The growing large plants, outdoors, thread...

[TheSilverMullet]

Ponocrookedbrah, you're an inspiration. Wonderful garden. It has not been an easy year for many up here. I feel lucky to have done as well as I have. Many have had huge losses to botrytis, some having almost total losses. After last year being so good I was expecting a bad one this year so I planted a good amount of Blackberry Kush because it finishes early and I was glad I did as I was able to take it down when the bad weather set in mid september. Now the forecast is great and the Blue Dreams are chugging along nicely.

You mentioned using the fogger twice a week and I'm wondering if you would be so kind to tell what you spray and how far into flower you go? I would like to do more mold suppression next year.

 

[Hash Man]

I wont pay trimmers 200/lb ever again.

Year after year i would pay 200 and year after year i was disappointed.
Looking at the current price of herb vs how much it cost years ago, and then adding the fact that trimmers have been making the same wage even tho herb is worth 1/3 of what it used to be. It just doesnt add up.

I feel like cartman in the hippie extravagana episode every year after having hippies up to trim because of dealing with all the different trimmers and their issues.

If one isnt complaining about trimming medium nugs, then they are complaining about the smell of my steaks cooking and preaching how eating meat is unethical. after 3 months around them i convert to veganism and then look sickly and weak for another 3 months until i eat some meat again after their hippie vegetable charm wore off lol.

the topless yoga was cool...

BTW- just cause someone looks like a hippie and acts like a hippie does not imply they are a good person. Some of the biggest liars i have ever met have been at my trim parties before. I had a guy try to steal all my small nugs, drama with hippie chicks boyfriends etc...

lol i could go on and on for days. Suffice it to say i have to get all my trim done, but am not recruiting hippies this year.

i send buckets home with cool people and have them return the nugs, shake, and stem so the weight is verified...

oh, and I only pay product... you trim 13.5 lbs, and you get 1 lb...

Normally this works for about half of my crop, Then i am stuck the rest of the year trimming the rest.

Hope everyones harvest is going well...
I had a hell of a time this year with broad mites and leaf spot but came through pretty good, I will post some pics as i start to rip em down.

 

[cannascholar]

Doin a variety of trimming methods this year, got about 40 lbs of whole plants strung up in the trees to contractor bag and trim over time, 15 almost dry wet hand trimmed, and trim pro automatiking the remainder. While some cant stand these machines, I clean mine every two 5 gal bucket loads and run at 80%. Does a better job than what I've seen so far with the twister. Got my eyes on the mean green machine, dry machine trimming sounds to good to be true.

 

[ponocrookedbrah]

 

[sinaloa]

amazing my friend

regards

 

[furrywall11]

Cannascholar - I tried the meangreen dry trim machine one year... The trim is passable on _some_ strains but, not something like chemdawg #4 that has calyxes sticking out - it would knock some of those off. The worst part though is that buds that go through the trimmer have about %50 of the smell removed...maybe it's because they roll around so much. My regular ppl were incredibly disappointed by the units that went through the MGTM... conclusion; only good for smaller b buds or super commercial stuff you don't care about. Funny how trimming cannabis is one of the only things humans haven't figured out how to automate...

I started off paying my trimmers $150 this year with no food but very nice living and sleeping quarters...The quality of the trim job wasn't good enough 'cause the chemdawg really has to be manicured and sculpted so I figured what the heck I'll give them $175 and put $10 a day towards their food. Most of these people are 2nd year quasi friends and I have a fun time hanging out with them..... It's been a good year so what the heck. There are still scenes out there that do $200/lb with full organic meals 3x/day and maybe even turn down service who knows but they're one in a thousand.

 

[GoldCountryGuy]

People trimming here are my family and friends. I keep it at 200/lb and provide the food and comfy living quarters. Once it gets down to small buds I offer an hourly rate that seems reasonable and start making hash. Happy Harvest everyone!

 

[dank.frank]

I'm thinking next season...I wanna be a trimmer - just to take a vacation of sorts. Sure it's work - but what in life isn't. And besides that, I'm OCD about cannabis. I can't imagine brutalizing and doing a poor job just because I didn't get the right kind of beer...no respect for the hard work of the grower, let alone the plant. That is just shameful.

Hell, give me a couple 40oz Milwaukee's Best and bag of beef jerky and I'm good to go - lol - Motel 6 will leave the light on for me...no worries there...ROFL...

People sure are funny.



dank.Frank

 

[OrganicBuds]

Pono killed it this year. He has my vote for garden of the year from what has been posted in this thread. Next year, I am striving to have a garden like his. Not that I disappointed myself this year, but his grow is leaps and bounds above mine. Keep the pictures coming brother.

 

[Shcrews]

What kind of tickets are yall seeing for this years outdoor harvest?

 

[theJointedOne]

200 a p is great pay, keeps them motivated, and trust me, when you treat a crew good they want to come back.

You have to go international though,..its the best way to cover your ass on a bunch of diff angles.

id never trust a group of local dudes to touch my stuff for 20 bucks an hour, thats so cheap ass style. No offense to those that do though

the crews i work with ARE happy to work, happy to be invited back, and know zero local people or even many in CA

ive made friends for life, and can travel most places in the world for little to no money thanks to the connections ive made over the years, //see its karma, what goes around comes around..

ahh the memories

 

[Dr. Purpur]

I'm thinking next season...I wanna be a trimmer - just to take a vacation of sorts.

People sure are funny.

dank.Frank

A Trimming vacation?

I gotta agree with You on this one Bro.... "People are funny"
I hate to trim, and that would be the vacation from hell. Plus youd have to put up with the other trimmers, and maybe live with them. Some of them are pretty weird... Have at it Frank
Could be quite an experience!

 

[Madjag]

200 a p is great pay, keeps them motivated, and trust me, when you treat a crew good they want to come back.

You have to go international though,..its the best way to cover your ass on a bunch of diff angles.

id never trust a group of local dudes to touch my stuff for 20 bucks an hour, thats so cheap ass style. No offense to those that do though

the crews i work with ARE happy to work, happy to be invited back, and know zero local people or even many in CA

ive made friends for life, and can travel most places in the world for little to no money thanks to the connections ive made over the years, //see its karma, what goes around comes around..

ahh the memories

34 years ago when my partner and I grew two remote gardens totalling 115 pounds of Skunk #1, we took 8 people into our canyon for two weeks of trimming. Imagine trimming while sitting under a Juniper or Pinyon on a tarp and sleeping in a tent or under the stars every night. Most folks made it one week so we had two shifts over that period.

Some went out for two days of bar time and restaurant heaven and then returned. We paid 150 a day for a 8-10 hour trim day. In October rain is rare and all went well. A few romances even bloomed and a would-be chef saved the day by preparing better meals than our usual cheese sandwich fare. Lots of Tequila and Coke (coca) also supported the attitudes necessary for such odd accomodations.

Three were from the UK, one from Switzerland, one from Boston, and the rest from Phoenix. We air-dried the plants in the shade once cut and had dozens of break-down cardboard boxes for protecting the manicured herb on its perilous journey up and out of the canyon. 6-8 boxes were duct taped or bungee-corded to empty Kelty pack frames.

It's laughable, though understandable, to hear about gourmet meals and unhappy trimmers wanting more. 200 per pound seems real fair and all the extras should make for an excellent crew. Still, times are a changing and growers need to be careful of course. I like the concept of using folks who have no connection to the area and no knowledge of the spoiled side of the scene.

Hats off to you who make it real and put in the effort to be at peace with your situation.


1979 - SK#1

 

[Yes4Prop215]

not hiring local dudes or hippies, even though i have hired local country folk in the past and havent had issues. this year i brought up all my guys from the bay area that ive known since high school, most are unemployed or work 12 an hour jobs so they are thrilled to work for 20 an hour plus get free hash, meals and beer, and real comfy digs, no living in tents and shit....all have said that my scene is way more comfy than others than others they ahve worked. i cant pay 200 mostly because my shit is already de-leafed and de-stemmed so they would be making 100 bucks an hour since it only take them a few hours to clean up the packs.

ive been using standard tabletop de-leaders for the top colas and trimpro rotor automatic for the smaller nugs....i have been suffering almost zero nug damage, shit i cut off more calyxes than the machines do. and i was worried about smell at first since it does roll the nugs around but i havent had any issues at all...green crack and cherry pie was made for trimpro's, super dense and round it gets cleaned up real nice, and it still smells strong. i really could not imagine doing this without machines...it de-leafs all the unusable fan leaves quickly, which takes up the most time if you are dry trimming. and it also makes it so the trimmers can clean up the nugs super quick. 2-3 people are cleaning up my packs in 45-60 minutes each...really beats paying someone 200 for 6 hours of dry trimming. but hey all the more power to you, my customers are not gonna pay an extra 200 for "hand trimmed", and with prices as low as they are its just not financially feasible. if we were still getting 25 for local tickets than maybe it would be worth it...but at 16? no way...and im not even accepting 16 lol. i will buy and sell the neighbors stuff at that ticket before i sell my own hard work short.

i would love to bring in some international trimmers though...definately the safest way to go about shit, but not a fan of having to pay airfare.

 

[Madjag]

All my international trimmers, and distant domestics too, were personal friends of myself or my partner. They came for the "vacation" spoken about earlier in this thread. Afterwards we all partied in Jerome and several of the UK boys ended up living here full-time. Met the right woman and never left.

My Swiss friend stayed two years and then went home. I visited him in Zurich for a week or so back in 2004 and had a blast. Didn't make it up to A-Dam that trip, but RCC keeps inviting me for New Years. Some day....

 

[ponocrookedbrah]

hey yall sorry I haven't had time to answer the questions, its all I can do to squeeze some pics in. im just spraying greencure twice a week or 8 days, and actinovate about once every 8 days. we also drenched with actinovate every 2 weeks for the past month. we have two plants that are just moldy bitches but everything else is holding up great. thanks again for all the kind words yall!

 

[GuerrillaGary]

What proportions do you use with this mix? Do you think anything else needs to be added? (lime). I guess Pro-Mix is good to go?

 

[ElRubio]

Fuck man!

I consider you´re paying really well and fair for the job, and with free hash and beer?? you´re crazy boyz or what?

I feel im gonna pass of growing weed next year... i´m gonna hire myself as trimmer round NorCal and have a vacation also...

 

[frankenstein2]

Finally I able to post in the big boy thread!!!!! Just jarred up a single exodus kush that gave 2 p's. I know that it's not a mega- plant. But it is pretty damn good to get 2 p's off a single plant in a 18 gallon tote. I made myself so happy. Here's a pic from a week or two before I took her. Not bad for a guerilla grow in the swamp...

 

[warthog]

madjag- awesome retro harvest pic... those buds looks pretty damn good too, must have been top shelf for back then..

frankenstein- seriously nice stuff bro! that is an A+ guerilla for sure dude.. and goes to show you don't need too much battery to grow respectable big plants. Reminds me of an inspiring grower that was pushin cali #'s in the boonies of VA.. I think he grew a 5lb+ grapefruit crush in a 45gal smarty.. regardless of the high yielding strain, numbers like that are amazing considering his location...very nice work man!

oh and the plant to the left.. what's wrong with her? kind of looks liek the dreaded blight.