If you're about to start your first grow or just want assistance in your current grow, please continue reading..
There's only so much that we can do and some of the things are in your control, realize that we can only offer advice and guidance and that everyone is human. Mistakes will be made..
Anyways, on to the meat and potatoes!
Read, Learn, Absorb!
This is the most important - so many new growers skip over this vital step. Read the basics, read some threads on here, read links to other sites and other literature. It's important to know as much as you possibly can before you start growing. While we're here to help we do expect you to at least know the general concept of growing.
Be realistic
Establish the purpose of your grow.. is it personal? Caregiver? Commercial? You need to decide this before you do anything else. This defines everything else in your grow. The strains you pick, the amount you spend on equipment and the amount of space you'll need.
Don't try to make a commercial grow in a small cabinet with a couple of CFLs, it's just not realistic. You need to align your equipment with your expectations. We can not help you to produce a two pound perpetual if all you have is one tent and one LED.
Think this through before you start, this will help to keep everything on track as you go. When you start your grow journal, make it clear what your expectations are from your grow.
Understand before you start growing that your budget also needs to align with your expectations. If you only have a couple of hundred dollars to spend then do not expect to produce much more than a small personal grow.
Start a Grow Journal!
I can't emphasize this enough - it's much, much easier to help and even diagnose issues when documentation is in place. This also provides a communal resource for other new users to learn from you and helps to strengthen the culture of helping new members.
Try to put all of your equipment in the first couple of posts of your journal. This is important!
At the bare minimum, list these things -
Space (Also what the area is, tent, closet, etc)
Light (Wattage, type)
Medium (soil, hydro, etc)
Nutrients (list them all!)
Specialty Equipment you've obtained (pH meter, ppm/tds meter, soil probe, etc)
Any other equipment you'd want to list could do no harm and probably even be helpful. At the bare minimum, list these items in your journal.
Update, Update, Update!
Try your best to keep the journal updated - it's hard to help solve issues or offer advice if you're only updating every 2-3 weeks.
Updates can be concerns about the plants health or just letting us know the plants look good, photos never hurt. If you're unable to post photos using AFN's photo system
http://www.imgur.com offers anonymous image hosting that you do NOT have to sign up for. You just upload the picture and get a link to it.
Ask if you're unsure AT ALL
It's much easier to offer direction than it is to fix an issue or figure out what went wrong. While we're great at doing both here at AFN, it's much easier if you post and check before doing something you're unsure about.
Unsure about transplanting? Feeding nutrients? What to do about a seed that hasn't sprouted? Possible pH issues?
ASK!! That's what we're here for - to help you get the most out of your first grow and get you on track to growing beautiful auto flowering plants!
Keep in mind, while it's tempting to private message those who help you - you're taking away from the communal resources by doing this.. others who read your grow journal will NOT see the help and the member who is helping you will probably have to provide the same information to another new grower who may have seen the information while reading your journal!
Never stop learning!
Even growers who have grown for decades learn new things. There's always new equipment, nutrients, techniques, strains coming out. While we grow a thousand year old plant it's only recently that there's become a booming business in marijuana cultivation.. so there's bound to be new stuff to learn or try out!
Always be open and receptive to opinions. Whether they're right or not is for you as a grower to decide.. but never shake off advice without at least reading it. If we're open to learning new things we're much more likely to be successful in what we're doing!
Thanks for being a part of THE Autoflower Network
Not only does your journal allow users to help you, it helps new users and helps to build the knowledge here at the site. It helps others to learn from your successes or mistakes as well. It's a huge contribution to the community and we're thankful you chose us to host the journal.
There's only so much that we can do and some of the things are in your control, realize that we can only offer advice and guidance and that everyone is human. Mistakes will be made..
Anyways, on to the meat and potatoes!
Read, Learn, Absorb!
This is the most important - so many new growers skip over this vital step. Read the basics, read some threads on here, read links to other sites and other literature. It's important to know as much as you possibly can before you start growing. While we're here to help we do expect you to at least know the general concept of growing.
Be realistic
Establish the purpose of your grow.. is it personal? Caregiver? Commercial? You need to decide this before you do anything else. This defines everything else in your grow. The strains you pick, the amount you spend on equipment and the amount of space you'll need.
Don't try to make a commercial grow in a small cabinet with a couple of CFLs, it's just not realistic. You need to align your equipment with your expectations. We can not help you to produce a two pound perpetual if all you have is one tent and one LED.
Think this through before you start, this will help to keep everything on track as you go. When you start your grow journal, make it clear what your expectations are from your grow.
Understand before you start growing that your budget also needs to align with your expectations. If you only have a couple of hundred dollars to spend then do not expect to produce much more than a small personal grow.
Start a Grow Journal!
I can't emphasize this enough - it's much, much easier to help and even diagnose issues when documentation is in place. This also provides a communal resource for other new users to learn from you and helps to strengthen the culture of helping new members.
Try to put all of your equipment in the first couple of posts of your journal. This is important!
At the bare minimum, list these things -
Space (Also what the area is, tent, closet, etc)
Light (Wattage, type)
Medium (soil, hydro, etc)
Nutrients (list them all!)
Specialty Equipment you've obtained (pH meter, ppm/tds meter, soil probe, etc)
Any other equipment you'd want to list could do no harm and probably even be helpful. At the bare minimum, list these items in your journal.
Update, Update, Update!
Try your best to keep the journal updated - it's hard to help solve issues or offer advice if you're only updating every 2-3 weeks.
Updates can be concerns about the plants health or just letting us know the plants look good, photos never hurt. If you're unable to post photos using AFN's photo system
http://www.imgur.com offers anonymous image hosting that you do NOT have to sign up for. You just upload the picture and get a link to it.
Ask if you're unsure AT ALL
It's much easier to offer direction than it is to fix an issue or figure out what went wrong. While we're great at doing both here at AFN, it's much easier if you post and check before doing something you're unsure about.
Unsure about transplanting? Feeding nutrients? What to do about a seed that hasn't sprouted? Possible pH issues?
ASK!! That's what we're here for - to help you get the most out of your first grow and get you on track to growing beautiful auto flowering plants!
Keep in mind, while it's tempting to private message those who help you - you're taking away from the communal resources by doing this.. others who read your grow journal will NOT see the help and the member who is helping you will probably have to provide the same information to another new grower who may have seen the information while reading your journal!
Never stop learning!
Even growers who have grown for decades learn new things. There's always new equipment, nutrients, techniques, strains coming out. While we grow a thousand year old plant it's only recently that there's become a booming business in marijuana cultivation.. so there's bound to be new stuff to learn or try out!
Always be open and receptive to opinions. Whether they're right or not is for you as a grower to decide.. but never shake off advice without at least reading it. If we're open to learning new things we're much more likely to be successful in what we're doing!
Thanks for being a part of THE Autoflower Network
Not only does your journal allow users to help you, it helps new users and helps to build the knowledge here at the site. It helps others to learn from your successes or mistakes as well. It's a huge contribution to the community and we're thankful you chose us to host the journal.
