Dig For Victory - 2011

[blackone]

I have to get busy in this spot... I think the plants will get at least 8 hours of direct sun here (perhaps more if the sun can clear the trees to the east and west - I'm not sure) and access is made difficult by deeper than normal trenches that seem to be making an "island" or a "peninsula" in the clearing.
Autos might be the way to go here because if I start them now they will mature in late august/early september while the sun is still high and can clear the trees.

 

[jay-toker]

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[blackone]

Thanks - I can't wait to see how my first spot looks. Got some autos from the same seed batch that I'm keeping at home for control - I hope this will allow me to catch the males in time before they drop pollen and perhaps also allow me to catch some pollen to make a controlled pollination on the most promising females. I'm a little behind with what I want to achieve - got females that need to go out ASAP and also need to cut more clones. If I cut them now then I expect them to root in 14 days and with 1 week of hardening off in the greenhouse they can go out around July 1. 14 days later it should be possible to cut the next batch of clones to go out in mid July.

 

[GAME]

Looking promising, I'll stay tuned to see how it all goes. Best of luck !

 

[blackone]

I've been playing around with some autos in my veg area inside for a little seedgrow. Because making seeds for this outdoor season and not so much the bud itself is the goal these were only grown in 1.5L containers and also neglected a little.
They still managed to surprise me - this is one of them before cutting. There were other with better resin but the overall structure of this girl and the sweet resin make up for it somewhat.
The tester bud I've tasted has been of a nice indoor quality and the few earliest seeds from the preflowers have already made it to little plants. Second batch will be sowed this coming weekend and around the end of june I will try to sow some of the seeds from the harvested plants.

 

[blackone]

Went out to the first spot last night to plants some more. I was a bit disappointed to see that the plants had hardly grown in the last 2 weeks - I think the soil here must really suck.
I'm surprised though because the soil texture is really wonderful - I guess the PH must be very low because this is a former pine forest that was cut a couple of years ago.
First the autos - way too small for 3 weeks from seed. The larger plants to the right and in the back are non autos:

Full picture showing the CFP and Nuggit clones:

Yesterday I went to the "peninsula" area to plant Nuggit clones. Had a look around and the access track is not very accessible:

 

[blackone]

Back to my first spot with some CFP. Strangely enough - when I was out there I couldn't believe I only had one spot outside this year but now that I'm reading my thread again I'm reminded that I actually have 2 Anyway more spots will surely follow because I've got babies that need to go out.
Autoflowers are way too small here - next time I won't be growing autos directly in native soil because this is pathetic... Other plants have grown a little although I don't see any explosion here.

A bit of lime, ferts and slug pellets:

 

[gaiusmarius]

wishing you the best of luck with your plants.

good growings and a great season to ya!

 

[Claude Hopper]

I think the soil here must really suck.
I'm surprised though because the soil texture is really wonderful - I guess the PH must be very low because this is a former pine forest that was cut a couple of years ago.

Blackone,

I had to add some fertilizer to my meadow (old mine waste site) area when I noticed pale plants and some slow growth. My plants looked more deficient than yours.

Your regular plants look good. I'm surprised the autos stayed so small. They seem to have a nice color.

 

[blackone]

@gaiusmarius:
Thanks for stopping by, I'm excited to see your grow this year too.

@Hopper:
Hm... Now that you're talking about how the plants look I'm getting a bit more optimistic because the yellow colors you can see are actually leaves that were already yellow before the plants were transplanted. All new growth has a healthy color and the plants are looking pretty healthy too - just growing slowly. I think this can all be explained by the temperature - we've had a couple of weeks now with colder temperatures but now we're in the sweet spot - 25C-30C. Unfortunately we will be returning to the wet and cold weather on thursday with day temperatures below 20C - but I'm sure the summer will come back.
I have to do something about the deer - no attack has occured yet but last year it was mayhem. You never know what goes on inside their heads because sometimes they won't touch your plants while other times they'll rape them.

 

[dimodz]

i wish you the best 4 this year mate

you have this year autofield which strains is in the autofield ?

peace
DiMoDz

 

[blackone]

Thanks - it's a private lowryder cross I was gifted - contains some LR, Skunk #1, Deep Chunk, Sour Diesel... I've only seen pics that were quite promising.

 

[Claude Hopper]

Now that you're talking about how the plants look I'm getting a bit more optimistic because the yellow colors you can see are actually leaves that were already yellow before the plants were transplanted. All new growth has a healthy color and the plants are looking pretty healthy too - just growing slowly. I think this can all be explained by the temperature - we've had a couple of weeks now with colder temperatures but now we're in the sweet spot - 25C-30C.

I think you are right, its the temperature.

I wonder if hanging up some jerky will deter deer - I mean other than the one that got made into jerky. -)

 

[vorzh]

I think you are right, its the temperature.

I wonder if hanging up some jerky will deter deer - I mean other than the one that got made into jerky. -)

Double layer rosemary and cacti... rosemary on the inside will keep them away, and if they DO get brave the cacti will tell them GO AWAY!

 

[blackone]

I wonder how effective chili oil is... There are several recipes on the net for mixtures. Especially one that i saw was interesting because it utilized eggs as emulsifier.

 

[Claude Hopper]

Blackone,

I thibk Chili oil would work. I think many hot or stinky things will work. I rely on Mothballs. I never visit my gardens without tossing a few as "offerings" to the deer gods.

Bugs may bite my plants but so far no deer, not for many years.

Mrs Claude hates the smell. Makes me leave my growbag in a different room!

Me and my partner swear by it:

 

[blackone]

Nice gorilla :O)
Just wanted to post a pic of the holes I dug in a promising place yesterday night.
Nitrophoska and lime was added and mixed in. Surrounding blackberries got a few handfulls of pellets too to encourage growth for camouflage.
I decided not to bring any plants because I want to give the lime and ferts time to seep into the soil in the rain we're expecting today.

 

[jay-toker]

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[blackone]

Thanks - I'm a little bit worried that it might be to obvious because it's not very protected by vegetation. The area is a pine spot cleared perhaps 2 years ago and I managed to find a small bunch of decidous trees with a south-facing hole where I could fit 12 plants.
I've been walking these woods for 3 years now and since I got a bicycle again it has become a little easier to find spots. Still it's a lot of hard work because there is always something wrong with a place - you never find a spot that's just perfect and still stealthy. But a compass helps, along with good map material and areal photographs

 

[blackone]

Went to the last spot a couple of days ago and put plants in the holes.
Broke in a fourth spot with some seedplants of mixed breed.
I didn't take pics of todays spot.