are the one thing i don't mind shelling out a few extra bucks for! Don't be stingy about spending cash for good quality seeds, that's the most important part of the grow!
I prefer the larger strains that companies have, but it's horses for courses. If you live in an urban setting and stealth is important smaller strains may be more suitable. Some people may advise you to only grow 1 strain at first...I say fuck that, who in their right mind wants to toke the same thing over and over? If you can run 3 plants, why not try 2 or 3 different varieties?
You certainly get a lot more intune with your ladies when trying to keep up with a couple of different varieties on the go at once! There's a great article about choosing the right strains for your conditions coming out. I will link it in the first post when @G.Leave finishes his master piece, it will answer all your questions about how to choose what's right for you and your garden! I will be running a few different strains this year and i will post in here with the strains I'm having good success with in my climate.
Remember this is just what I'm using, there's thousands of products available that I'm sure you could grow great meds with.
Below are the products i use.
You can get away with just biobizz grow and biobizz bloom and Epsom salts. I no longer use top max. I purchased all nutrients on Ebay except the seaweed (bunnings).
With just these items and a 10gal fabric pot you can grow your own meds with just sunshine and water required. I have grown a few plants without anything more than biobizz grow and bloom and Epsom salts they turned out just fine. I do find biobizz lacking a little bit in later stages of bloom and choose to use a bloom booster. I also like to keep some cal/mg on hand just in case. I also use some other amendments such as blood and bone and well composted horse and cow manure. You can add all sorts of things but to keep this guide simple I'll stick to the basics.
Getting started!
I usually mix about 20% perlite in my my seed raising mix and place in 1gal pots. This time due to high temperatures and starting in cups I have skipped the perlite to slow dryouts. Once you have prepared your pots/cups give them a nice watering until you see a little run off. It's now time to germ your seeds.
There's a million different ways to germ seeds this is mine. I place a seed in a glass of water for 8 hours or so, then plant a couple of millimeters deep in my cup or pot. After a couple of days your seedlings should emerge.
I like to put my plants indoors under lights for the first few weeks of a night and slowly introduce them them to the sun, if you can't do that don't panic you can grow without doing so. Be very careful introducing seedlings to intense sun though. I like to put them outdoors of an early morning when the sun is less intense and move to a shaded spot for the heat of the day., returning them to the sun in the late afternoon. It's usually a couple of weeks before they outgrow the seedling box, at which time it's time to put them into their final pots and outside for good. Myindoor setup is very simple, a plastic tote and a t5 light purchased from Ebay for around $80. I usually start in 1gal pots but have started this grow in a plastic cup with holes drilled for drainage.
A couple of ladies growing that have never been indoors.
Above is a pic of my seedling box Very basic but it does the job!
The above plants are showing classic signs of heat stress badly cannoed and wilting leaves. These are the same two plants shown above, previously healthy.
Beating the heat.
I have been presented with a tricky challenge where I live, the heat! I like to run a 10gal fabric pot lined with a couple of layers of cardboard around the edges. This seems to help insulate the pot a little and also help prevent dryouts. You will want to avoid letting your plants dry out, shit goes south quickly when this happens! I like to very the amount of perlite used in my mix depending upon which season I'm growing in. Hot months I reduce the amount of perlite used to around 10% where as in winter I will up the amount to around 30%. Adding water savings granials is also a good idea season depending.I Also place a thick layer of sugar cane mulch on top of my soil. Its also important to keep enough drainage and airflow to your root system, after all no roots no fruits.
Having good wet/dry cycles is very Important,that's how they feed. You don't want your girls sitting in soggy soil but you don't want them going dry either. When in heavy bloom I feed my girls daily, when in seedling stage its usually every other day.
If you can get away with it plant directly into the soil. This will really help avoid heat, again plenty of mulch is advised. Another good idea is digging a hole large enough to fit the bottom half of your pot, this gives you the ability to move your plants if you have to. Shade cloth or other fabric screening will be a great asset for you also depending upon your location and stealth needs. I have never used a shade house due to security issues but certainly wish I could.
I don't know the science of it but using a seaweed additive a couple times a week seems to help a little with heat stress. I'm also a fan of foliar feeding my girls with it. I foliar feed at around 50% reccomend dosage. If you're going to foliar feed make sure you do so late afternoon when the sun is disappearing, you may fry your leaves otherwise.
High heat and low humidity is the trickiest weather I find to grow in. This mucks with your girls nutrition uptake, usually if i see a deficiency problem of some kind it's in this kind of weather. Unfortunately I'm yet to have much of a solution for this problem. The only thing i can say is go back to the infirmary and learn some more about spotting def problems with your plants, and adjust your nutrients to try and meet your gals needs. It's in this weather I like to have cal/mg on hand.
Bugs
Ahhh these little fucks. This is the most dreaded part of a grow for me. The main ones i battle with are catterpillers, especially in the bloom phase. I check over my plants daily looking for any signs of them. Check the undersides of leaves, that's where the moth/butterflies like to lay their eggs! I ALWAYS keep BT on hand for them now! They can ruin your crop in a matter of days. If I find any eggs on my plants i usually spray with bt just on dark that day. Here the butterflies show up just after rain usually.
Other than the catterpillers the only other thing to cause me much grief is grasshoppers. There's not much I can do about the hopper's, after my plants get past their veg stage they don't seem as interested in them.
A brief summary of lessons Ive learned along the way.
You don't need a million dollar budget to grow your own top shelf meds, in fact you can probably get a good start for under $200 dollars (AUS), including lights, seeds, potting mix and nutes. Speed any extra dollars you have on the best genetics you can afford. As you can see I have a very basic set up but have managed to grow out some great herb, if I do say so myself. Start a journal and keep it up to date with as much info as you can, this will not only help you but others in the future.It takes time and practice to grow a great plant outdoors. Ive learnt more from fuck ups along the way than I have from my success. By keeping a record you can go back and see what you will need to tweak to improve your next grow. Try not to compare your outdoor grow to someone else's, as growing outdoors varies from location to location, their season might be a lot more forgiving than your current conditions or vice versa. Don't be scared to go against the grain, use products and strains that you find work for you, sometimes going against the mob pays off. Be content to just grow a plant from start to finish, with a little smoke at the end as a nice reward.
A couple of Mephisto S.O.D.K. A real pleasure to grow.
Last edited:
thanks for the input 
