Furrywall's outdoor 2014

[furrywall11]

Heeeyyyy,

What's up?? Giving thanks for another year doing what is easily one of the best jobs on the planet.

I was hoping to start this thread off with pictures of my hugely impressive plants...but, just three days ago the girls started looking very downcast. I'm confident that I'm going to find the solution and it will just be another lesson learned through trial and error.

This year I'm doing my first MOUNDS- it just makes sense- there's no boundaries to stop the roots- Freedom!!

I'm doing 300 gallons of Earth Worm Soil Factory soil on top of clay folded up in 1/2 inch hardware cloth topped with rice straw. I've been hand watering and I'll setup a drip system within the next couple weeks.

The lineup:
Blue Dream (santa cruz)
Headband (harborside)
Cherry Pie (harborside and homie cut)
Dream Queen (harborside)
Platinum Girl Scout Cookies
Sour Diesel
Blueberry OG
Gorilla Glue #4
Aqua Jesus
Cannatonic


I put most of the Blue Dreams out (the ones I'm having problems with) in mid April under 42 watt cfls. So far, nothing but water, mycorhize and, 3 tablespoons of molasses. Five gallons...ten gallons...and now I'm watering about 20-25 gallons/day for two days and then two days break...repeat. Too much you say?? Some of them are six feet tall and about 4-5 feet across. They drink it...that is one of the things I'm going to look into more deeply.

ideas:
Too much water and maybe it's pooling on top of the clay? The thing is I've dug down 5" and it's not muddy or anything...just slightly moist..optimal, I'd say. And the mounds are on a slight grade so there should be some drainage. I guess the next thing I'll try is digging down a full 10-15" but that's a last resort..I don't want to mess with the root system too much.

They don't like the clay? They were fine until they got huge..maybe at that point the roots dug down into the red clay and they don't like it--but, there's plenty of good soil around them- and, as far as I know, clay is pretty inert?

The soil is too hot? I have been having that issue in this soil with smaller plants- they don't get nutes because it's too hot and they stall out. I have been getting some twirly leaves and slightly lightened tips even with these big plants. I don't think that's it either...

At this moment I'm stumped.. I'm going to dig into it more tomorrow. I'm definitely welcoming all comments, suggestions, well wishes and, questions.


My plan is to dig deeper into the soil and see if there's a pool, rot, or something...because, to me this has the appearance of over watering- the trouble is at first touch the soil doesn't appear over watered. And then I'm going do a Pure Protein foliar, Calcium 25 foliar and, then I'm going to try this Ocean Grown mineralizer (google it if you want- no links allowed?)


On the lighter side...look who showed up to sit around the fire



Taken today



drooping


Drooping and taco'd.

 

[furrywall11]

I just dug deep into the mound and the moisture content is good. It's not over watering. One factor I just thought of... I put these Blue Dream clones in the ground on April 15th under 42 watt cfls running from 9PM to 7AM...About a week ago I started reducing the light 1 hour every two days and now I'm at the point where the light goes on at midnight and then I just turn it off when I get up. Could reducing the supplemental lighting that fast have this effect? I've seen leaves twirl around like this when they get wigged out on the light schedule indoors.. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal because a lot of people are putting clones outside right now with no supplemental lighting. Also, now that the plants are so big direct light from the cfl hits only one side of the plant which could wig them out?

 

[HunterJ]

The sun and the moon and the stars what's up ...

Afraid I can't help, really just finding out what little I know and putting into practice, but was attracted to the 'mystery'.

Did you find what's wrong? Trust it works out for ya.

Good growin m8.

 

[furrywall11]

Turkey vultures, hawks and, flies are up too. Dammit, I left the door open and there are two flies buzzing around my room like fighter pilots..

This has indeed been a mystery- ah, they settled for a minute, bastards.. One minute I'm in cannabis garden bliss growing the biggest plants of my life and the next they're keeled over and I'm having to let go of all my expectations... What are you going to do? It's one of the laws of nature- when shit goes wrong you learn stuff. I've learned about plastics- all the types of polyethylene, pvc and, styrene...what temperatures they start to release toxic heavy metals and gene mutating and hormone disturbing things that I can't pronounce.. I've nitpicked over every material used and technique applied in my whole garden..I've been on the phone with hardware store owners, purchasing managers, a rainbird rep.. I've looked like a lunatic to my friends and associates as I've explained that...it's the hoses!!! bastards, it's the hoses!!! And I'm convinced now... %90.. that it's the hoses. I've removed the offending ho's (sorry!) and these lovely girls haven't gotten any worse...and some have improved...which is more than one could expect in such a short time from a cannabis being that has been poisoned by lead, chlorine and, PVC.

Here she is... that's an 8x8 mound for reference.... Not bad for June 5th, I'd say



Giving thanks... !

 

[HunterJ]

Yeah, gratitude is good. Kills bugs of another kind.

That's a beauty, 8x8, big beauty.

You weren't using standard (proven) hoses then? If that one is example of recovery looks like you got it right. Good job, so quick too.

Keep it coming please.

 

[grow nerd]

Tagged. I'm having similar issues, but only with recent transplants that were root-bound prior to transplant. It's been unusually cold and quite windy as well, coming from indoors.

Thought maybe Mg deficiency so I tried foliars to no avail, maybe just transplant shock along with wind burn... at least for me. I have healthy plants in a light dep hoop growing near it using the same hoses, water, etc. I think the cold strong night time winds are contributing factors, but with numerous other issues it's hard to pinpoint.

 

[furrywall11]

Thanks for sayin hey Grow Nerd--Hard to pin point... yea, clearly all you can do is reduce until you get to your best guess...and wait.. lots of waiting. Wind whipping and temp shifts will give them the downcast claw, for what it's worth.

Hunter J - thank you for your intelligent words- gratitude is definitely the key to keeping lots of beasties at bay for real tho

So...I'm still at the 90% point w it being the hoses- FYI- don't buy hoses made from poly anything- get rubber. it's old school and low on the toxicity scale. I envision myself one day creating a biodynamic aquaduct system with no plastics involved...

Have you ever smelled Rainbird 1/2" drip tubing???? made from polyethylene? A very powerful plastic/cologne/off gassing smell that totally carries over into the water. The rainbird rep said that's what polyethylene is known for.. smelling bad. To me though, anything that smells bad and makes me cringe with toxicity can't be good for my plants. I'm looking to get more info on polyethylene....how can it smell that toxic and not be bad for your plants? I'm open to the possibility..I think I'm going to have to join a discussion group with some college chemists to get the answer though. I'm praying that my recent order from dripworks doesn't smell like that- I know it's not rainbird products.

I tossed out the pvc hoses and bam, it's night and day.. my plants are perking up and normal growth is returning..

Here's some pics of the girls in the smarties

Full


Cherry Pie (homie cut- not harbor side)


Gorilla Glue #4 -- Wow, I went through a lot to get this. It has incredible vigor. This came fully root bound and red stemmed from a 2 gallon pot and she didn't miss a beat once she got her rooties in the soil


Cannatonic -- Got this from harborside.. Way more vigor than I anticipated. Got five in smarties of these total - 4 double planted. This CBD rich strain is my gift row this year- all going at no cost to people that need it.



Praying for healthy plants and safe times for everyone, peace!!

 

[OvergrowDaWorld]

Very pleased that the toxicity thing is figured out and all the girls look great.
Fantastic lineup!
Subbed.....

 

[furrywall11]

Keepin at it... officially sunburnt. Isn't it crazy how you can pound a gallon of water to your head and still have a dry mouth? Got my drip line in and I'm wrapping it around my plants.. 65' per 8x8 mound. Still got some issues with my plants... I'm not convinced that it wasn't partially due to toxic hoses but something is still up....My theory now is that I was watering too much in the center of the plant by the stalk and that caused over watering downward claw and that because I was hand watering there were too many dry spots on the sides because the water just slides off my rice straw..... I will say this- EWSF soil is a bitch to learn how to water. Vermifire? Just water- it'll soak it right up. I'm hoping the 1 GHP emitters will water slowly enough so I won't get dry spots.

 

[theJointedOne]

Looking good furrywall,

thanks for sharing,

vermifire kicks ass ! and it sounds like your drip setup will be perfect for those big girls. Do you water your garden in the early a.m.? IMO thats the best time to hit them with the aqua.

ill tag along for this one for sure,

ooo and enjoy the sun, haha yea its just getting started...

 

[HunterJ]

Know what you mean about mulch forming a barrier to watering. Got some no-till beds in the garden and the mulch actually kept water from other layers until I punched enough holes through it to keep it open. Probably helps some with aeration too, and mulch still does its job.

 

[furrywall11]

Greetings,

Oh the ups and downs of gardening....


I still have some problem plants in my garden.

Got some that are pretty healthy too..

opening it up to anyone that has any theories...

stats:
EWSF soil from Chico
soil drenches: none except for two biodiversity compost teas
foliar: 2-3x weekly PPD and 1x weekly calcium
water ph: 6.3-6.4
hand watered until about ten days ago when I installed a drip system (1GPH/9" spacing/65 feet per 8x8 300 gallon mound with a 3/4" mainline powered by a 1/3HP sump out of a 3000 gallon well fed holding tank)

First the garden boss That's a ten foot T-post



Platinum Girl Scout Cookies...had some issues with these but they seem to be coming back



The pics are a bit deceptive - these are a much paler green and the stalks have become stiffer than the others... almost like it's pre-flowered but it seems like by the mid afternoon it's totally flexible again...



Notice the bit of a droopy downward claw? This seems to come and go on a lot of the plants... most of the time it's just the top set of leaves on the top of the plant. This is also a slightly paler green which is a surprise because of all the PPD they've had


Only two plants like this.... I'm almost thinking it's because of too much PPD???


I've ordered a fully compliment of products from Tanio and AEA which should start arriving tomorrow (photomag).

Well, back to the groove..

 

[furrywall11]

Thank you everyone for all the help and advice I've received this last week!!

A couple updated pics of the smart pots:


Aqua Jesus! I haven't been able to find anything about this strain online... but....I think I might have figured out why it's called AJ...It smells like aqua velva cologne... seriously.



Cherry Pie... Been getting a bit of taco on these... also, notice how the sides are growing really fast and the top is being left behind? Strange.


Blueberry OG



Cannatonic -- double planted in a 300 gallon smart pot


Peace

 

[Backyard Farmer]

Nice progress.

How are things with the whole 25 plant per parcel trip

 

[OLDproLg]

Diggin it brother!!!

Clean set up,lotta space....
BB OG looks killa,yumm!
LG

 

[furrywall11]

Thanks, OLDproLg, BYF

OLDpro- the bbog is insane. Bag appeal to the max and a crazy good smell....I've grown her for the last two seasons and she always droops on the top when she reaches a certain height and then about 1 out of 5 don't come out of it and are stunted.... I'm hoping to figure out what it is she needs during that time...I'm thinking it might be mag because they busted right out of it after it after I gave a photomag foliar -- more testing is definitely in order..

BYF- I think Mendocino and Calvares have the 25 per parcel county ordinance -- In my county if you have 20+ acres you can grow 99 plants (60 mature) if you have enough recommendations to cover it on the state side, a binder with all of your collective documents and articles of incorporation as well as a good attitude when the sheriff comes around. He was here about two weeks ago for a nice forty five minute chat- also known as a compliance check- which we passed. Law enforcement still puts me on edge it was definitely an interesting experience.


Been pretty busy....the smart pots are still hand watered every other day for four hours....which I had to do yesterday in 104 degree heat... Starting to build some support structures for the mounds...time to get some bamboo.

I'll prob post some mounds pics later...

 

[oldnewfarmer]

Loving the gift row bro! Good karma! Respect

 

[furrywall11]

Still working on helping my mound plants get healthier...


You can see the frizzed out tips which eventually affects the whole leaf... Only affects leaves at the top---so, it's a micro nutrient def. I'm treating with TM-7 and aea micropak foliar and prob do a root drench here in a minute. Also, the foliage is about two shades too light...N def...Been spraying 1 x per week with PPD..trying to figure out ways to promote more microbial life to maybe unlock some of the N that's already in the soil...even though the soil report says there isn't any N. I don't understand everything about this yet. Thinking about doing a PPD root drench. About a %30 of the plants are like this.


This one has only a little bit of the frizzed leaves at the top...still a shade or two too light, though.





soil report:



View attachment soilreportpage1.pdf


View attachment ewsfsoilreportpage2.pdf

 

[Backyard Farmer]

I'm pretty sure I sent you a pm link with a few products you ca use to help you with your issues. Any other questions or concerns , PM me

 

[epicorchard]

Water regiment?

Water regiment?

Whats your water schedule like? how many gallons per plant per day?

Ive got a bit of experience with dream outdoors. Took these shots this morning. Bamboo is 10'