Hasbro's Desert/Outdoor/Mandala/ Fox Farm/Organic/ Grow Thread
- Thread starter Hasbroh
- Start date
Taking pics but having problems downloading with new laptop, need to get someone to fix it. Rishi looks the same as the Krystallica but a tiny bit smaller. Both are looking very well and handling the heat very well.
That's awesome! I'm currently growing some Rishi Kush aswell, but they're only seedlings as of now. One of the plants has a green stem, and normal green leaves, and the other one has a purple stem and purple spots under massive green leaves. They're on their first set, so I'm not sure if this is temporary, either way they look amazing 
Keep us posted!
Keep us posted!
Day 24, 4/29
Five plants in the 9" area, sixth node leaves just coming out. Other three are in the 6 1/2-8" area. The 6 1/2" one is the one that germinated the latest and is much smaller. They look very good.
Picked up a 6" vented hood, 400 MH bulb, and a ballast that can be adjusted to 250 watt or 25% energy savings. Much better. No closet yet, just in the garage. Covered door windows with cardboard. Much cooler but even the 400 MH heats it up at night. Still under the mesquites during the day with early full, midday shadey-ish, 4:00 pm and after full sun.
Day 25, 4/30
About 10". I'll be topping this weekend, hate to do it to such pretty plants! Definately a first time parent.
Was going to do a 7x7 closet in the garage but might put it off till fall when it's cooler and less expensive to operate. For this summer I could just put them outside for 12 hours and stick them in the vented utility room at night. We'll see. Will still have a couple in the outdoor planter, which are the primary plants.
Day 26, 5/1
About 11-12" at the stem. Last watered 2 1/2 days ago and fully turgid. Low 90s, soil surface mid 80s but gravel on ground is about 110 and pots on sides are around 100. So the key here with pots is keeping the buckets cool as the gravel will get to around 145 in the summer I might use the cocoa fiber that was originally going to be used for top insulation in the planter as insulation around the pots. Remove the gravel and water the dirt for cooling, too. Use an area completely under tree cover, hardly any direct sun. These pots will be for flowering so I think it should work. So, 12 hours outdoors in the Arizona desert and trying to flower. Maybe I'm crazy. Any opinions are welcome.
edit:5/2, forgot to mention that on the one Rishi Kush pot that I put a 2 1/2" layer of Ocean Forest on the bottom started to display overfertilization (slight curve to left or right)two or three days ago. While I expected a response I just wanted to see for myself what would actually happen. It also tells me it took about four days for the roots to reach the bottom couple of inches.
Five plants in the 9" area, sixth node leaves just coming out. Other three are in the 6 1/2-8" area. The 6 1/2" one is the one that germinated the latest and is much smaller. They look very good.
Picked up a 6" vented hood, 400 MH bulb, and a ballast that can be adjusted to 250 watt or 25% energy savings. Much better. No closet yet, just in the garage. Covered door windows with cardboard. Much cooler but even the 400 MH heats it up at night. Still under the mesquites during the day with early full, midday shadey-ish, 4:00 pm and after full sun.
Day 25, 4/30
About 10". I'll be topping this weekend, hate to do it to such pretty plants! Definately a first time parent.
Was going to do a 7x7 closet in the garage but might put it off till fall when it's cooler and less expensive to operate. For this summer I could just put them outside for 12 hours and stick them in the vented utility room at night. We'll see. Will still have a couple in the outdoor planter, which are the primary plants.
Day 26, 5/1
About 11-12" at the stem. Last watered 2 1/2 days ago and fully turgid. Low 90s, soil surface mid 80s but gravel on ground is about 110 and pots on sides are around 100. So the key here with pots is keeping the buckets cool as the gravel will get to around 145 in the summer I might use the cocoa fiber that was originally going to be used for top insulation in the planter as insulation around the pots. Remove the gravel and water the dirt for cooling, too. Use an area completely under tree cover, hardly any direct sun. These pots will be for flowering so I think it should work. So, 12 hours outdoors in the Arizona desert and trying to flower. Maybe I'm crazy. Any opinions are welcome.
edit:5/2, forgot to mention that on the one Rishi Kush pot that I put a 2 1/2" layer of Ocean Forest on the bottom started to display overfertilization (slight curve to left or right)two or three days ago. While I expected a response I just wanted to see for myself what would actually happen. It also tells me it took about four days for the roots to reach the bottom couple of inches.
Day 27, 5/2
Finally watered after 3 1/4 days. Very slight wilt during direct afternoon sun, 90 degrees. I'm not a fan of drying a plant completely out to force the roots to extend as I have read on this forum. Not knowing precise growing habits of cannabis makes for a lot of unknowns but it's also part of the fun. Shaded the pots today with some empty pots to keep them cooler, by about ten degrees (90) cooler than yesterday. Was going to wait till Sat. to go to the grow store for cutting supplies but will probably go tomorrow as these mostly little gals (I hope!) are growing too fast. Also need to get some tea making parts - will go the cheap route for now with a simple set up. Tallest plant is 13", Mr Wimply is 8". I think I'll not top Mr Wimply and let him grow naturally since he's small and can then see one in it's natural state, just not at it's normal 9'.
Curious to try various stages of harvesting. Harvest each plant at about three different states of maturity and keep notes on the high of each specific little harvest. Looking forward to it.
Day 28, 5/3
Just finished topping and using topped parts for cuttings. Topping went very well but I sure need some practice with cuttings, been almost 30 years since last did them in school. Was in a hurry to get it done and didn't do much research, just went for it. Ahh, well. Four plants were about 13 1/2-14 1/2" before topping and all were looking so good. The Rishi Kush that I added Ocean Forest to the bottom of the pot was on it's way to being the tallest.
edit: forgot to mention I top dresesed with a mixture of earthworm castings, Ancient Forest, and a little Happy Frog Potting Soil. Wet just the top to let soak and then watered plant lightly. Also started making tea with ewc and Ancient Forest but that's all. Need to get some mollasses to feed all the little guys.
I keep forgetting to mention that the back yard is loaded with bugs from adding about 30 bags of about eight different kinds of ammendment to the planters. This doesn't bother me as I enjoy watching the whole circle of life thing. Bought Neem oil but have refrained from using it. I'm not seeing any damage in the garden and there are tons of baby praying mantises, green lace wings and their larvae, etc. About seven big lizards, a bunch of quail, doves, woodpeckers, a nesting hummingbird, a hawk, two really big owls, and an occassional bob cat. Dig it. Too many scorpions, black widows, and rattlers, though.
Day 29, 5/4
Wow, those cuttings didn't last through the night, lol. I followed a knowledgable guy's advice but obviously did something wrong. Pretty sure there was too much new growth for one thing and I didn't feel comfortable with the process at all. I did make a cutting similar to the way I would have in school and it is doing great. Maybe should have had the confidence in past experience and just done it my way. No biggie, next time I'll be ready.
93 today, topped plants are fine and Mr Wimply is King O' Da Jungle at a strapping 10 1/2".
Day 30, 5/5
Whew! Was really worried about RIU being hacked. Glad that's over. 94 and windy today, all is well. The new dual central leaders are taking off. Went ahead and pruned all the vegatation off of the cuttings except for the tiny new shoots. They seem to be hanging in there. Haven't added mollasses to the tea yet, hence the lack of foam.
Finally watered after 3 1/4 days. Very slight wilt during direct afternoon sun, 90 degrees. I'm not a fan of drying a plant completely out to force the roots to extend as I have read on this forum. Not knowing precise growing habits of cannabis makes for a lot of unknowns but it's also part of the fun. Shaded the pots today with some empty pots to keep them cooler, by about ten degrees (90) cooler than yesterday. Was going to wait till Sat. to go to the grow store for cutting supplies but will probably go tomorrow as these mostly little gals (I hope!) are growing too fast. Also need to get some tea making parts - will go the cheap route for now with a simple set up. Tallest plant is 13", Mr Wimply is 8". I think I'll not top Mr Wimply and let him grow naturally since he's small and can then see one in it's natural state, just not at it's normal 9'.
Curious to try various stages of harvesting. Harvest each plant at about three different states of maturity and keep notes on the high of each specific little harvest. Looking forward to it.
Day 28, 5/3
Just finished topping and using topped parts for cuttings. Topping went very well but I sure need some practice with cuttings, been almost 30 years since last did them in school. Was in a hurry to get it done and didn't do much research, just went for it. Ahh, well. Four plants were about 13 1/2-14 1/2" before topping and all were looking so good. The Rishi Kush that I added Ocean Forest to the bottom of the pot was on it's way to being the tallest.
edit: forgot to mention I top dresesed with a mixture of earthworm castings, Ancient Forest, and a little Happy Frog Potting Soil. Wet just the top to let soak and then watered plant lightly. Also started making tea with ewc and Ancient Forest but that's all. Need to get some mollasses to feed all the little guys.
I keep forgetting to mention that the back yard is loaded with bugs from adding about 30 bags of about eight different kinds of ammendment to the planters. This doesn't bother me as I enjoy watching the whole circle of life thing. Bought Neem oil but have refrained from using it. I'm not seeing any damage in the garden and there are tons of baby praying mantises, green lace wings and their larvae, etc. About seven big lizards, a bunch of quail, doves, woodpeckers, a nesting hummingbird, a hawk, two really big owls, and an occassional bob cat. Dig it. Too many scorpions, black widows, and rattlers, though.
Day 29, 5/4
Wow, those cuttings didn't last through the night, lol. I followed a knowledgable guy's advice but obviously did something wrong. Pretty sure there was too much new growth for one thing and I didn't feel comfortable with the process at all. I did make a cutting similar to the way I would have in school and it is doing great. Maybe should have had the confidence in past experience and just done it my way. No biggie, next time I'll be ready.
93 today, topped plants are fine and Mr Wimply is King O' Da Jungle at a strapping 10 1/2".
Day 30, 5/5
Whew! Was really worried about RIU being hacked. Glad that's over. 94 and windy today, all is well. The new dual central leaders are taking off. Went ahead and pruned all the vegatation off of the cuttings except for the tiny new shoots. They seem to be hanging in there. Haven't added mollasses to the tea yet, hence the lack of foam.
Day 33, 5/8
Did the tea couple days ago, nice response. Great response from topping at fourth node. Dual top leaders are about 4" now and third node branches are about the same. About half of the plants third node branches (5") are bigger than the fourth node branches. Tallest plants are about 13-14".
Next tea's ingredients will be:
1 cup Happy Frog Potting soil
1 cup Ancient Forest
1 cup earth worm castings
1 1/2 tbs. mollasses
This, plus repotting, hopefully will be all that will be used while vegging .
Day 34, 5/9
Five plants, 14-15", even Wimply is 15" but he/she only has a single leader.
Three plants, 11 1/2-13".
They are so purty, nice and full.
Hmmmm, I'm so tempted to prune the new leaders of a couple of plants just to see the new phisiology. To paraphrase, Mandala states that Krystallica handles multiple prunes well and still develops large colas from multiple tops. Still 5 or 6 months to go with the outdoor plants so shorter is good.
Two plants, 3 of 4 original leaves on fourth node have been displaying small edges of the leaves, about 1/2 each , with nutrient deficient appearances similar to low nitrogen. Browning now from edge. I'm wondering if it is a vascular cause due to enlarging dual leader stems squeezing the vascular system of the old leaves, depriving them of sustanance from the xylem/phloem? Or the dual leaders are taking their stored nutes? Purely a noob guessing here so any knowledgable growers please speak up.
Day 35, 5/10
About 15 1/2". Had company so kept plants in today. Made some tea tonight; ewc,Ancient Forest,HF Potting Soil, molasses.
Did the tea couple days ago, nice response. Great response from topping at fourth node. Dual top leaders are about 4" now and third node branches are about the same. About half of the plants third node branches (5") are bigger than the fourth node branches. Tallest plants are about 13-14".
Next tea's ingredients will be:
1 cup Happy Frog Potting soil
1 cup Ancient Forest
1 cup earth worm castings
1 1/2 tbs. mollasses
This, plus repotting, hopefully will be all that will be used while vegging .
Day 34, 5/9
Five plants, 14-15", even Wimply is 15" but he/she only has a single leader.
Three plants, 11 1/2-13".
They are so purty, nice and full.
Hmmmm, I'm so tempted to prune the new leaders of a couple of plants just to see the new phisiology. To paraphrase, Mandala states that Krystallica handles multiple prunes well and still develops large colas from multiple tops. Still 5 or 6 months to go with the outdoor plants so shorter is good.
Two plants, 3 of 4 original leaves on fourth node have been displaying small edges of the leaves, about 1/2 each , with nutrient deficient appearances similar to low nitrogen. Browning now from edge. I'm wondering if it is a vascular cause due to enlarging dual leader stems squeezing the vascular system of the old leaves, depriving them of sustanance from the xylem/phloem? Or the dual leaders are taking their stored nutes? Purely a noob guessing here so any knowledgable growers please speak up.
Day 35, 5/10
About 15 1/2". Had company so kept plants in today. Made some tea tonight; ewc,Ancient Forest,HF Potting Soil, molasses.
ghettorigger
Member
You said there has been alot of wind didn't you? It might be wind burn, I got this indoors by putting a fan too close to a plant. On old leaves. It's no biggie, they will eventually die off, it could be from lack of water but your meticulous notes don't show that. Do you have mulch on your pots?
This just occurred to me... It could be a magnesium deficiency too. Mix some molasses in with the water and you should be good. Molasses feeds the soil and provides the plant with mg too. It really helps fatten buds up during flowering too
This just occurred to me... It could be a magnesium deficiency too. Mix some molasses in with the water and you should be good. Molasses feeds the soil and provides the plant with mg too. It really helps fatten buds up during flowering too
Thanks for your response. Lots of wind every few days on average and the humidity has been dropping as low as 5% but the plants are tough as nails and show no stress in any way other than these three leaves on two of eight plants. They also get a fan on them every night.
It's a deficiency but the rest of the plants are rock solid so I won't try to adjust nutrients just for those three leaves. I have them in big pots and they get watered and a topical spray with a tea so the nutes are covered. That's why I think it's a structural response to the topping.
Day 36, 5/11
Big five are 16 1/2-17". Gave them a little drink this morning and put them in the sun on the gravel to see how they would do after staying inside for a day. Pretty hot, gravel about 110-120. Mr Wimply, the only plant not topped and the runt of the family showed a little stress. Moved them back under some light shade, didn't want to stress them too much. Gave them another small drink tonight as they are growing so damn much and tea won't be ready until tomorrow morning. They can't be set pot to pot any more as they are already 12-14" wide. And full, very full. These babies are going crazy and I will have to consider going to a bigger pot soon. Sheesh!
I might just go ahead and plant four in the ground before sexing and pull any males when the time comes. Then stick in some younger replacements if needed.
Day 37, 5/12
17-18". A solid inch a day now. My favorite two are only 15" but are so full and pretty. Watered with tea today. Will make a batch every 1 1/2 days instead of every three or four as it is warmer (99 for the next week), plants are bigger, and will need to be repotted very soon. Will need another prune as they will just get too tall.
Tea:
1 cup ewc
1 cup Happy Frog Soil Conditioner (no Perlite as with HFPS)
1 cup Ancient Forest
1/2 scoop Great White
5 gals. ro water ppm about 20
pH 6-6.5
ppm about 160
1 1/2-2 tbls. Molasses
Day 38, 5/13
My mentor suggested leaving plants in 3 gallon containers until they can be pre sexed so that then three or four can go into the ground and hopefully one or two can be potted up; outdoor light for 12 hours, and inside in the dark for 12. No lights for the rest of summer. Yay! And no more hanging out in the hot garage. Yay! It's about 90 in there at night now and it ain't gettin' any cooler, just hotter. And only one or two to carry outside very day. Yay! Of course, they will be heavy big ass containers but that's cool.
Bought a two outlet timer for the 400 and 150 lamps today and switched from 24/0 to 16/8. That will hopefully slow these little monsters down and keep me from being a little less obsessed. I tend to hang out in the garage too late and will check on them in the middle of the night, also.
Will hold off on building the closet in the garage until fall and can then play with other types of weed that don't need to handle high heat conditions. And then get a portable ac unit for next summer and do more Mandala strains.
ghettorigger
Member
A few dying leaves is no biggie. I had one grow go sour and i couldn't figure out why until I realized that my oscillating had a built in ionizer... Ahh technology.
Love this grow though, I'm in a semi desert climate and I'm actually considering tempe as a possible place to relocate too
Love this grow though, I'm in a semi desert climate and I'm actually considering tempe as a possible place to relocate too
The leaves didn't die, the areas stayed the same size and 90% of the three leaves are fine. Would love to know the cause.
Day 39, 5/14
So I guess today is exactly five weeks of vegging and the big five are 20-21" at the branch (plus a couple of inches of leaves), smallest plant is 15" and the prettiest. If I hadn't topped off three or four nodes they would be about 28", I guess. Not bad, lol. They are all really nice and surprisingly green for plants recieving this high uv sun here. Wide and lush, not stretchy. I feel bad that I'm not showing pics of these little beauties. Soon, soon.
Will be 100 degrees today and the same for the rest of the week. Ugh. It's only friggin' May, for crying out loud! Used most of all five gallons plus equal water (50% dilution) on all eight plants plus foliar. Watered over a half hour to get a really good soak. Maybe a couple of the gallons for foliar on back yard flowers, tomatoes, and lemon tree. All of the plants sure do love that tea!
edit; almost forgot, a couple of plants had a few almost creased leaves up top that I thought could be heat stress. My mentor suggested it could also be cal/mag deficiency so added about an extra 1/2 tbs. of molasses to the tea.
Day 41, 5/16
About 100 today, 20-30 mph wind. My big wall helps a little to deflect the wind usually.
Decided not to keep in 3 gallons and shifted to fives yesterday. Sure enough, mildly root bound after 3 weeks - should have repotted after two weeks. Sure hope I can tell the sex really soon as they will be needing a bigger pot within two weeks.
No more indoor lighting. Yay! Put them outdoors full time. Yes, I had to go out and check on them at night with a tiny led flashlight with weak batteries. As soon as I can sex them they go in the ground. They are pretty stealthy against a five foot wall and interspersed between Texas Rangers, 6' tomatoes, lemon tree, Hollyhocks, and pyracantha. Partial shade till 9:00 or 10:00, full sun till about 3:00, then full shade from the wall after that. Plus they are sitting on a cool moist soil and the companion plants also help cool them. I have draped the monster tomatoes over the pots. Much better than 120+ degree gravel. Wish I'd done this sooner.
edit: gravel temp highs over last two days between 135-155! Moved just in time!
Speaking of wall, on the other side is a fairly steep rock escarpment leading down to a 20' wide and 6' deep rain ditch. After that is 50' of desert filled with cholla. Cholla is a very painful to the touch cactus. One side is another wide runoff area with a fence and an eight foot hedge so about a total of 12'. On the other side I do have an 80 year old neighbor that can see over into my back yard but she is very sweet and I take good care of her by doing outdoor chores every now and then. She was up all last night due to her fire alarms going off so I went over there today and fixed them. She loves me.
Never the less, my planter will be shade clothed sides and top and 50' away from her property.Made my first mistake last tea time. Used pH UP to correct too much vinegar and now understand that it probably killed the beneficial stuff. It was just prior to watering and wasn't much. I diluted the tea further and also pre watered the plants. The next day I repotted with Happy Frog PS, ewc, Ancient Forest, and a little of Great White. Plants look excellant so I guess all is well.
Bought a 20 gallon Brute trash can (All Brutes are food safe rated) for filling with ro water. Also to be big enough to avoid over filling and getting the garage wet as I have done in the past month more times than I would like to admit. So I over filled the Brute on the first fill. It's not the containers, it's the mind....
When transplanting I noticed more root growth on the bottom half of pot which, of course, is normal. Also noticed the top half of pot was dry (I intentionally repotted partially wet to see where the moisture was in relation to the roots). So I started doing two light waterings today and will water heavy tomorrow morning and one light watering in the afternoon. Next day two light waterings or a reasonable facsimile of aforementioned pattern. Reason: I think that with the super dry air here (5-10% lately) that the extra watering to the top portion will cause more root growth higher in the pot and make better use of the soil/nutrients available. When the males are removed I will do a cross section slice of the root balls to see how the roots developed. If this works out the way I think it will, for the next grow I will try a revamped watering method and also step up some of the plants much more often than usual. Say, starters to 4" to 1 gallon to 2 to 3 to 5 to 7 etc. around every week or so. If done correctly without stressing the root ball it might have an interesting result. We'll see. The pots will need to be 3/4" or wider all around to fascilitate adding enough soil for a weeks growth. This, to me, would kind sorts be a soil equivilent to hydro root development, with water absorbing roots throughout. Or maybe not.
By the way, I'm always amazed to see how rough most peolple are with root balls. The water absorbing cells are usually connected single cells that are very easilly detached.
Day 42, 5/17
Well, they aren't slowing down living outdoors in their new locations. 24-25" for the taller ones, shortest is 18". Thats 2" a day. Not sure if they're stretching or not, need to pull them out and see. They sure are happy, though. No signs of pre sex yet. Need to start thinking about pruning again or maybe start two on 12/12 before sexing, one Rishi Kush and one Krystallica. Don't want to be moving 6' plants in and out.
Well, they aren't slowing down living outdoors in their new locations. 24-25" for the taller ones, shortest is 18". Thats 2" a day. Not sure if they're stretching or not, need to pull them out and see. They sure are happy, though. No signs of pre sex yet. Need to start thinking about pruning again or maybe start two on 12/12 before sexing, one Rishi Kush and one Krystallica. Don't want to be moving 6' plants in and out.
ghettorigger
Member
Do you have mulch on the soil? It would help alot with the top drying out.
The pots are well shaded with other plants, some mesquite straw, and some pot trays in front of them for shade. I have two bags of expanding cocoa coir fiber for the planter when they go in the ground.
Day 43, 5/18
25-27". Mid 90s today and very windy. Heavy water and foliar tonight with diluted tea.
ghettorigger
Member
If your pots start drying out too quick againthen I would mulch, coco mulch(not fiber) works great at keeping snails out too. Not like you have that problem in the desert, you'd probably be able to pick up the escargot off the sand in Arizona. Mulch also protects your microbes from uv light too, which kills them.
To me, outdoors, mulch is a must. I don't have an r/o filter so i schlep 5 gallon buckets around every couple days and I want to save water
To me, outdoors, mulch is a must. I don't have an r/o filter so i schlep 5 gallon buckets around every couple days and I want to save water
Thanks, I have a nice pile of mesquite flower debris. Very fluffy. I put it on this morning and it is very insulative. I also have a big developing pile of iron wood flower debris that I can use, too.
Day 44, 5//19
Mid 90s today but feels hotter. Must be tired from the work week. Five 26-27", one 25", one 24", one 18". Don't think they could look any better. Bought a 3x magnifier with led light from Radio Shack for about 8 bucks. The plants are at the point where so many guys get on the forum to ask if what sex they are and are told it's too early or a couple of guesses suggest one is a male etc. I think I could tell that two are females and Mr Wimply, the runt, is a male. Although he is 27" he was the one that didn't get topped. Conjecture. So, hopefully this week I can tell the sexes and get things rolling. I'll water the future planter bed to soften it up so it can be picked a little deeper. 4-6" to go. The crappy soil I'm taking out will be used as the bulk of a new planting area. Have to buy some weed cloth to use as a liner for the bottom and then need to figure out a shade cloth set up - probably galvanized fence posts. Wish I didn't have to use shade cloth but need it to be a bit more stealthy. It's going to just get hotter and restrict air flow. We'll see.
This is a thread re. other seeds for desert growing: https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/523652-tga-strains-can-handle-desert.html
Five days since repotting and I noticed the roots are trying to grow into the ground...
Day 45, 5/20
Ok, here's Hasbro's Highly Optimistic, Unscientific, Premature Sex Proclamation. As of yesterday I was pretty sure Mr Wimply was a guy. Today, that is the one definate. So, I'm saying 3 boys and five girls. Do not try my method of observation in a bar or you may not like what you bring home. Or you may like it but will be really surprised. I am not responsible for your "new life direction".
If there really are five females I will go with 3 or 4 in the planter and one or two to 12/12 in pots. Pretty sick of hauling pots in and out so we'll see. I could take the two smallest ones for indoors but they will still be pretty big plants probably in ten gallons. Eventually I will have to pull the door off of the utility room they will sleep in due to the awkward ergonomics of the door's swing. Washer and dryer take up half the room and the door is angled so one of the two remaining floor corners is comprimised. Hope that makes sense. lol. About 3 1/2x 4" for one plant on the floor and about 3x3'x55"h for the other if I set it on the washer. Pretty tight for big plants. I suppose they could be squeezed a little since it's just for sleeping.
Curious, the soonest plant to show sex was the only one not topped. Is this a viable observation or is Mr Wimply just the genetic wimp?
The 3x magnifier is decent at best and my eyeball is sore. Radio shack also had a 30-60x cylindrical magnifier. Anyone have one? I'll probably go with it or check Walmart.
6:30 pm. 6 plants are 27-29 1/2", 1 is 20", 1 is 25". About 100 today, 4% humidity, no wind. Hot day. These plants are breezing through the heat.
Day 46, 5/21
104 degrees, 4% humidity(5:00pm), breezey. No heat stress, up to 31". Just a little top watering and will soak with a tea tonight or in morning.
Picked up two 7 gallon containers for the one or two future 12/12s. Need to get on it.
Bought a 60-100x magnifier from Radio Shack and hate it. Way too finite and difficult to use. I'll get a good old 3 way jeweller's loop next.
Inquiring on another thread re. topping as to next step for pruning. My local mentor said to prune above first nodes of the four main branches. The four main branches on each plant each have eight nodes already but will do it if that's the best step. The 24/0 kept them from stretching less than they are stretching now with just sun. So, I need to determine pre sex, prune, and repot in the next couple of days.
edit: Yesterday I said 3 males, 5 females. I still might be full of it but I think there are 2 males and 6 females. Woo Hooh! So tomorrow I'll prune and in a day or two repot 2 in 7 gallons for the 12/12 grow. Then I need to get the other four in the ground. Not excited about that as it's just not fun out there lately(106 tomorrow, 20 mph winds). Did a medium volume tea watering tonight by flashlight.
I did a bunch of searching and was very glad to find Mandala Seeds. Almost all of their seeds can handle the heat. Read their site, it's very impressive.
http://www.mandalaseeds.com/
http://www.mandalaseeds.com/
Day 48, 5/23
Repotted two plants for 12/12 with seven gallon pots last night. Man, the next pots, ten gallons, are going to be heavy hauling in and out every day. Pruned all the plants today down to about the second nodes on their four main branches. I varied a bit for the experience. Biggest plants were 33" and tallest after pruning was 18". Ah, well.
Was supposed to be 102 today, not sure, didn't check. Very windy, 20-30 mph. Busted ass all day trying to get planter dug out. Decided to dig to around 22" instead of 12-16" so only got half way through. Very hard fill, had to soak and pick. Will be sore tomorrow! Going deeper will allow for a below ground level planting surface, which will allow for about a 6" taller grow. Using fill as a base for three new planter areas (for ornamental plants). Starting to look really good.
Day 49, 5/24
Mid 90s,very windy, same tomorrow. Went to grow store and bought more 7 gallon pots and repotted all. Why, when they should be going in the ground instead, you ask? This gives me time to finish a deeper planter. Instead of digging 22" I decided to go about three feet deep, which will allow a six foot structure that is not visible from outside my property. About 2/3 finished.
Day 50, 5/25
Mid 90s, gusts up to 40. Moved all the plants to a higher sun location. An hour two more direct sun with less other bushes reducing penetration. They should get nice and bushy here, especially after the last prune. They are starting to take off again, more bushy than height though.
3:30 am: three days of picking and still have a ways to go, need to take a little time to heal up. I also do yard work so pretty worn out.
The biggest mistake so far was waiting to do second prune, should have done it a week to ten days earlier. But I have all summer to grow so no big deal. Next time I'll have this journal to fall back on. The girls are having tea for breakfast.
Down to 19 bags of Happy Frog. No wonder those 7 gallon pots are so heavy. I'll get some more, 5-10 bags. Or about 5 bags and a bag each of Ancient Forest, ewc, Ocean Forest, and Happy Frog Soil Conditioner.
We've been eating the tomatoes from the garden. Not quite organic as they are getting city water but using all organic soils, ferts, and once a week a foliar tea. Amazing how good they are!
Day 51, 5/26
Watered with tea this morning, 200 ppm diluted to about 3:1 soil, 6:1 foliar. Pretty mellow stuff. Takes about an hour or more to do entire yard. No work today, beat. Bought a jeweler's magnifier, 5x, 10x, 15x. Will play with it a bit. Not windy yet but will be up to 25 mph. Didn't realize how windy it is here until started growing the cannabis. They are in a very wind protected area now, even with the 40 mph winds yesterday they barely moved. Which means hotter but it's the sunniest part of the back yard, right next to the future planter.
I think I'll make the planter into a rough greenhouse, old style where you step down into it. It's pretty deep and the fill it's been carved out of is like rock so should be very stable. Then I could play with outdoor winter crops.
Pruned Rishi Kush #4. Had left 2 of the 4 mains unpruned but the unpruned became too dominant. Cut a couple of nodes higher than other two branches to even out.
Yay! found my old 3rd edition spiral Marijuana Grower's Guide. Been missing for a year and a half, tore the place apart a hundred times to find it. Finally realized I had hidden it when a relative was visiting and found it right away. I used to have the first edition from 1975 but it fell apart. Never really used either one to grow so finally I can use it.
Repotted two plants for 12/12 with seven gallon pots last night. Man, the next pots, ten gallons, are going to be heavy hauling in and out every day. Pruned all the plants today down to about the second nodes on their four main branches. I varied a bit for the experience. Biggest plants were 33" and tallest after pruning was 18". Ah, well.
Was supposed to be 102 today, not sure, didn't check. Very windy, 20-30 mph. Busted ass all day trying to get planter dug out. Decided to dig to around 22" instead of 12-16" so only got half way through. Very hard fill, had to soak and pick. Will be sore tomorrow! Going deeper will allow for a below ground level planting surface, which will allow for about a 6" taller grow. Using fill as a base for three new planter areas (for ornamental plants). Starting to look really good.
Day 49, 5/24
Mid 90s,very windy, same tomorrow. Went to grow store and bought more 7 gallon pots and repotted all. Why, when they should be going in the ground instead, you ask? This gives me time to finish a deeper planter. Instead of digging 22" I decided to go about three feet deep, which will allow a six foot structure that is not visible from outside my property. About 2/3 finished.
Day 50, 5/25
Mid 90s, gusts up to 40. Moved all the plants to a higher sun location. An hour two more direct sun with less other bushes reducing penetration. They should get nice and bushy here, especially after the last prune. They are starting to take off again, more bushy than height though.
3:30 am: three days of picking and still have a ways to go, need to take a little time to heal up. I also do yard work so pretty worn out.
The biggest mistake so far was waiting to do second prune, should have done it a week to ten days earlier. But I have all summer to grow so no big deal. Next time I'll have this journal to fall back on. The girls are having tea for breakfast.
Down to 19 bags of Happy Frog. No wonder those 7 gallon pots are so heavy. I'll get some more, 5-10 bags. Or about 5 bags and a bag each of Ancient Forest, ewc, Ocean Forest, and Happy Frog Soil Conditioner.
We've been eating the tomatoes from the garden. Not quite organic as they are getting city water but using all organic soils, ferts, and once a week a foliar tea. Amazing how good they are!
Day 51, 5/26
Watered with tea this morning, 200 ppm diluted to about 3:1 soil, 6:1 foliar. Pretty mellow stuff. Takes about an hour or more to do entire yard. No work today, beat. Bought a jeweler's magnifier, 5x, 10x, 15x. Will play with it a bit. Not windy yet but will be up to 25 mph. Didn't realize how windy it is here until started growing the cannabis. They are in a very wind protected area now, even with the 40 mph winds yesterday they barely moved. Which means hotter but it's the sunniest part of the back yard, right next to the future planter.
I think I'll make the planter into a rough greenhouse, old style where you step down into it. It's pretty deep and the fill it's been carved out of is like rock so should be very stable. Then I could play with outdoor winter crops.
Pruned Rishi Kush #4. Had left 2 of the 4 mains unpruned but the unpruned became too dominant. Cut a couple of nodes higher than other two branches to even out.
Yay! found my old 3rd edition spiral Marijuana Grower's Guide. Been missing for a year and a half, tore the place apart a hundred times to find it. Finally realized I had hidden it when a relative was visiting and found it right away. I used to have the first edition from 1975 but it fell apart. Never really used either one to grow so finally I can use it.
Day 52, 5/27
Two cool days in a row, mid 80s and 60s at night. Glorious weather. Quiet, rest day. Last prune has really slowed the height problem. Just tons of new leaves all over. I started leaving the palo verde/mesquite flower/debris/quasi compost on the top, even when watering. It's very fluffy and retains a lot of moisture so that the roots are utilizing it and are almost on the surface - good sized ones, too. I was concerned that it might introduce bugs or create some kind of definiciency but all is well so far.
I'm amazed at the natural control in the garden this year. I haven't seen one aphid all year, which is unusual. Especially with oleander and desert willow. Actually, I think the desert wllow (not a true willow, chilopsis linearis) had some as I saw their sugar and there were a bunch of lace wing lions all over the tree. Nom nom. Some caterpillers but no damage on the cannabis.
Haven't watered since yesterday morning due to cooler weather, will tea water later. Tea ppms are around 40-50, 200 before dilution. Still hanging on to all eight plants just to make sure they are correctly sexed. I check them every day so no boys will get out of control. I'll eventually try curing some of the new growth on the males to see if they are potent as some can be. Just for kicks. Being a first time grower is fun since the learning curve is so intense. Some day I'll read this "journal" and laugh.
So glad I moved plants to the sunnier location. What a difference. Staying much tighter. The surface of the mulch is registering as high as 145-155 in spots(I have a very accurate laser thermometer) but mostly 20 or 30 degrees less. At those locations the soil surface is low 90s but mostly the surface temps are around 83 or so but it is a cool day, mid 80s.
Screwed up and got the tea too acidic. Had to dilute to raise pH and had to get rid of about 25 gallons so I'm out in the dark with a flashlight watering the garden at 11:00 pm. Definately self entertaining.
I have a Yellow Pearl tomatoe plant with hundreds of fruit. It's about 5 1/2' tall by 5" wide. What a monster. Tomatoes sure are fun to grow! I thought tomatoes would require a lot of work and fert but they are so easy to grow - tieing them up and containing them is the hardest part!
Two cool days in a row, mid 80s and 60s at night. Glorious weather. Quiet, rest day. Last prune has really slowed the height problem. Just tons of new leaves all over. I started leaving the palo verde/mesquite flower/debris/quasi compost on the top, even when watering. It's very fluffy and retains a lot of moisture so that the roots are utilizing it and are almost on the surface - good sized ones, too. I was concerned that it might introduce bugs or create some kind of definiciency but all is well so far.
I'm amazed at the natural control in the garden this year. I haven't seen one aphid all year, which is unusual. Especially with oleander and desert willow. Actually, I think the desert wllow (not a true willow, chilopsis linearis) had some as I saw their sugar and there were a bunch of lace wing lions all over the tree. Nom nom. Some caterpillers but no damage on the cannabis.
Haven't watered since yesterday morning due to cooler weather, will tea water later. Tea ppms are around 40-50, 200 before dilution. Still hanging on to all eight plants just to make sure they are correctly sexed. I check them every day so no boys will get out of control. I'll eventually try curing some of the new growth on the males to see if they are potent as some can be. Just for kicks. Being a first time grower is fun since the learning curve is so intense. Some day I'll read this "journal" and laugh.
So glad I moved plants to the sunnier location. What a difference. Staying much tighter. The surface of the mulch is registering as high as 145-155 in spots(I have a very accurate laser thermometer) but mostly 20 or 30 degrees less. At those locations the soil surface is low 90s but mostly the surface temps are around 83 or so but it is a cool day, mid 80s.
Screwed up and got the tea too acidic. Had to dilute to raise pH and had to get rid of about 25 gallons so I'm out in the dark with a flashlight watering the garden at 11:00 pm. Definately self entertaining.
I have a Yellow Pearl tomatoe plant with hundreds of fruit. It's about 5 1/2' tall by 5" wide. What a monster. Tomatoes sure are fun to grow! I thought tomatoes would require a lot of work and fert but they are so easy to grow - tieing them up and containing them is the hardest part!
Well, I spent an hour doing an update and when I posted it the responding window stated it was too many minutes to update and I lost it. The fact that the update button only lasts a few days is moronic and years old, not to mention deleting the unposted work. I'd like to think that the admin/moderator's rebuttal is well founded but doubt it would convince me. I'd like to think we members are all mature grownups and could handle an unrestricted edit button. I can't remember when another forum utilized a timed edit button. I need to get a "Does Not Play Well With Others" and wear it today. Rant over.
Cliff notes (come to think of it, perhaps the reduced verbage is a kinder act):
Day 55, 5/30
High nineties, 108 in two days. 18-22", most are wider than they are tall, one is 28"wide x 18"wide. Look very nice, tons of new leaves.
Regretting the amont of pruning last two prunes, around 14 nodes total. Should have been half that amount. Listened to mentor but should have been more prepared with next sized pots, etc. Too high a percentage prune. Next time I'll get it right. As a certified arborist I had better (studied under Dr. Shigo if that means anything to someone. awesome sweet guy). http://www.thepruningschool.com/Articles/shigo.htm
In lieu of these aforementioned prunes I went off path and added a touch of fert to the tea. Rumaged in the garage and came up with... 3 tbs. Espoma 5-3-3 and a bit of Maxsea acid formula seaweed fert, 14-18-14 with 6% quick nitro, iron, etc. Ppm of 350 diluted to 175, which is still light but 4x the norm ppm I use. A very gentle push. I feel it was the right decision as they are such rock solid plants but we'll see if it worked with the 108 degrees coming. Opinions?
The sexing is very slow, they just ain't telling. I know 4 or 5 are females so far. But it's fun to chek them out. 15x magnifier is working fine.
Day 56, 5/31
100, 5% humidity, breezey. Lightly top watered twice today. Two plants are still in 5 gallon pots as I thought they were males, one was bone dry. Surprised as all the others are wet and heavy. I water each plant a little several times per watering so he shouldn't be dry. Go figure.
Today's prognosis; 5 females, 2 males(in the 5 gal. pots), 1 undetermined. Getting close! Still want to keep the males a few weeks for an early tip harvest. Hope I don't push my luck.
I'm not exactly sure how tall they are getting each day, should probably check once a week and write it down. Even a 1/4" a day is more than enough as they will still fill the available 6' of height. They look very nice.
It's interesting that when I brush against them or lean a little too much against them that portion appears to wilt for a while.
Something has been eating my tomatoes and caught him today. It's a pair of birds that hang around all the time. They are really neat but damn it. They wait until the fruit are ripe. No sweat, I'll share. It's all good.
11:00 pm;
I'm changing my tea to an even milder brew;
3 cups assorted potting soil
1/4 cup Ancient Forest
1/4 cup ewc
pinch Great White
2 tbls molasses
heaping spoon Espoma 5-3-3(to make up for extreme pruning - not to be repeated)
Just by using any tea I'm exceeding Mandala's methodology so I'm cutting it back to 40-50 ppm including the Espoma and I want to put them in ground with what Mandala prescribes. I think I'll go to straight water again. I see so many growers obsessed with using so much of this fert and that fert and it just seems wrong and against my training. So, back to Mandala's minimalist method. 108 tomorrow, ughhh.
Cliff notes (come to think of it, perhaps the reduced verbage is a kinder act):
Day 55, 5/30
High nineties, 108 in two days. 18-22", most are wider than they are tall, one is 28"wide x 18"wide. Look very nice, tons of new leaves.
Regretting the amont of pruning last two prunes, around 14 nodes total. Should have been half that amount. Listened to mentor but should have been more prepared with next sized pots, etc. Too high a percentage prune. Next time I'll get it right. As a certified arborist I had better (studied under Dr. Shigo if that means anything to someone. awesome sweet guy). http://www.thepruningschool.com/Articles/shigo.htm
In lieu of these aforementioned prunes I went off path and added a touch of fert to the tea. Rumaged in the garage and came up with... 3 tbs. Espoma 5-3-3 and a bit of Maxsea acid formula seaweed fert, 14-18-14 with 6% quick nitro, iron, etc. Ppm of 350 diluted to 175, which is still light but 4x the norm ppm I use. A very gentle push. I feel it was the right decision as they are such rock solid plants but we'll see if it worked with the 108 degrees coming. Opinions?
The sexing is very slow, they just ain't telling. I know 4 or 5 are females so far. But it's fun to chek them out. 15x magnifier is working fine.
Day 56, 5/31
100, 5% humidity, breezey. Lightly top watered twice today. Two plants are still in 5 gallon pots as I thought they were males, one was bone dry. Surprised as all the others are wet and heavy. I water each plant a little several times per watering so he shouldn't be dry. Go figure.
Today's prognosis; 5 females, 2 males(in the 5 gal. pots), 1 undetermined. Getting close! Still want to keep the males a few weeks for an early tip harvest. Hope I don't push my luck.
I'm not exactly sure how tall they are getting each day, should probably check once a week and write it down. Even a 1/4" a day is more than enough as they will still fill the available 6' of height. They look very nice.
It's interesting that when I brush against them or lean a little too much against them that portion appears to wilt for a while.
Something has been eating my tomatoes and caught him today. It's a pair of birds that hang around all the time. They are really neat but damn it. They wait until the fruit are ripe. No sweat, I'll share. It's all good.
11:00 pm;
I'm changing my tea to an even milder brew;
3 cups assorted potting soil
1/4 cup Ancient Forest
1/4 cup ewc
pinch Great White
2 tbls molasses
heaping spoon Espoma 5-3-3(to make up for extreme pruning - not to be repeated)
Just by using any tea I'm exceeding Mandala's methodology so I'm cutting it back to 40-50 ppm including the Espoma and I want to put them in ground with what Mandala prescribes. I think I'll go to straight water again. I see so many growers obsessed with using so much of this fert and that fert and it just seems wrong and against my training. So, back to Mandala's minimalist method. 108 tomorrow, ughhh.