Ganja D's Outdoor 2011

feenom said:

Ganja D,
Can you further elaborate on the shortcomings of smart pots, in your opinion....Wishing you a blessed 2011 season!

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What do you mean by shortcomings? I think smart pots are great. As with any planting container as long as you plan things properly like soil mixes,spacing,pest prevention,nutrients etc you should have healthy strong plants.
Not sure I understand your question.

i think he meant the short-commings of 300 gallon pots.

primeform said:

i think he meant the short-commings of 300 gallon pots.

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Last year HL planned the gardens and the smart pots were not spaced out far enough. Instead of 15 ft from center to center they were more like 10-12 feet. The plants shaded eachother out and many never received proper sun after they grew to a certain size. Also the property is on a steep hill and does not get the best sun light to begin with. One garden wasn't in full sun until after 12:15 pm each day.
Also our soil mix was not strong enough and many of the ingredients were cheep brands which contained mostly filler. The whole "no bottled nutrients" idea was taken way too far. I was only allowed to top dress with a very good compost and 2 types of guano. One of those guano HL chose is not available to plants until it breaks down and is a product I would never chose to use. Our plants ran out of energy as the flowering season came upon us and there was nothing I could do. I watched them lose vigor and yellow and was told to let it be. I actually spent thousands of my own money and hand fed all the gardens by hose,pump,and 50 gallon barrels. If I hadn't done that it would have been a disaster and I was only feeding 1-3% of the nutrients the plants needed once a week for a few weeks. HL never even knew I did it,he probably does now,lol. I kept everything 100% organic. We should have at least used teas.
Strain selection was the biggest disaster. The strains have been pollen chucked for years with no real though or analysis behind male selection. Most of the PTW X GF strains were inbred for years and lacked any vigor. They mold very very easy and is bland herb to say the least. For instance Reservoir and DG strains planted 3-5 weeks later caught up to and surpassed almost all of HL's strains in size, strength,and health.
If we had better strain selection,soil,nutes,and spacing I have no doubts we would have grown 8+ pounds in every 300 gallon smart pot. Too much emphasis,time,and energy was put into infrastructure like hoops instead of actual growing of plants. I worked sun up to sun down almost every day with no breaks and did the best I could.
The worst mistake was the Twister,it is very much like selling your soul to the devil. After 2 years of it being used at HL's gardens he still hasn't got it to the point of it being more financially efficient then paying hand trimmers. And with the price of trimmers going down to 150 a pound next year will be even less cost efficient. That machine literally made my eyes tear with sadness more times than I'd like to remember. Thanks god I saved our good strains from it.
So as far as 300 gallon smart pots they're great,but these were our shortcomings about last season. I learned a lot but that is not how growing is supposed to be. Around here HL is referred to as Darth Vader or Walmart. I want nothing to do with politics,but will not sit quietly when people are being misled from the truth. The Humboldt Growers Association is worse for cannabis growers then Richard Lee and is a scam at creating a monopoly and wiping out the competition or forcing them to pay outrageous fees most can't afford and control all distribution in Humboldt. They have bought politicians and are encouraging local law enforcement to target indoor growers with over 1200 watts. They want control of the market and will use law enforcement by misleading them. They must be stopped or they will ruin the way of life in this area for so many. I could go on for hours and hours.

Ganja D said:

Last year HL planned the gardens and the smart pots were not spaced out far enough. Instead of 15 ft from center to center they were more like 10-12 feet. The plants shaded eachother out and many never received proper sun after they grew to a certain size. Also the property is on a steep hill and does not get the best sun light to begin with. One garden wasn't in full sun until after 12:15 pm each day.
Also our soil mix was not strong enough and many of the ingredients were cheep brands which contained mostly filler. The whole "no bottled nutrients" idea was taken way too far. I was only allowed to top dress with a very good compost and 2 types of guano. One of those guano HL chose is not available to plants until it breaks down and is a product I would never chose to use. Our plants ran out of energy as the flowering season came upon us and there was nothing I could do. I watched them lose vigor and yellow and was told to let it be. I actually spent thousands of my own money and hand fed all the gardens by hose,pump,and 50 gallon barrels. If I hadn't done that it would have been a disaster and I was only feeding 1-3% of the nutrients the plants needed once a week for a few weeks. HL never even knew I did it,he probably does now,lol. I kept everything 100% organic. We should have at least used teas.
Strain selection was the biggest disaster. The strains have been pollen chucked for years with no real though or analysis behind male selection. Most of the PTW X GF strains were inbred for years and lacked any vigor. They mold very very easy and is bland herb to say the least. For instance Reservoir and DG strains planted 3-5 weeks later caught up to and surpassed almost all of HL's strains in size, strength,and health.
If we had better strain selection,soil,nutes,and spacing I have no doubts we would have grown 8+ pounds in every 300 gallon smart pot. Too much emphasis,time,and energy was put into infrastructure like hoops instead of actual growing of plants. I worked sun up to sun down almost every day with no breaks and did the best I could.
The worst mistake was the Twister,it is very much like selling your soul to the devil. After 2 years of it being used at HL's gardens he still hasn't got it to the point of it being more financially efficient then paying hand trimmers. And with the price of trimmers going down to 150 a pound next year will be even less cost efficient. That machine literally made my eyes tear with sadness more times than I'd like to remember. Thanks god I saved our good strains from it.
So as far as 300 gallon smart pots they're great,but these were our shortcomings about last season. I learned a lot but that is not how growing is supposed to be. Around here HL is referred to as Darth Vader or Walmart. I want nothing to do with politics,but will not sit quietly when people are being misled from the truth. The Humboldt Growers Association is worse for cannabis growers then Richard Lee and is a scam at creating a monopoly and wiping out the competition or forcing them to pay outrageous fees most can't afford and control all distribution in Humboldt. They have bought politicians and are encouraging local law enforcement to target indoor growers with over 1200 watts. They want control of the market and will use law enforcement by misleading them. They must be stopped or they will ruin the way of life in this area for so many. I could go on for hours and hours.

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fucking wow, my jaw hurts

subscribed and good luck

Wow, it kinda sounds like y'all fell out with HL....If so, sorry to hear that. You guys killed it better than I've ever seen. But great good luck in your 2011 endeavors.

stagehand

Ganja D said:

Last year HL planned the gardens and the smart pots were not spaced out far enough. Instead of 15 ft from center to center they were more like 10-12 feet. The plants shaded eachother out and many never received proper sun after they grew to a certain size. Also the property is on a steep hill and does not get the best sun light to begin with. One garden wasn't in full sun until after 12:15 pm each day.
Also our soil mix was not strong enough and many of the ingredients were cheep brands which contained mostly filler. The whole "no bottled nutrients" idea was taken way too far. I was only allowed to top dress with a very good compost and 2 types of guano. One of those guano HL chose is not available to plants until it breaks down and is a product I would never chose to use. Our plants ran out of energy as the flowering season came upon us and there was nothing I could do. I watched them lose vigor and yellow and was told to let it be. I actually spent thousands of my own money and hand fed all the gardens by hose,pump,and 50 gallon barrels. If I hadn't done that it would have been a disaster and I was only feeding 1-3% of the nutrients the plants needed once a week for a few weeks. HL never even knew I did it,he probably does now,lol. I kept everything 100% organic. We should have at least used teas.
Strain selection was the biggest disaster. The strains have been pollen chucked for years with no real though or analysis behind male selection. Most of the PTW X GF strains were inbred for years and lacked any vigor. They mold very very easy and is bland herb to say the least. For instance Reservoir and DG strains planted 3-5 weeks later caught up to and surpassed almost all of HL's strains in size, strength,and health.
If we had better strain selection,soil,nutes,and spacing I have no doubts we would have grown 8+ pounds in every 300 gallon smart pot. Too much emphasis,time,and energy was put into infrastructure like hoops instead of actual growing of plants. I worked sun up to sun down almost every day with no breaks and did the best I could.
The worst mistake was the Twister,it is very much like selling your soul to the devil. After 2 years of it being used at HL's gardens he still hasn't got it to the point of it being more financially efficient then paying hand trimmers. And with the price of trimmers going down to 150 a pound next year will be even less cost efficient. That machine literally made my eyes tear with sadness more times than I'd like to remember. Thanks god I saved our good strains from it.
So as far as 300 gallon smart pots they're great,but these were our shortcomings about last season. I learned a lot but that is not how growing is supposed to be. Around here HL is referred to as Darth Vader or Walmart. I want nothing to do with politics,but will not sit quietly when people are being misled from the truth. The Humboldt Growers Association is worse for cannabis growers then Richard Lee and is a scam at creating a monopoly and wiping out the competition or forcing them to pay outrageous fees most can't afford and control all distribution in Humboldt. They have bought politicians and are encouraging local law enforcement to target indoor growers with over 1200 watts. They want control of the market and will use law enforcement by misleading them. They must be stopped or they will ruin the way of life in this area for so many. I could go on for hours and hours.

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Nice summary. I think all endeavors are a learning experience, and if you dont find where you can improve you will be stuck in the same hole. Also, its just human nature to want to run things your own way. This is good news to me because it sounds like you are on the exact same path that I am going with my outdoor growing. I am very interested to see how you do things differently this year, especially in reguards how you feed them. Will you be running automatic drip lines again? Will you be feeding them with a pump again or run the nuts through the drip system? What kind of guanos, top dressing, teas, foliar sprays, soil amendments?

Back on the subject of supplemental lighting for clones. After I take my clones out of the EZ clone (where they are under 24/0 light cycle) what should I veg them on? 18/6 or 15/9? Then when I put them outside in middle of may, what timing do you use with the supplemental lighting to start with? do you slowly reduce it until it matches the natural light time in the middle of june?

Ganja D said:

Last year HL planned the gardens and the smart pots were not spaced out far enough. Instead of 15 ft from center to center they were more like 10-12 feet. The plants shaded eachother out and many never received proper sun after they grew to a certain size. Also the property is on a steep hill and does not get the best sun light to begin with. One garden wasn't in full sun until after 12:15 pm each day.
Also our soil mix was not strong enough and many of the ingredients were cheep brands which contained mostly filler. The whole "no bottled nutrients" idea was taken way too far. I was only allowed to top dress with a very good compost and 2 types of guano. One of those guano HL chose is not available to plants until it breaks down and is a product I would never chose to use. Our plants ran out of energy as the flowering season came upon us and there was nothing I could do. I watched them lose vigor and yellow and was told to let it be. I actually spent thousands of my own money and hand fed all the gardens by hose,pump,and 50 gallon barrels. If I hadn't done that it would have been a disaster and I was only feeding 1-3% of the nutrients the plants needed once a week for a few weeks. HL never even knew I did it,he probably does now,lol. I kept everything 100% organic. We should have at least used teas.
Strain selection was the biggest disaster. The strains have been pollen chucked for years with no real though or analysis behind male selection. Most of the PTW X GF strains were inbred for years and lacked any vigor. They mold very very easy and is bland herb to say the least. For instance Reservoir and DG strains planted 3-5 weeks later caught up to and surpassed almost all of HL's strains in size, strength,and health.
If we had better strain selection,soil,nutes,and spacing I have no doubts we would have grown 8+ pounds in every 300 gallon smart pot. Too much emphasis,time,and energy was put into infrastructure like hoops instead of actual growing of plants. I worked sun up to sun down almost every day with no breaks and did the best I could.
The worst mistake was the Twister,it is very much like selling your soul to the devil. After 2 years of it being used at HL's gardens he still hasn't got it to the point of it being more financially efficient then paying hand trimmers. And with the price of trimmers going down to 150 a pound next year will be even less cost efficient. That machine literally made my eyes tear with sadness more times than I'd like to remember. Thanks god I saved our good strains from it.
So as far as 300 gallon smart pots they're great,but these were our shortcomings about last season. I learned a lot but that is not how growing is supposed to be. Around here HL is referred to as Darth Vader or Walmart. I want nothing to do with politics,but will not sit quietly when people are being misled from the truth. The Humboldt Growers Association is worse for cannabis growers then Richard Lee and is a scam at creating a monopoly and wiping out the competition or forcing them to pay outrageous fees most can't afford and control all distribution in Humboldt. They have bought politicians and are encouraging local law enforcement to target indoor growers with over 1200 watts. They want control of the market and will use law enforcement by misleading them. They must be stopped or they will ruin the way of life in this area for so many. I could go on for hours and hours.

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Hey Ganja D, why don't you tell us what you really think? ;-)

Seriously, thanks for your insights on a grow that so many of us watched and learned from.

Also for your view on the politics of the HGA, maybe that was tangential, but I appreciate it.

Those hoop houses did look so nice...

Thanks for that Ganja man! Now I have to re think everything! LOL!

Ganja D said:

Last year HL planned the gardens and the smart pots were not spaced out far enough. Instead of 15 ft from center to center they were more like 10-12 feet. The plants shaded eachother out and many never received proper sun after they grew to a certain size. Also the property is on a steep hill and does not get the best sun light to begin with. One garden wasn't in full sun until after 12:15 pm each day.
Also our soil mix was not strong enough and many of the ingredients were cheep brands which contained mostly filler. The whole "no bottled nutrients" idea was taken way too far. I was only allowed to top dress with a very good compost and 2 types of guano. One of those guano HL chose is not available to plants until it breaks down and is a product I would never chose to use. Our plants ran out of energy as the flowering season came upon us and there was nothing I could do. I watched them lose vigor and yellow and was told to let it be. I actually spent thousands of my own money and hand fed all the gardens by hose,pump,and 50 gallon barrels. If I hadn't done that it would have been a disaster and I was only feeding 1-3% of the nutrients the plants needed once a week for a few weeks. HL never even knew I did it,he probably does now,lol. I kept everything 100% organic. We should have at least used teas.
Strain selection was the biggest disaster. The strains have been pollen chucked for years with no real though or analysis behind male selection. Most of the PTW X GF strains were inbred for years and lacked any vigor. They mold very very easy and is bland herb to say the least. For instance Reservoir and DG strains planted 3-5 weeks later caught up to and surpassed almost all of HL's strains in size, strength,and health.
If we had better strain selection,soil,nutes,and spacing I have no doubts we would have grown 8+ pounds in every 300 gallon smart pot. Too much emphasis,time,and energy was put into infrastructure like hoops instead of actual growing of plants. I worked sun up to sun down almost every day with no breaks and did the best I could.
The worst mistake was the Twister,it is very much like selling your soul to the devil. After 2 years of it being used at HL's gardens he still hasn't got it to the point of it being more financially efficient then paying hand trimmers. And with the price of trimmers going down to 150 a pound next year will be even less cost efficient. That machine literally made my eyes tear with sadness more times than I'd like to remember. Thanks god I saved our good strains from it.
So as far as 300 gallon smart pots they're great,but these were our shortcomings about last season. I learned a lot but that is not how growing is supposed to be. Around here HL is referred to as Darth Vader or Walmart. I want nothing to do with politics,but will not sit quietly when people are being misled from the truth. The Humboldt Growers Association is worse for cannabis growers then Richard Lee and is a scam at creating a monopoly and wiping out the competition or forcing them to pay outrageous fees most can't afford and control all distribution in Humboldt. They have bought politicians and are encouraging local law enforcement to target indoor growers with over 1200 watts. They want control of the market and will use law enforcement by misleading them. They must be stopped or they will ruin the way of life in this area for so many. I could go on for hours and hours.

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Wow bro I had no idea...

Im gonna be doing about 30 100 gallon smart pots and a couple 200's and 300's this year... got any good personal advice for me you havent gone over or covered in your posts yet?

Ive amended my soil so hopefully I should be ok until flowering and I was thinking of going PBPsoil or canna for flowering....not sure yet I still havent figured out my flowering plans lol

stagehand099 said:

Wow, it kinda sounds like y'all fell out with HL....If so, sorry to hear that. You guys killed it better than I've ever seen. But great good luck in your 2011 endeavors.

stagehand

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Don't you mean Ganja D killed it?

Ganja D has me all excited for the summer like a school boy again!

Ganja D my respect for you just grew a bunch man. Props for stayin true to yourself, best of luck bud. Can't wait to see what you're capable of after your big learning experience last season.... looks like you learned more from your grow than many of us did.

Sorry if I got carried away with the politics. It's something I truly want nothing to do with,however I was raised to always stand up for what I believe is right. I will try to keep this thread focused on growing but will spread truth when people are misled.

Here are some shots from my mom.veg/clone area. Seedling and rooted clones will go outside in hoops in week or two,clones with sup light.
A new batch of exciting seeds will be planted soon including some I made last season,and moms are healthy and ready for the next round of cloning. Many of these clones and seedlings will be given away to growers all over Nor Cal and some will be donated to a local collective to test out and share with patients.

Double Strawberry Diesel(07) and DG's Sweet tooth#3 X C99 seedling. Hit a rough patch with power outages etc,but all is healthy,happy ,and strong now.

DG's Oger99

Sour Diesel IBL,this is some of my favorite all time herb. This tiny seedling smells stronger than most flowering plants,I'm completely serious. I'll be planting more of these.

This clone is my keeper selection from Rez Double Strawberry Diesel I planted in 2007. Awesome and very easy to grow plant. Thanks to the friend who took care of her from me until I was ready to get her back.

Killer Queen Redux mom,from a plant grown outdoors last year. Super impressive in every way,almost everything you could want to find in a plant.. She's healthy and ready for a new batch of clones. I cannot express how excited I am about this plant. I plant to spread her far and wide.

The KQR is also the first to root.

Rez OG x Chemdog D pheno #4,I still have four phenos of this,can't seem to let any go,especially after indoor testing from multiple growers with conflicting opinions on the best one. This on is Chem dominant and huge yielding,coated in resin with amazing smell and flavor. #2 is super OG dominant but yields way more then any OG I've ever heard of and is probably the frostiest herb I've ever seen. Just saw her cut indoors at 60 days. Never seen so much frost and she still needed another 10 days at least to be properly done. Another friend swears by pheno#3 and says he's never seen anything produce as much and it's quality is better than any OG he's ever seen. He's a native with over 20 years experience. The number#4 howerver is a beast.

Chemdog X Sour Diesel,I have 2 moms,got them confused but both are amazing. I'm about to smoke some now. Indoors my friends all commented how outrageously strong the oder is. This herb can yield just as amazing as the OG X Chem and the flavor is off the charts. The high is calming and soothing and helps me relax my mind after obsessing over growing all day and working in the gardens. It's calyxes swell up and get swollen with a thick coating of gooey resin that overwhelms your senses when smelling or smoking. Done right this herb is just so good it's amazing.

Blue Dream moms,of course. Hopefully I can grow these as well as Nomad's turned out. His buds are dense as any indoor and smell and taste amazing,too strong for me most of the time to be honest. This cut is from my area but it's all the same Blue Dream.

Mr.Nice mom ready for cloning. Finishes early and grows tight buds. Good node spacing,good plant but not my favorite. Nice garlicky,funky smell,not bad but not great.

Bad pic of my SSSDH keeper. Yield potential is enormous if given time to finish. She was the earliest of my SSSDH from last season. I kept her for her very unique smell,early resin production and astronomical l yield potential. Indoors I think it can finish at 75-85 days and will out yield anything and is absolute top top notch smoke or meds. She is special and I intend to share her with the medical community. Bad picture though,trust me,amazing plant.

I might have saved the best for last. This is a Sour Diesel IBL I gave away last year. It was supposed to be my head stash but a friend was having a tough time finding plants late in the year for his garden. He was down on his luck so I gave him my 14 head stash plants. I selected this as a seedling because you could smell it from 5-10 feet away. He pulled over 9 ounces from it in a 12 gallon pot,not bad,lol. It's all he smokes now,of course.
Thank god I was smart enough to take some cuts and give to a friend before I gave it away. Just got this clone mom back last week and it stinks. Can't wait to see what she does in 200 gallon smart pots. I'll transplant her into a 5 gallon container tonight and get a dozen clones or so in a week. very excited and happy about this one.

So,thats a bit of what I got going on currently. Lot's of very exciting things to come. Time to smoke a joint of Chem x sour and then work on some plants for the night.
Thanks for all the positive encouragement.
Peace.

Thanks for the update. I will be doing a lot of the same strains so I am excited to see how yours do.

nice everythings lookin good. i see a little bit of shininess on the leaves of the seedlings. is this residue from a foilar spray? I have had thrips that left a residue that looked like that with some black dots from there shit. cant wait to see how that sour D turns out, my fav smoke.

good updates brother, truth may hurt to some but it must be said. Honestly, I wish this kind of honesty was more abundant around here...

your ladies are looking killer, muy healthy seedlings! what size is your veg room?
we've been having power outages down here aswell damn wind!!

happy growing

Nice Line up my friend. I love the selection every strain looks great. You really now how to pic genetics and growth traits. I will be looking forward to seeing what you put together this year.

Ganja D,
I tried to reread where I came up with 'smart pot shortcomings' but maybe I guess I was trippin!! Anyhow, why are you gonna put the clones out so late? I started some little babies a few years ago mid June and they just got HAMMERED by the heat. Last year I started mid May and they rocked! All of the plants at HL's last year looked monstrous, but you are contesting mediocre yields?? No doubt more space was needed as I saw the rows growing together as a hedge, but even with just the tops/front exposed they still must've been putting out 6+??

The twister- I bought one last year and must say that it saved my ass. Saved my ass from having to feed/house that many more scissor ninjas. Saved my ass allowing me to get bulk to market quickly and efficiently. No doubt the hang dried hand trimmed was superior and some strains (bracky, nodey ones - diesel, etc.) were not done justice at all. But from a commercial standpoint, party on. I especially liked the way it polished my Afgoo and SSH, the more dense strains. HL says that he's done 80lbs ( or was it 40?) in a day before...either way, even at $150 / lb you are coming out ahead. Btw, I paid $150/lb this year for my hand trimmed, there is no way I can justify the old $200 mark with the market being the way it is now!

What is your soil mix looking like this year? What strains do you have that are early/mid Sept finishers?
Respect.

As usual a great update! Nice plants! Your passion for the genetics is a breath of fresh air in this field.

StickKy