Back to the Swamp 2014

[RosettaStoned]

Update time
The swamp has already drained significantly from the flood, and the girls are doing fine, although they've been dropping a few extra fan leaves. I haven't sprayed in awhile and I'm paying the price now, seeing more insect activity, some caterpillars, so I've got to spray them next chance I get. I checked all the stems for rot or mold and they were all fine. The brainstorm is the biggest, of course, but also the most green and the least woody, strangely enough.

Here is the Brainstorm, behind her, to the left, you can see some of the indica Jack Herer girl sticking out, although it's hard to tell them apart. Brainstorm still impresses me everytime I go out there, she's huge! At some point I'll try to get a shot of someone next to her to give you guys a better idea of the size.

My camera died before I could try and get a shot of that particular JH plant, but I doubt I would have been able to anyway, too cramped where she is. I may only get a good shot of her later on if I chop the brainstorm first. Bud shots shouldn't be an issue however

Here is the other Jack Herer, she is the second tallest of the girls, it's already tricky inspecting most of her buds, way over my head.

The big bagseed. Progressing quickly, already putting on weight, I'm going to guess maybe 3-4 more weeks at the most. There was some caterpillar damage on her, so I'll have to be careful and spray her well. It helps to clean the shit out, too, so they don't rot. As long as I don't have to chop too early, she should be a good early harvest to hold me over until I chop the rest of them.

One of her buds.

 

[RosettaStoned]

The small bagseed, with more pink pistils now.

She has them on every top like this

Still top feeding them, they are slowly yellowing, but it's mostly just lower fan leaves, they should make it to harvest just fine at this rate.

Thanks for stopping by

 

[calientecarlos]

Looking good!!! Next year I'm def doin guerrilla again I miss it!!!!

 

[Team Microbe]

Lookin great over here Rosetta, swamp grows are often very hard to pull off due to all of the factors added compared to dry-land crops. Kudos!! Listen to Joint Operation as well, the sticks are a good idea but may cause bud rot. If you can stake just one bamboo pole up against the trunk of each plant and tie every branch off to that using garden twine that would be ideal, no string though... I've had problems due to string staying wet and molding branches up. Killing it man! Have you started watching the weather channel yet for rain storms? I watch that shit like a hawk come September but I'm paranoid as it is hahaha

 

[JointOperation]

yup.. branches fucked my shit up.. what we did the next year was big plants.. got 5 stakes.. 2 4 footers.. and 3 8 footers.. and just tied the branches to the stakes.. worked great and no problems..

 

[RosettaStoned]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. Yeah there's nothing like a good guerilla grow.

Team Microbe: I'm definitely keeping a close eye out for rot. I've actually been using a local swamp grass for my ties, the blades are thin and very long, but quite strong. They dry out real well, but still have a lot of strength. Blends in great and I never have to remember to bring ties with me as it grows right around them.

We've been having an amazingly mild season here so far, just the right amount of rain. The temps have been 70-85F for the past month and a half. Really lucked out so far, keeping my fingers crossed, forecast is still good and I'll finally get some compost teas in.

 

[RosettaStoned]

Small Update

I was able to visit the swamp today. No more flooding and the weather is still good. I top fed, sprayed every plant, and spread some diatomaceous earth around the bases and on the stems. I'm hoping this will help with the ants and the few caterpillar problems I've been having. I'm determined to get them some tea later this week.

Everything is progressing well. The furthest behind right now is probably the Brainstorm, she may very well be the last harvest of the year.
The big bagseed however is finishing quite fast. I found a nasty mold spot on one top, surely from the caterpillar shit I found last time, so I took an early test bud After trimming it was more bud that I thought and it makes me excited for when this girl is finished. I think I can let her go another 2-3 weeks without too much concern for mold. I sprayed and cleaned off her buds the best I could without being rough. The buds are very sticky and the smell is fantastic.
I found another mold spot on the very top of one of the sativa-leaning Jack Herer buds, I removed it and sprayed her down throughly. No other signs of mold this visit. It's supposed to be dry for a little while, so we should be okay.
I'll have some pics in another week, maybe some of the bud I picked in a few days.

 

[RosettaStoned]

Alright so last visit I found that some PM decided to rear it's ugly head, of course it was mostly on the bagseed that is almost done. I'm going to check it again in the next few days to see how she's doing. If I find very little, I may chop her, just in case there is an outbreak or bad weather. She's very close to finished anyway. Otherwise I'm just going to spray with some cider-vinegar spray. I'll get some pics, too.

 

[RosettaStoned]

Pardon the quadruple post , but it's been awhile since I had pics from the swamp.

The big bagseed was chopped a week ago and is almost completely dry. I'm letting the main cola hang for another day or two and then I can get final weight and take some dry shots The rest of the bud is sitting in brown paper bags right now. It may be the most I've ever pulled from one plant. Potent and should be really tasty after a good cure.

Here she is right before chop,

It's been hot, rainy, and humid, but this is the first small spout of any bad weather all summer, really. I found a few mold spots on all 3 big girls today, but I removed all that I saw and hopefully I can keep these girls going for awhile before I'm forced to chop. They're all putting on weight now, lots of resin, but none are ready yet. It all looks really good, though. I used more flash this time to show off the buds a little better.

I believe this is a shot of a lower brainstorm bud, but it could also be one of the more sativa JH girl.

Here is the sativa Jack Herer, taller than her sister, but much slimmer and not nearly as many tops. She's looking a little sickly, more yellow than the others, all of her lower popcorn nugs turned brown and died. Her tops are okay however minus two mold spots I found.

 

[RosettaStoned]

Here is the other JH. This is the clearest shot I can get of her, from the side she's about 2-3 times as wide as you can see in this pic. At first her buds seemed like they were going to be small, but they're really exploding now. She'll be a heavy yielder if she finishes on time.

This is the Brainstorm. Buds starting to fatten up nicely, but still a lot of white hairs, she has a way to go yet.

The other bagseed, the only plant with no mold that I saw. She's also the smallest plant and the yield will be funny compared to the others. Very pretty buds however and it looks like it could be great quality when she finishes.

A bud shot of her pink pistils

All these flowers are super sticky and smell wonderful. Brainstorm is behind on smell, but she is furthest behind from what I see. The sativa Jack Herer may not yield well, especially if she is overcome by mold soon. The other 2 big ones are where the weight will come from this year. Fingers crossed for better weather, and a nice dry finish.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

[calientecarlos]

Shijeah looking good!! I have been testing lil bit too n it's best yet for sure! Best vibes for harvest!!!!

 

[RosettaStoned]

My apologies everyone. I've been extremely busy and haven't had a chance to post another update. I went out to the spot the other day and harvested the smaller Jack Herer. I completely forgot picstures. There were mold issues with her, and some with the Brainstorm, which will probably be coming down next, considering I had to chop 4-5 of the big tops already to save them from mold. The buds look great on everything however, and I have a new camera, so soon I'll get you guys some pics.

 

[RosettaStoned]

BIG HARVEST UPDATE!!!

It's been awhile! Okay so upon a recent visit to the swamp, I found some mold spots all over the two remaining big girls, the large indica Jack Herer and the massive Brainstorm. Mostly on the BS. They both were looking pretty rough anyway. We had been hit with some early cold weather and they decided they were done. So in 2 trips I harvested them, although there is some larf left on the BS as there was just so much of it. The only plant left is the little bagseed, it seems done, but I'd rather leave it out and see what happens, rather than make even more work for myself now.

Here is the Brainstorm, looking very sad and downcast before chop. After going through the buds, although disgusting where it was, the mold was less than 5% so I was really happy with that.

And here is the big Jack Herer before the chop. I got a better picture this time. Looking a little rough, but generally okay. Very little mold at all, only a spot here and there.

She had begun to turn a little purple, it's a shame it didn't get a little colder to bring it out more. Here's one of her buds.

 

[RosettaStoned]

I packed a big box full of BS buds at first, but I still had to come back the next day to get the rest and the Jack Herer. Here's the box of Brainstorm nuggets I got from the second trip.

This is almost all Brainstorm branches hanging.There are a few more lines with buds not in the picture. Already fan trimmed most of her, I'm waiting until it's mostly dry to do my sugar trimming this year.

Here is the vast majority of the big Jack Herer hanging. Still has fans and everything on it as I haven't got that far trimming wise, yet. Lighter for reference, her colas are massive!! The biggest of the year for sure, looks to be some of the best smoke, too, but we'll see when it's dry

A dried bud of the big bagseed girl. Picture came out yellow, but she is more of a dark forest green. Nice smoke. Smell/flavor are just a little lacking in my opinion. Yield was around 44 grams, plus a few grams I smoked or gave away before weighing. One of my best yields yet, as silly as that is, especially compared to how much the big 2 are going to weigh.

This has been the biggest, most ridiculous harvest I've ever had. The trimming I have ahead of me is daunting, but it's definitely going to be worth it. I don't have any clue as to the yield, but it's a lot, at least for me!

The small JH is still drying, nearly done. I still need to trim 80% of the sugar trim off. That is, of course, after I finish the fan/non sugar trim on the big JH and BS, which is going to take some time. I'll still try to keep up with this thread as things go. I'll try to get some real nice dried bud shots for you guys!

Until next time!

 

[Team Microbe]

Looking great bro!!!

Congrats on the successful season, mold happens almost everywhere in the country I think. All depends on the strain pretty much. That Jack Herer looks amazing. Is that Sensi's version of it? I've always wanted to grow a Jack...

 

[RosettaStoned]

Thanks man! Black Skull Seeds was the breeder for this Jack Herer, the seeds from them were cheap when I bought them, but turned out to be solid genetics. The buds look sooo good it was almost nothing but fat colas, very little larf which is rare for the swamp. She smells the best, too.

 

[Rob547]

Fuck yea man, nice to see you pull it in! I ot a jack cross myself cant wait to try it out, just about done.

 

[RosettaStoned]

Hey everyone! I didn't forget about you guys! Trimming has kicked my ass and has taken weeks. I sadly only have a milligram scale at the moment, so I won't be able to give a proper final weight, as it would take me 10 years on that bastard. I chopped the last little bagseed, although her nugs were absolutely huge and so dense, smelling just fantastic. Leaving it go and forgetting about it for awhile did wonders, it really is worth it to leave it as long as possible in my environment. No mold problems on this one whatsoever. I also chopped the weak buds I had left on the Brainstorm skeleton, which would be the very last of everything. A lot of that had succumb to mold, but I pulled possibly another ounce out of it. It's all dry, I have a little bit of the Brainstorm and most of the little bagseed left to trim, but it should only take a couple days.

I apologize for the lack of pics, it's usually something I really enjoy doing, but this year was too crazy busy for me, so it fell to the wayside. Once trimming is actually done, I'll post a final update with some nice dry bud shots and some shots of the yield of each plant. What I'm really excited for now is just making dry sift hash with the trim from the Brainstorm. I enjoy the process, and the sugar trim of this stuff produces like crazy I already have 4-5 big jars full of buds and some small ones, too. I'm extremely happy with this year, I'm very worn out from the trimming push, but once that's all over I can relax for awhile knowing I have excellent quality meds.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Chunkypigs]

congrats! buds look nice, good work!

 

[Swamp Thang]

That is a phenomenal close to your grow season, RS. That shot of the plants still standing is very nice as well, because I can see what looks like a small creek winding in the background, leaving no doubt that this is a true swamp and not just a marsh with a little standing water.

That is one robust harvest for sure, and you won't be needing to score any street weed for a good long time, if ever, given your superb cultivation skills and that ideal location.

Hats off to a fellow swamp-meister