Hey everyone!

We were talking about the community in a team meeting today, and it made me wonder how each of us actually ended up here.
My own story with GWJ started long before I worked here.
I’m a social worker, and years ago someone came to me asking about access to medical cannabis. I knew absolutely nothing about it And because at the time there wasn’t really access where I live, I ended up learning how to grow.
That first experience completely changed my relationship with the plant. I started studying, kept growing, and somewhere around 2020 I found Grow with Jane and started using the app to keep track of my own grows.
A few years later, after an accident made me rethink my professional path, a friend sent me a job opening for a Community Manager at GWJ. I remember thinking, “Wait, I know these people. I use this app.”
I applied, and in 2023 I ended up here.
And somehow it felt like finding my people too. A bunch of plant nerds who like learning, sharing what we know, and taking care of the spaces we build together. So my job eventually became taking care of this community and trying to keep it a place where growers can help each other, learn together and celebrate each other’s wins.
Anyway… all of this made me realize that I know almost nothing about your path here.
How did you find GWJ? What came first for you: the app, the forum, something else? Did someone show it to you? Did you discover different parts of GWJ years apart?
And is GWJ something you use mostly on your own, or are there other growers around you using it too?
I really want to hear your stories now

Hi

In the middle of this summer, I read up a bit online about growing until I ended up on the GWJ site. Here I immediately noticed that there are cool people here who enjoy growing & also give you useful tips. I had also downloaded the GWJ app 2 days earlier, but only realized after about 3 days that these two things belong together. In any case, I’m happy to be part of the community & contribute my part!

GooD​GroW

Magic

I found my way here through the log app. I found the log app after I had been growing a year or 2. I wanted a way to compare grows to see what works and what didn’t. So glad I picked that app to track with because that led me here. Once I was here for a week or so it just felt like a familiar face like a family. So I dug my roots in and haven’t left yet. You guys are stuck with me forever

what a great story @Eli I can imagine the good vibes of the meeting.
I don’t work in anything similar to be honest, I’ve always had a passion for plants, flowers, trees, vegetables since I was a child, from a very young age at 8 or 9 years old I already had my garden, and I didn’t know cannabis until I was 17 or 18, I come from Uruguay, and when I was little consuming marijuana was seen terribly, so I never tried it, and nowadays it’s one of the few countries where it’s legal, luckily.
now I’m almost pushing 40, I always smoke at night before going to sleep, weekends, etc., I love smoking, being calm, I suffer from stress and it relaxes me like nothing else, relaxed from this chaotic and crazy world, these are my moments of peace, and mixing it with my passion which is growing, is the best for me taking care of little plants is a hobby, a passion, that every year I like and fall in love with even more.
I found the community through google, as I love to experiment, try products, see how they behave with techniques, substrates, fertilizers, it’s fun for me, I love the community because first, on my first day everyone gave me a warm and amazing welcome, then everyone helped me, I learned so much reading them and watching them, everyone always wants to collaborate and everyone with respect, the moderators also continuously show that the community has great ongoing support from their end, then I started getting to know the regular users more, seeing the incredible experience they have, the accumulated growlogs, which made me want to participate more and be part of this, they really make you feel close to the community.
I apply a lot of what I see and recently (very very recently) I started taking making my own growlogs seriously with the app in an organized and decent way, instead of taking separate notes, I tried and loved the application, how easy it is to use, how well maintained it is, you can do everything there, I’m really delighted with the app and I subscribed for a year to support a community that has taught me so much I’m very grateful to be part of it and share what I do and see what others do!

Hahaha so you found the app and the forum almost at the same time, without realizing they were connected
I’m glad you figured it out and ended up here with us. Happy growing, Magic!

So you came looking for a way to compare your grows and somehow ended up finding a whole family instead I love that. I remember you were here when I first got here. And yes, at this point I think we’re definitely stuck with each other forever

You’ve clearly been a plant person your whole life
I really like that you found the community first, started learning from everyone here, and only later began using the app seriously for your own Growlogs. It’s such a different path from some of the others in this thread.
And I’m really glad you felt so welcomed from the beginning. Now you’re part of that same community welcoming and helping others too

Plop,

great story @Eli, you really seem in your element here, like a fish in water!
As for me, I discovered the site then the app thanks to Sensi seed, via a contest email with their seeds as a gift. Great discovery!

I’ve been growing for over fifteen years and I used to be on other forums a lot (Cw, fcf, etc.), but I have the pleasure of discovering an international forum with you, and it’s without a doubt the start of a great adventure together

For me it was more of a coincidence, I downloaded an app for tracking. When I was done with the grow I realized that I could only track the data back three weeks. Totally disappointed, I deleted it and kept searching. Then this app caught my eye, downloaded, tested, and it even has a community where you can exchange ideas with like-minded people from everywhere. Up to that point, that was more of a dream, especially since it’s only recently become legal here. I’ve been growing for 30 years now and I never would have dreamed that I wouldn’t have to do it in secret anymore and could also connect with so many different people. It’s fantastic how many different methods and views people have here, and that everyone interacts with each other on equal footing. It’s a great community that everyone benefits from. You’re always learning new approaches or meeting new people. Keep it up

15+ years growing and already being part of other forums… and now finding your way into an international community too That’s really nice.

And it’s funny that you got here through a newsletter We only started sending them not that long ago, so it makes me really happy to know one actually reached someone who was interested.

I’m really glad you found us, and I hope you enjoy this new adventure here with everyone

30 years is a long time to have something you love be something you also have to keep hidden. I can only imagine how strange it must feel now to be able to grow openly, talk about it, compare methods and share all that experience with people from all over the world.

What you said about everyone meeting each other as equals really stayed with me too. After so many years of having to keep this part of your life private, finding a place where you can just talk plants with people who get it must mean something different.

And you’ve become a big part of that here too. You’re always welcoming people, helping out and sharing what you know. I’m really glad that random search for a better tracking app brought you here

For me it was pure…
Pure coincidence… I googled Mary Jane and then somehow ended up here and boom, I was here and think it’s awesome…

Before I found my way here, I used another grow app. It did have an AI feature, but that was about all.

Looking for an alternative, I noticed the GWJ app and thought to myself that it was definitely worth a try.

Before that, I was active in a few other forums. Naturally, also in a well-known Swiss forum​ (most of you probably know which one I mean​)

The people there were really unpleasant, everyone considered themselves God’s gift to the grower community. Discussions always escalated there.

Here it’s completely different, I haven’t read a harsh word here yet. Not even once​

Even the veterans here are down-to-earth and don’t float half a meter above the ground.

What I particularly like is the translation into other languages, which overcomes many language barriers.

In the beginning, it was a bit half-baked; on the PC, some words were missing in the posts.

But that got better and better over time.

I am really glad to be a part of this community.

Best regards to everyone

I joined GWJ in 2016. @gaz is an old friend, and back then we were working together as a freelance dev duo. He told me about this cool project he was doing with some friends and said they needed some help with the development. Pretty quickly I joined as a co-founder. We launched in 2017, and well, the rest is history. GWJ has been a big part of my life and my career as a developer.

I love hearing all your stories. What a great community we have!

Im here because my pen didn’t want to work one evening a few years ago. I was trying to write something down in my old log book when I was doing something one day and I couldn’t find a pen that would work, that made me pull the phone out and start writing there. After sitting down later I thought i wonder if there is an actual app or something for this these days and that began the search. After trying a couple of others and not being happy with them i found grow with jane and it became one of the most used tools in my garden. A little while later i was away on holidays and missing my plants so I checked out the social side just to be able to see some plants, i quickly saw that i could learn something and pass on some of what i had learnt over the past 20 years of growing and there was a great bunch of growers here which you dont see much where im from. A few years later im still here so now I think we are all just stuck with each other at this stage lol.

Long story short I was tired of the other garbage apps that don’t help members that help others alot. Not only that they were money grab only, company owner didn’t even say happy 420 when It came around​

Sorry to be petty but that was it for me.

I found it by chance. I was in the App Store looking for grow apps. I tried them all and kept 2-3 including GWJ. GWJ is the one I use most out of them all. I love it but I’m too lazy to use it to its fullest extent. I’m also too self-conscious about how my grows look to put them out to the public.

Love this topic and everyone’s story! For me, I was just desperate for help and searched everywhere till I found here. I can honestly say I wouldn’t even be half as successful as I have been without you guys. Such a cool group and welcomed me with open arms even with my ridiculous questions lol. Super blessed to have this group

I’ve loved reading all your stories!

It’s funny how so many of us ended up here just by chance or because we were looking for something better. And somehow, along the way, we are building this community too!

I especially love reading how many of you feel comfortable here, sharing experiences, asking questions, and helping each other out. That’s exactly the kind of place we want this to be, and you’re the ones making it happen.

Thanks for sharing your stories, everyone!

Me, always researching and trying to innovate, making life miserable for the AI with calculations, reminders, and data, until it got tired of me. Just like that, it asked me why I didn’t try the Grow with Jane app, that it was very interesting and convenient, and here I am. I came across this community and I feel very comfortable because I can talk to people who understand me and speak my language without looking at me funny or thinking I’m a pothead. I live in a small town where they still think smoking a joint is the end of the world, although at 55 years old, I don’t give a damn what they think.

I hope to keep enjoying this with each and every one of you, and to teach and learn that where you really see the plant is in the roots.