Hey there AFN'ers. Very blessed to be here.
I am a longtime follower and fan of the threads here and am happy to finally muster up the confidence to join the yap-half of this site. Hope I can keep up. Residing currently in sunny So Cal but relocating in a few months elsewhere, Ive been legally prescribed for mmj use since 2012. Recreationally using since god knows when. I get mean arthritis in my hands and experience episodes of insomina most of the year. It sucks but I'm sure it could be a lot worse so I won't cry too hard about it.
I got prescribed because I was tired of buying overpriced, b/s baggies of "wonder weed" from the douchebag down the street; all to find now Im buying overpriced b/s baggies of "wonder weed" from the local clinics that vend for medicinal use. Have to admit I was disenchanted with the whole medical endeavor after being a member of ten or so clinics that were there one day and gone the next. The more money you spent, the shadier and pricier they got. And with no true "natural" or organic standards, like Colorado, you could get stuck with just about anything they can put in a jar.
I turned to growing . . .
I injured myself from working and had been bed ridden for a few months. I decided to buy and read a few online books about growing for personal use. I was intrigued with what I found. Here I was enjoying a plant that I had only knew the surface of its true capacity. It turned into a hobby, maybe an obsession; perhaps both. Either way my hands felt a new kind of burning desire to play with soil!
I stumbled upon AFN after googling "organic grow" and lurking to see whats up to date with the latests growing processes and tech from the older published books I had already read. After reading several comments of the taste of organic buds compared to chelated nutrient buds, I had to know for myself. I read sites like ICmag, Grasscity and a few others, but AFN stood out to me with one grow journal initially. AKNorthernlights, "Salmon Water and moose poop" journal. The process involved and the end product gave me my first stiffy from nug-porn. Way to go AK! Even bought the Apollo LED's and air-pots to match. Hydro seemed way too meticulous for a novice user Imo and my budget was already set and geared for an organic grow, so I just went with it.
After I purchased My photo seeds I dropped all of the sample freebies I got in one pot to experiment with my first grow. After popping 5 seeds in Sub cools super soil recipe, 2 remained. A Bubba Kush and a Super Lemon Haze strain left standing and boy were they vigorous. I then applied different stress techniques to each plant to experiment what the effects were. The SLH received just defol. The bubba, since she appeared stronger, received LST, defol, super cropping and lollipopping. For a first timer, I thought I did pretty good.
My harvest wasn't much; about 3.5 pint Kerr jars full. Didn't have a scale cuz it was all for me anyways, oh and my wife too.
What I experienced when I first smoked organic gave rise to why I now choose to grow organically for my use. Both strains weren't too pungent on the exterior but when you broke the bud open was the real sensation. The SLH smelled like lemon heads and upon the inhale, I felt nothing. No gag, no tightening of the jaw and the exhale tasted soft, like lemon smarties. The Bubba was phenomenal. I read on Leafly to get the descriptions to match to be sure I wasn't smoking something else by mishap; Bubba delivered right on point. From the sensation down to the flavor.
So I was lucky enough to pull off my first harvest with an organic grown indica and a sativa plant. The highs were very clean and clear too. Its like I had been smoking junk for the past four years and paying high dollar for it.
I needed to try autos now so I got some Crop King seeds. Please don't hate. I got crop king seeds as I was just trying to minimize shipping costs and potential risks with long transit of product. Too many lame stories of folks getting their orders jacked in transit, limited my ability to risk what I wasn't familiar with yet. They're based out of Canada, I believe. Got my order to find they stuffed the beans in a pen. Whereas my other photo order from Canada came in its original packaging. So I sucked it up and kept the seeds; just not going to order from them anymore. Why I choose auto flowers still is for the convenience of having a consistent lighting schedule, shorter growth cycle and the yields are comparable if you can do it right. My current CK NYSD Autos are at 4 feet tall just using super soil, a 315w CMH and a wee bit of CO2. And initially these autos were rep'd as having poor genetics. I figured if I had this great of a result with sub-standard genetics, what type of grows could I accomplish with better genetics and superior grow applications?
Sucks to look back at all the money wasted up to this point but Im on track now, a bit sharper and with a big push from the AFN fam, Im confident Ill only improve with time. I can appreciate the way the site has stayed up on the tech and the earnestness of the staff and the pros activity in here is beyond inspiring. The community support is great here too.
So thats my story to date. I am really excited to be here finally and Id like to contribute to the cause in any way I can, and of course, learn to score myself a better and tastier harvest in the process. Im eager and rippin' ready! Happy Holidays AFN!
-Murk
what a introduction I loved it great story I'd honestly love to follow ure thread and growing experience ure more than welcome to follow along my links are in my signature. peace
