~backyard patio grow(ing)~

[chemsteady]

i had this thread moved to the outdoor forum, as i am moving away from coco growing outdoors, and into organics--thanks jj

after spending countless hours perusing icmag threads, building upon my rudimentary knowledge of cannabis and its many mysteries (ha!) i decided it was time to start a grow thread of my own, paying homage to the individual growers, breeders and resident experts who helped along the way (whether you knew it or not).

this is a shot from my bathroom, directly above my patio garden.

these are some seedlings i transplanted to 1 gal. pots a few days ago. in this position, they get a good amount of am light, and a decent amount of filtered midday sun.

this plant is chugging along, well into flower. ive had her in that 4 gal pot since i rescued her from a friends table. my patio has been a sort of plant triage for my buddies. they do all their "hydro magic" indoors, and i bring em back to life in pure coco and norcal sun.

i heard you guys liked the up the skirt shots

heres a few shots of the garden up close...

blue cheese

another rescue project, some kind of grapefruit kush (he says). no clue, ill let you know after i smoke it.

a little lavender anyone? aww, shes cute.

and finally, how i pay back my assistant, ~camera girl.~

questions, comments, concerns? all are welcome...

 

[guest5703]

dude im so jealous! I wish I could run outdoor but the risks are whack. Looks like you've got a great collection of strains there too, and that one in the 4 gallon already flowering is gonna be a beast!!! She looks really well maintained too, super healthy man great work! Peace

 

[chemsteady]

thanks cali!

thanks cali!

thanks man, you wouldnt believe how hassle free this garden has been. i owe a lot of that to the good people here at icmag. its really nice having the space and proper surroundings to grow outside. the weather, as im sure you know, has been spot on perfect for the plants. ive read a few of your posts, youre down in socal, right? probably even better down there, a bit more sun ill bet.

as far as strains go, that big girl is basically a mystery plant. a friend of mine found a few seeds in a bag of medical grade cannabis that he got from one of the dispensaries in sf and decided to toss them in rockwool under some t-5s. it got about a foot or so tall and began having a bunch of issuses once it was on his table, so he handed it over to me and ive been nursing her back to health. shes doing pretty good now

this is just under the top layer of hydroton near the base of the fat lady

the base of this plant is huge, and the root system is massive!

again, thanks for the kind words, cali, let me know if you have anymore questions.
-c

 

[masterKahn]

great garden, for what it's worth I can tell where the plants were a little damaged but not any more! Keep healing those plants and they will pay you back in pounds!

 

[chemsteady]

lbs. are ok with me...

lbs. are ok with me...

right on khan! thanks mang, im hoping to have a little something to keep me warm during these rough california winters, ha!.
-c

 

[Ottoman]

chemsteady, very impressive your garden looks great. What kind of coco are you using and what are you feeding them?

 

[chemsteady]

good question.

good question.

i was just thinking i should address that on my way to work, thanks for asking!

with the exception of about six smaller plants, including the lavender, romulan and blue cheese clones, i started most of these plants using floranova grow at around its recommended dosage (600-900ppm) with little to no additives. ive been really good about maintaining the ph of my feed (regardless of what im feeding them)in the 5.8-6.1 range. i use ro water, and have recently been experimenting with a 50/50 ro to tap mix. the tap water in the bay area is just about the best in the country, so i feel a bit foolish wasting the water when running the ro unit. i suppose i could use the "bad water", but then again, that would require effort.

ive always used a bit of superthrive when plants are developing root systems, and recently have been using a bit of rhizotonic during clone/seedling/early veg stages of growth. i like to use all of theses things in moderation--a lesson learned from bonecarver and his eden coop. that guy knows his shit.

anyway, i digress. so, my intention was to feed my plants fng and then slowly transition into lucas formula (LUCAS; talk about another guy who knows his shit) as the plants moved into early stages of flower. i got the idea while reading the ask lucas thread and lucas was talking about feeding the stretch into flower. someone had asked about using a grow formula to really beef up the plants in veg, and then slowly, and this was all happening in a big res btw, transition into his normal formula. lucas had in fact done it, and said that hed had one of his biggest yields. i was simply trying to do this in hand watered coco pots.

i abandoned that plan after i discovered h3ads formula--which is rad, a modified lucas for coco--and that eventually led me to rezdogs "recipe", which is h3ads 6/9 modified lucas with a fews twists and turns. i figured if these two guys, (who most definitely know their shit), were using similar formulas, it would be in my best interest to follow suit. proof is in the pudding kids, these guys spell it all out for you. all YOU have to do is invest a little time reading and follow directions. so, to make a long story short, all my plants are being fed rezs recipe. i should probably send that guy a thank you note or something. then again, he already has tons of guys kissing his butt

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=81674

i also use a bit of hygrozyme because ive read many good things about it and have seen good results

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=81674

coco? ive always used canna coco, straight out the bag'. i dont rinse it, cause you dont need to, and i dont add anything to it because perlite and hydroton mixes always required me to water more frequently. pure coco, properly watered, stays nice and moist, and allows you a little bit more breathing room so to speak. plants are not happy when allowed to dry out too much--leads to ph issues and other difficulties. i read the thread where the guy did the side to side, coco/perlite v. coco and i know he ended up yielding more with the perlite mix, but sometimes, life aint all about yield. my watering style/regiment, suits pure coco...plus rez and h3ad use straight coco which leads me to believe they know something i dont know, and that is highly likely. just a personal preference thing i suppose. how bout you, straight coco, or you mixing it up? anyhow, thanks for asking otto. happy to answer anything out there.
-c

 

[chemsteady]

also

also

i forgot to mention that i hand water, obviously and usually feed every day, once a day, and usually in the am. as far as run-off is concerned, i usually water until there is a bit of run-off, i dont advocate a certain percentage of run-off because i dont believe in one. i mean, if nutes are streaming out the bottom of the pot because youre looking for 20% run-off, well, thats just wasteful.
-c

 

[OrganicManic]

man i love the look of your deck with the lovely ladies.
Why do you put the hydroton on top?

 

[chemsteady]

good question...

good question...

i use the hydroton for a few reasons. one, i feel it helps promote a more even watering surface, that is to say, that when i water, it helps to distribute the water more evenly, and second it helps to keep moisture on the surface of the coco. as you can see, it also allows for those feeder roots to spread out along the surface as well. thanks for taking the time to stop by ogman!
-c

 

[chemsteady]

iiii

 

[OrganicManic]

Well it seems to be working! great job!

subscribed

 

[Oregonic]

lookin good chemsteady... i would also strongly advocate the hydroton on top if you're handwatering coco... keeps the surface and distribution even, and helps maximize root space by protecting those roots up to the very top of the pots... i've seen people recommend the hydroton on the bottom of pots as well but i've never had a problem with drainage like that... can definitely say from experience though that puttin em on top is a nice lil trick if you're handwatering

 

[chemsteady]

yup.

yup.

i got the idea from this cactus garden i go to to get plants. they always put this layer of lava rock or pumice around their cacti. i kinda liked the look, and asked about it. needless to say im really liking the results. that and i had the xtra grorox in the first place. i noticed cervantes also mentions it in his horticulture book although to some folks that isnt saying much.

 

[Mk3Jetta]

Wow tite outdoor grow ya got there!

I'm gonna pull up an e-chair and watch this till the end of summer.

 

[ElRubio]

Very niiice out amigo

so green and healthy plants.
thx for share

 

[chemsteady]

thanks, hermano.

thanks, hermano.

heres a few more shots of the garden.

i put out some more clones that i was slowly acclimating to a 16/8 photoperiod inside one of my grow tents. i did that instead of putting them right out, so that they wouldnt trigger into flower.

7 new babies. probably the last to go out for the season, its getting late!

a lot of times (almost all the time, actually) when you take clones that have been getting 24/0 and put them into a reduced photoperiod they will begin flowering. its best to get them used to the natural photoperiod, (in this case im getting about 15-16 hours of natural light) before putting them out to continue vegging. it also helps to harden the plants up a little before you put them out into the sun. i had these seven under a 400hps for a week dropping a few hours over the course of a week.

cheese and salmon creek big bud

additionally, i find it best to introduce the new clones into the sun gradually. i purposely created a little shady aisle in my garden that allows a few hours of direct sun, and a lot of filtered light to get to the plants.

shady lane.

the seven i put out were/are: scbb, chemdog x XXX, dream queen (aka green crack), bubblegum, cheese, casey jones, and sweet tooth.

heres the sweet tooth and chem cross.

sweet.

scary. (chem)

good light green vibes, icmag brothers (n sistas'!) peace.
-c

 

[montehierba]

backyard

backyard

hey chemsteady nice backyard
nice selection
here is my santa marta gold girls

 

[Ottoman]

wow, im loving this grow, can't wait to see buds on those things!

 

[chemsteady]

hell yeah!

hell yeah!

you and me both otto! trying not to get ahead of myself, you know counting my chickens before they hatch, and all, but shit, that big plants gonna produce! the best thing is, i have no clue what kind of plant it it! like i said, my friend found four seeds in this bag of medical dank...he remembers its purple, so that kinda narrows it down. does anyone know if theres a mystery plant forum? ill look, but if anyone knows, let me know.
-c

i forgot to mention, im growing two plants in an organic soil mix (vics super soil recipe) kinda just to do a comparison in growth rate, taste, yield etc. this plant was recently transplanted to this 4 gal pot because she was really struggling in the 2 gal pots that her coco sisters are still in. big plants, little pots, coco. i love it.

soil sister.

i gotta say, this plant looks really good, as far as leaf and stem structure, overall health and natural vigor. shes a little on the emerald green side, but im hoping she works that out come harvest time. thanks yall.