Experienced gardener seeking help with second grow

[BeardedMech]

TLDR; experienced with gardening but not cannabis. 1 grow under my belt.
Is a hoop house recommended?
10 gal fabric pots or something else?
What kind of fertilizer? Used fox farm in the past
What if any pruning/training is recommended for outdoor?
Is there any advice you would give to yourself when you first started outdoor?

EDIT: I’m located in the midwest US. Elivation around 800ft

Hello all! When I was a teen I frequented OG.com almost every day. I wanted to grow my own, tried and failed or got caught by my dad more than once. It actually lit the spark that became my favorite hobby. Gardening! Ive been keeping a veggie and herb garden for over a decade. Last summer I was given some clones and figured what the hell! I grew 4 plants successfully. 2 purple mangos, one crescendo and one raspberry boogie. It was the most rewarding time in my garden in years.

It was all done on a whim with only my gardening knowledge and what I could remember reading here back in the day. I didn’t have enough room left in my living soil raised beds for two of them. So two were in living soil and the other two were in 5-gallon fabric pots filled with whatever I had on hand. I had some pest problems but managed fine with predatory insects, BT, and PureCrop1. No PM issues but had some rot due to excessive rain and the odd caterpillar that managed to escape being squished by me almost every night. The living soil crescendo grew at least twice the size of the fabric pots.

So obviously I wanna do things right this time around. Bigger and better. I’ve always wanted a hoop house. I figure it will help keep the rain off and help minimize insects. I’ve never used a hoop house though and I’m not sure if growing in there the whole season would be ok. Would it get too hot? The ones I’m looking at have ventilation, maybe add a fan or two for circulation?

Pots? I used 5 gal fabric last time, I was thinking of upping it to 10. I plan to fill it with living soil since that’s what I know best. This was my first time using fabric pots. I used to plant directly in the ground but this is a new garden and that isn’t an option at the moment.

I used foxfarm grow big, Tiger Bloom, and Big Bloom per Foxfarm directions. Bembe was used during late flower because I ended up getting it for free. As far as I can tell it’s just diluted molasses. Other than that I use calmag. I learned later that water pH is important and started pH testing my feeding water about halfway through flowering. I remember reading here way back when that fox farm was a popular choice for growers. I typically never use bottled fertilizer. Usually natural compost and compost tea or fish emulsion but again it’s a new home and garden. I haven’t set up a new compost pile yet.

Any tips for pruning/training? I had them a bit crowded and was hard to train and prune. Do the same rules apply to outdoors? I’m familiar with things like SOG and SCROG, topping, and LST. I LST my tomatoes and prune them to one or two runners to maximize the yield-to-size ratio. Years of trial and error with the same breed of tomato I know what proper care can do not only for yield but the quality of the end product as well. I notice a lot of outdoor grows to look as if they just let the plant grow and trim overlapping leaves and unwanted suckers. Is any one method for outdoors better or worse?

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read or respond to this. I thought OG.com was gone for good. I’m glad to see it looks and feels exactly how I remember it here. I’m thrilled to finally be able to count myself as a member of this community

[ABushOfKush]

Will help a lot to share what latitude you’re at. And any detail on your local environment (near the coast, in the forest, on a mountain, etc.)

And the varieties you plan to grow.

[AppalachianBiscuits]

Also your legality. Do you need to minimize smells or hide plants?

If you are good with tomatoes, they are very similar. What kind of tomatoes are your usuals?

I grow weed in hydro. So, I’ll be next to useless as usual. I’m good for hype

[BeardedMech]

I’m in the midwest US. Elevation is around 800ft. The plants I grew last year set some seeds. They were from a friend who grows. I’m unsure of the breeder but I know the product is good as I’ve been consuming it for a couple years now. I can only grow 5 plants so I’m nervous about using the seeds. So I’ve been contemplating buying something new.

[ABushOfKush]

Do you know your first frost date in the fall? There are many varieties that finish just fine before frost. Hoophouses/greenhouses usually are only handy for extending the season for frost coverage. Though they do also have the ability to increase the quality of your flowers as they would be more protected from dust, wind, and rain, birdshit, etc. But greenhouses require a different kind of growing to outdoor, and the end product will come out slightly different as well because the environment is different to full sun.

Carbon filter can also be installed in a greenhouse to keep smells down.

[BeardedMech]

@AppalachianBiscuits

Also your legality. Do you need to minimize smells or hide plants?

It’s legal enough, lol. I’m more worried about it getting stolen than anything. Mitigating smell would be a plus. I could smell it down the street last year. I’d like to keep smell to a minimum out of respect to my neighbors.

@AppalachianBiscuits

If you are good with tomatoes, they are very similar. What kind of tomatoes are your usuals?

Ive grown Stripped Romans for the last few years. Super flavorful and meaty sans marzano type paste tomato. It makes great sauces and the best tomato sandwiches.

[AppalachianBiscuits]

Do you save the seeds from your tomatoes? Would you be interested in a tomato for weed seed trade with me?

[Emeraldgreen]

May I suggest that you do an auto run followed with a photo run. You can put them in a hoop house April 1 harvest in June

[BeardedMech]

@AppalachianBiscuits

Do you save the seeds from your tomatoes? Would you be interested in a tomato for weed seed trade with me?

I would absolutely be interested! I didn’t save any this last go but I should have enough to share. I’ll go through my seeds and see what’s what.

[BeardedMech]

@Emeraldgreen

May I suggest that you do an auto run followed with a photo run. You can put them in a hoop house April 1 harvest in June

That is a genius idea! I put clones(which were photos) in the garden in early or mid-June. That timing works out perfectly.

[BeardedMech]

Here’s some shots of what I did last season.

[Emeraldgreen]

Looks great
Go to the free seeds clones pollen thread. Sign up for the auto giveaway @420noob is doing.
June harvest bonus is most people aren’t looking for finished plants that early

[420noob]

Do you have good soil where you live? If so going in the ground can help with pests and such a little. Also can amend the hoke with living soil that way you get the best of both worlds. I live in desert and lots of people use hoop houses. Most have windows and doors that can be opened for air circulation usually.

[BeardedMech]

@420noob

Do you have good soil where you live?

It’s very clay heavy, not great really. And my yard tends to hold an inch or two of water after a rain right where my garden is gonna go. The amount of work and money to grade, amend, and install French drains or something similar is way higher than just using a raised bed or fabric pots. I was thinking of cutting the bottoms of the pots to allow root penetration into the ground.

[CapnCannabis]

Im going to say this for your Outdoor grows regardless of what Zone your in plan accordingly to Strain and Bud structure of where your at and be very mindful of your zone temps and how much grow season you have.If your in Grow zone 4 and 5 a 16 weeker African Sativa ain’t going to cut it.Faster flower times before the frost comes and even faster flower times before the Mold comes.More open bud structure for humid environments

[Emeraldgreen]

Another thing is what kind of high do you enjoy? Afghan indica type high or sativa type high?

[BeardedMech]

@Emeraldgreen

Another thing is what kind of high do you enjoy? Afghan indica type high or sativa type high

I enjoy it all really. I’ll smoke a sativa or dominant hybrid during the day. Indica before bed. Depends on the mood. I staggered my harvest so I ended up some that we’re about 50% amber or greater. That’s the sleepy time jars.

[way4out]

Alls I gotta say is they’re weeds
and less is more (on the fertilizer side)
ignorance is bliss
and
Jah live

[AppalachianBiscuits]

@BeardedMech

I was thinking of cutting the bottoms of the pots to allow root penetration into the ground

Imo, don’t do it. It allows grubs up in your pots, and god damn ants. I’m in SWVA/NWNC Piedmont area. We have a ton of microclimates because of the mountains, and I’m in a warm 7a. With the clay soil, too. I’m working on amending my native soil and it’s multiyear endeavor. Chickens, diacon radish, rabbit crap, all the composted leaves. This year I’m going to try and physically break it up, but I’m not holding my breath. It’s so rocky I’m irritated. I’m not throwing in the towel on in ground totally. I need hay and grain still too, that I can’t grow in a raised bed or container.

@BeardedMech

I’ll go through my seeds and see what’s what.

I’ll do the same. I read your post with things you like and we have similar tastes. I’ve been so fortunate to receive all kinds of seeds from OGers. Actually, THCeed sent me a metric load of Wreckage Master Bastard Kush. I have more of those then I could grow in a lifetime

[Magu]

Hey @BeardedMech . By looking at those plants you grew last year, I would say you know how to grow very well already. @AppalachianBiscuits . You may be good for hype but I cant believe you would ever be useless.