Tis The Season

[VI-guy]

Ok guy's and gals, tis the season out here in BC to start getting our shit together for the summer grow season, last year everyone had a great year so we will have similar weather again.

The dream so far, is 100 plants scattered in a marshy area near our property, planted in 10 gallon pots.

Detection is a pretty minor issue, as we're in a fairly low traffic and very low visibility area.

first off I am wondering what would be a good soil mix for outdoor.

Im thinking 2/3 garden soil 1/6 vermicuite, 1/6 worm castings


clones are cloning, everything else is on the go.

pics and more coming soon

 

[hulkbogan]

Good to see more islanders on here, 1000 gallons of soil is pretty ambitious. I would start with some promix or sunshine #4 as a start, I like to add a bit more perlite. Take 2/3 of this mix and mix with 1/3 compost of choice. I think this is a pretty good base and you can always add other amendments to it.

What strains are you doing?

 

[VI-guy]

white rhino, hopefully some og if the babies come through and possibly some blueberry. you?

 

[hulkbogan]

Sorry to burst your bubble but none of those strains will finnish here or even come close, in fact they won't even start budding until late august or september. I am guessing you haven't grown outdoors on the island before? If your gonna put in the work and investment you might want to do a bit more research first and maybe look into some earlier strains.

To answer your question I am growing all timewarp hybrids which should finnish up nicely by the end of sept, and lots of mighty mites which are done in the middle of august. I will probably do some outdoor kushs but they won't be done until october and seriously risk mould unless they are tarped or forced before putting them outside.

 

[VI-guy]

I was planning on vegging all indoors on 18/6 untill mid june, wouldnt putting them out then force them?

 

[VI-guy]

Call me naive, whats usual planting protocol on the island?

 

[hulkbogan]

I was planning on vegging all indoors on 18/6 untill mid june, wouldnt putting them out then force them?

Nope unless you have a early strain that is pretty photosensitive. On June 21st at the 49th parallel we still have 16 hours and 14 minutes of sunlight .. your plants will veg into July or even early August in my experience. Typical Island season is planting proven early strains in June or later for minis, harvest mid august-first week of oct.. any later is no no. Hope you can find some solid early outdoor genetics, there are lots floating around the island.

 

[apartmentblower]

a person from BC whose opinion and advice in regards to growing i trust tells me that most kush strains (i assume afghani kushes specifically , not something just given the kush name) will in fact finish in BC (well maybe not if you're up really far north like PG) but for mold and ripper issues mighty mite and timewarp are proven.


i think if your plants go from 24/0 indoors , and then outdoors on june 20th on the solstice, they will probably start flowering. im not certain if its better to plant them out on june 1st (right after last frost risk for most of interior / kootenays /okanagan) or wait until june 20th (the day that daylight starts to shorten) to make sure they dont reveg for the 20 days from june 1st to june 20th (when the days still are lengthening). im having an issue figuring out if i should put just rooted clones from 24/0 out on june 1st or wait until june 20th

i think we possibly dont give the plant enough credit sometimes. i think theres a variety of factors like temperature dropping near end of season and other specific climate factors to a location that can help strains finish earlier in climates where they need to, within reason of course. i know there are strains that will just not finish but not sure about kushes. i mean think about it, in afghanistan they grow weed all over the country and in the harsh mountains. they are at like 34 degrees but ive heard from experienced growers that a strain will manage in harsher climates by ripening faster when it senses the cold coming.



p.s. what happens when you let a plant stay out until a hard frost or even the first snow?? does it get ruined? i always hear, "make sure you chop before a hard frost" but im not sure why. does it ruin the plant as far as smokability to let it freeze before you chop? honest question

 

[hulkbogan]

I think your friend is wrong, unless he is at a very high elevation or growing a landrace kush straight out of the middle east. I have grown the BC purple kush clone on the south end of the island and had to force them early to finnish, if you were growing guerilla they would not have finished until late Oct. You have to remember that pure indicas are not suited for our rainy and often foggy/humid climate. These indicas and kushes are originally from extremely dry places and the fat leafs and plant structure actually funnel water towards the plant.. which combined with the dense buds make these plants extremely prone to mould in wet climates. They can deal with cold but in BC thats not the problem its the mould!

The plants that do very well outdoors here are quick finishing photosensitive plants with sativa bud structure like timewarp and seawarp .. early durban is also good, sativas are originally from rainy humid tropical places and are pretty resistant to fungus.

The reason people always say better bring the plants in before frost is once again mould .. at least here it is. A good frost will usually kill most plants as they are often ending their lives at this point anyways.. once the plant is dead it often only takes 24hrs or less for major mould issues.

PS the mighty mite I have isn't mould resistant at all .. it's a pure indica but it is done before the heavy fall rain, so mould isn't as much of a problem.

PPS If you are trying to grow an indoor strain outdoors here keep them on 24 hr veg and plant them first week of july, if you plant them in june you risk reveg this has happened to me a few times.

I think most indoor strains are so used to being grown on strictly 12/12 for generations upon generations that they aren't sensitive enough to begin flowering until late summer when we have maybe 13-14 hrs of light, If you let these plants go to seed outdoors the resulting seeds will often start to adapt and finish quicker the next season .. that is how many of the early flowering sativa's were bred here.

Sorry for the ranting

 

[apartmentblower]

You have to remember that pure indicas are not suited for our rainy and often foggy/humid climate.

i get u totally ! yep i agree but i was thinking of not just the coast but the other parts of BC that are typically drier, higher, and colder. rain isnt much of an issue outside the coast

good info tho appreciate your response.


ill have to think abut what im gonna do. still not sure b/c i dont have any place to veg the clones indoors.

 

[hulkbogan]

Yeah I agree, I am sure kush strains would do better at drier high elevation enviroment, part of BC is pretty much a desert but I forget that sometimes. If you can't veg indoors you can always start seeds at your patch in a makeshift cold frame. Pretty easy to construct something out of some poly and sticks/rocks lying around.

 

[apartmentblower]

Yeah I agree, I am sure kush strains would do better at drier high elevation enviroment, part of BC is pretty much a desert but I forget that sometimes. If you can't veg indoors you can always start seeds at your patch in a makeshift cold frame. Pretty easy to construct something out of some poly and sticks/rocks lying around.

Yep, im starting some seeds at the patch in a cold frame but the thing is im getting also clones. ive read that if you take the just-rooted clones and put them outside they won't flower and reveg. the problem seems to be when you pre-grow them inside under long light schedules. we had a coldframe made out of 6ft 2x4's driven into the ground with some vapor-barrier construction plastic stapled to it. the seedlings survived a snowfall in there!!!

p.s. well u were more right than me b/c the TS is asking about vancouver island so he should listen to your advice

 

[dmt]

do yourself a favour. buy 500 gal f "sea soil" fruiting (orange bag) and 500 gal of "the answer" from costco or other source. mix at 50/50. also add tirantula and piranha at 1/2 strength to the magic mx for beneficial root support.

next dig holes about 5 gallons big and put 10 gal grow bags in them.(bags should look hald barried) fill with your magc mix and top with advanced nutrients heavy harvest at 1/4 to 1/8 their recomendations.

(a.n. heavy harvest)add the grow in june, the mid in august and the fall in sept by sprinkling it on the top of the potting soil.

this will give yo hydroponic yields with 98% organic quality. if youplants feed heavier, adkust e heavy harvestas needed. the "magic mix" is enough for a hole cycle, but the an gives it a cannabis specific boost.


if your region is drier then normal, add water crystals at 50% recommended dose to the magic mixas well.

if you have the right genes, sun and time, expect your bud to look and taste like indoor, peac, d

 

[VI-guy]

Thanks for the advice and input guys, I think I'm going to stick with what we have so far, unless I can find some TW or MM clones, veg under 24hr light indoors until early july, so that's between 40-60 days of veg and then outdoors, see how it goes, kinda late to change genetics, as Im limited to my fairly small circle of grower bros

 

[VI-guy]

100th post

 

[rope]

That is quite ambitious, but I'm sure you can pull it off. I hope the season goes good for you