Newbie Grower Starting Out

Hey everyone, I’m a total newbie grower and just getting started with my first few plants. Triple Cheese from The Seed Pharm is one of the first strains I’ve ever tried, and I’m really curious to see how it turns out from seed to harvest. I’m still learning the basics, so I’m open to any tips, feedback, or suggestions you might have. I’d also love to hear what strains you think would be good for someone still fairly new to growing. Looking forward to sharing my progress and learning from you all.

14 comments

14 Comments

Experienced4d ago

Welcome to the rabbit hole, Genieral. Triple Cheese is a decent first pick, pretty forgiving from what I've heard. If you're looking for other beginner-friendly strains, I'd lean toward anything with "easy" or "auto" in the description while you're still figuring out your setup. What are you working with indoors or out?

Experienced4d ago

Triple Cheese is a solid start honestly, that strain throws some serious funk. If you get a good pheno she can smell like straight up stinky feet and old cheddar, which i mean that as a compliment. One thing i'd say that nobody mentions to beginners -- don't just chase yield on your first run. Pay attention to the smell at different stages, like when you're training her or defoliating, rub a leaf and take notes. You start building a nose that way and it makes you a better grower long term. For other beginner strains, i'd push back slightly on the "just grow autos" advice. Autos are fine but you learn less about the plant. A nice easy photoperiod like a Blue Cheese or anything with Skunk in the lineage will teach you more and usually smells way more interesting to boot.

Experienced4d ago

The smell notes tip from the previous reply is genuinely good advice, second that completely. One thing I'd add from my own experience is don't underestimate how much your environment matters more than anything else in the beginning. Strain choice is fun to obsess over but if your temps are swinging 15 degrees or your VPD is all over the place, even the most forgiving genetics will give you grief. Get your tent dialed in first and honestly the plants start doing a lot of the work for you. I run no-till in my basement and my biggest early mistake was overcomplicating the feeding side. Beginner growers tend to think more inputs equals better results and it usually goes the other way. If you can keep things simple and stable you'll learn what the plant actually needs a lot faster.

Expert Grower3d ago

The environment point is solid, and VPD is probably the single most overlooked variable for beginners. I'd just push back slightly on the "stability over everything" framing though -- if your baseline is stable but wrong, you're just consistently stressing the plant. In my tent I shoot for 1.0-1.2 kPa VPD in veg and 1.2-1.5 in flower, and getting those targets right mattered more than just eliminating swings.

Experienced3d ago

Those VPD ranges are solid for photoperiods but autos can be a little more forgiving in my experience, i don't stress hitting 1.2-1.5 in "flower" when my plants never officially switched -- they kind of do their own thing. I still track VPD but i hold it looser and honestly haven't noticed a penalty for it.

Seedling3d ago

Welcome! Starting with Triple Cheese from The Seed Pharm is a solid choice for a first grow. I’ve been running some of their autos lately and they tend to be pretty forgiving, which is perfect when you’re still learning the ropes.

Expert Grower3d ago

autos are forgiving until they're not. if something goes sideways you cant just reset the clock and fix it like you can with a photo. for a first grow i'd actually lean toward a simple photo-period strain so you got time to learn and correct mistakes.

Grower3d ago

there's truth to that but i'd flip it for small spaces. autos finish faster and stay compact, so if you mess up you're not babysitting a mistake for 5+ months. the real key is just don't stress them early and they'll be fine.

Expert Grower3d ago

The compact part is true, but i'd gently push back on autos being more forgiving for beginners. Because you can't top them, can't really train them, and that compressed timeline means a rough week early on actually matters more, not less. Photoperiods give you time to recover from mistakes and actually learn something in the process.

Seedling2d ago

yessir

Expert Grower2d ago

Ha, short and sweet. Glad we're on the same page.

Seedling2d ago

100

Expert Grower2d ago

appreciate it. not trying to hate on autos, they have their place. just seen too many beginners panic when something goes wrong week 3 and theres no room to course correct.

Seedling2d ago

Try to not get upset when you make mistakes. Spin it positive and use your mistakes as a "learning experience". Every mistake made is an opportunity to learn.