Yo! That’s what we are all here for. First, I would pick one or the other of your photos or autos. They don’t mix well unless you are keeping autos in a veg tent to flower out also, which works but isn’t optimal. Also, autos can be a little unforgiving with newer growers because you need to have a flawless veg cycle to get a good harvest. Just a little stress can make them start to flower even if they’re only 15-20 days old. As far as the forum experience you are talking about, well, that’s just the way it goes in nearly every forum for any subject matter. You’re extremes you’re gonna run across are these whack-ass gardening elitists who aren’t good at anything else in their life so they just talk shit and offer little to no help, or, other people who are trying to make their garden into some kind of NASA experiment with every crazy bottled nutrient and soil amendments because they are convinced that getting another 5% gain in yield is possible. There are a million reasons to avoid these jokers. Then all you have to worry about is filtering out all the “bro science” out there. Here are some bullet points to help get you started that I would be happy to go into depth on if you want:
• super soils and top dressing is the lowest maintenance way of growing, but you have to make sure you have a good recipe and don’t overwater. Water culture and NFT/ Dutch Table grows are like driving a race car. You get quick results and huge yield fast but you have to be willing to keep up with a nutrient reservoir that will change properties almost daily. So troubleshooting needs to be a strong suit for you.
•go in your garden EVERY day. This is how you identify deficiencies or excesses your plants are trying to tell you about through it’s leaves. This is also how you stay ahead of pests and pathogens. Which leads me to...
• have a good IPM (integrated pest management) plan that you maintain daily. Bugs will find a way to creep in and so will fungus spores. If you use tobacco, wash your hands well and use gloves because a lot of folks are transferring tobacco mosaic virus to their plants from their cigarettes or some funk and bugs from their buddy’s grow room. Also properly quarantine any clones or plants you put in your garden. Treat every cut you get like it has spider mites, root aphids, and PM before it’s introduced to the rest of the gang
• make sure your grow environment is dialed in before you put your plants in there. It really sucks trying to figure out where you want your lights, how you’re gonna keep it cool/warm/humid/dry enough, or where in the house you want your tent when there are plants in it. Let your tent or grow room run for a week or a few days at least do you can address any issues that pop up.
• don’t go buying hundreds of dollars worth of exotic nutrient lines. If you’re not working with a commercial budget, don’t spend money like you are. Start with something basic like a simple two or three part combo and build off that as you see fit. A lot of people are growing killer bud with General Hydroponics or Epsoma organic bag nutes.
• Get good lights. “Blurple” LED lights are very inefficient, even more so than HPS. Your lights are the engine that provides the horsepower for your grow. Weak lights will give you small fluffy buds with little canopy penetration. Going through a 4-5 month process to grow a plant with baby buds that look like hair balls is very discouraging.
• Stick with good genetics. This may be the most important thing. No matter how good your lights are or how dialed in your environment is, if you have shit genetics, you’re gonna get a shit yield and smoke. Bag seeds are not reliable. The pollen that helped create those seeds came from somewhere. Either the plant is a hermi or some rogue male was too close and now you have a hybrid that will come out nothing like the bud you smoked.
Those are just a few of the basic fundamentals to start with. I can go on and on and I’m sure there will be someone who thinks everything I said is stupid. Just remember, do what works best for you and what you like doing in YOUR garden. Ultimately what you say goes and you get the last word. This is your new hobby this is supposed to be fun and it absolutely is once you find your niche with it.
thanks for the tip!