Let's see your outdoor grow 2022

[J.dub]

So a lot of us outdoor grows look to have giant bushes. This is my first grow so I have a question I hope y’all can help with (maybe a couple)
Question:

Do y’all trim towards day 21?
If you trim are you just trimming veg or small buds also?
My girls have buds EVERYWHERE! Small guys down at the bottom to big colas up top, do you trim the small stuff to feed the bigger or leave the smaller stuff so maybe your colas aren’t as big and maybe less susceptible to bud rot?
What do you guys and girls like to do with your giant lady’s?

You're going to get a lot of different answers on that. Even outdoors, I'm big on removing a lot -- lower growth/branches, as well as almost all fan leaves. Some folks preach the opposite.

 

[Greenthumb58]

I have the very same question, want to do what's best finding out growers preferences. I started taking off lower skinny waste stuff little bud's and branches plan on starting to pull off fan leafs on a slower scale admittedly I have no idea what I'm doing, good luck with your harvest these girls do get big outside

 

[Lockebox]

Your close I imagine. You may get a week or two more? I've always kept a very close eye in the fall for frost. Last year my Jack Herer being Sativa dominant was the last to fully ripen. The night before I chopped her we had a hard frost. She was covered with plant blankets but the buds were frozen like popsicles!
The sun came out and thawed her good that's when I did the deed and dropped her.
Turned out to be one of my best
No matter how hard we try to get everything just right, there's always a random unexpected curve ball to deal with. It's all good cause we learn along the way.

Well as far weather goes it's usually in the 90s here until about early October or atleast it has been in the past. I don't know when the first frost is or real major temperature change is but know both are several months off and I suspect to miss either by quite some time.
The runts looks like it has 2 maybe 3 weeks to finish but the white widow just started budding so it'll be probably closer to 6. LOL idk why but I'm set on 6. The auto pack says 2.5 months from seed to harvest and I'm at 1.5 months so maybe a month on it

 

[Lockebox]

So a lot of us outdoor grows look to have giant bushes. This is my first grow so I have a question I hope y’all can help with (maybe a couple)
Question:

Do y’all trim towards day 21?
If you trim are you just trimming veg or small buds also?
My girls have buds EVERYWHERE! Small guys down at the bottom to big colas up top, do you trim the small stuff to feed the bigger or leave the smaller stuff so maybe your colas aren’t as big and maybe less susceptible to bud rot?
What do you guys and girls like to do with your giant lady’s?

Like the guy above me said, youre gonna get a lot of different answers to that. I personally do the opposite and remove nothing throughout the grow unless I'm topping. I've got grasshoppers field mice and kittens that try to trim for me lol

 

[shaganja]

And then you will hear from farmers like me, that make sure my girls legs are always shaved. Depends on the gardener.

 

[OGgrower420]

I cant reach 2 of mine. I am too short and they are too tall. So I have no choice but to just leave the majority of everything . I am sure the experienced Ladies/Gents will help ya out.

I know each grow environment is different, but here in the desert with very low RH I kind of lollypop my inner and lower small branches to give more growth to the colas. We each kind of have to learn what works best where we are. My buddy in Maine uses different techniques. Hoping for the best harvest you ever had!

 

[OGgrower420]

You're going to get a lot of different answers on that. Even outdoors, I'm big on removing a lot -- lower growth/branches, as well as almost all fan leaves. Some folks preach the opposite.

Similar to you, but only remove fan leaves that are shading buds. I figure they are all working like solar panels to give strength and growth overall.

 

[OGgrower420]

Well as far weather goes it's usually in the 90s here until about early October or atleast it has been in the past. I don't know when the first frost is or real major temperature change is but know both are several months off and I suspect to miss either by quite some time.
The runts looks like it has 2 maybe 3 weeks to finish but the white widow just started budding so it'll be probably closer to 6. LOL idk why but I'm set on 6. The auto pack says 2.5 months from seed to harvest and I'm at 1.5 months so maybe a month on it

Wow you have plenty of warm fall weather!

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Weekly Update:

Pictures are from last night and this morning.

A few close-ups from this morning:

 

[J.dub]

Similar to you, but only remove fan leaves that are shading buds. I figure they are all working like solar panels to give strength and growth overall.

Yeah, I'm a little less aggressive outdoors, but I thin it out a lot, depending on the strain/stability. I believe the timing of it is everything, and I also believe it's best to just do it all at once and leave it be, rather than trickle out the defol here and there, causing weeks of stressing the plant during flower. I've never had a plant take more than a day to recover, and there's always a huge growth spurt after, with everything straight up praying. A lot of people think about the light penetration and airflow side of it; I'm no scientist, but I think it's more about what it does hormonally, as well as how it eliminates all the micro-climates in your canopy. I don't like any pars of the plant touching during flower. Like, at all. Micro-climates, dude. I also notice that right after a schwazze after week 3/4, that all the lower budsites that I did leave, EXPLODE, and I even generate new budsites, sometimes in weird spots, like on a bare lower branch or something. Again, the hormone thing, I believe. Everyone has their own way. I have a small op and grow mostly for ganja, so for me, it's about maximizing yield and decent-sized, quality-smoking buds. I do what I do, but I think the great thing about this plant, is there a SO many ways to grow quality medicine, so I don't preach.

 

[J.dub]

I'll also add that, since I have other plants in the garden with fruits and micro-climates of their own, it's best to keep the foliage down to keep from attracting pests. There's a lot of life in my garden, and in my soil. I also read somewhere a while back (wish I could reference), that lower fan leaves and larger, older fan leaves, while still being nutrient stores and being able to photosynthesize, are much less efficient than younger, smaller, newer growth, and are actually more of a drain than a source.

 

[nashobaTHC]

Weekly Update:

Pictures are from last night and this morning.

View attachment 1275437

View attachment 1275440

A few close-ups from this morning:

View attachment 1275442

View attachment 1275442

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I see your thermometer is reading 90. Does that help plant growth? Certainly looks like it doesn’t hurt.

 

[Cannadian]

Yeah, I'm a little less aggressive outdoors, but I thin it out a lot, depending on the strain/stability. I believe the timing of it is everything, and I also believe it's best to just do it all at once and leave it be, rather than trickle out the defol here and there, causing weeks of stressing the plant during flower. I've never had a plant take more than a day to recover, and there's always a huge growth spurt after, with everything straight up praying. A lot of people think about the light penetration and airflow side of it; I'm no scientist, but I think it's more about what it does hormonally, as well as how it eliminates all the micro-climates in your canopy. I don't like any pars of the plant touching during flower. Like, at all. Micro-climates, dude. I also notice that right after a schwazze after week 3/4, that all the lower budsites that I did leave, EXPLODE, and I even generate new budsites, sometimes in weird spots, like on a bare lower branch or something. Again, the hormone thing, I believe. Everyone has their own way. I have a small op and grow mostly for ganja, so for me, it's about maximizing yield and decent-sized, quality-smoking buds. I do what I do, but I think the great thing about this plant, is there a SO many ways to grow quality medicine, so I don't preach.

Quick question J.dub - How far into flower (outdoors) do you defoliate, and I think I see that you just do it once (heavily)? The last two years, I've not really defoliated at all, and ended up battling PM, some rot, due to heavy night dews, colder temps, and probably lack of proper airflow. This year, I've started picking at them, slowly, removing those that block light, and restricting airflow. I'd like to keep doing it, but alas, my lack 'o' experience may cause me to overstress... I'm at week 3 of true flower now... with much of September and part of October to go.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

I see your thermometer is reading 90. Does that help plant growth? Certainly looks like it doesn’t hurt.

It's not all that accurate. My temperature controller is always showing a lower temp. The controller controls the intake and exhaust fans.

Unfortunately when it comes to heat outside, you take what mother nature gives you. I would prefer it to be lower but so far I've been pleased with the grow. Yes, 90F in there is common during the mid afternoons. My ventilation has kept my temperatures within 10 degrees of outside temperatures on most days. I consider that a success compared to what other greenhouse growers experience.

 

[Siskiyoucountygrower]

I have alot of mantis in my garden

 

[Siskiyoucountygrower]

Got a few

Had to pull a few that hermed .....jegars got to love the strain but it's a easy herm

 

[J.dub]

Quick question J.dub - How far into flower (outdoors) do you defoliate, and I think I see that you just do it once (heavily)? The last two years, I've not really defoliated at all, and ended up battling PM, some rot, due to heavy night dews, colder temps, and probably lack of proper airflow. This year, I've started picking at them, slowly, removing those that block light, and restricting airflow. I'd like to keep doing it, but alas, my lack 'o' experience may cause me to overstress... I'm at week 3 of true flower now... with much of September and part of October to go.

I would say that now is the time for you. Bend the stems and see if you have fan leaves still developing around buds. As long as they haven't hardened, I say go for it. Leafy Sativas with long flower times can especially go a little later with the final defol. Indoors with smaller plants, I would probably do it the "3-a-light" way, and just grow mostly un-trained, shorter-veg'd plants, and then schwazze once a few days before switching, and then a REALLY good one at day 21 of flower. That's when you see these indoor/tent guys growing these somewhat spindly, leafless plants with big ol' donkey wangs popping off the tips -- lookin' like the Grinch's dog when he put reindeer antlers on it, haha.
However, if I'm doing a lot of training in veg, or doing outdoor, I do it a little differently; throughout veg, my plants outdoors have been FIM'd, defol'd, pruned, supercropped, LST'd, spread and tied -- you name it. They're like blooming onions. There's really no need for a schwazze before stretch/flower, and it's hard to know exactly when that begins, especially with certain cultivars/phenos. I still schwazze twice, but I wait until after the stretch is mostly over, which is a very crucial time, and then I schwazze. Within 10-14 days, they already need it again, and it's the last opportunity. This puts you about a month in, max. It's not as absolute those first few weeks as "veg" or "flower." Hormonally, the plant is kind of doing both, and as long as the stems are still flexible and not woody, and new fan leaves are sprouting around buds, then the plant will recover and grow what it needs before going full-on sensi-time, and you now have a root ball and stem/branch system that was designed for a much larger, leafier plant, to stack flowers with.

 

[Cannadian]

I would say that now is the time for you. Bend the stems and see if you have fan leaves still developing around buds. As long as they haven't hardened, I say go for it. Leafy Sativas with long flower times can especially go a little later with the final defol. Indoors with smaller plants, I would probably do it the "3-a-light" way, and just grow mostly un-trained, shorter-veg'd plants, and then schwazze once a few days before switching, and then a REALLY good one at day 21 of flower. That's when you see these indoor/tent guys growing these somewhat spindly, leafless plants with big ol' donkey wangs popping off the tips -- lookin' like the Grinch's dog when he put reindeer antlers on it, haha.
However, if I'm doing a lot of training in veg, or doing outdoor, I do it a little differently; throughout veg, my plants outdoors have been FIM'd, defol'd, pruned, supercropped, LST'd, spread and tied -- you name it. They're like blooming onions. There's really no need for a schwazze before stretch/flower, and it's hard to know exactly when that begins, especially with certain cultivars/phenos. I still schwazze twice, but I wait until after the stretch is mostly over, which is a very crucial time, and then I schwazze. Within 10-14 days, they already need it again, and it's the last opportunity. This puts you about a month in, max. It's not as absolute those first few weeks as "veg" or "flower." Hormonally, the plant is kind of doing both, and as long as the stems are still flexible and not woody, and new fan leaves are sprouting around buds, then the plant will recover and grow what it needs before going full-on sensi-time, and you now have a root ball and stem/branch system that was designed for a much larger, leafier plant, to stack flowers with.

Thanks for the tips!!! It does still have some new fan leaves popping amongst the buds, but looking at it this afternoon, that growth is slowing, and the buds are really starting to get big. My last two seasons, I had monster colas on several branches, and lost a bit to rot... I didn't defoliate those at all (were my first two grows). It's late September and October that are the challenge here. I'm slowly learning - that's why I'm here!

 

[J.dub]

Thanks for the tips!!! It does still have some new fan leaves popping amongst the buds, but looking at it this afternoon, that growth is slowing, and the buds are really starting to get big. My last two seasons, I had monster colas on several branches, and lost a bit to rot... I didn't defoliate those at all (were my first two grows). It's late September and October that are the challenge here. I'm slowly learning - that's why I'm here!

That's why we're all here, brother! Or sister!

I still think you could do a major defol, but that clock is definitely ticking. I forgot to add that the water and nutrient game -- particularly carbs and micronutrients -- becomes a much more delicate game after you schwazze, but that's where experience and knowing the strain come in. I grow in a really good base soil mix in big fabric pots, and watch my plants like a hawk, so I don't worry too much about nutes, I just focus on not overwatering once all that foliage is gone.

 

[Cannadian]

That's why we're all here, brother! Or sister!

I still think you could do a major defol, but that clock is definitely ticking. I forgot to add that the water and nutrient game -- particularly carbs and micronutrients -- becomes a much more delicate game after you schwazze, but that's where experience and knowing the strain come in. I grow in a really good base soil mix in big fabric pots, and watch my plants like a hawk, so I don't worry too much about nutes, I just focus on not overwatering once all that foliage is gone.

It is brother! Thanks! Getting some pics ready to post up here in this thread...