Junk's Growing Log

[SmithsJunk]

Finally found the critters that have been spotting my leaves. Thank God they're not mites. They're thrips. Now that I've seen one I'll recognise them from now on. Especially the little sh*t spots they leave behind. Going to check if Spinosad works on them, if so I'll spray this evening, if not I'll pick up some neem or potassium salts. I know they are destructive little pricks but they're not the Borg, and that makes me happy. Time to smoke a celebratory bong rip w/rosin. Yay.

 

[justiceman]

Damn these girls have become straight monsters. I'm really looking forward to what they will be like come harvest time. I love the way manzanita trees look. They are super trippy. Seems like you have a decent predator/pray system going on which is awesome. If all they take is a few bites out of the leaves to kill mites and what not it's a good trade off. Last seasons harvest looks substantial. Must have had a hell of a time trimming all that :D

 

[SmithsJunk]

Enjoying my short little nature trail. It's so beautiful back here with all the oaks, manzanitas, madrone, and... F^ck me!!! F^ckin poison oak! Son-of-b*tch! I hate poison oak ever since I weed whacked a field of it about a decade ago. That sh*t nearly killed me. I was exposed to so much it poisoned my blood and went systemic. I would have random breakouts all over my body for the next few months. It was hellish.

I thought we didn't have any on this property until just an hour ago when I caught sight of some red leaves among the black berries and oak suckers.

This time of year you can spot it from the red leaves. It turns red earlier than the real oak suckers so it stands out.

It is the chameleon of the forest. Often near impossible to distinguish from the blackberries and oak suckers. It always has sets of three leaves like the blackberries and they are usually shaped like oak leaves, but thinner, less waxy, and more papery. The ones that got me almost looked like ferns. You'd figure a poisonous plant would want to stand out, not blend in with other plants. It definitely is an odd duck.

These little suckers are a few feet from the back of my 5th wheel.

I'm not really complaining. This is more of a public service message to help people identify it that aren't used to dealing with poison oak.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Grow Log 7/21/18 #2

Mid-day heat 92F, they are adapting well to full sun. Their growth has slowed a little. I don't know if that's due to the heat from direct sunlight or because of the flip but they're still cookin so no biggie.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Damn these girls have become straight monsters. I'm really looking forward to what they will be like come harvest time. I love the way manzanita trees look. They are super trippy. Seems like you have a decent predator/pray system going on which is awesome. If all they take is a few bites out of the leaves to kill mites and what not it's a good trade off. Last seasons harvest looks substantial. Must have had a hell of a time trimming all that :D

If I remember correctly it was just under 11lbs cured weight from the first harvest and 2-3 lbs more from the secondary. After spending about a week trimming 4.5lbs of Orange Creamsicle I bought a mechanical trimmer. Way way way faster. I did all the Kush with the trim bowl, then a secondary trim to tighten them up to commercial medical standards. That device is an absolute life saver and I recommend it to anyone harvesting more than a few lbs. It doesn't kief the buds unless you over-tumble them. Of course, it makes it easier if you're trying to kief them as well. I love this this thing and will never go back to trimming everything by hand.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007GGQYXS?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

$133 on Amazon with free Prime shipping.

Did a rough trim on a little less than 6lbs in a few days. Took about 30-45min per oz to tighten them up.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Grow Log 7/22/18

 

[SmithsJunk]

Enjoying my short little nature trail. It's so beautiful back here with all the oaks, manzanitas, madrone, and... F^ck me!!! F^ckin poison oak! Son-of-b*tch! I hate poison oak ever since I weed whacked a field of it about a decade ago. That sh*t nearly killed me. I was exposed to so much it poisoned my blood and went systemic. I would have random breakouts all over my body for the next few months. It was hellish.

I thought we didn't have any on this property until just an hour ago when I caught sight of some red leaves among the black berries and oak suckers.
View attachment 817137
This time of year you can spot it from the red leaves. It turns red earlier than the real oak suckers so it stands out.
View attachment 817140 View attachment 817145
It is the chameleon of the forest. Often near impossible to distinguish from the blackberries and oak suckers. It always has sets of three leaves like the blackberries and they are usually shaped like oak leaves, but thinner, less waxy, and more papery. The ones that got me almost looked like ferns. You'd figure a poisonous plant would want to stand out, not blend in with other plants. It definitely is an odd duck.
View attachment 817139
These little suckers are a few feet from the back of my 5th wheel.
View attachment 817142 View attachment 817144 View attachment 817143
I'm not really complaining. This is more of a public service message to help people identify it that aren't used to dealing with poison oak.

My illness causes me to have skin problems sometimes but I've been itching an awful lot lately. Just realised tonight I have poison oak rashes in spots all over my body. Must've picked it up on my sandals from the dust on the nature path. From what I've read poison oak oils don't break down easily and can still be very potent for decades. All that tractor work must have mulched it up in the dirt.

Go figure. Well, at least I know what's going on (I think) and can take precautions from now on. Back to walking down the driveway to my garden. It's more than twice as far but only half as itchy, lol.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Grow Log 7/23/18

Waterin my garden jammin to RHCP.

 

[SmithsJunk]

 

[SmithsJunk]

The greenhouse is 15'-16' for a good idea of the sise of the girls. They're blowing my mind. These hot days are causing massive overnight growth.

The flies are insane this morning. Not that there's so many but how aggressive they are. It's like the little pricks are magnetic.

 

[justiceman]

I too dislike poison oak. Ya it's crazy how the oils can stick around or be transferred. If I see a friends dog run into poison oak I don't em him anymore till he gets a bath. Very good points made it always seems to be around blackberry bushes. I'll take blackberry thorns any day over poison oak though haha. The garden is looking phenomenal. You know they are big when you have to start taking pictures from the bottom up view :D

 

[SmithsJunk]

I too dislike poison oak. Ya it's crazy how the oils can stick around or be transferred. If I see a friends dog run into poison oak I don't em him anymore till he gets a bath. Very good points made it always seems to be around blackberry bushes. I'll take blackberry thorns any day over poison oak though haha. The garden is looking phenomenal. You know they are big when you have to start taking pictures from the bottom up view :D

Thank you.

It also hides in the those little low growing ferns. I don't know what they're called but they're not the big ones that roll up. They are similar to red ferns.

I honestly did not expect the enormity of these plants this year. I didn't think I'd get results like this for maybe another year or two. I hope it isn't just the weather and I can build on what I've learned this season.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Grow Log 7/23/18 #2

I just couldn't resist. She so wanted to be a tree I felt I should oblige. Never done a lollipop before so I wanted to see how it works out. Trimmed up the bottom three sets for a total of 5-6 sets limbed up from the bottom since she started.

She looks like my favorite tree. A Japanese maple (Acer).

 

[SmithsJunk]

Grow Log 7/24/18

Touched the stalks to get an idea of what the flowers are going to smell like. The Banana Ice Cream, Banana Crack, and Orange Creamsicle all have that normal danky skunk smell, but the Idunnoes reaks like a thousand bums pissed under an overpass.

Banana Ice Cream

Banana Ice Cream

Banana Crack

Banana Ice Cream

Orange Creamsicle

Idunnoes

 

[SmithsJunk]

Thrip nymph pics

 

[justiceman]

but the Idunnoes reaks like a thousand bums pissed under an overpass.

hahahahaha! :cool: Loving that description. I too have noticed some thrip damage on my lowers. Thinking about giving them a good old neem spray soon.

 

[SmithsJunk]

hahahahaha! :cool: Loving that description. I too have noticed some thrip damage on my lowers. Thinking about giving them a good old neem spray soon.

I was trying to place the smell, I knew it from somewhere. Then I remembered that stink from walking under the Downtown Sacramento overpasses. Even more so, the overpasses with locust trees planted near them. Ahhhhhh ha! It smells like Old Sac. I always thought that was a horrible name for historic downtown Sacramento, ROFL.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Grow Log 7/25/18

The girls are drinking a lot of water this summer. Up to about 25gal every other day for the bigger plants during this heat wave. I try to make sure no part of the root system is missed.

 

[Wishbone]

@SmithsJunk how many hours of direct sun a day would you say the gals are getting?

 

[SmithsJunk]

@SmithsJunk how many hours of direct sun a day would you say the gals are getting?

Hard to say because of how the mountains and trees block it. I'm guessing about 8hrs, maybe 9. Sun doesn't hit the whole garden till around 9am. It's on the West face of a hill, oaks and pines to the East of it, pines and greenhouse to the West. We have giant Sugar Pines blocking the Western sun so it's like dusk on this property from 5-6pm to sundown. It makes for very comfortable temps in the early evenings. Its near perfect for growing anything that grows in this zone. The previous property owners grew wine grapes very successfully. I've learned that weed thrives anywhere wine grapes can grow. Napa and Calistoga have huuuuuge plants. Where I grew up, in the Sacramento delta, it was common to see 15' plants. Again, right next to wine grape fields, lol.