First in ground outdoor grow

I would like any experienced out door growers to give me any tips and if possible a rough estimate of what I can expect to yield. (I know it's the unanswerable question - bear with me) I've done gardening for work and smoked for years so I have a pretty good handle on everything other than curing, but tips are always appreciated.

I grew last year outdoor in 5 gallon buckets staged out the colas with tomato cages and wire, and got 5 nice big bushy 5-6' tall beasts. Then someone stole them.

This year I am going full guerrilla, don't even know whose land it is. Hopefully they don't mind/ visit too often, all seems totally abandoned unused land to me. Still went to the effort of doing a lot of scouting, and finding spots with good light checked morning afternoon and sunset to get the best positions for maximum hours and good concealment.

I got 11seedlings from my neighbor from random seeds a buddy of his threw in the dirt. Two of them were in 4"x 6"x 3"deep peat containers, the rest all were growing together in a mess. I gently cut them apart trying to retain as much root as possible.

They were then transplanted into 3-5 gallon buckets with good dirt. (promix, worm castings, coast of maine compost) and lightly saturated with water + ~strength recommended miracle grow nutrients. I didn't really give them any fert besides a little top dressing and the initial saturation. I think I may have over watered some of them a little bit in the bucket stage.

As the plants reached 3-4' tall I figured the larger ones would start getting root bound soon which I wanted to avoid as I'm going into the ground this year. Obviously the big two went in the ground first, with the smallest 3 stragglers going into the ground just a few days ago. One I suspect is a male because it is a slightly different color, the leaves are all slightly malformed/ weird and it just isn't growing the same or big fan leaves. One has struggled it's entire life- when it was a seedling it had hardly any root purchase in the soil, and hasn't grown out of it yet. The edges of the leaves are all turned down, it looks almost burned. Those two are just now starting to put out some proper growth. Of the other 9 plants 2 are taller than me and the remaining 7 are all knee-waist height with solid healthy growth. They were all in buckets june 25th and I put the biggest two in the ground shorty after that.

The largest two I have started tying down a few larger colas with sticks and string, and a few of the better suited smaller plants I and trying low stress training with, tying them down away from the sun so they will grow towards it and hopefully develop a bit bushier. I also regularly check on them and support them with stick stakes, just to ensure they have good support and can get fat.

I have not topped anything yet, as I think outdoor unrestricted the plant will get good yields without stressing it or trying to train tops. I do not have much knowledge or experience when it comes to this, but I think I'm at the end of my window if I want to try it on a few.

When I transplanted them I tried to dig a fairly large hole compared to the buckets, and lined the hole with more good dirt. All in all, each plant has about 6-8 gallons of good dirt to thrive in, then will be going into what looks to be fairly silty/ clay laden soil. Should drain ok but looks devoid of nutrients for the most part.

I plan on going out every few days and doing more staking/ tying down/ trellising as needed. I'm including pics of all of the (girls I hope). Am I missing anything? Does topping increase yield significantly in outdoor unrestricted grows? Did I miss anything in my process? Anyone have fool proof drying/ curing techniques? I also plan on watering with recommended dose miracle grow once a week until the end of flowering, flushing for the last week or two. 1.jpg 2.jpg 11.jpg 10.jpg
The two big girls and the two problem children.

here are the other 7;
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tannersmokin247

Well-Known Member
They look healthy except for the shriveled one. I think topping helps yeild a lot outdoors but if you don't like it you can LST but it's more work. I like to do both to shape nice round fat plants. The taller and skinnier they are it'll be easier for things to snap crackle pop. Miracle grow is better than nothing I guess but using in flower especially can make the bud harsh. I would flush at least a good 2 weeks + before harvest as well. Watch out for males and pests. Let them ripen up all the way and you'll have some good personal smoke.
 
Miracle grow I'm using mostly because it's cheap available and balanced ferts. I also did a little bit of bat guano, I also initially used small amounts of ferts from general hydro/ humbolt countys own, and fox farm. I don't plan on doing anything fancy until they start budding, then I might look into giving them a treat. Have you grown out doors a fair bit and had good results from topping? Is it fine to top halfway thru vegging? I think the end of July might be pushing it. I check for males about every day haven't seen balls yet. Pests nothing has hit them hard, a little slug/ jap beetle munching and plenty of leaf cutter but nothing really impacting them so far. How do you usually dry and cure your bud?
 
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