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Specifics of Growing in Australia

Brushtail

Active member
It is time we all start splurging our knowledge on growing, not only in general but growing in specific states and territories.

Everyone here has to have recognized that a large majority of outdoor growing information on IC is focused on Europe and the Americas. My intention here is for all aussie growers to contribute any knowledge that could help others down under. These catagories could include; fertilizers, strains, sow/harvest times etc..

Day light legnth tool(s) http://pictures.marijuana.com/galle...1257_p17846.swf (cited by Puresativa420 )
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunrise.html (sunrise/set times for any location, cited by twenty47red-i)

Growing Season(s)
Australia
Plant: Late September, Early October
Flowering: February
Harvest: March/April

Winter Solstice: 21st June
Summer Solstice: 21 December
Why would you want to know the summer and winter solstice?
The winter solstice marks the shortest day in the year, which is normally 9 and a bit hours+. From this point forward day length increases till its apex, the summer solstice, at which point day length decreases. The astute grower will be well aware of this fact, because these key dates never change and provide a time-frame for growers. As when you grow indoors, an increasing lighting schedule results in vegetative growth as opposed to a decreasing schedule that results in flowering. In essence the indoor grower is mimicking the outdoor seasons by reducing/increasing light hours.

Use the time&date tool and check out day length in your area. Note the increase in day light hours after the winter solstice and decrease after the summer solstice. Our favorite plants growth stages are triggered by the amount of daylight/dark it receives, about 12 hours with increasing length encourages vegetative growth and vise versa.

There are alot of threads on IC about when to plant clones outdoors without causing them to flower, well since we all now know the daylight length for your given area, it would seem logical to condition clones to the light length that would be present outdoors when you plant. In this way you mimmic outdoor conditions, im not saying this is fool proof since genetics and other factors contribute but its worked most times than not for yours truly.

I believe some people on this forums have claimed to get multiple crops a year, i'm not saying it isn't workable but i would like you to post dates, times, strain etc etc so other may replicate it.

Strains
C99 - lots of vigor,Large Yields,medium feeder,Medium dense flowers
White Widow - lots of vigor, medium yields, high feeder, high dense flowers
Strawberry Web x Molakai Frost - slow, low yields,low feeder, airy flowers
Afghani x Columbian - lots of vigor, high yields, high feeder, medium dense flowers


Soil Texture
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=49474&highlight=Soil+Texture (Backcountry)
WA:
Perth region: Sandy Loam/Loamy Sandy (needs added Peat moss, Coco coir, weak compost or mixtures)
Perth Soils

Western Australia and certainly Perth is very sandy. But there are sands and sands. If you are used to decent soils, you probably can't see much point in subdividing sands. Yet it does matter. Suppose you compare a soil with 2% water holding capacity with one with 6 %. They are both at the bottom of the scale but one has 3 times the capacity of the other.
soils.htm_txt_perthsoils_cmp.gif


1. Yellow: Soils of the youngest dunes. Usually very coarse sand with low water holding capacity. Pale yellow sub-soils, lime at some depth, tuart trees when far enough from the coastal winds

2. Orange: Soils of somewhat older dunes. Deep yellow sub-soil with fair water holding capacity often with lime. Tuart trees

3. Grey: Soils of the oldest dunes. Coarse sands, strongly leached with pale yellow sub-soils

4a. Green: Alluvial soils. A mixture, some with heavy texture and high water holding capacity.

4b. Maroon: Sandy surface soils overlying alluvial soils

5. Red: Soils of the Darling range and scarp, many with much pea-sized gravel

(Contributed by unknown)

The south-west region of WA is dominated by the swan coastal plain, a coastal plain created by the sediment build up from the elluvial movements from the yilgarn craton and the transgressional oceanic movements. This created a succession of dune systems that run parallel to the shoreline. There are three major systems all varying in age which is dependent upon their distance from the current shoreline. The youngest is the Quindalup dune system, which is the current shoreline, second is the spearwood dune system and thirdly the oldest is the bassadean dune system.

You growers may be thinking, now why the hell do i need to know about this? Well girls and boys it is this unique geology that has created the soils of the SCP, and knowing the properties of the soil complexes within the SCP could make or break your grow.

Quindalup Dunes
The youngest of the dunes, located on the coast trending North-South from Dongra to Dunsbrough(P.Sanderson, 1989). Consisting of mainly unconsolidated sand, quartz and shell fragments , that lay on top of Tamala limestone. The calcium carbonate found in abundance in shell fragments create a alkaline soil. The calcium carbonate in the soil profile dissolves in water and moves down the profile to be deposited at the base of the dunes as limestone(Rippey, E,2000). The Quindlup dunes are highly infertile and easily eroded without native plant cover. The close proximity of the Quindlup dunes to the ocean means only select plants can tolerate the variability of conditions.

Spearwood Dunes
The Spearwood dunes system is the most elevated, due to its age, 40, 000+ years, the Spearwood system has experienced greater leeching than the Quindalup dunes and thus has a reduced calcium carbonate content. The Spearwood dunes are lime-cemented dunes meaning they have a underlying basement rock of Tamala limestone.

Bassadean Dunes
The oldest of the dune systems, 800, 000+ years old and the most leached. The Bassadean dunes are infertile, have a acidic soil Ph and the soils have a poor nutrient content. The soils consist of a small organic horizon, sand consisting of little silt of clay. Dune system is low lying hills with poorly drained rifts between hills(Bolland, M., 2004) .

Soil Units
There are four major aeolian soils on the SCP each has unique soil properties and associations with particular dune systems.

The three main soils and associated characteristic are;
Karrakatta – Yellow sands * iron/Al oxide coating
Cottosloe – Red/Brown sands * Iron oxide coating
Quindalup – Sandy white
Bassadean – Orange/Brown sands

Soil_Map75.jpg


(APACE,2009) Fig 1


Each dune system has 1-3 associated soil units, with each soil unit forming a band running parallel to the coast. Quindalup is associated with the Quindalup soil unit, found closest to the shoreline. Further inland, the oldest Quindalup dunes, bordering the Quindalup/Spearwood dunes the Cottasloe soil unit occurs.

Spearwood dunes are associated with the Cottosloe and Karrakatta soil units. The Spearwood dunes border with the Quindalup dunes is where the Cottosloe soil unit occurs, further inland the Karrakatta soils are found, accounting for the majority of the dunes. The Red/Brown sands are only found near the Quindalup dunes and are originally deep in profile, unless exposed by wind erosion. The cottosloe sands are coated with iron oxides. The yellow sands, the yellow phase of the Karrakatta sands are to the west of the Spearwood dunes, the paler yellow/grey sands, the grey phase of the Karrakatta sands occur to the east.

The Bassadean dune system has three soil units, Jandakot sands, Gavin Sands and Joel sands. Jandakot sands occur on the crest and upper slopes of ridges and are well drained. Gavin soils occur further downslope, about 2M from the water table. Joel sands are a sandy loam soil type that occur in the lowest part of the dune system, where the water table is close to the surface.


Now what does this mean, well the soils are SANDY! with poor organic horizons, and thus have to have several organic amendments added to make it suitable. Soils also have poor water holding characteristics that have to be remedied! Also as the soils age, they are leached by rains, creating a acidic environment, PH can fluctuate greatly over the SCP, Check you H+ and -OH ions.

SA:
Adelaide
6522Map2.jpg
6522Map1-thumb.jpg

Victoria
Soil pH map of Victoria
6522soilph-thumb.gif

It is important to note that the map only considers surface soil pH. In many Victorian soils, pH will increase with depth.
Public land & parks etc. have been excluded.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
New South Wales
These maps should help any one planning on a guerrilla style grow this year in NSW.

New South Wales rainfall deciles - 12 months – 1 Aug 2006 – 31 July 2007
http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climat...month&area=nsw

New South Wales rainfall deciles - 24 months – 1 Aug 2005 – 31 July 2007
http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climat...month&area=nsw

Areas of NSW suffering drought conditions as at August 2007
http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/d...0708-large.gif

(contributed by smurf, 2007)

NT -

Having problems copy and pasting some of the images and text from other peoples posts, maybe someone could help! Much appreciated!



bt
 
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Smurf

stoke this joint
ICMag Donor
Veteran
This was a long time coming ,, what a great idea brushtail !

Everyone here has to have recognized that a large majority of outdoor growing information on IC is focused on Europe and the Americas. My intention here is for all aussie growers to contribute any knowledge that could help others down under. These catagories could include; fertilizers, strains, sow/harverst times etc..
Like brushtail has claimed,.... this will only eventuate if we all contribute & make it happen. Who knows, if we give it a bash it might be worthy of being our first sticky?

Here is an empty report format to copy and paste that I taxed from the "Outdoor Growing Guide", thanks to BACKCOUNTRY.


Strain/Breeder:
Harvest time:
Latitude of grow:
Location:
(your discretion)
Average yield:
Mold: (?)
Potency:
Year of grow:



A short description of any personal observations you've made with plant reactions to fertilisers, soil pH or anything you can think of would be an added bonus.

Thanks again Brushtail
smurf :wave:
 

Smurf

stoke this joint
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Strain/Breeder: NL#5 x BB
Harvest time: 1st/2nd May
Latitude of grow:
Location: Aust.
Average yield: Impressive
Mold: None
Potency: good sativa high, long duration
Year of grow: 2006 – 2007

I originally started it in a pot early Dec 06, then waited for it to show sex before I planted her straight into the ground rich in various ewc/composts/manures etc. I only ever fed her with organic brewed teas. This photo is 2 weeks prior to harvest. We had extremely heavy rain for 4 days (1 week before harvest) so I lost at least half of the trichs from this lady. The last 2 weeks were chilly at nights with scattered showers. She only received max 6 hrs direct sunlight/day. Absolutely no mold. Strong lemon pine scent. I should have germinated at least 6 - 8 wks earlier (late Sept or early Oct) for her to have had time to fill out properly and miss the bad weather. But I am impressed with how she stood up to the battering she received. No probs with temps either. Max temps were 42.7 ºC (108.86 ºF) with a min 9.0 ºC (48.2 ºF) - No hermies, but I did have that prob with some other genetics. Seed germination rate 100% - M/F ratio 50/50

 
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PhenoMenal

Hairdresser
Veteran
Strain/Breeder: Grapefruit/FemaleSeeds
Harvest time: 48 days flowering after 30 days veg
Latitude of grow: Didnt get any bigger than 1.2 meters
Location: Just a small room
Average yield: No i thought it was good
Mold: No but you can always wet it and hope
Potency: Yeah good
Year of grow: 2007

Ive got some pictures of my other grows but i didnt get one for the Grapefruit, but here's a strange photo of some toads having a root:
crapos.jpg
 

Brushtail

Active member
That picture is a true toady mudy orgy sling! mmm...maybe next time your pictures could be a bit more on-topic ;). It has been a long time but it's nearly time for another outdoor season ! lets get some information up guys and help each other out! thanks for the contribution smurf! much appreciated!
bt
 
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Brushtail

Active member
Hey all,
twenty47red-i thanks very much for contributing, much appreciated! and from a fellow perthling!!

I've been waiting anxiously and couldn't wait any longer! so i have popped four unknown beaners and they have just broke the surface! I'm going to put them in a make-shift greenhouse until the weather is warmer! Hopefully some big bushes this season!
bt
 

Smurf

stoke this joint
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Map of Adelaide & Suburbs showing distribution of soil types.

Map of Adelaide & Suburbs showing distribution of soil types.

I'm still not sure how you would like to go about this Brushtail but here goes.....



---------------------------------------------------------------------
Soil pH map of Victoria



It is important to note that the map only considers surface soil pH. In many Victorian soils, pH will increase with depth.
Public land & parks etc. have been excluded.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
New South Wales
These maps should help any one planning on a guerrilla style grow this year in NSW.

New South Wales rainfall deciles - 12 months – 1 Aug 2006 – 31 July 2007
http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/rainmaps.cgi?page=map&variable=deciles&period=12month&area=nsw

New South Wales rainfall deciles - 24 months – 1 Aug 2005 – 31 July 2007
http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/rainmaps.cgi?page=map&variable=deciles&period=24month&area=nsw

Areas of NSW suffering drought conditions as at August 2007
http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/drt-area-200708-large.gif

Found this bit of trivia.......
NSW DPI scientists have been ranked in the top 1% of world research institutions in agricultural science, and plant and animal science.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Queensland - Soil types


Soil Type
White - Water Bodies
Marone (sp?) - Clay
Tan - Clay Loams
Sand - Sandy Loams
Dotted line - Local Government Areas

^^ sorry, this will have to do until I can work out how to up load a decent legend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern Territory- soil types (^same legend applies^)


-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tasmania - soil types (^same legend applies^)


-------------------------------------------------------------------
Just an idea,,,,,,maybe have a chat with FT about re-formatting etc. so you can keep the info side of things together in your one post? (easier access, not dragged out over multiple pages) I'll sure to find similar soil maps for the other states.

I also threw in some beans 2 weeks ago in anticipation for this coming season. :jump: Good luck fellas.

____________ 20/08 ___________________________ 30/08
Happy gardening
smurf
 
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Smurf

stoke this joint
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Absolutely SS,, CSIRO estimates 50 million tonnes of P to be locked up in our soils.
 
G

Guest

Perth region soil types

Perth Soils

They don't call us sandgropers for nothing. Western Australia and certainly Perth is very sandy. But there are sands and sands. If you are used to decent soils, you probably can't see much point in subdividing sands. Yet it does matter. Suppose you compare a soil with 2% water holding capacity with one with 6 %. They are both at the bottom of the scale but one has 3 times the capacity of the other.
soils.htm_txt_perthsoils_cmp.gif


1. Yellow: Soils of the youngest dunes. Usually very coarse sand with low water holding capacity. Pale yellow sub-soils, lime at some depth, tuart trees when far enough from the coastal winds

2. Orange: Soils of somewhat older dunes. Deep yellow sub-soil with fair water holding capacity often with lime. Tuart trees

3. Grey: Soils of the oldest dunes. Coarse sands, strongly leached with pale yellow sub-soils

4a. Green: Alluvial soils. A mixture, some with heavy texture and high water holding capacity.

4b. Maroon: Sandy surface soils overlying alluvial soils

5. Red: Soils of the Darling range and scarp, many with much pea-sized gravel
 

SilverSurfer_OG

Living Organic Soil...
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Smurf said:
Absolutely SS,, CSIRO estimates 50 million tonnes of P to be locked up in our soils.

Locked up ya say?

So its there but plants cant absorb??

Why is that do you know? :chin:
 

EeJay

Member
I'd like further information on that locked out phosphorous too. What exactly doe that mean? Normally when talking about locked out nutrients, it refers to a pH issue. I get a feeling this is different, especially since the natural pH of soils around Australia will differ from location to location. Maybe it refers to phosphorous occuring much deeper underground. I'm not sure how significant 50 million tonnes even is when you consider the expanse of our land anyway.

Either way, a warning about the overuse of fertilisers high in phosphorous is a must in a thread about growing in Australia. Glad it was brought up.

Myself, I live in Sydney and am highly anticipating the start of my next grow, which should be in a bit over a month. I've grown in the same place a few times before and believe, with a bit of horticultural education to my name, I have a fairly good grasp of the conditions in my area.

For any Sydneysiders, i'll be more specific and state that my location is in the Hills District. It is sandstone country, therefore the natural soil found here is definitely on the sandy side. Probably a sandy loam. As Hills Disctrict indicates, there's hardly a naturally flat piece of land in the whole area, so any grow site will most likely be on an incline. This, together with the fairly coarse soils, generally translates into very poor water retention. This is good for preventing water logging (and diseases like root-rot) or over-watering, but can be quite tough when the temps exceed 40C, as the plants will need multiple waterings a day. Apart from ammending the soil to improve water-holding capacity (with either organic or inorganic particles), another option may be to find a site at the bottom of an incline, so there's less water run-off.

I don't encounter too many pests around here. The worst of them are probably caterpillar/moths, which actually eat into the buds and leaves. If you catch them quick, they'll do next to no damage, but the problem is sighting them in the first place, they can be quite hard to spot. A conspicuously curled leaf can be a giveaway, as the larvae are often nested in silk. I've found the most effective way of ridding them is a good and thorough eye, and just pick and kill. Else, you can always go with a B.t. (Bacillus thuringiensis), which is an organic powder/spray, under the brand name Dipel. For something a bit harder, there's Carbaryl, but i'd advise against using it within a month of harvest.

Snails are the only other thing I really worry about, and generic snail-bait takes care of that easily.

The weather here is often hot and humid, so large and/or densely formed buds should be watched closely for mould. During January/February, we always get storms which have nearly wiped out two of my grows. There can be hail, but the strong winds and lengthy periods of constant rain are the most damaging. Plants should be well staked/supported to cope with the winds, and you should seriously consider an early harvest if the rain is constant for more than a few days. Harvesting a week or two early is a lot better than having the whole crop ruined by mould. Usually though, there is a day of sun and heat which will dry everything sufficiently enough to endure another couple days of constant rain.

I guess that's about all for now. I like the potential of this thread. I'll try to pull my own weight in here, and will hopefully have more to add during the upcoming grow season.
 
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Brushtail

Active member
smurf , twenty and Eejay, i thank you so much for you adding to this. This is the sort of information that we need! At some point if you all don't mind, all the information you kind fold have contributed will be put into some format for better viewing! (oo i read up and saw smurf has said this already, silly me)

bt
 

Passenger

Active member
Are you moving them outside on the 20th due to 12 hours of daylight? Those charts are really nice. Extremely helpful :)
 
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