Hello, Fellow Cultivators.

[SmithsJunk]

I've been reading a lot of threads on here for some time now. They've all been very informative. Thank you for your collective wisdom. I haven't had a question yet that hasn't been answered with a quick search.

This is the first year I've grown my own plants, though I've helped with others grows previously. I live in the inland mountains of Nor Cal, elevation 2500ft, arid conditions, and a 3 month summer 85 to 105 degree average. I have an outdoor grow of six plants under 40% shade cloth, three Sativa leaning Orange Creamsicle and three Royal Nepal Kush in 100 gal smart pots. I started with a recipe of four soils and expanded clay pellets that I found in a Jeorge Cervantes YouTube video and fertilize every couple of weeks with 7-3-1 bat guano and humic acids as needed. (Thinking about buying a 5 gal tea brewing kit put together by these Humboldt guys. With hip replacements it's gard to get down under the plants to mix in the guano.)

I've helped on big grows with guys using heavy fertizer saturation. Even though the plants grow big and produce large powerful buds the flavor is gone. I really believe that flavor is part of the therapeutic experience. So, I decided to grow my own top shelf nugs with a minimalistic approach. After almost 60 days my plants are almost as big and much healtier and sturdier than their over fertilized counterparts growing beside them (my smallest Creamsicle was a little light starved by an oak I didn't account for when I set up the pots but now it's grabbing better light and starting to catch up with the others. It's still stacked with pre-flowers though).

I'm really looking foward to fall. My Creamsicles are already stacked with pre-flowers giving me an idea of what their colas are going to look like in September-October. So stoked! This is such a fulfilling experience.

Thank you all again. My plants would not be so pretty if it weren't for this forum.

 

[dnewsome2]

Looks great! :D

 

[DemonTrich]

Welcome

Nice OD set up you have there.

 

[Strangeone]

I've been reading a lot of threads on here for some time now. They've all been very informative. Thank you for your collective wisdom. I haven't had a question yet that hasn't been answered with a quick search.

This is the first year I've grown my own plants, though I've helped with others grows previously. I live in the inland mountains of Nor Cal, elevation 2500ft, arid conditions, and a 3 month summer 85 to 105 degree average. I have an outdoor grow of six plants under 40% shade cloth, three Sativa leaning Orange Creamsicle and three Royal Nepal Kush in 100 gal smart pots. I started with a recipe of four soils and expanded clay pellets that I found in a Jeorge Cervantes YouTube video and fertilize every couple of weeks with 7-3-1 bat guano and humic acids as needed. (Thinking about buying a 5 gal tea brewing kit put together by these Humboldt guys. With hip replacements it's gard to get down under the plants to mix in the guano.)

I've helped on big grows with guys using heavy fertizer saturation. Even though the plants grow big and produce large powerful buds the flavor is gone. I really believe that flavor is part of the therapeutic experience. So, I decided to grow my own top shelf nugs with a minimalistic approach. After almost 60 days my plants are almost as big and much healtier and sturdier than their over fertilized counterparts growing beside them (my smallest Creamsicle was a little light starved by an oak I didn't account for when I set up the pots but now it's grabbing better light and starting to catch up with the others. It's still stacked with pre-flowers though).

I'm really looking foward to fall. My Creamsicles are already stacked with pre-flowers giving me an idea of what their colas are going to look like in September-October. So stoked! This is such a fulfilling experience.

Thank you all again. My plants would not be so pretty if it weren't for this forum.

Very nice.

 

[indicabush]

Howdy and welcome to the farm...quite nice.

 

[SmithsJunk]

If anyone sees the brown dots on the leaves, I kept checking the bottoms and wasn't seeing anything, thought it was a nute problem. I was getting seriously pissed trying to figure what was wrecking my leaves. In desperation, I broke out my jewler's loop today, and voilot! I finally saw the little speckle back bastards! My poor girls are being ravaged by two spotted spider mites. I must be getting old and need to get some reading glasses. Because I should have seen them.

On the glass half full side, it's easier to solve a spider mite problem than a nute problem. Plus, I have 1500 ladybugs +food on the way from when I thought it was an aphid attack last night. After a couple weeks, when the luv bugs start to fly I'll introduce some nemotodes and predatory mites. Soap and DE coats in between with a couple rinses before introducing each of the hired bug regimens.

I imagine the beautimus song if tiny little crunches soon. But first, tonight, a nice soapy bath of Garden Safe and dusting of DE tomorrow.

My plants were clean until four weeks ago, when a number of questionable clones began to share space with mine inside the deer fence. I didn't have a say because I'm only borrowing room in the garden and I'll offer to inoculate all the girls within the fence at dusk.

If it weren't for these forums I wouldn't know what to do.

(Yup, yup, I know the beneficial nematodes can counteract and kill the ladybugs during their time on the ground but I figure by then they'll be depleted enough it won't matter, and I can always add more later, or, move on to lacewings or mantids.)

 

[Dan789]

Good luck, hope you get this mite problem under control. Nice looking plants.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Garden Safe insecticidal soap killed 99% if the mites and my plants loved it. Their growth has been off the hook since. I don't know if they liked the soap or the mites were holding them back. Happy with the results either way.

I had to change my plan of attack when what I thought were preflowers on my Orange Creamsicles turned out to be full on buds. No longer have time for predator bugs. I'm going more aggresive with spinosid, Captain Jacks Dead Bug. I have hip replacements that make it hard for me to get a sprayer down under the leaves so I bought a hudson sprayer with an angled tip to reach. I read spinosid is systemic. That will relieve my fears that I missed any.

Garden Safe is a great, effective, product but their spray bottles suck. The spray isn't fine enough so I suggest anyone using it transfer a few bottles to a pump sprayer to get better coverage.
My Kush loooooved the soap, 1st pic.

You can see the mite damage on the close-up of the Creamsicle. Voracious little bastards. I guess they're auto-flowering, I've never had a plant bud this early without help. I'm not going to complain, read they have a super long bud cycle with multiple harvests.

 

[SmithsJunk]

The previous pic was from Sat, this is this morning. I'm going to have to bend them before this weekend or they'll be pushing the shade screen.

 

[BudBogart]

The previous pic was from Sat, this is this morning. I'm going to have to bend them before this weekend or they'll be pushing the shade screen.

View attachment 727857

Thanks for sharing. I am your " neighbor" at 3000 ft el Dorado forest grow. I am wondering why the shade cloth? That may attribute to your slightly early flower onset, maybe not, but why not let those girls get full sun?
I also like your minimalist approach seeking the plants natural terpene flavors. Last year we grew natural organic and complete pesticide free and we had great success. This year I am letting them grow with almost no fertilizing. I won't get the volume like last year but it will be interesting to see how the taste is effected.
Good luck with your grow.

 

[Ceveres]

Welcome to the Farm and happy gardening to ya! Beautiful lookin girls, glad you caught the mites early! I'll be watching this one.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Thanks for sharing. I am your " neighbor" at 3000 ft el Dorado forest grow. I am wondering why the shade cloth? That may attribute to your slightly early flower onset, maybe not, but why not let those girls get full sun?
I also like your minimalist approach seeking the plants natural terpene flavors. Last year we grew natural organic and complete pesticide free and we had great success. This year I am letting them grow with almost no fertilizing. I won't get the volume like last year but it will be interesting to see how the taste is effected.
Good luck with your grow.

Nice to meet you neighbor.

The shade cloth serves two purposes, shade obviously, so my girls won't get so stressed at over 80F and can put their energy into growth instead of cooling down, and even more importantly, to protect the flowers against hail. Last year I had several friends lose whole crops to hail so I decided to take a gamble with their growth rate and use the shade cloth. It seems to have paid off. While the plants growing in full sun were showing stress even on only moderately warm days, my girls continued their growth without pause, showing zero signs of stress. (I'll show a photo, 1st pic)

Though the region I live in isn't known to be hot, my specific area has it's own microclimate. It is almost always hotter by 5-10 degrees than the surrounding 2750-3000 ft.

I seriously doubt it's the shade cloth causing premature flowering. Only my Creamsicle have bud. The three Kush also growing under the shade cloth are just barely showing their very first hairs. The Kush in full sun are showing the same few hairs. You may be right, but I'm leaning heavily towards autoflowering. There is one that was light starved, and other than being shorter, it is acting no differently than it's big sisters. Even has the same amount of bud but stacked more densely. If the Orange Creamsicles live up to their rep then early flowering and long flower cycle would account for their reported super heavy yields. If this is true, then it won't be the last time I grow this strain.

As far as growth goes under the shade cloth, five of the six plants are over 5ft tall at 9 weeks and are looking to reach 7ft withing the next two. (2nd pic, left Orange Creamsicle, right Royal Nepal Kush, both roughly 5.5ft) I am very, very, happy with those results. When I have more space I'd like to do a side-by-side of the same strains to find out for sure. The girls that were grown in the exact same spot last year were in full sun and were harvested at 5ft. That's no proof though. I didn't grow them so they were watered and fed differently.

When you get right down to it, at this altitude and climate, I believe shade cloth may be a matter of preference only, the differences being negligable. (Except for protection from hail) I will use it again.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Welcome to the Farm and happy gardening to ya! Beautiful lookin girls, glad you caught the mites early! I'll be watching this one.

Thank you for the welcome.

I don't think I caught them early. There is a whole lot of them just very few webs. I see a lot of activity at the top of my girls today. I hope the spinosad works but won't know for another day or so. I guess it's supposed to be more effective with a nonionic spray adjuvant (whatever that is). I will find out what that is and order it tomorrow. It would have been nice if they posted the application instructions on Amazon so I could have ordered it together, but it'll get done. I'll order the predator mites tomorrow as well. I loved the jump in growth after using Garden Safe. I'm figuring the potassium salts acted as a foliar feeding. Cool.

 

[EventHorizan]

welcome to the farm!

 

[BudBogart]

Nice to meet you neighbor.

The shade cloth serves two purposes, shade obviously, so my girls won't get so stressed at over 80F and can put their energy into growth instead of cooling down, and even more importantly, to protect the flowers against hail. Last year I had several friends lose whole crops to hail so I decided to take a gamble with their growth rate and use the shade cloth. It seems to have paid off. While the plants growing in full sun were showing stress even on only moderately warm days, my girls continued their growth without pause, showing zero signs of stress. (I'll show a photo, 1st pic)

Though the region I live in isn't known to be hot, my specific area has it's own microclimate. It is almost always hotter by 5-10 degrees than the surrounding 2750-3000 ft.

I seriously doubt it's the shade cloth causing premature flowering. Only my Creamsicle have bud. The three Kush also growing under the shade cloth are just barely showing their very first hairs. The Kush in full sun are showing the same few hairs. You may be right, but I'm leaning heavily towards autoflowering. There is one that was light starved, and other than being shorter, it is acting no differently than it's big sisters. Even has the same amount of bud but stacked more densely. If the Orange Creamsicles live up to their rep then early flowering and long flower cycle would account for their reported super heavy yields. If this is true, then it won't be the last time I grow this strain.

As far as growth goes under the shade cloth, five of the six plants are over 5ft tall at 9 weeks and are looking to reach 7ft withing the next two. (2nd pic, left Orange Creamsicle, right Royal Nepal Kush, both roughly 5.5ft) I am very, very, happy with those results. When I have more space I'd like to do a side-by-side of the same strains to find out for sure. The girls that were grown in the exact same spot last year were in full sun and were harvested at 5ft. That's no proof though. I didn't grow them so they were watered and fed differently.

When you get right down to it, at this altitude and climate, I believe shade cloth may be a matter of preference only, the differences being negligable. (Except for protection from hail) I will use it again.
View attachment 728190 View attachment 728191

Thanks for explaining, makes sense. I look forward to following your well thought out grow.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Thanks for explaining, makes sense. I look forward to following your well thought out grow.

Thanks. I dig your plants too. Very nice.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Released the ladybugs yesterday evening. Unfortunately, they were delivered in a 100F+ degree day and left in the mailbox for half of it. I don't know what my postal lady was thinking they were obviously live animals. Should have been delivered to my porch. My fault too, should've been watching the mail. I wasn't expecting them for 4 more days, according to the original estimate.

Oh well. Only a quarter or less survived, but they are hooverin away.

Tried to get some pics but my phone's camera does crap closeups. I know it's capable because I've had it do it. It just refuses to focus for most of them. Trying to buy a new Pentax K-S1 camera but my girls keep hitting my wallet every time I have enough. Bought my mom one in June. Sick ass entry level pro camera with 52k ISO for lowlight and high speed shots, built in auto-stabilization and anti-aliasing . Dropped a G on it so she could have everything, including a 75mm-300mm lens. She takes telephoto shots of pelicans on the fly and fishing, she's good at it too. I had to hook her up first cause she accidentally donated her badass Minolta and she's been jonesin for over two years now. Love my Moms.
Two things give me the best highs. Top shelf chronic grown by someone who gives a shit and capturing the perfect nature shot exactly the way I see it in my head. Wanted it for my grow log, so I'm chompin at the bit to get it and a prime micro lens before my girl's buds get too thick.

Sorry about the rant, my head's been stuck on this for a while and it won't go away till I get it done. I'm a bit OCD.

Royal Nepal Kush

This is either JB or OG Kush. Not my plants but the ladys don't care.

 

[SmithsJunk]

I'm still seeing a lot of live mites on my plants this morning. To me, it looks like 'ol Cap'n Jack didn't do jack shit. That may still be my fault. Next application I'll add a wetting agent and up the concentration. I read that it needs the agent to be effective on the spider mites.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Nature's Good Guys, the seller I bought the ladybugs from on Amazon, are sending replacement ladybugs even though it wasn't their fault. Really cool of them. Won me over as a permanent customer.

I think I'll be buying my predator mites through them.

 

[EventHorizan]

Nice to meet you neighbor.

The shade cloth serves two purposes, shade obviously, so my girls won't get so stressed at over 80F and can put their energy into growth instead of cooling down, and even more importantly, to protect the flowers against hail. Last year I had several friends lose whole crops to hail so I decided to take a gamble with their growth rate and use the shade cloth. It seems to have paid off. While the plants growing in full sun were showing stress even on only moderately warm days, my girls continued their growth without pause, showing zero signs of stress. (I'll show a photo, 1st pic)

Though the region I live in isn't known to be hot, my specific area has it's own microclimate. It is almost always hotter by 5-10 degrees than the surrounding 2750-3000 ft.

I seriously doubt it's the shade cloth causing premature flowering. Only my Creamsicle have bud. The three Kush also growing under the shade cloth are just barely showing their very first hairs. The Kush in full sun are showing the same few hairs. You may be right, but I'm leaning heavily towards autoflowering. There is one that was light starved, and other than being shorter, it is acting no differently than it's big sisters. Even has the same amount of bud but stacked more densely. If the Orange Creamsicles live up to their rep then early flowering and long flower cycle would account for their reported super heavy yields. If this is true, then it won't be the last time I grow this strain.

As far as growth goes under the shade cloth, five of the six plants are over 5ft tall at 9 weeks and are looking to reach 7ft withing the next two. (2nd pic, left Orange Creamsicle, right Royal Nepal Kush, both roughly 5.5ft) I am very, very, happy with those results. When I have more space I'd like to do a side-by-side of the same strains to find out for sure. The girls that were grown in the exact same spot last year were in full sun and were harvested at 5ft. That's no proof though. I didn't grow them so they were watered and fed differently.

When you get right down to it, at this altitude and climate, I believe shade cloth may be a matter of preference only, the differences being negligable. (Except for protection from hail) I will use it again.
View attachment 728190 View attachment 728191

nice looking outdoor you got there!