Not Another Crappy Day in Paradise....Part Six

[oldhaole]

Country....Always grab the morning sun. The earlier the better. Cut down anything in the way.

With clones you know what to expect. I get bent out of shape waiting on them too. But these big Sativas are a different animal. The temptation is to pull them early. Taking them a little late won't hurt. Pulling them early sure will.

Rusty.... A moldproof strain does not exist. Mold resistant strains do. But I think it's like you say, some strains are more susceptible to mold. And it can rain longer than any given strain can resist.

So....

Resistance is futile.

Today was cool and cloudy. The last three weeks have been sunny and hot. We've broken 80 every day this week. But since it was so nice and cool today I started messing with one of the plants. So this calls for the standard before and after pics.

Before fluffing,

After fluffing,

Everything below the crossbar of the frame is now pulled away from the body of the plant....staked to the ground. It should look better in a couple of days after the leaves readjust to their new places. We'll see if this will enable us to scrape a couple of extra grams off of this plant....

Or maybe the mutts will run into the string, and rip branches clean off the plant.

Who knows?

 

[Carlos Danger]

The more I deal with mold and mildew issues the more appealing low humidity sounds. I'm exhausted from > 85%rh.

 

[oldhaole]

I've been falling down on the job.

Might as well take a break from the trimming for an hour and give catching up a try.

Last post was almost two weeks back....and we're almost to the good part.

Well what happened?...The old turd of a computer finally crashed and burned. Got another one, pulled an upgrade, that took some time. Then there was the weather....what a rip. Last week was looking like if GH didn't fly....come today I'd be yanking some pretty nice plants. Then the wind died, the rain fell, cloudy for most of the week. Next week doesn't look much better either.

Here you are...the joys of microclimates.

These plants were grown just a few miles down the road, and about 500 ft lower. That area gets a third of our rain, and about twice the sunny days.

These plants were thrown in raw dirt. Nothing added, nothing given. Dig a hole, drop the plant in, throw some time release on, and forget about it....He's even stingey with the water. The seeds were started in pots June first. Most will be taken this week. On these two a soda can was added for scale.

This second shot is the Japaneese Hash I'm playing with.

Needless to say I'm a bit envious. but...A lot of it is where you grow at...not all land is created equally.

The trees here at the house are looking great. Tomorrow or the next day I'll update those. This was just a bit of eye candy I could fire out fast, because I still have another hour of trimming left before bed.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Not all land is created equal, but with a little love, some time, and copious amending, we can make a big difference.

 

[oldhaole]

Not all land is created equal, but with a little love, some time, and copious amending, we can make a big difference.

Hey Carlos....

What you say is correct. But you slightly missed my point.

The plants shown above were gifted with no love, very little time, and absolutly no....none...nada amendments. The soil there is thick and deep. The area has few clouds, and with very little effort and water anything will grow ...there.

And frankly it pisses me off that I gotta bust my ass and need some weather luck to do the same....which at the moment isn't happening.

I know... Stop whining ya' little baby. Ya get what ya get.

Wait one.....

Think of what he could do with a little time, love, and amendments?

What a waste.

The rain has been constant this week. Sunny days, then about 4PM along comes the showers. This shit keeps up we're gonna have problems. Last Monday we had 17 minutes of liquid happiness. More than a half inch fell.

Yea, the big plants liked that. Bottoms held, but some of the top branches above the frame collapsed. Nothing critical, a simple tying the branches to the main stem. The plant I anchored to the ground to open up fared the best.

The plant below that one is gonna finish first. Here's a shot of a pothead....aka wifey with that plant behind.

What a babe huh?

Hey...be nice! She's gonna have to live with that shot forever.

Next up we have another buckethead next to another small plant. This girl has another four weeks (at least). Not like it's gonna get cold.

What else?

I mentioned that clone row was moving cross gulch. As I close these holes out I'm leaving the rootball behind, not disturbing the earthworms, then I'm planting clover. That should grow for half a year unmolested fixing N in that soil.

Also now we're working on the other side. I have to put driplines in for another fourteen holes. Like to do this swithover quickly and with a minimum of wasted time.

Will it work?

Hell if I know...I'd be happy for some dry days.

 

[Casper808]

Nice brah!im hoping we get more sunny days.unreal trees.cheeeeeeuuuuuu.hit me up tomorrow for a safety meeting break from hair cutting.trimming.aloha

 

[b00m]

Nice big plants by the buckethead family

Always dig your work mate

 

[oldhaole]

What's the World Coming To?

What's the World Coming To?

This is embarassing....like seriously embarassing.

If I was the cop in that chopper I'd have been pissed. It's like mom took away the car and left him a rusty old ten speed to get to school on.

What the fuck am I making noise about?

Hang on...gotta vent some more.

Wayback machine time.

Go back a decade and a half...fifteen lousey years ago.

Green Harvest used to be an event....a spectical. You could practicly hear The Ride of the Valkyries when those fuckers flew. They would gather up all the choppers on all the islands and fly in force.

Five, six, birds. One year after some idiot chased a couple of rounds up and after them....there were eight. That year they even flew the Coast Guard Dolphins as tail end charlie with a big old 50 cal hanging out the door.

"Shoot at us mutherfuckers...dare ya....we will rain down death all over your ass" was the message.

One question never asked was; Are they up today?

You knew. Look up and see four choppers working...it was kinda a beautiful thing....in a horrifing way. You did you best planting, either the rain came, or it didn't. You had thought of new and "better" ways to hide your plants. And baby...the teacher came walking down the hall and the test was on. pass or fail baby...pass or fail.

Ahhh yes....the war on drugs was in full swing.

Five, six times a year, they would mount up and ride. Locked and loaded.

Hell, three years ago when they checked me for the first time they were pretty impressive. Fuckers thought of nothing, they landed in my neighbors pasture like they owned it and hopped the fence like they had a right to be there. At the peak there were like fifteen cops in my garden. What they took, they hung under the chopper like a hunter would put the just killed deer carcass over his hood to show off on the ride through town.

Look what we got!...Asshole cowboys....but proud asshole cowboys.

Wayback machine done.

That brings us to today. actually it's yesterday now.

The morning started out like the days I want. Hot and sunny. Still I had the feeling, it has almost been a month since the last one. So I kept the starts in he lightroom for an extra few hours.

An hour later wifey hears a chopper. It didn't even register on my radar because it sounded wrong....It sounded like a cheap ass Robinson.

A Robinson is a turd. Seats two, powered by a leafblower motor, the fuckers have the reputation for falling out of the sky. Like the VW bug of choppers. Not long ago one stopped flying over Honolulu and the pilot managed to put her down on a street. Nobody hurt, but it was close. The pilot (a pretty nice looking babe) performed a prefect autorotation and put it on a cross street. Came to a stop after she hit a parked car. Both walked away.

Anyway Green Harvest in a Robinson?

How far the mighty have fallen. A single poor excuse for a chopper buzzing all over the place....it's almost embarassing. Fuck that IT IS embarassing.

Looks to me like the war on drugs is running out of cash....

Anyway....Ya still have to honor the threat...even if the threat is a lousey Robinson. The way it worked last year if they take anything they want the biggest....and that can't be allowed to happen. One thing real good about the Robinson, instead if eight eyes cheking there are only four. and the pilot has to fly, so even that is debatable.

Should ground crew pop up I have a few that they would consider mature....though they are nowhere close to it in the real world. Like this one. Fortunatly I had a few ready to take...but thanks to the rain, I've been holding off.

They are now hanging. Also had to dig up another. Again the rain allowed me to take most of the roots because the soil held together. Boys and girls...for one week I am legal....sorry (I vomited a little when I choked that out).

That damn chopper did the whole side of this hill. Called Grey, he didn't believe me until they overflew his house. Then he believed me just fine.

Casper called me. I was still in the "you gotta be kidding me it's a Robinson" phase. He saw them too a little closer than he wished too.

My five big plants are as safe as they can be. The mutts aren't happy. From now 'til harvest they are outside. My neighbors will hate me too. The place stinks of buds and my dogs bark all night.

Newsflash....The stink's gonna get worse. This is kinda the "official" start of harvest.

Think about it....This is when the plants are fat. The most important Green Harvest of the year....and there flying a single shitty Robinson. We're home free. "Send the first string home, we'll play the bench". Smart.

I think in this new cheap GH, ground crew will come today or tomorrow. This was a spotting run....in a Robinson. Thats just so wrong. This week, make it thru this week and it's over.

Here's a prediction. From a dumbass buckethead Haole that knows nothing. Someone's gonna get hurt. That bird doesn't have the weight to take our winds. Or the motor's gonna have a bad day at 100 ft and he's gonna augger in. Or...God forbid, some yahoo is gonna take the shot. Or even throw a rock at it. It's a single bird with a fully exposed pilot...that fucker better be wearing body armor.

Frankly...I'm disgusted. The guerilla grower in me...he's still there...back in the mist....is outraged. That's your opponent...The teacher.....a fuckin' mosquito. That's like the best they can do?

Boys and girls...this is the end of an era. Means nothing to you, but it used to be a big part of my world. Not a bad thing, everything ends, just another change in the roadtrip we call life.

 

[jiseman]

Hermosos mounstros!!!! es un sueño hecho realidad, un abrazo desde Chile!

 

[Dirtboy808]

That is dipping low in the bucket as far as copters go. It will take him a month to do my island. I agree it is a end of a era. When they used the National Guard heles those were the days. Latters bucket heads lol

 

[Casper808]

Looking good oh.here's lighting one fat one for the official unofficial start of harvest.lets have plenty sunshine for next month.aloha

 

[sunset_chaser]

Yes OH it's the end of another era.

Yes OH it's the end of another era.

In my neighborhood the leaf blowers
fire up every morning at sunrise and
everyone knows there are no leaves on
the ground. Have a go to keep your
plants dry.

Fastforward to 8 years from now and
pot is legal. You have the yellow and
silver GH choppers mounted on steel
framework scaffeling type of mounting
that holds the birds at a perfect
angle to blow dry your plants when it
stops raining and you tell your young
grandkids that the bad men used to
fly arround in those things and chase
grandpa in sugarcane fields.

 

[oldhaole]

Well?

So far it looks promising....this has been a pretty normal year. Right on schedule the hot days appear. August, September, and October can be brutally hot here....That's hot for us... not you guys on the mainland.

Weather upstream of the islands is nothing threatining. Chances are good that it will stay this way for awhile. Green Harvest has done their thing...however weak it was. They shouldn't fly again for another couple of weeks. BI should be next up in their todo list.....

I hope....

There's a logical progression to this trip. First we take the clones. In case of GH we can't have a pile of fat clones waving at them. The've been taken.

Clone row has a few straglers left but that small one in front will be the last one planted on that side.

As each plant is pulled, the clover goes in. The sprinkler heads are replaced with drippers. And the hole is forgotten about until next year...see ya' then.

Taking the overflow was a fun trip. Rather than marching out with a pile....and everyone looking, we hiked up the gulch in the moonlight last night. Those were there....now there not.

Everything in the bottom garden, all clones, have been taken and the holes replanted. We're starting to rub up against 2014. If the cut doesn't have roots by now it won't be done by the end of the this year. Get rid of it. Come December 31st we close the book on this year. Winter projects, opening up the winter holes, breeding for next year, and we are gonna reload this garden one more time....all this stuff begins to start breathing down my neck. The earlier we get started the better.

As for the big plants....the sooner they are gone the better I'd feel. I'd like to have at least one down by the end of this month. Before we can start the winter stuff those gotta be gone. Sure, I can work around them, and I will....but they are shading the new holes. Kinda hard to work around that.

These two...holes 3 and 4 should be done...give or take...three weeks.

Thou with Sativas many times I let the weather get bad before I pull 'em. No decisions have been made. I hope that doesn't happen this year. I'd like to stage harvest.

Sooo...

We're on the bubble here. Again, timing is key. There are a bunch of plants just put out. Soon they will flower. If those big plants are still around we will be over the number of mature allowed. I'm sure they will fly one more time this year....probably early next month. Failure is still possible. Get thru that next GH ...then.....we're golden. Cart the fat lady out.

 

[oldhaole]

Up and at 'em.....

The're flying again.

It's not like I'm over my numbers. Right after they flew last time I loaded all the holes up and those plants yet to flower. Nothing much has changed since last time....except the big ones are a bit bigger. But the last two years they harassed me over chicken shit stuff and I don't see this year as being much different.

Twelve days after the inferior helicopter made its maden journey it now looks like its services are no longer needed. Today we saw two real choppers (the silver and a yellow bird, for those keeping score at home).

But that in itself tells us something. Two choppers. This should be the big one. Earlier in the year, when there was nothing really to take, they were flying four. Now when they could clean house if they wanted....but there look to be shorthanded. I'd bet their funding has been cut. Less choppers, less eyes, equals a better chance of sucess.

Today, got the call early. Conformation call came two hours later when they were spotted in Haiku. two for two....your getting the hang of this.

When they fly, I grab a book and go sit in the shade on the deck. So I can hear them from a good way off. Right after lunch the silver one comes cranking right toward the house. Watching it from the deck, I knew it was gonna be close. If they were a hundred yards more South it would have came right up my little gulch. Instead they were a hair too far North. I doubt they saw anything.

An hour later I heard another, again working to the North. This one was grid searching up and down the hill. For a half hour he was getting closer and closer with each pass. Just when my turn came up he banked off and headed back to the airport.

Before I get too gloaty...I know...not a word....we still have a couple more days to go before this is done and victory can be declared....oh, but we're soooooo close.

I hope I don't drop a jinx out there with this post.

Get through the next couple of days....and I can mail the rest of this grow in. The next time they fly much of the big plants will be taken. The party will be breaking up...nothing to see here, move along.

The weather the past few weeks has been perfect. Best finishing weather in the last five years. That may change late this week, but so far....

Fall is here. The nights are a little bit colder, at nights the sweats come out. The sun is slowly heading South. First shadows are falling on the clones in the late afternoon. The next harvest looks to be kinda big, the clone room is full, replacements are ready.

Get the next two days over and done with, and we have rounded the turn and are heading for home.

 

[Rusty Trichome]

The next harvest looks to be kinda big, the clone room is full, replacements are ready.

I hate it when that happens... <kidding>

Curious...Do you have any odor issues post-harvest?

Sure sucks that the ICMag server won't let us rep all posts that deserve it, but instead wants us to "spread it around". Oh well. Best I can offer right now is an "Atta-Boy".

 

[Dirtboy808]

The Puma flew over me last Thursday but that was it. Yes the weather is great.

 

[oldhaole]

Gee Rusty....wha'cha trying to say?

Sounds like you wanna know if I stink....

Wow....I tool my bi-annual bath a month ago...I should be good for another five months.

So I guess the answer is yes, I stink. But living with it .... it just doesn't register. When I get home from doing whatever it is I do...and I pull in and get out of the car....

Then it hits you.

Yea, it can be noticed. This is outdoor....it's not like I can do anything about the reek. When you catch the whiff half of you smiles and thinks "Ahhh the smell of sucess" and the smarter half thinks "Oh fuck, I so want them out of here". Post harvest most of these big plants won't be dried here....once yanked they, and the reek, cease to be my problem.

My partner came up to grab his half of the overflow yesterday evening and commented that he could smell it from the road....so I'm doing something right....or wrong.

That's why the three new mutts are outside....actually they are all piled up around the door....wanting to get back inside. They haven't seen the inside of this house for a couple of weeks and they won't until this trip is done.

My year is going long....others are harvesting now. My above mentioned partner has all of his seven pulled and drying. We can scratch him off the people to call list when the choppers show up. What I call the glut is here. People that usually sit back and bum your weed are proudly busting out their own joints. The head trip Sativas are back. Different from the Indica dom clones we have been smoking.

I have yet to taste my big plants, but wifey and patient have. They made happy noises. Looks like last year's disaster of a year breeding did produce something decent. Surprising...I know. The seeds I made were shit. How these popped back up right when they were needed....I have no clue. I got lucky. Now if that luck holds for a few more weeks....the next couple of days even....were golden. GH shold be done on Wensday.

Rusty....don't worry about the rep. I have my reward elsewhere.

DB....The Puma wasn't seen here yesterday. Looks like she sleeps over there. And yea....The weather has been perfection. What you need when you needed it. Bet you are having a good season. How is your tree doing?

 

[Dirtboy808]

Wish I was done. My big girls are a month out and not as pretty as yours, beetle got me bad this year but on the good side I may know how to kill them we will see. I really thought GH would be on me this week but it is early. I think the feds were looking around or busting someone. This last month has been hot and my green house got too hot a few times thus fried plants lol dum ass me. Always learning something new. Latters

 

[festivus]

Yellow and silver birds on the pads staging at 8:15 today. They had a large ground crew, and there were 2 county of maui's white suv's...

atm it sounds like they are back upcountry.

 

[CountryBandit]

How's the rain is what I wanna know? Looks like the rain cloud was right over your area today. Hit us in the morning.