Blazing Oaks 2016

Had an agriculture biologist form the county Ag department up today for a tour. They are working on nursery guidelines as well as a cannabis specific IPM program for next year and wanting input as well as information about the industry. An sustainable (aka organic) certification program for Mendocino is in the works as well. The details still need to be ironed out and I would want to see the specific guidelines before we signed up, but by next year we might be able to have an official certification for organic, Mendocino grown cannabis which is pretty cool.

I can take any pests and bugs I find now down to the Ag Department for identification and advise on how to deal with them, which is going to prove to be invaluable I think. They can even send in bugs to state sponsored labs for analysis for me too. Having an trained, professionally educated biologist who specializes in entomology to consult with will be a powerful tool. I think a lot of pests get misidentified which results in incorrect pest control management. For example the guy we had up today told me that they have yet to see a documented case of broad mites or russet mites in the county. Yet I head countless stories about how both borads and russets are everywhere this year. Makes me wonder if that is really what is affecting people's gardens or if people are not correctly identifying their pests (personally I have never seen either broads or russets here either).

Blaze said:

Had an agriculture biologist form the county Ag department up today for a tour. They are working on nursery guidelines as well as a cannabis specific IPM program for next year and wanting input as well as information about the industry. An sustainable (aka organic) certification program for Mendocino is in the works as well. The details still need to be ironed out and I would want to see the specific guidelines before we signed up, but by next year we might be able to have an official certification for organic, Mendocino grown cannabis which is pretty cool.

I can take any pests and bugs I find now down to the Ag Department for identification and advise on how to deal with them, which is going to prove to be invaluable I think. They can even send in bugs to state sponsored labs for analysis for me too. Having an trained, professionally educated biologist who specializes in entomology to consult with will be a powerful tool. I think a lot of pests get misidentified which results in incorrect pest control management. For example the guy we had up today told me that they have yet to see a documented case of broad mites or russet mites in the county. Yet I head countless stories about how both borads and russets are everywhere this year. Makes me wonder if that is really what is affecting people's gardens or if people are not correctly identifying their pests (personally I have never seen either broads or russets here either).

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Wonderful!! Love science please keep us informed with pest management controls that they suggest.

Will do, I am going to have a lot of reading to do over the next few months though. They are planning on starting workshops over the winter to start educating people on IPM. By next spring we should have a solid program worked out, I hope!

No offence Blaze, as you know what your doing. However, if I had a agriculture biologist out on my farm, and they told me broads and russets aren't prevalent, then I would seriously doubt his real world experience. Just my two cents, very cool to have those tools.

BTW - I know for a fact one of the biggest clone distributors put out around 10 million cuts with russets, so I KNOW FOR A FACT russets are a big force in the industry. Most states on the west coast are supplied through this clone distributor.

If that's the case then I'm sure it's only a matter of time. But why would the idea that the pest may have been misidentified be wrong from the outset? You can't sit there and tell me this industry isn't run on bro-science. How many growers do you know go outside the cannabis world to get their information? Blaze is one of the ones I know who does, and he's in the minority.

Bulldog420 said:

No offence Blaze, as you know what your doing. However, if I had a agriculture biologist out on my farm, and they told me broads and russets aren't prevalent, then I would seriously doubt his real world experience. Just my two cents, very cool to have those tools.

BTW - I know for a fact one of the biggest clone distributors put out around 10 million cuts with russets, so I KNOW FOR A FACT russets are a big force in the industry. Most states on the west coast are supplied through this clone distributor.

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I would imagine you're speaking of dhn or harborside, very possible they put out something with some bad mites on it, but is it also possible that all of us amateur botanists (even those of us growing for 20+ years) are misidentifing the problem? I'd like to think that russets and broads aren't that prevalent and we as a community have been misdiagnosing the problem.

The other possibility (which seems unlikely to me) is that russets and broads really have been a cannabis specific problem and are not affecting other crops in the area. Therefore the county ag departments would have not seen them as of yet. Again, I have never personally seen them in Mendo either, I have only heard of second hand accounts.

Regardless, they asked anyone who thinks they may have russets or broads to bring in a sample so they can be identified. So if you know anyone in Mendocino County who thinks they have an infestation of russet mites or broad mites, tell them to get their butt down to the Ag Department to verify it.

I never even knew getting the county ag department involved was even am.option!

So I talked to a pro bug guy also......Works in the bug biz, has his own biz, and has been transferring over to the canna side of the bug biz for the last 8 years. The most educated person I have EVER talked to about bugs. Not just canna bugs either, we had a great talk.

Here is the deal. Russets are everywhere. Period. I had them last year, id'ed them myself. I understand that doesn't mean anything to others here. The clone distributor I was talking about, went to a plant health seminar that I attended. They had their garden tested, positive for russet mites. This was after 7 months of recognized problems, and you can bet it went at least 2 month further back than that. They put out around 1 million clones a month. Do the math.......

The bug guy I talked to has id'ed the russets on 12 gardens this year. He has a degree in bugs, (totally forget what degree) and has written the local agricultural rules for pesticides for our right to farm county.

Are there dummies who can't ID pests.....Yes. Are there people with russets, for sure.

Russets are actually called Russet Hemp Mites. That is why the other agricultural areas haven't been hit as hard, they are plant specific to an extent. You will find Russets on tomatoes and corn as well I believe.

My bug guy had an interesting approach to russets, broads and spider mites. He likes to use essential oils, and sprays daily at my temps. He also uses Kaolin Clay as a foliar, says it gums up their mouths. That was a new one to me. I have a mild spider mite outbreak on some plants, so I thought I would hire a pro.

Just thought I would share what I believe to be true. Sorry to high jack your thread.

Other important points my bug guy made was about the equipment I use. I bought a backpack sprayer, and was told the micron size of the droplets was not small enough. He says, he would spray and then watch how the bugs react. He would watch the bugs walk around the spray (spinosad at the time) and avoid contact all together. He had a professional bug sprayer, which poops all over my back pack and 2gal Hudson. Amazing what the right tools can do for you. He also has some really cool foggers that seem super effective. Had a entire trunk full of different tanks for different jobs.

Bulldog420 said:

He also uses Kaolin Clay as a foliar, says it gums up their mouths

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I've been using it for a few years, but not on cannabis and definitely not on flowering cannabis. I use Surround. It gives some relief from things like aphids and cucumber beetles as well. Mostly I've been using it to prevent heat scorch.

Blaze said:

I had not posted any grow threads in a long while, though I'd share a bit with what we've been up to out in the Mendocino hills lately. So far 2016 is off to a good start - the clones are vegging, the seedlings are sprouted and growing, and we actually got some much needed rain this winter and spring. Nice to see the hills still green and the wild flowers everywhere, unlike the last few years where everything was brown and dead by the end of winter.


Seed line up for this year:

Kush Cleaner (aka Longbottom Leaf), from Sierra Skunk / Loran

Kush Cleaner x Mendo Pineapple, a new cross of mine being tested

Guava Kush F2 x Kush Cleaner, a cross of mine I've been working with a lot the last 2 years

[Kryptonite x Grape Krush] x Kush Cleaner, a new cross of mine being tested

SFV OG Backcross from a friend in Trinity

OG Ringo from SoHum Seeds

Ringo's Gift from SoHum Seeds

Mendocino Purple Kush from CSI: Humboldt

Cornbread Bubba from CSI: Humboldt


Clone line up:

Archive OG

OG Twist

Mendo Pineapple

Urkle Wreck

Purple Zebra from NCGA

OG Ringo (best pheno from last year)

Kush Cleaner (best pheno from last year)

Kryptonite x Grape Kush (best pheno from last year)

Guava Kush F2x Kush Cleaner (most potent pheno)

Watermelon Rancher (most unique smell and flavor from last year's [Guava Kush F2 x Kush Cleaner] selection, placed in the top 20 at the Emerald Cup.)

I might plant a Super Silver Haze (Oldsgo cut) and a Guava Kush F2 as well, but their growth and rooting seems to be a bit lagging this year so I don't know if I want to dedicate any space to them.

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How much are the pounds going for my dude ??

For sale profits are still illegal under current California Law. We can donate to a dispensary which in turn can give us reimbursement for our time and materials. Posting information on sales and pricing on a public forum is not smart.

Kaolin clay is a new one to me, I will have to look into that. Which specific oils were recommended @Bulldog420 ?

He recommend any essential oil that is derived from plant material. He recommends DoTerra oils. He likes to switch daily between a citrus smell, then one of the blends for example one that has eucalyptus, lavender and peppermint. He swears it raises his terp levels, but I will just stick to his bug advice. He recommends starting at 10 drops a gallon, and says if the bug problems persist, you can max out around 30 drops a gallon. In the past, I tend to start out full strength. He told me this is the wrong approach because bugs will start to become resistant (not immune to these oils) and then there is no where you can go because you are at full strength already. Much better to start light, then increase over time.

The BIGGEST thing he pointed me in the direction of was VectorFog's c150 Cold Water ULV. I have hand pump sprayers, a Hudson 2.2 gal atomizer, and a back pack sprayer. The VectorFog poops all over the other sprayers. The back pack sprayer and hand pumps wont even work on smaller bugs like russets, can't get the micron size small enough. In order for the Hudson to spray the correct size micron, you have to close the flap and turn the flow all the way down.......and it takes me about 4 hours to get through my garden that way.

Kaolin clay is used several ways in ag. One is to create a layer on plants like avocados who can burn in intense light and blocks the light. The other is to keep an almond bug in check. I forget the name he told me, but the clay will gum up the bugs mouth. Both of these are applied at rates around 1lb per gallon. (approximately, they go by the acre) I applied mine at about 1/4 lb per several 1000 sq ft. So when I was done spraying, the only places you could see the clay's white residue was where I sprayed too much and runoff suck to the edge of some leaves. Very little visible residue.

I have heard a couple people say I would never put that on my cannabis plant......Then I look around at my yard when a gust of wind comes........Clay everywhere in the air.

To get ready for the new greenhouse I staged a bunch of clones in 20 gallon pots just below the construction site by the drying shed. Several construction string lights were run above them to keep them from flowering. They only got 2.5 weeks of veg time after being transplanted from 4" pots, and that proved to be just enough time to get them to size. Though usually I don't like to cut it that close on my timing. I turned the lights off a week ago, so we are looking at a harvest windows of Nov 1 - Nov 15, which is as late as we can push it in our climate.



We used 24" plastic saucers to lift them in and out of the back of our little 1980's Toyota work truck, and plant dollys to move them all into place in the greenhouse. Even with two people helping me it still took all day. I am sore and beat this morning after lifting and moving almost 250 of these yesterday:



It has been 13 months since we took down our cold frames and began to prep the site for construction, it feels really good to see this spot up and running with plants again. There are a several new strains in this run - Dosidos, Sunset Sherbert, Gelato, and Orange Cookies. The rest are from our usual line up - Mendo Pineapple, Purple Zebra, Archive OG, OG Twist, OG Ringo, Watermelon Rancher, Guava Kush x Heart Attack Kush, and Girl Scout Cookies.



The last of the trellis netting for out outdoor plants goes up today. That should be it for supports and pruning on them for the rest of the year.

Blaze said:

The final details need to be approved but we will be able to grow up to 99 outdoor plants or 9,990 square feet of greenhouse space with no plant limits

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Blaze said:

Right now we are allowed 25 or 2500 square feet of canopy of flowering plants per parcel without a permit exemption and without having to sign up with the sheriffs department.

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Blaze said:

Not having to worry about getting busted by local law enforcement will be such a huge relief! Not to mention I would be able to grow 2-4 times as many plants as I can now, completely legally.

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So when you were allowed to grow b4 it wasn't actually ok to grow but now that you are allowed to grow its ok or somehow better? Is there a limit of parcels you can have per property? Is the greenhouse zoned for no limits and yard at 99 ? Was it technically legal to veg 250 outdoors then move them into the gh?

There is a limit of one cultivation permit issued per person and, a limit of one permit per parcel. Continuous parcels under the same ownership are considered one parcel. So you cannot have for example a 100 acre parcel with five twenty acre parcels and have 5 permits issued. You can't have five permit holders all cultivating 9,900 square feet of canopy space on one parcel, regardless of size. Farms must be clearly separate with different people holding the permit. You also had to be a resident of the county for over a year and cultivating medically before Jan 1, 2016, in the county to be eligible. It is looking like the permanent ordinance the board of supervisors is drafting will also halt new permits being issued until 2020. So if you did not get in the program this year, you won't be able to for almost four more years.

A lot of the specifics are vague, keep in mind this was a temporary ordinance and it will probably take quite a while before the county has more concise and clear guidelines. So yes, they were fine with vegging out some small plants outside, then moving them into the greenhouse. I did have to purchase the appropriate number of zip ties to cover them however, which was to be expected. Minor, vague details like that are of no concern to them, it is not worth their time to hassle people over nonsense such as that. With any grey area is up to the Under-Sheriff Randy Johnson to make the call - Randy's Law as he likes to call it. If they have a problem with something, they will inform you of what you have to do to rectify it, and come back in two weeks to confirm the problem has been resolved. Enforcement of violations with permit holders is dealt with in a civil manner, they do not arrest people for being out of compliance, and we have had zero violations anyway.

We have not hid anything from the Sheriff or the third party inspectors, they have seen far more of our operation than what I have posted on this forum and they were OK with everything we are doing. If they were not OK with it, we would have not been issued a cultivation permit by the county.

Great work blaze. Makes my 6 footers look like babies. I didn't get to put all the amendments in this year because of a late start. I was afraid that I would burn the plants. Looking back I should have put them all in and just waited 2-3 more weeks to plant. That's what you call a learning experience or a *uck up...
For those that want to see the difference in not getting your soil dialed in on time check my grow out https://www.thcfarmer.com/community...reenhouse-big-plant.81046/page-9#post-1773660