Starting outdoor grow this spring

[tortnjane]

Hey everyone. This is my first post and I have a lot of questions before I get started with my grow. Some have to do with procuring seeds, others are technical in nature.

I've narrowed down where I'm going to buy my seeds. Most likely they will be arriving to the US from the U.K. via Royal Mail. When it arrives onshore, what company actually delivers the seeds to your door? Is it handed off to the USPS, UPS, or FedEX? I don't really want some strange delivery company delivering my seeds, so it would be nice to know what to expect.

I'll be growing autoflowering seeds due to the fact my climate can be very warm and humid in the summer, and a little wet in the early fall near harvest time. I'm trying to reduce my time to harvest to avoid pests, and it would be nice to harvest before traditional strains for security reasons.

One of my main questions is the soil. I'll be planting in 10-15 gallon pots so I have control over nutrients. I understand autoflowers don't need much fertilizer, but I will have to use some. What happens if you get a good downpour and it flushes out the nutrients you just added? How do I keep nutrient levels constant in an outdoor environment? Does anyone have a recommendation on how to prepare the soil and what fertilizers to use outdoors? Are there good commercial brands of soil out there that will make this easier on me?

[Canuck147]

Lots of good questions. Have you ever heard of Ed Rosenthal? Get his book, it answers all those questions and more about growing outdoors and in depth.

[bobsakamoto]

in my orders to not the US, 1 was UK, the other spain (i think) and the other austria...in each case the seedbank used royal mail and in each case it was handed off to USPS.

[insomniaczzz]

Ditto to above post. All my seed orders from the UK come via Royal Mail and are handled by the USPS. Not an outdoor grower, but hopefully some will be along later in day to answer those questions.

One thing I will put out there for you. Can you find a way to provide them with some shelter in case of extreme bad weather?

[yamiacaveman]

My $.02 is not worth much, but yes USPS is usually the handoff from the Royal Mail.

For auto's -- Listen I am NOT sure but the 10 gallon pots seem like a lot of wasted soil --- Your Auto's are going to be flowering after 4 to 6 weeks and harvest in another 4 weeks?? Again I might be totally wrong on this but the auto are going to grow a meter maybe 2 meters high indoor and perhaps 2.5 meters outdoors., Seems to me 5 gallon pots would suffice.

Really, though, ask an auto and outdoor grower.

[tortnjane]

For auto's -- Listen I am NOT sure but the 10 gallon pots seem like a lot of wasted soil.

Maybe so. My thought is I wouldn't have to water as much, but if I can get by with it a smaller container that would be nice.

[Canuck147]

Use the smaller container.

[desertdan]

Hey tort, it's only Jan. and outdoor growers are just waking up and starting to stir. I have only tried auto clones outdoors so I can't be much help there. I like to use Happy Frog soil. I tried an experiment couple years ago. I put 1 plant in Happy Frog and gave no nutrients all season. That 1 plant grew very big and bushy with good yield but very few trichomes. The smoke was mediocre at best. Happy Frog grew a great plant but you need nutrients for good smoke. I can't recommend nutrients since where I grow is probably totally different from you. You should study up on some basic gardening for your climate and read from experts like Ed Rosenthal. For the beginner I would recommend the nutrients made for cannabis and when you get skilled you might want to mix your own to save money. I get started on my autos next month and my photos start in April. Other outdoor folks I think should be coming on soon as we get towards spring but so far very few outdoor folks have written in this forum. I think I have heard from 2 in U.S. Good Luck.

[LuckyAcres]

Hey tort, for cover I used a pop up canopy last summer. I had 3 girls outdoors and placed the canopy behind them so when rain was on the way or I wanted to keep morning dew out of my buds I'd slide the canopy over them. I use emerald harvest nutes in half and half coco coir and ocean forest soil but don't grow autos.

[Canuck147]

Bet you could use that same canopy to induce flowering. Or have you already?

[LuckyAcres]

The canopy came into play at the end of flowering when the nw weather went back to liquid. Didn't stop bud rot and mildew though...not growing outdoors again for a while...

[tortnjane]

Cool. Thanks for the help. This forum is way busier than I thought it would be!