Virginia Growers Thread - Everything VA

[Budtirement]

They are predicting 4 inches of rain in northern Virginia. I drove four- 6 foot 1 x 3s into the ground and used some string to secure her from the wind and rain breaking branches. I'm not too worried about the rain. It's been so hot and dry. I'm hoping that a good soaking will do some good if things heat up again next week. My property is on a slope so it's not going to flood. Cross my fingers.
I have clay but I've dug it down about 18 inches and mixed in a cubic yard of leaf mulch a year and a half ago. The soil was looking very nice in the spring when I planted Bubba Kush, plus I mixed in 2 bags of happy frog. She's over 4 feet high now like a thick christmas tree. Just starting to grow out white hairs.

 

[abcdefghii]

They are predicting 4 inches of rain in northern Virginia

Yep, that's about what we are forecast out this way.

Fingers crossed, Saturday none of us are on here feeling down about ruined plants.

 

[fishmon]

Wouldn't hurt to cover if thats an option. Humidity still gonna be a bear for a couple days looks like.

 

[Stokes]

Not sure if this post is endurable but the facts in Virginia are plain as day.

There was a law approved by the democrat controlled Virginia legislature to set up retail sales this year;

Recreational Marijuana Regime Passes Virginia General Assembly

On February 28, the Virginia General Assembly passed House Bill No. 698, which would legalize sales of recreational marijuana at retail in the

www.regulatoryoversight.com

But it was vetoed by Gov Youngkin employing tired old Nixon era excuses;

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/28/virginia-governor-vetoes-marijuana-bill-00149638

One party supports our freedom, the other wants to arrest us. Vote accordingly or suffer.

BS.
Northam could have opened it up for retail day one, there was no reason to push it off until 2024 other than stringing along voters to keep them voting blue. Democratic lawmakers were the absolute worst when it came to drug legislation/enforcement. Dont forget who were in control of urban areas these past 60 years when people (mainly people of color) were sent down the road for cannabis.


If youre wondering why northam opened up the state, its so the rest of the politicians can get richer with insider trading, the last four years their corporate interests have been buying up distributors so they can lock up the market. Look at all of the local grow shops shutting down.

vote for who you want, but none of them are out friends lol

 

[RoyalRobert]

Central Va here, just started to pre flower last weekend, worried the most about the wind.

 

[abcdefghii]

Wouldn't hurt to cover if thats an option. Humidity still gonna be a bear for a couple days looks like.

I just got done covering mine, but left the ends open to hopefully keep the humidity level down some. I may add some plastic sheets to the ends and put a battery powered fan in there to keep the air moving at least a little as well.

If youre wondering why northam opened up the state, its so the rest of the politicians can get richer with insider trading, the last four years their corporate interests have been buying up distributors so they can lock up the market. Look at all of the local grow shops shutting down.

vote for who you want, but none of them are out friends lol

Agreed. I looked into trying to set up a legitimate growing business a few years back and got literally no information from anyone I contacted. Incredibly frustrating as like you say, insider trading and politicians getting rich.

They should all, including the supreme court, havev term limits of no more than 5 years. That's enough politics though, enough to stress over as it is.

Central Va here, just started to pre flower last weekend, worried the most about the wind.

Someone mentioned 65mph wind earlier to me, but 2 different sites are currently indicating no more than 16mph.

65mph and my rain cover will be covering something in my neighbors yard, so hoping light wind up here.

 

[abcdefghii]

Dang it .. cover version 1.0 didn't last the night, woke up early and checked the camera to see it not there. I could only find 4mil plastic locally and that doesn't appear good enough.

Before I attempt version 2.0 I'm hoping someone can answer this. 5 of my plants are in early stages of flowering, no visible bud, so technically no bud to rot. One of them is getting near to harvest and full of bud.

Should I concentrate my efforts on the plant with bud? It'll certainly make life easier, the biggest issue with the other, much taller plants, potentially will be wind and I can make a wind break to help there.

I only have a couple hours to do anything this morning and without any stronger plastic wonder if I should focus on rain protection for one plant.

The next 48 hours are going to cause me more stress than I anticipated!

 

[Budtirement]

Should I concentrate my efforts on the plant with bud? It'll certainly make life easier, the biggest issue with the other, much taller plants, potentially will be wind and I can make a wind break to help there.

My feeling is to protect the one one that is in flower. One in the hand is worth five in the bush. Although 5 big photos in the ground starting flower need love and protection too... Work the best you can to protect each one and then on to the next. Good luck.

 

[ccoki]

I started a separate thread about this, but since I am sure a lot of us in this thread are in the same boat (hopefully, not literally) are any of you planning to cover your outdoor plants with the expected rainfall from tropical storm Debby? I have an auto that is I think getting closer to harvest time and do not want it to get so wet it rots, my 5 photos are in early stages of flowering, so maybe OK.

They are planted on a slight grade, so should not end up in any standing water, but the concern is real.

I was thinking of maybe using some cheap PVC sheet (paint drop cloth type of thing) that is clear for sunlight, but should be protection against the worst of the rain. I'd still need to watch them as I could see it going from dumping rain to crazy humid, especially under a plastic sheet, in the blink of an eye.

That's precisely what it did. this year I just put a microclone in a busy garden bed on the deck. It really shot up with fat leaves vs branching out...did the same inside but I did the manifold thing to control that....I staked it once in pre flower and hoped for the best...totally fine through the storm so far. Covering needs to be removed and replaced probably multiple times throughout this storm to air out the humidity. The other year I had to put a box fan out with a heavy duty extension cord once this type of weather passed to help dry things out.

 

[abcdefghii]

Went outside just before 7am, it looks like the plastic did not come off entirely, just one side had (which I half suspected it would anyway due to using staples to hold it). So, this time I used some old deck boards I had and sandwiched the plastic between 2 boards. I also added an extra span of deck boards length wise and used some on the ends to help protect against the wind.

Some rain is going to still get in, it's not closed entirely, primarily at the ends, but the majority should be kept out and with it open some humidity levels should hopefully stay somewhat in check (although as soon as I can I will pull the plastic).

Sure is ugly looking...

That open looking piece on the bottom there is on the side closest to the garage, so ideally not a huge amount of rain will get in via there. I am also hoping that with it open on both ends that the wind won't simply rip it off. One piece I wish I had done is ran a length across the top in order to give a peak to the plastic, as is, I can see rain collecting in there. Hindsight.

Still, if everything makes it through OK I will call it a win and know to be a little more prepared next year. Basically a learning experience so far, which with everything going well, is also causing way more stress for something to go wrong so close to being able to harvest.

 

[abcdefghii]

Hope everyone made it through ok... I've not been able to fully inspect plants yet but the cover held up. Which with the amount of wind, rain and trees down had me a little surprised.

At a quick glance, the auto which was full of bud looks to have been blown over by the wind. I'm not sure if I can try to stand it back up as it doesn't appear snapped or any roots visible, or if the damage is done and it's no good. So close to harvest as well.

Waiting on rain to stop them I'll pull the cover and get a better look, they do all lol mostly dry though.

 

[abcdefghii]

So... how did other Virginians fare with the tropical storm last week? Hopefully no issues for anyone.

For me, once it had stopped raining and I got a good look it seems as though I had no issues, which considering there was talk of possibly a tornado touching down here I am somewhat amazed. We lost power for almost 48 hours, trees down everywhere, power lines down etc. My ramshackle shelter did exactly what I needed it to do and protected the plants, I have some ideas on improving it for next time (primarily more wind protection) but overall, for something I threw together with supplies I had on hand, it worked perfectly.

Now it is back to watching flowers, cursing caterpillars and trying to decide when to start harvesting.

 

[abcdefghii]

How are my fellow Virginians doing?

I harvested my smallest plant a few days ago, noticed a couple of the buds had rot so removed those (this plant only grew about 2 feet tall, compared to the others that are almost all twice the size or more). Currently have the plant drying and should be moving into curing soon, sucks that on such a small plant I had to throw away about a third or more of it.

Watching the other 5 plants carefully, hoping that these are not going to be hit with the rot as well. At least now with the lower humidity levels it should be a little easier, some rain forecast this weekend, probably going to put the plastic sheet back over the top to keep the worst of the rain off.

All lessons for next year.... planning to double the size of the plot I am using, even if I go with the same number of plants, debating putting them in pots next year as well and rebuilding the deer fence.

 

[RoyalRobert]

So far so good, lost a few hours of direct sunlight, weather has been good.

 

[RoyalRobert]

Made it through the storm, a few of the lower branches of the royal runtz broke off, the wedding Gelatos now have a North West lean to them.

 

[Budtirement]

The weather this growing season was not optimal here in Northern Virginia. We had many weeks of heat wave in June and August, then remnants of hurricane Debby rained for days. After that temperatures shifted and nighttime temps have been in the 50’s since then with daytime temps rarely making it into the 80's. Just now we had 4 days of tropical weather up from the south with wet, rainy conditions. Now it’s cool again.

So, bud formation has been, ehh. There are buds on colas and the colas are 8 to 10 inches tall, but they haven’t really thickened up yet. Well, that's the way the ball bounces, right? I’ve been spraying them prophalactically once a week with Lost Coast Plant Therapy for a month and I haven’t seen any caterpillars or rot so, that’s a blessing. How is your Virginia grow doing?

 

[Bullmark69]

Looks like your pussycat is eyeballing some low hanging fruit……

 

[Galgrows]

The weather this growing season was not optimal here in Northern Virginia. We had many weeks of heat wave in June and August, then remnants of hurricane Debby rained for days. After that temperatures shifted and nighttime temps have been in the 50’s since then with daytime temps rarely making it into the 80's. Just now we had 4 days of tropical weather up from the south with wet, rainy conditions. Now it’s cool again.

So, bud formation has been, ehh. There are buds on colas and the colas are 8 to 10 inches tall, but they haven’t really thickened up yet. Well, that's the way the ball bounces, right? I’ve been spraying them prophalactically once a week with Lost Coast Plant Therapy for a month and I haven’t seen any caterpillars or rot so, that’s a blessing. How is your Virginia grow doing?

I'm in Oregon and battled about the same conditions. I got 3 plants with so so buds on colas just not fattening. I've sprayed with BT for my catipillars and still finding them not many but still clinging on. Lost about 6oz on all 3 from damage/worm rot and still gonna need to cut more. i need about 3 good weeks of warm temps. We're in the low 50f here overnight, upper 70s low 80 during the day. Also had rain last week and cold.

 

[Budtirement]

I'm in Oregon and battled about the same conditions. I got 3 plants with so so buds on colas just not fattening. I've sprayed with BT for my catipillars and still finding them not many but still clinging on. Lost about 6oz on all 3 from damage/worm rot and still gonna need to cut more. i need about 3 good weeks of warm temps. We're in the low 50f here overnight, upper 70s low 80 during the day. Also had rain last week and cold.

Oh those caterpillars are terrible. I lost ounces last year to them. That's why I thought I'd try the Lost Coast since I read good things about it.
I read that some moths lay their eggs in the weeds nearby and the caterpillars climb up to feast so, another thing I tried this year was cutting strips of fly paper and wrapping it around the trunk in several places so anything climbing up from the ground gets stuck. I replaced it every week or 2. I didn't see a lot of wildlife stuck on there but I felt better doing something. I also got a blacklight flashlight which is supposed to make them glow at night for easy removal but I never saw any this year. I don't know if that's because there weren't any or because it's bro science.
Here's to a warm, sunny month ahead to get this crop finished fat.

 

[Budtirement]

I have a friend in Staunton, Virginia, I gave her 2 starter plants last May and we went down to check out a music event there this past weekend. Her plants have done pretty nicely, about 5 feet tall and full with nice colas but unfortunately the morning we got there and went to look at them, the hurricane remnants of Debby had hit overnight and toppled both plants to the ground. She got them staked up again and then there's hurricane Helene coming up. Tuff season for growing cannabis in the mid-Atlantic region this year.
My own garden is still producing tomatoes and peppers but the tomatoes are all splitting from so much rain. The cannabis. I can't decide if I should cut down the outdoor cannabis and get some kind of harvest or wait it out and see if it will mature properly with hardly any sunshine to speak of. The colas are about half the size I expect but the pistils are all brown now so I cut half a dozen colas and put them in a space to dry and I left the rest out there to the whims of mother nature. I have my fingers crossed that the sun will come out tomorrow, like the little red head sings, and get these colas on track. At this moment I'm glad I have an indoor grow too because that might be the bigger producer this season.