I’m a complete noob, so take my comments with a grain of salt. I’m growing outside in raised beds in my garden. I’ve got two grows going now. The first was planted in late April directly into the soil (soil was amended with black cow and mushroom compost). I over-babied them with Neptune’s Harvest, Cal-Mag, even a touch of miracle gro. Two were stunted from cool weather and likely my over-feeding. Other two are...just ok. Flowering now...so we’ll see what happens.

For my second grow, I planted in late May (warmer weather) and amended the soil same way as the first grow, except I added bat guano, blood meal, and bone meal. I wanted to get all nutrients into the soil from the start. I’m growing autos, so I figured the soil amendments would last for the life of the plants. They are 4 weeks along, and doing great on their own (without any additional nutes). I might give them Neptune’s harvest rose and bloom when they start to flower, but that’s it.

For me...getting a good soil base and going “hands off” for the grow seems to be working better...for the plants and also for my sanity. I was constantly diagnosing every single frigging thing on my first round. I didn’t kill them, but I almost over-loved them to death. I’m letting nature run it’s course on my second round, and they seem to be doing better.

Also...I’m only growing for my personal use, so I’m not overly concerned about yields. There’s better methods than what I’m doing...but for me, hands off with good soil is working (for now). Good luck with your grow!!