First Time Growing - ‘Grease Monkey’ - Questions

[MattC]

I have never grown before. Friend (very experienced) gave me a small ‘Grease Monkey’ plant already in rich, loamy soil. Have had it a few weeks with no real progress. Color is light and there are no branches except at the top. Added some Plant Tone about a week ago, no effect yet.
Is this normal for this strain?
Any thoughts/tips appreciated.

[Wayzee]

Looks maybe a little soggy to me man, Whats the drainage like at the bottom of your bucket? How often are you watering?

[MattC]

This all sounds very helpful. Can’t express my level of inexperience, however. Much of what you said (“nute related”, “cal and mag”, “perlite”) are very foreign to me. I know there is bat guano and a few other things in the soil. I have added Plant Tone (which it sounds like I shouldn’t have). If there are some specific additives I should seek out, I am all ears.
Thank you!

[Wayzee]

We all started there man. The perlite is like little pieces of foam that's added to the soil before planting, it improves drainage and aeration of the soil resulting in better root growth and more ability for the roots to access and absorb oxygen which makes for a healthier faster growing plant. Nute means nutrients or fertilizer, cal-mag is calcium and magnesium, very important for dope plants. If you type into the search bar on this forum what your looking for or visit the website there's better, more accurate info about all these things and how they will affect your plants.

[ductwizard]

what's up mattc, just a heads up, try and stay away from the bat crap. it makes plants grow o.k. but is not good for ppl. the little bit in the soil your plant came from won't hurt but if you use to much you could get sick or worse

[ductwizard]

you're not going to have branches all the way to the dirt like a xmas tree, looks about normal. the plant tone you're using is a general fertilizer, look for a weed specific fert.

[MattC]

New Question:
Advice has been great on here. Much obliged. Plant if growing great now.
My next question is, do I pinch off these little sprouts (in pic) at the base of branches that have grown off the main stem? I know to do this for tomato plants, but not sure for weed plants.

[Wayzee]

Depends on how your going to grow/train the plant... ?

[ductwizard]

i say read everything you can b-4 you start getting fancy. not just the forum but all the main site articles and tutorials. i've read everyone at least twice and still see new shit everytime i go thru it.

[elaineverse]

ductwizard, solid advice on reading up before getting too hands-on, those GWE articles are serious deep dives. I've been doing the same lately and agree, there's a ton of stuff you miss the first time through. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know yet.

[ductwizard]

i think i learn more by accident, like i'll do something and then think about 10 other ways i could've done it better

[MattC]

A ton of great advice! Grateful for that!
Definitely in “learning mode” and just trying to absorb knowledge while hopefully having a semi-successful first grow. Not shooting for perfection quite yet, lol.
Also discovered a locally owned nursery near me has a while cannabis-specific section and some really knowledgeable staff. Seems like they identified a growth opportunity (no pun intended) for their business.