I hope you have already begun your seasonal pot germination operations. Mine are between 4 inches and knee high. I like to pinch the new growth tip after the 4th set of real leaves is out. This is to encourage that plant to bush up. As the seed grown plant kicks out its’ 6th or 7th true leaves it’ll be ready for a program of light deprivation. As they approach being knee high it’s time to “sex them”. I put my biggest plants into either the dark shed or the dark garage. I work it out so that these plants get 18 or 19 hours of darkness and 5 or 6 hours of daylight. I put them into the shed at 3 or 4 in the afternoon; then I take them out at 9am and put them into the sunlight. I’ve been watering the containers thoroughly every other day. I have a slop bucket (a fertilizer mix bucket) in which I already have poured in beer, Pepsi and sugar and small thimble full of amonia. Soon I’ll be using a commercial fertilizer once a week, too.

As the new germinates get taller, I’ve up-potted them into a larger container, one in which I can grow the plant throughout the sexing stage. Usually this means using a #5 nursery container. I put about 2 inches of (last year’s) dry leaves in the bottom to cover the drain holes.

I use a soil mixture of:

1. last year’s soil minus the stems and roots
2. some store bought bags of soil
3. a cube of store bought peat moss
4. homemade compost

I like all of the mealy bugs and worms in the compost, so I still try to evaporate out the chlorine that the city puts in our water. After all the plants are “sexed”, then I’ll up-pot them (the girls) into either a very large container or into the ground. At that point I’ll add a cup of fine dolomite dust and mix it in thoroughly. Plant them deep…up to the cotyledon. There’s not a whole lot you can do other than keep your plants watered and in at least 5 to 6 hours of direct sunlight every day, the more sunlight the better. I like to water each plants’ container completely…and then let it dry-out. I want to use less water (than in the past) so I’ll force the roots to grow deep because for the time being, I’m only going to water every other day. If you can drive the chlorine out of your water containers or holding tanks as you oxygenate that water, you’ll be way ahead. A fish-tank oxygenator works well.

Now, I want to mention what some of your biggest dangers are…

1. squirrels

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2. thieves
3. weather
4. and yes, still the Police

As far as the weather goes…a rudimentary structure or clothes line with tarps  hung  over any kind of a temporary tent like structure can help prevent damage from high winds, strong rainfall or hail. Some companies make and sell aluminum structures in which to park a pick-up truck or boat. These small quonset huts work effectively to prevent hail or weather damage. Two people can quickly throw a tarp up over the structure and save your crop.

One minor point: my sense is that marijuana plants don’t like to touch a wall or another plants’ leaves, so give them a lot of room.

Also, mix your fertilizer in a 5 gallon bucket, on the day you use it. I have a plastic 5 gallon bucket that I use for any leftover beer or soda pop (with sugar-no diet). On fertilizer day I use that “slop bucket” in which to mix my brew. There are 4 or 5 companies that make and sell tomato-vegetable garden powdered fertilizer. At this time, a high nitrogen fertilizer is what we need, since our plants are in vegetative stage, above ground growth of stems, limbs and leaves.

The 1st stage is germination and roots. Now we are into the 2nd stage…vegetation. Sure, the plants are growing deeper roots now, but it is the bushy, above ground plant growth that we want to encourage now.

As of now (the end of May), none of my plants is sexed. I hope that two weeks from now, I’ll be able to positively identify the males, so I can throw them away. As soon as I can get the number of plants down to just 12 females, the better.

There still are some noodle-heads out here who believe that it is illegal to grow pot outdoors. When the good people of Colorado voted in #20, the “medical marijuana” code, Article 43.3 of Title 12 of the CRS went into effect on July, 1, 2010. And now that we have voted in Amendment #64, we are legally allowed to grow 6 plants per adult, outside. You need to heed the “Plain View Doctrine”. You need to grow in a fenced yard with gates locked. Personal growing and use under #64 are detailed in sections 3(b), 3(c) and 3(d). Section 3(e) gives us the right to assist another adult to grow a crop. This “don’t grow it in Plain View Doctrine is a hassle but is do-able. #64, section 2(o) says that all of this “shall not be unreasonable impracticable or prohibitive”. My sense is that, legally, all Colorado adults are able to grow 6 female pot plants outdoors, somewhere in Colorado. My sense is that the state government is trying to micro-manage what I do with my vegetable garden. My sense is that over the next 12 or 13 years, most of Europe will have legalized marijuana use and cultivation and most of North America and Central America will have legal use, too. I believe that use of marijuana is of a medical nature. We all must learn to do more with less…grow our own foods and medicines. I’ve seen what pharmaceuticals drugs do to people. My sense is that organically grown, home grown marijuana is safer than pills or patches from big pharma corporations.