Blazing Oaks 2016

[SpiderK]

you have a beautiful place blaze ....... awesome. wish i was at the cabin in the north woods now after looking at that damn windmill, swamp, land ....

. and sorry for rant, i just don't trust .gov in any form. they have let me down before ....

:)

 

[Blaze]

Haha no worries dude, the concern is appreciated. I don't trust government either but that doesn't mean I am unwilling to deal with them, or at least at the local level. I'm getting older and lamer I guess :P . I've got a family to look after now, at this point I would rather just play their game and be left alone in peace with my plants and my trees and my animals.

 

[Blaze]

I have been super busy the last few weeks but managed to snap a few pictures today. Full season outdoor is vegging along, although so far we have had a nasty, cold start to summer. It was really, really cold and rainy all last week, I have never had a rainstorm roll through this late in June, it was very strange. Most of the plants handled it OK, but growth has been slower than I like to see. Hopefully this week will finally bring the heat, we need that hot weather to really push the ladies along!

Shot of one of the OG Twist Beds:

OG Twist with Archive OG behind it:

I got all my males selected out and thinned down for this years seed projects. They will hang out in the transition greenhouse under an extended light cycle until I am ready to use them. Planning on sending samples into the lab this year so I know exactly which ones are the most potent.

The light dep is looking really healthy but we are still getting hammered with cucumber beetles. I have never seen them this bad before. Stylet oil and Azamax has not been doing much against them either. I think we might have to up our pest control and use some Spinosad.

Pic of the Watermelon Rancher:

Wifi 43 from CSI: Humboldt:

OG Twist - really looking forward to this one, it tested the highest of any strain I have grown, but it looks like it is going to be fairly late in dep, at least compared to the other strains I am running.

Officially broke ground on the new greenhouse and got the footings dug. Construction on the building itself should start in about 3 weeks. The last section of road up to the greenhouse pad is too steep for a fully loaded concrete truck to get up so we will be using a boom truck to pour the concrete. That should be pretty cool to see in action, those things have 4 giant legs that deploy to steady them and then have a giant arm that can reach out about 80'. We are going to park it down below by our drying shed and the boom arm will be able to reach up the hill, over our fence, and shoot the concrete where ever we need it. The steep hills around here always make building anything a challenge.

 

[MendoGiantZ]

Looks great. We're supposed to get two weeks of heat. Things should start to explode

 

[papapayne]

Yea, same here with the cold. I got the greenhouse plastic finally on my big greenhouse, so hopefully even if the temps stay cold, will be a little hotter in there.

plants are looking healthy reguardless, keep it up my friend. Fun times ahead, cant wait to see your greenhouse full :)

 

[Blaze]

Yeah some of the clones really didn't like it, I'm finding some pre-flowers on my Heart Attack clones and OG Ringo clones after the cold snap and rainstorm last week. No single blade leaves fortunately, and they seem to be continuing to grow, so hopefully the will snap out of it can get back on track. Transitioning clones is always such a pain, It will be nice when we eventually get to the point where everything is in a greenhouse.

 

[papapayne]

Yea, I say it every year, and next year I may actually follow thru, but I don't think know I am gonna run clones anymore full season. All my seed plants are outperforming the clones. It's no biggie on smaller plants, but one the ones I want to get 14 foot tall anyway lol.

 

[Blaze]

Seeds almost always out preform clones outside in my experience as well. If I could get all my cloned strains in stable seed form I would probably drop the clones for outside as well. We might just run all seed outside next year anyway since we will have a bigger greenhouse space to run clones all year long anyway.

 

[MendoGiantZ]

Some of the seed strains I have grown over the last couple years have the biggest buds I have ever seen.. They are healthier and you can put them out so much earlier it makes things much less complicated... All of the seeds i get from my buddies have a couple different pheno types though and they all look different and it makes it a nightmare to try and separate things.. I also can't get nearly the same consistency as with clones... I do always plant a bunch of seed starts and I usually wish I did more after I see how healthy and massive they get..

 

[Blaze]

It has been an insane couple of days here. Mendocino was sued over it's cultivation ordinance by the Mendocino County Blacktail Deer Association.

http://www.willitsnews.com/general-news/20160615/county-sued-over-urgency-cannabis-ordinance

The president of the organization also just happens to be the owner of Leer Asset Management, the private security firm that gets hired to chop gardens and generally harass growers:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/lear-asset-management-marijuana-raids-mendocino-california

Talk about a serious conflict of interest. In order to settle the lawsuit the Board of Supervisors folded like the spineless assholes they are and moved the deadline to enroll in the cultivation program up by by over a month. There was no public notice, no public input and no due process, and none of the local groups like the Small Farmers Association was informed - the whole thing happened behind closed doors.

As a result we had less than 20 hours to submit our application and pay a fee, along with the huge laundry list of documents before the program got shut down or we would be locked out of the program and not be a legal cultivator. If we had not started the process for some of this stuff over 9 months ago we would have been screwed.

I was able to get everything together and in, but my head is still spinning and the last 48 hours have been insane. So fuck it - we are a legal, registered medical cultivator now! Looks like the county should have a few hundred people signed up, I am still waiting to hear the official number though.

There was literally a line out the door at the Sheriff's department by the end of the day of people signing up before the deadline. I never though I would see a mob of growers descend on the Sheriff's department to sign up to grow! From what I hear there will probably be a counter-suit, as what the supervisors pulled was arguably illegal, and a lot of people who were intending to enroll have now been locked out of the program.

 

[Rootbound]

Love that watermelon ran her pic. Whats in her genetics? Do the pistils keep the pink color after harvest?

 

[MendoGiantZ]

I get the feeling that the black tail deer association are some very powerful people. I have heard a couple stories of my buddies riding quads on there land and getting seen and the next week there gardens all got cut down in that same area.

 

[papapayne]

It has been an insane couple of days here. Mendocino was sued over it's cultivation ordinance by the Mendocino County Blacktail Deer Association.

http://www.willitsnews.com/general-news/20160615/county-sued-over-urgency-cannabis-ordinance

The president of the organization also just happens to be the owner of Leer Asset Management, the private security firm that gets hired to chop gardens and generally harass growers:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/lear-asset-management-marijuana-raids-mendocino-california

Talk about a serious conflict of interest. In order to settle the lawsuit the Board of Supervisors folded like the spineless assholes they are and moved the deadline to enroll in the cultivation program up by by over a month. There was no public notice, no public input and no due process, and none of the local groups like the Small Farmers Association was informed - the whole thing happened behind closed doors.

As a result we had less than 20 hours to submit our application and pay a fee, along with the huge laundry list of documents before the program got shut down or we would be locked out of the program and not be a legal cultivator. If we had not started the process for some of this stuff over 9 months ago we would have been screwed.

I was able to get everything together and in, but my head is still spinning and the last 48 hours have been insane. So fuck it - we are a legal, registered medical cultivator now! Looks like the county should have a few hundred people signed up, I am still waiting to hear the official number though.

There was literally a line out the door at the Sheriff's department by the end of the day of people signing up before the deadline. I never though I would see a mob of growers descend on the Sheriff's department to sign up to grow! From what I hear there will probably be a counter-suit, as what the supervisors pulled was arguably illegal, and a lot of people who were intending to enroll have now been locked out of the program.

Sounds like a to much of a headache for this outlaw. Glad to see though there's guys out there willing to jump the hoops to be the example.

 

[Blaze]

Love that watermelon ran her pic. Whats in her genetics? Do the pistils keep the pink color after harvest?

It is a specific selection of Guava Kush F2 x Heart Attack Kush. Guava Kush is (Purps x Killer Queen) x Hawaiian God Bud and Heart Attack Kush is Jack's Cleaner x SFV OG Kush. The pink color is only retained if harvested too early, once dried and cured the hairs look like any other normal bud.

I get the feeling that the black tail deer association are some very powerful people. I have heard a couple stories of my buddies riding quads on there land and getting seen and the next week there gardens all got cut down in that same area.

Considering the can bully an entire county government as well as the Sheriff, and appear to operate totally above and beyond the law I think you are right. I find it very ironic and ignorant that their whole deal is 'to protect the national forests from illegal grows' yet they continue to harass people who are trying to do it legally and AWAY from the National Forest. Who the fuck is going to sign up for a cultivation program, and pay all the fees, and jump through all the hoops, just to go plant a big ass illegal trespass grow in the National Forest or on private property?

I have never had a problems with people sneaking around, trying to set up grows on our land, nor has any of our neighbors. However there have been problems almost every year in this area with asshole deer hunters trespassing on people's properties and poaching deer. Just last fall we had two jackasses trespass and shoot a deer no more than 200' from our house right at sunrise - scared the crap out of my wife and I as we got woken up by gunfire coming from just outside our yard. But yeah, it's totally the growers causing problems, not red-necks with high powered rifles and an attitude that they can hunt wherever they want.

 

[50YardLine]

For such a quality grow, and grower, this site is just not bringing the traffic you deserve. Hope you have a great year Blaze. Looks like you are having a decent year.

 

[Blaze]

Thanks dude, so far I can't complain. There's always some new obstacle or challenge every season though, nothing ever seems to go quite as planned. I never thought even a year ago we would be spending a good chunk of time going to board of supervisor meetings, dealing with lawyers and accountants and paperwork, and having to learn about setting up a 'real' business complete with taxes and payroll and all that 'fun' stuff. It has definitely been a bit of a learning curve!

 

[Seamaiden]

You know, one of our hunting neighbors informed us a few years ago that if he wounded a deer, he was legally allowed to follow it onto anyone's property to finish the deed. He was laughing that so many neighbors got upset about it. I got mad that he couldn't finish it with one shot.

The light dep is looking really healthy but we are still getting hammered with cucumber beetles. I have never seen them this bad before. Stylet oil and Azamax has not been doing much against them either. I think we might have to up our pest control and use some Spinosad.

Based on what I've read and my experience with some beetles, there may be limited success with Spinosad. Consider adding trap crops that they like better.

 

[Blaze]

I call bullshit on that one, I think your neighbor was lying. From the California Department of Fish and Game Website:

"The law does not permit the trespass to retrieve a shot animal.... Hunters do not need permission to hunt on private property unless the land is under cultivation, enclosed by a fence, or posted in accordance with Fish and Game Code, section 2016 (our property if fenced, under cultivation, and has no hunting signs posted as are all parcels in this valley). It is unlawful to hunt or to discharge while hunting, any firearm or other deadly weapon within 150 yards of any occupied dwelling house, residence, or other building or any barn or other outbuilding used in conjunction therewith."

 

[Blaze]

FINALLY got some heat these last 10 days and the plants are loving it. All but one of the clones I was worried about flowering has snapped out of it and are growing well again. Everything got top dressed with high N bat guano again along with neem seed meal and Baseline this last week. Got a little behind on my foliar regiment due to all the extra work lately - I always try to hit everything with stylet oil and Regalia every 2 weeks as a preventative measure of bugs, mites and mildew.

Some of my big 6x24 raised beds have gotten over run with gophers so I though I would try some of those 'sonic spikes' on the recommendation of a friend, despite being skeptical of them. Turns out my skepticism was not unfounded the have proven to be totally and utterly worthless, the gophers burrow right up next to them and pay them no mind at all. This further confirms my long standing opinion that all deterrent products like noise makers, animal urine, hot pepper, etc are total bullshit snake oil and one of the biggest scams in the whole garden industry. None of them work, for any pest, ever. I did however recently discover 'rodent smoke bombs' which seem to have worked quite well, and killed off the ones burrowing in the beds. I've started carrying them in my truck so I can smoke out the ground squirrels that always attack our drip systems.

Mendocino Purple Kush in the morning sunlight:

Watermelon Rancher:

OG Twist:

New last minute smart pot expansion. This row is all phenos of Watermelon Rancher x Sour Diesel and Watermelon Rancher x Pineapple that I got from a buddy of mine. He made a bunch of crosses with the WR last year and saved clones. All these got planted about a week ago:

Cover came off the light dep about 10 days ago to let them finish up under natural sunlight. Earliest strains are 1-2 weeks out, but most are still 2-3 weeks out. Everything is looking good and our cucumber beetle infestation was dramatically reduced once the cover came down and better airflow was restored.

Different angle, mostly Urkel Wreck in the foreground:

 

[Blaze]

Been working a lot on getting everything together we need to be compliant for our new cultivation program as well, inspections start in a month. We got our non profit formed quite a while ago, so that is out of the way but I am in the process of forming the LLC and C-Corp we will need now as well. Got a good CPA on board now and a law firm on retainer to help with all of this and their advice has definitely been proving to be invaluable. Even working on getting a logo all drawn up by a graphic designer I know, and even got our web domain purchased for when we finally get around to building a website. It has been a lot to take in but also very interesting as well, I probably would have never taken the time to learn about all this stuff in the past. It's been a little scary finally making the jump, but also exciting seeing it all fall into place....