Open Outdoor Auto Thread
- Thread starter Humanrob
- Start date
Tiflis
Well-Known Member
They're looking great man, how tall/big are they?
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I just went out to measure them; the tallest is 44", the shortest 21", and most are between 25-35". There is a lot of variation, and they are a bit over-crowded... there were just so many strains I wanted to grow!
Here's a pic of the tallest, the DP Daiquiri Lime, which will definitely finish last, probably has about 4 or 5 weeks to go. On the DL's left in the picture is a DP Glueberry OG.
These pictures are of the main group, they are various sizes and shapes, somewhat influenced by the pot size and shape, I'm finding. I doubt I'll ever bother with small pots again. They say "5 gallon" but look about 3, and those are the only plants that are hungry all the time and at this point need to be fed every watering.
The first to finish (FB Gorilla Cookies) will probably come down in a week, it could actually come down now but I'm going to hold off a little longer. Most look to be about 2-3 weeks out, the hairs are turning but they have a lot of trich clouding and fattening up left to do.
Tiflis
Well-Known Member
Having the variety is awesome, we should all have as many different strains as we have spices in the kitchen cabinet
. Thanks for making a special trip to measure things, you didn't have to do that. I was just being curious since mine are about the same age and were brought up outdoor/then greenhouse.I went with 3 gal plastic, anticipating roughly 3 months of life cycle. Sadly, other issues that I didn't foresee, rendered my experiment useless. I'll just have to try indoor to see if FFOF amended with EWC and Dr.Earth will suffice for 3 months water only in 3 gal.
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
I think that if you grow them under an 18/6 (or less) light cycle and keep the temps on the cooler side (low 70's), they could be OK. The guys on AFN who are doing water only grows are working with living soil, they (in my opinion) go to great lengths to build it, and it seems to take a bigger pot to carry a plant full term.
If you try it, I'd be really interested to hear about how it goes. I've grown in a similar way with photos but so far had no luck trying it with autos. Maybe it's just the nutes, maybe Dr. Earth is a better match for them than the FF Fruit and Flower and Marine Cuisine I was using. I don't know why it is, but it seems that autos are much more sensitive to the quantity of nutrients in their soil at any given time, so pre-loading the soil is tricky.
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what the deal is, but with zero rain all summer I've been losing top buds lately to bud rot. Humidity has been pretty low in the daytime, getting down mostly into the mid-to-low 40%'s, nights only seem to be getting up into the mid-70% range. For me the biggest reason to grow autos outdoors is to finish the season before the cold/wet/moldy fall weather arrives. To get hit with mold during a dry summer in July/August... kinda sucks. And as a side note, it's not worms, the bug screen I use has kept the moths out and there are no worms in sight. This is straight up rot.
It could be genetics, but I can't rule out "operator error", I could be doing something wrong. Two were Dutch Passion and had large dense buds, one was a Mephisto, also with very dense buds. I've grown dense buds outside without mold before. I've also been hit with mold, plenty of times, but never in the middle of a dry summer.
It could be genetics, but I can't rule out "operator error", I could be doing something wrong. Two were Dutch Passion and had large dense buds, one was a Mephisto, also with very dense buds. I've grown dense buds outside without mold before. I've also been hit with mold, plenty of times, but never in the middle of a dry summer.
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Perhaps even 70% is just too high? You think they are perspiring a lot so in those wee crevasses it’ll be more humid than the room. Add on a couple of cooler nights it’ll get very moist very fast in those colas.
The only two solutions going forward I can see would be more air flow at night and topping them to get rid of that single main cola which is most prone to rot.
Sucks balls man that you have to learn the hard way
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the thoughts. I hope I get to the bottom of it so that I do learn something.Perhaps even 70% is just too high? You think they are perspiring a lot so in those wee crevasses it’ll be more humid than the room. Add on a couple of cooler nights it’ll get very moist very fast in those colas.
The only two solutions going forward I can see would be more air flow at night and topping them to get rid of that single main cola which is most prone to rot.
Sucks balls man that you have to learn the hard way
About 5 years ago I had bud rot in an indoor grow, and it was a controlled RH environment so I was taken totally by surprise. It happened in the main central cola of an un-topped plant from seed while I was doing some newbie experiments (seeing how much light and food I could give them... good solid newbie stuff). That was the last time I grew a plant from seed that was not topped, so these girls were topped.
When I had that indoor bud rot, I did a bunch of research and I recall a few things that were said to me. One was that overwatering can facilitate bud rot because the plant becomes saturated, and it tries to transpire that excess moisture and it can build up in the buds. I'm growing these in plastic pots which I haven't used much lately, I had mostly moved to fabric. I also put reflective insulation around the pots and it completely keeps them out of the sun, combined with the hot summer we've had and concerns about them drying out, I'm pretty sure I've been leaning towards over-watering.
I've also heard that big temp rises and drops can be conducive to mold, and the hoop house get's 10º hotter than outside (often peaking between 100-103º) and our night temps often drop into the low 60's... but I thought the reference was more of a condensation thing, and more about powdery mildew than bud rot. Not sure though. The hoop house is an experiment itself, and I will definitely be breaking down the covers and rethinking them, as well as the overall ventilation. It's mostly open bug netting, but apparently that reduces airflow more significantly than I had anticipated and the fans I have in there are not sufficient.
rembrandt100
Well-Known Member
First thing I would try is increasing the airflow and it is not enough to just move it around. You need to remove it. I have a glass greenhouse and it gets to 100F in the heat of the day. But if I turn on the fan with the vent open it drops a bit but humidity drops quite a bit more than temp. I figure that if you are not removing air you are just move damp air around. Just a thought.
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
Good thoughts. It's about 60% just bug screen walls, just the lower part of the walls (wood) and the top cover (clear plastic) don't let air through. It's not a true greenhouse, it's not even close to sealed, so I can't really force air through it. That was all part of the experiment. In the end, I was able to control the temps, but the humidity seems to be another thing. I'll rebuild it next year.
Tiflis
Well-Known Member
That's the thing about experiments man, they don't always work out. Hope you can still get your effort's worth out of the grow.
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
That's true. I'll keep cutting away the moldy bits, and see what happens. Some plants are not affected at all, so I'm also learning about which strains are more mold resistant. That's good info.
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Underfed Malawi is producing some nice colours early on. Had to give water at times it needed food but no bother. It’s having an issue and not knowing the cause which is the frustrating part.
Would highly recommend this plant! Very unique compared to other breeders. Wonderful fruit yogurt aroma. So good you want to eat it kind of thing.
All the best!
Would highly recommend this plant! Very unique compared to other breeders. Wonderful fruit yogurt aroma. So good you want to eat it kind of thing.
All the best!
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Well top half is starting to ripen nicely. Lovely smells now but not loud at all
Zoom in to see the frost!
Zoom in to see the frost!
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
Beautiful plant!
When you say the 'top half' is starting to ripen, do you ever harvest the top when it's done and leave the bottom to ripen up more?
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Thanks man!
If there’s a bit discrepancy between them both I usually stage harvest. Seems more common outdoors than indoors. Indoors the tops are usually ripe for a while before I cut it all down. I like the subtle variation in high between top and lower buds.
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
This is interesting to me for a number of reasons.
How would you describe the most common subtle variations in the high between the top and lower buds? And if you let the tops go for a while before you cut them, how much amber would you say is showing, vs. the bottoms?
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
I always find the top buds to be more sedative and stronger. The lower ones tend to be less strong and more uplifting.
Hard to for sure how many is amber.. id stab a guess at around 15% top buds compared to the odd one on the lower part
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
Thanks for clarifying. As a non-smoker/grower I'm kind of on the outside looking in. With most of my outdoor grows over the years, between bugs and mold I've had to take many of the plants down in varying degrees of not-fully-ready, and I've always been concerned about what the impact was. Your description tracks with others I've read, and with information I've read about THC and terpene development through the flowering stages.
The person I grow for loves upbeat highs and won't touch couch-lock bud, so I stick with Sativa dominant hybrids and aim for harvest pretty much at the first sign of amber. With my occasionally necessary early harvests the high characteristics are acceptable, the less potent part is a shame. And I'm a big fan of two stage harvests, whenever time and space permit.
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Are you running zamaldelica by chance? I can’t remember now..
That one looks promising and growing it out soon
That one looks promising and growing it out soon