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Biggest Challenge Outdoor Growing in Tropics/Florida

JMASTER

New member
Omitting hurricanes, storms, and using cloth pots, what are the biggest challenges and how to overcome the massive rainfall, humidity, and high avg temps, which are supposedly not ideal for hemp?
 

WelderDan

Well-known member
Veteran
Don't forget pests. Both bugs and critters. Grasshoppers the size of your thumb that can cut a seedling in half. Rabbits are a problem, and squirrels will dig up seedlings to bury acorns. Deer are also an issue.

I sometimes do an early crop and a late crop outside to avoid the worst of the rains. Equatorial Sativas handle the humidity and rain best.

Outdoors is a challenge, but not impossible.
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
Look up swamp tubes. Seriously.

Multiple plants and multiple locations are some insurance. Though I don't know any off-hand, I'm sure there are some Florida growers here. :)
 

St. Phatty

Active member
Florida is kind of crowded people wise.

which isn't so great for Guerilla growing.

For the wind, I suggest finding a serious thicket of blackberry, or whatever they have serious thickets of in Florida.

Simply crawl in on your hands & knees. Then hollow out a space in the thicket for your plants. A thicket/ bush will help protect your plants from some of the lower speed winds.
 

WelderDan

Well-known member
Veteran
Florida is kind of crowded people wise.

which isn't so great for Guerilla growing.

For the wind, I suggest finding a serious thicket of blackberry, or whatever they have serious thickets of in Florida.

Simply crawl in on your hands & knees. Then hollow out a space in the thicket for your plants. A thicket/ bush will help protect your plants from some of the lower speed winds.

The Coasts are crowded. The interior is another story. There are very large parts of the state that have a low population.
 

JMASTER

New member
Ya I would only be looking at south/central FL, tons of land, very low pop density.

I am more talking about climate... very different from the West... things to consider for that.
 

St. Phatty

Active member
The Coasts are crowded. The interior is another story. There are very large parts of the state that are have a low population.

The interior doesn't get hit so hard by the hurricanes.

You can get Terrain maps with topographical data from the USGS.

attachment.php


It helps if you really like Jigsaw Puzzles. :woohoo:

Each of those is 10 km x 14 km. They're from the USGS, some offshoot.

https://www.webgis.com/terr_pages/CA/dem75/shasta.html

They have EVERYTHING. including Florida.

It takes a computer with a bit of juice and a program like Blender (which is Open Source, i.e. no cost except your time.)

This is the same *.DEM files open in 3D Studio Max.
 

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JMASTER

New member
The interior doesn't get hit so hard by the hurricanes.

You can get Terrain maps with topographical data from the USGS.

View Image

It helps if you really like Jigsaw Puzzles. :woohoo:

Each of those is 10 km x 14 km. They're from the USGS, some offshoot.

https://www.webgis.com/terr_pages/CA/dem75/shasta.html

They have EVERYTHING. including Florida.

It takes a computer with a bit of juice and a program like Blender (which is Open Source, i.e. no cost except your time.)

This is the same *.DEM files open in 3D Studio Max.


Thats awesome! I am guessing in FL you want the highest elevation where its most likely for water to drain off?
 

Steele Savage

Active member
Don't forget pests. Both bugs and critters. Grasshoppers the size of your thumb that can cut a seedling in half. Rabbits are a problem, and squirrels will dig up seedlings to bury acorns. Deer are also an issue.

I sometimes do an early crop and a late crop outside to avoid the worst of the rains. Equatorial Sativas handle the humidity and rain best.

Outdoors is a challenge, but not impossible.


Yep, I can attest to the grasshoppers/locust issue. Try to keep a little clearing around plants. I went out and threw Seven Dust around the perimeter to kill em. Not having too many issues with em, since.
As WelderDan said, look for sativa's but also drier type indica's as well.

My Diablo OG X DMT Kush, guerilla style
picture.php
 

Dawn Patrol

Well this is some bullshit right here.....
Veteran
Aphids, grasshoppers, spider mites, white flies, root aphids, rats, squirrels, rabbits, possums and armadillos are the small pests and I'm probably forgetting a few.
Deer, hogs, cattle, goats, llamas, alpacas and horses are all larger problems that may or may not affect your crop.

Grow NLD plants from summer into fall and WLD plants from fall into winter and often well into spring. Add supplemental lighting to control the photoperiod and you can harvest from late October to late April.

If you're strictly guerrilla style that's probably the worst scenario. If you control the land that's better and gives you more flexibility, but make no mistake, if you're outside you're farming and most everything is at the whim of mother nature.

All it takes is one freak storm to flood things or blow them down into the mud.

Sometimes it's paradise, sometimes it's hell.
 

Dawn Patrol

Well this is some bullshit right here.....
Veteran
Now some practical advice

use ground barriers under your pots to prevent root aphids

Lead your nutrient regimen with calcium to make the toughest plants you can

As Steele Savage mentioned, prep your spot by applying appropriate controls BEFORE your plants go in, but stay away from anything harmful to beneficials as they do the majority of the heavy lifting outdoors....

Fence them to keep larger animals out of them

Inspect them with regular frequency - bugs down here can explode if conditions are right

Don't over feed - the runoff fucks up the aquifer and makes the plant more susceptible to insect predation.
 

JMASTER

New member
Now some practical advice

use ground barriers under your pots to prevent root aphids

Lead your nutrient regimen with calcium to make the toughest plants you can

As Steele Savage mentioned, prep your spot by applying appropriate controls BEFORE your plants go in, but stay away from anything harmful to beneficials as they do the majority of the heavy lifting outdoors....

Fence them to keep larger animals out of them

Inspect them with regular frequency - bugs down here can explode if conditions are right

Don't over feed - the runoff fucks up the aquifer and makes the plant more susceptible to insect predation.


Amazing info DP...

Unfortunately the more I hear the more I feel like the downside is much larger than upside with prices also dropping... wondering if I should just put in more effort into extraction and production of my ideas of unique products that will help my niche target the most.
 

Steele Savage

Active member
JM, you can do it, just prep it out. Growing outdoors can be a challenge but most of the time, if you take the proper precautions you'll come out smiling. Just use quality genetics, you know what they say "you can polish a turd but it's still a turd". Clear away debris, treat area and plant em. It helps if you have plants being brought in, larger young plants are able to be able to fend off insect pressure better. Edit. Make sure to watch the growing tips, catapilers will fuck your shit up quicker than...
 

Dawn Patrol

Well this is some bullshit right here.....
Veteran
Amazing info DP...

Unfortunately the more I hear the more I feel like the downside is much larger than upside with prices also dropping... wondering if I should just put in more effort into extraction and production of my ideas of unique products that will help my niche target the most.

Sounds like you're just feeling things out at this point.

If you have access to controlled private land that can be grown on, you're miles ahead of a guerilla grow on public land.

Wanna guerilla grow a couple/four plants? It can be done if you're in a rural area, but again, mother nature gets her due. Sometimes its awesome, sometimes its a total write off, most times you salvage what you can and make the best of it.

When I got serious about growing again about 15 years ago, I was lucky enough to have access to a piece of property that while very suburban, is bordered by a green space.

It is less than an acre, landscaped and planted with cover/shade specifically for growing and has worked out well for me. I am truly blessed to have this space to play outdoors.

That said, because of the green space I fight every small pest I listed above, super smelly strains are a huge security risk and I just discovered that the bamboo I planted years ago harbors mites that will also inhabit cannabis.

Down here there's always something to keep you on your toes.
 

Swamp Thang

Well-known member
Veteran
Look up swamp tubes. Seriously.

Multiple plants and multiple locations are some insurance. Though I don't know any off-hand, I'm sure there are some Florida growers here. :)

The landscape around this grow looks so much like the area I just prepped for a few Malawi trees to be planted out.

Swamp nearby is an always added bonus, since the big chore of watering is eliminated, and with fem seeds, the plant can pretty much be left to mature on auto-pilot until harvest time.
 

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