Is anyone else doing late season minis?

[africanherbman1]

I've been checking out a lot of the outdoor threads, but haven't really seen anyone doing minis this year besides on Julians' old thread. So I guess my question is if anyone else is giving the minis a try this year? I'm using 4 strains total, and have 10 full grown moms under 3k watts pumping out the girls for the past month and a half. The heat has been crucial this year, but I think that I should be okay given the method and additives to combat problems of those natures. I have a tool that digs out a 6" deep cylinder w/ a 3.5" diameter. All the holes will be staggered at least 22" from each other. They're each filled w/ a couple coco disks(dry), polymer crystals, organic slow release nutes, and lime/silica. All clones will be dunked w/ quantum vcs to help w/ heat and transplant stress, used last year and absolutely amazing for high temps on little ones! And then set and forget. I've used this method for the past 4 years and think this year will be a crazy one! If anyone has any thoughts on this method or are doing it themselves, please feel free to let me know. Thanks!

 

[Guyute54]

Yup trying some minis for the first time myself after losing alot of my big girls. I just germed a bunch of seeds in my greenhouse and a few more in two different locations a little over a week ago now, and the ones in the greenie are looking good for only being a week old. Not adding nothing to the holes all native soil shooting for an extra 2 lbs when done.

 

[badbeans]

my grow this year would be considered minis I guess. Due to injuries and transportation issues, I didnt plant out until late June and then the heat wave hit and really slowed down growth. I'll be happy with whatever I get. The mini patch is an overlooked growing technique that I would like to try in a few spots next season, hopefully this discussion takes off with alot of good info for the mini grows!

good info africanherbman1 but what kind of organic slow release nutes are you using?

Guyute54- how many are you putting out to reach your 2 lbs. target?

bb

 

[two heads]

herbman - part of my rationale for growing outdoors is to avoid having an indoor grow where I would feel vulnerable 24/7 BUT, if I did, this sounds like a brilliant, safe and fast outdoor idea. How much do you expect to yield per pot-sicle? How many weeks are they outside?

 

[KSP]

Good topic, I'll be interested to see how you folks do. Hopefully everyone does well.

 

[MummyCat]

I put a couple of mini plants out every year to flower out some new strains and test genetics for next year but I'v never done my whole harvest this way. Only because the numbers scare me, I think if numbers didn't matter to the lawman I would do all my plants this way though.

Cool thread, outdoor mini's are awesome, I'll post a couple in the coming months if can. Also, what do you consider mini? I usually use a kegger cup to veg and a half gallon nursery pot to bloom.

 

[Kant C Shyt]

Got a few that are started and will be going out shortly. Might start a few more just because I wanted to do a gang of the set it and forget it type plants but I got slowed down a nice bit but I may get another seed popping spurt and put out some nice numbers late besides some of the big plants I got going now. 1st year doing this myself so we'll see what we come up with . Ya'll take care 1

 

[africanherbman1]

For the slow release nutes, I usually just pick up a mix that is low in N and high in P and K. Rainbow mix is a good one, along with many others at your local store. I don't veg indoors at all. Once they root, they're ready for the great outdoors. With the strain that I've used for the past few years they end up about 2' tall, single cola, and weighing anywhere from 1/2-1oz. I'm using 4 difft ones this year, but they all finish indoors between 7 and 10 weeks. They will all be put out by the 15th of August at the latest, which I have had great results with(a lil bit cooler conditions for the rest of flowering as opposed to July). I will be harvesting from mid october to halloween, which is normally when the first frost sets in. I got all my info from Julian and a little first hand experience.

 

[RetroGrow]

I've been checking out a lot of the outdoor threads, but haven't really seen anyone doing minis this year besides on Julians' old thread. So I guess my question is if anyone else is giving the minis a try this year? I'm using 4 strains total, and have 10 full grown moms under 3k watts pumping out the girls for the past month and a half. The heat has been crucial this year, but I think that I should be okay given the method and additives to combat problems of those natures. I have a tool that digs out a 6" deep cylinder w/ a 3.5" diameter. All the holes will be staggered at least 22" from each other. They're each filled w/ a couple coco disks(dry), polymer crystals, organic slow release nutes, and lime/silica. All clones will be dunked w/ quantum vcs to help w/ heat and transplant stress, used last year and absolutely amazing for high temps on little ones! And then set and forget. I've used this method for the past 4 years and think this year will be a crazy one! If anyone has any thoughts on this method or are doing it themselves, please feel free to let me know. Thanks!

Those are small holes!
You must have good native soil!

 

[africanherbman1]

They are small holes. The soil is pretty decent, but a few spots have a little red clay. On those spots I make sure to always add lime into the mixture to combat the ph. Because each plant is only 3" and going directly into flowering, they really don't require that large of a root zone. In past years I've tilled as little as 3" down w/ a garden claw and still gotten stellar results. The polymer crystals and silica def help w/ the situation as well(100 degrees 5 out of 7 days a week w/ slight drought conditions, East Coast...).

 

[Shcrews]

definitely if i can find another spot...

i like to use #7 smartpots for late season outdoor plants, they can get quite big still if they are outside by mid august

 

[XxShibbyxX]

I still have 20 or so in 5 gallon pots that i still need to transplant into a big 22'x30' section of custom soil i have thats about 16" high all around so i think either way this year they will be minis lol but im excited to see how my soil works out

 

[africanherbman1]

Shcrews- With the numbers that are being put out I think it would be next to impossible to lug out a few thousand smart pots w/ all of the soil, nutes, ect.. to fill them up. Also, a lot of the vegetation in the spots that I use tend to die come mid to late October, which would leave the plants more exposed if they were placed in containers instead of the ground. I def appreciate your advice, but I have to use a different approach w/ the area I live in. Btw- I've followed many of your vert grows and they are awesome!

 

[Chong_Irie]

Wow got lucky.Due to my main outdoor plants all being males, I just started some more seeds. THANKS!

 

[africanherbman1]

Xxshibbyxx- It sounds like those will end up being way bigger then minis given that much amended soil! I've done quite a few larger sog plots for the minis and have ran into a few problems in doing so.
- If the plot gets found, a good amount, if not all, of your eggs in that basket do as well.
- If you go through drought conditions, all of the plants are sucking water out of the same soil, and they may be more likely to die due to lack of water in that single plot.
- If you have a problem w/ moles, voles, rabbits, deer, ect, my experience has been that they will devour a plot very quickly if the proper precautions aren't taken. I have had good luck w/ predescent and piss mixed w/ rotten eggs. The predescent keeps a wider range of animals at bay, and is much easier to work with then the 2nd option!

 

[XxShibbyxX]

Im not worried about people finding it as its on my property and so am i along with my dogs and such..

Drought conditions arent present im at 5000' elevation and have plenty of water around

I have some kittens at my girls house im thinking of bringing up because there are alot of mice but i have metal field fencing and plenty of it just in case the deer come around.

Theres a huge oak tree that a couple of mountain lions live under down at the bottom of my property and sometimes i get bears in my yard so im usually worryijg about them rather than deer and moles. Oh i have clay and granite all around so i doubt moles will be a problem but yes cats are my solution to varmints lol im more worried about mites than anything honestly

 

[africanherbman1]

That sounds like a stellar setup given your circumstances! Sounds like you have all your bases covered, best of luck this season!

 

[dickcorn]

Hey herbman whats your usual yield per plant with those holes? Are you using a bulb digger on an electric drill?

 

[XxShibbyxX]

Thanks herbman best of luck to you to bro!

 

[africanherbman1]

I count on 1/4 oz per site, but over the past couple years have been averaging 1 oz per. No, I'm using a narrower manual bulb planter that has had the foot pegs and handles modified. The handle is capable of holding (8) 6" long pieces of native soil before turning it upside down to empty it. It's much more efficient then the conventional ones that only do one at a time.