Anything you wished you'd known?

[Buzzy Budy]

Hi everyone. I'm looking to start my first grow, and am currently in the "collecting supplies" stage. I thought I'd ask the forum goers if there was anything they'd wished they'd known, or payed better attention to, in the collecting equipment stage or first grow.

Also I since I'm looking to do a hydro setup I thought I'd mention: Those 10 gallon sterilite totes are discontinued. I believe I found the last 3 in my whole county. At an auto shop no less. Lucky no one looks for them there. Though one of them is kinda beat up, I think I'll use that one for storage.

I believe the blue ones are all you can find now, and you have to buy them in bulk online. I did briefly see a single gray 10 gallon tote on amazon, for about an hour, for $55. No, I didn't buy that one.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Welcome Buzzy, and good luck with your first grow.
I think the very best advice is to follow all the advice on GWE.

I assure you I'm being forthright and not sycophantic. Not a single word of advice from Nebula or Sirius has let me down, but when I ignored them and did my own thing I ended up regretting it.

They said buy seeds not clones -- I bought clones and got a super nasty spider mite infestation on my first grow.
They recommended flora trio, I went with Canna -- Canna is not bad at all, just convoluted and overly expensive.

Oh and I think the most important advice on their site (that I'm still trying to follow correctly) is Nebula's manifolding technique.

[Wannabebotanist23]

Yeah i agreee, buy seeds and grow your own clones to prevent infestations.

but the one thing i wished i knew more about before a bought anything was lights, before i even knew gwe was a thing all i went off on was what my friends said, and by friends i meant my dealers but story for another time lol. my first grow was semi-successful i got about 3 8ths from one small plant and after finding gwe i basically had to toss the lights i had because they were no good and after i got new lights ive been blessed with super growth.

[South Sierra Dude]

I knew nothing and did basically everything wrong. Wouldn't change a thing.

[Pankace]

1) Don't go cheap on equipment.

2) If you're growing indoor, make sure your flower tent or space is higher than 5'.

3) Buy quality seeds. Feminized is the way to go.

4) Don't tell anyone you know (except for us cuz we are awesome) that you are growing.

5) Research. Acquire knowledge in every aspect you can before executing said knowledge.

6) If you have a grow plan, stick to it. Don't change it half way through your grow.

These are lessons learned the hard way for me. Number 4 was learned back in my growin shrooms days. You can call anyone a friend but things like this will invite trouble with anyone.

[Royal Nugs]

Be humble, be patient, be passionate.

Learn as much as you can, apply common sense and knowledge to your unique conditions.

[South Sierra Dude]

1) Don't go cheap on equipment.

This is a great list. I did all of this and had a great first grow. Number one belongs at number one.

[Flockshot]

This is not for gathering equipment stage, but I wish I had paid more attention to how I can control the environment (temperature and humidity) during the grow. Patience Patience Paatience

[OzBud]

I wish I'd known that growing was so addictive!

[rockman]

Couldn't say it better Oz! 🌸

[South Sierra Dude]

Me too, I'd have started sooner

[morgan55]

Use an intake filter. And make it larger than the exhaust, ie a 6" intake filter if you have a 4" exhaust. And apply diatomaceous earth as a preventative measure.

[Buzzy Budy]

Thanks for the responses. I'm keeping notes here.

[rockman]

If you want to experiment with growing your own way, be ready for any manner of surprises! 🌿