A Boat in the swamp

[two heads]

Good news from the swamp too. The other head went out this morning and reports no more males - all showing female. He counts 7 tiny ones, 5 medium and 6 large (all relative of course). We're guessing 2 oz. per large, 1 oz. per medium and 2 oz. from 7 tiny ones. That plus 1 lb. from the cedars = 2 lbs., 3 oz. Almost exactly what we got last year and just enough for two "heads" to last till next fall. Sorry, no swamp pics; maybe in a couple of weeks.

This is the time of year everything starts looking up!

 

[two heads]

It was getting a bit dusky when I went back to the cedars last Friday so most of my pics were poor focus or exposure but here are a couple more. The first one is the early plant which I realized is our lone Niagara x Shiva. This seed was at least seven years old and one of the few that germinated from a batch of old seed. It's a real nice plant with a classic smell - we're hoping it got slightly pollinated by the males before I culled them.

This pic is a Baby's Breath Seed Project and has the characteristic magenta pistils.

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

I love strains with purple hairs! Good to hear your jars will be full.

 

[Swamp Thang]

That " bud boat" is a work of art, Twoheads. It looks almost like an ancient relic from a lost civilization, the way it is half buried in the weeds - and full of weed.

I just love seeing swamp land, that most people consider worthless, getting adapted to produce some righteous herb. I've gotta revive my flooded forest grow soon fer sure, especially now that my stash is running on empty.

Pulled up a chair for this one, and I can just about smell those purple buds from here, halfway around the planet

 

[#1cheesebuds]

holy purple. they looks great.

 

[two heads]

Lots of colour in the swamp

Lots of colour in the swamp

I went back to the swamp last night to give them a little flowering fertilizer and things are starting to look better out there. An abundance of purple and magenta, especially this deep magenta one:

This plant looks very healthy though I did notice a tiny spot of mold. When I plucked the moldy bud I noticed there was a fair bit of immature seed. We can only hope the whole crop isn't so heavily seeded.

Most of the purple plants are lighter but no less pretty:

This one is snow white and will yield one big cola:

If you compare these pics with the earlier ones, you'll see the progress the swamp boats have made. Here's the tall end of The Boat:

And here's the Herb Wheel:

After such a cool wet summer, here's hoping we get a hot dry September!

Sorry for all the pics but they might be all I have for the next while. I may not visit much over the next 6 weeks except to spray with a baking soda solution if mold is a worry. The next pics from the swamp may be harvest pics!

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

I seem to find many of the early varieties tend to have great coloration and take such pretty pictures! I hoping I get a dry Autumn as well, looks like your boat idea is a winner.

 

[two heads]

We feel the jury is still out on the swamp boat. Our other swamp site, which was our first swamp boat, did well last year. This year it is a complete write-off. It never recovered from early animal damage in spite of re-seeding. We suspect the seedlings at the site that did survive suffered for a long time because they sat so low during a wet year. We are thinking of trying garbage pails next year. They have worked really well for us in the cedars.

 

[two heads]

Back in the cedars

Back in the cedars

The other head (who does not have a camera) will be doing the homemade Greencure spraying in the swamp so it will be a while till I have more swamp pics. Meanwhile, I went back to the cedars to give them a dose of flowering fertilizer. Our earliest plant, the Niagara/Shiva looks like it will be ready before the end of September and it appears to be heavily seeded. A drag for smoking but if the quality is good, they could be the foundation for a good early crop next year. This plant grows very oddly - a much paler, dusky green. It also has thin, sativa-like leaves that grow almost straight up - so much so that it is difficult to get a bud shot. The leaves wrap the bud like corn husk!

Here are a couple of shots, one from above that shows the colour contrast with the plant beside it.

Finally a couple of bud shots - another beautiful magenta pistil bud and a pure white pistil plant for those sick of purple!

 

[esbe]

awesome bro, best wishes!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

love those colors. can't wait to see how the buds turn out.

 

[two heads]

Smokey - was it Tom Petty who said "the waiting is the hardest part"? So true.

Cheers esbe, thanks for dropping in.

 

[two heads]

Four more weeks?

Four more weeks?

I went to the swamp before leaving on a cycling trip. The other head will be watching the gardens while I'm gone so I went solo to spray with our home made Greencure (2L water, 1.5 tsp baking soda, .5 tsp veg. oil, .5 tsp dish soap).

All this sunny, dry weather has the swamp plants very happy. They're not huge and there aren't a lot of them but they are peaking at just the right time! No sign of snails but I did lay down diatomaceous earth and no sign at all of mold but I did spray. Before I sprayed I got some nice pics.

The plants in the Herb Wheel are getting big and have good shape. I had to hold the camera up high to get them all in.

The plants in the Boat aren't as big but there are more of them in nice clumps.

And there is still lots of fresh magenta showing so I think everything is still a few weeks from being ripe. The plants look so strong and healthy. Four more weeks of this would be perfect!

It will be two weeks till I am back from my trip and a while longer till I get back to the sites. Happy Harvests everyone!

 

[two heads]

A senescent Niagara Shiva

A senescent Niagara Shiva

I'm back from my cycling vacation and made the cedars my first stop. I suspected that Niagara Shiva would be ready and it was well past ready. It looked like a textbook pic from Robert Connell Clarke's definition of "senescent'. Apparently we had a couple of light frosts while I was gone but barely enough to turn a few maple leaves and all the rest of the ganja looked great. I suspect this Niagara Shiva was showing it's autoflowering genes and was simply dying. If any autoflowering growers have experience with over-flowering outdoors maybe they can comment on this...

Needless to say I harvested this plant. It smells great and is full of amber trichomes under the 30x scope. We'll be smoking it in a few days and I'm curious to see what it's like. It was so early it got pollinated by our early males so the seed will be worth keeping if the potency is there. Could be a nice early for next year.

The rest of the plants are fattening up nicely and showing almost entirely cloudy trichomes but no amber. They look like they could be taken anytime in the next week to ten days. We'll probably let the weather dictate, looking to maximize our yield.

 

[hamstring]

2 heads the swamp looks great and that last pic is a very nice plant. Nothng like a boat in the swamp.
PEACE

 

[TryComb]

I love those magenta pistils wow thay are colorful

 

[nomaad]

They look like they could be taken anytime in the next week to ten days. We'll probably let the weather dictate, looking to maximize our yield.

full moon is on the 4th.

 

[two heads]

nomaad, I'm curious but uninformed about lunar gardening. Is the full moon the best time for harvesting?

 

[zapatoloco]

Around the new moon is best, fundamentalists will avoid the actual day of new and full moon.

 

[two heads]

Full moon - Oct 4
Last quarter - Oct 11
New moon - Oct 18

So, Oct 11-18 would be ideal under lunar gardening principles. I'll see if the weather allows...

Actually my son has some plants that are needing more time and he's bummed about it. Maybe this will encourage him. BTW, he planted Green House Himalaya Gold feminized (bought in A'Dam) which were supposed to be done around the end of September...