First Grow (Cali Backyard Greenhouse)

[El Bandito]

Went to spray them down and the mites have made an amazing amount of progress in the past ten hours. Now the webs have proliferated en masse. The 25 dollar bottle of Liquid Ladybug, which requires 3 separate sprayings, ran out before I was done spraying my six plants the first time. Either I applied way too much, or this is just way overpriced. Maybe I'll brew up a DIY recipe and just try to keep them slowed down until I harvest. I can't afford an extra hundred bucks worth of watered down peppermint oil at the moment. Grrr

 

[Zdub7k]

yup...I hear ya bro...I ended up getting a big bottle (32oz) oc lucid. It was half the price of Avid with the same active ingredient. It is a chem tho and you can only use it 28 days out from harvest...I would recomend checking ebay for like a small 2 oz bottle. Mites hate a moist environment, so If you spray them with water ofter it will slow the breeding down.

 

[Zdub7k]

I appreciate the suggestion, Growbig. I'm trying to stay completely organic and am hoping the Liquid Ladybug keeps it in check. The good news is that I'm in a hot, dry climate, and the I can keep my plants out of any rain because they are in the greenhouse. I figure I can be generous with the spraying with minimum risk of bud rot. I'll keep this updated.

Like I said, this is a lesson I had to learn, so I'm trying to be thankful. =D

whoops, didnt see that...you can buy live lady bugs for like 20 bux from the grow shop...That will def help if you want to stay organic

 

[El Bandito]

Hmm the guys at the gardening store said that the mites are too small for the ladybugs to eat. At this stage of the grow, even Neem oil will mess up the flavor of the flowers. From what I've read, though, plain water with any type of surfactant that helps it stick to the leaves will keep the mites slowed down a bit. The webs haven't returned but the plants are in varying stages of distress. I did end up taking off a bunch of lower branches from two plants last week in my initial panic. They were hit hard by the mites and super larfy and probably should have been pruned long before flowering.

Today I cleaned it up and put it in a jar, along with more than a few mites and eggs. I'm gonna cook it into butter and eat every one of those fockers.

At this point, I'm just praying none of my plants shut down completely before the buds are ripe. Nary an amber trich to be seen. The warm dry weather is allowing me to mist the plants really well multiple times per day. Yesterday I foliar fed with a real light solution of water and earth juice catalyst, which is essentially molasses.

Larfy butter buds:

 

[El Bandito]

Looking much better this week. I've decimated the mites, scooped out all of the mulch and too dressed with a bit of fresh soil. Spent several hours taking off dead and almost dead leaves. I think the damage got so bad the plants stopped everything for a week. They are looking greener now and producing resin again. Potency and yield was affected for sure. One plant got it really bad and I probably should have just pulled it rather than strip off half of the branches.

Spotted amber trichomes on three of the plants today and did my best to get some photos looking through a 30x loupe. Hoping some of you can give me your thoughts on ripeness.

Full greenhouse:


Buds:







This one got raped by mites:


30x loupe- getting close to ripe?

 

[growbig789]

looking good in there, and looking close to harvest time.. its surprising how quickly those mites can damage a plant, but looks like you got it under control just in time.. so the liquid ladybug worked pretty good? do u remember the active ingredient?

If it was me, being I'm a one man trim team most of the time I would probably start pulling the furthest along right now.. looks like alot of cloudy and a few amber on some of the sugar leaves.. mites may have had some impact but in general the plants look like they are at that point where they've pretty much come full circle... what about other opinions?

 

[Zdub7k]

I would let them go for at least another two weeks bro...squeeze em a little bit and they should be really hard when theyre ready to harvest.

 

[northstate]

Great to see another horti addict being born! Awesome job and strong rookie year. Pre spray a few times in veg or just foliar feed with a light kelp or compost tea, it will discourage hungry mites. Your sativa looking strain could be the cheese but just a guess. I see a carport greenie back there next year with 60gal smart pots. Again, good job and entertaining posts. NS

 

[El Bandito]

Hey Growbig- the Liquid Ladybug is a bit of peppermint and rosemary oil and glycerin to act as a surfactant. At this stage I didn't want to use anything toxic, even pyrethrum. That stuff is highly toxic to cats anyway, and we have 4 of them. I do not recommend Liquid Ladybug. It was 25 bucks and lasted for one application on six plants. Granted, I was seriously overreacting initially and sprayed those plants till my hand cramps up and they were dripping. As far as organics go, I think it's about HOW you spray rather than WHAT you spray. Like NS says, even foliar sprays with compost tea will chase them away. I mostly used water and a couple drops of soap and sprayed them twice per day.

I was so freaked out a first. I would dream about the mites at night and would wake up scratching my legs- total psychosomatic mite itchiness everywhere for the first three days. I've poured so much live into this garden and i was heartbroken. I will definitely go the preventative route next time. Just pulled a ton of these very spicy chiles from my veggie garden and am making a concentrated chile extract for homemade pest spray.



NS- thanks for the kind words! Definitely hooked now. My compost pile is cooking away and I have a new generation of plants germinating. My BOG Sour Bubble seedling will enjoy the benefits of my hard learned lessons:


Love the feedback and input, guys. Be safe!

 

[growbig789]

As far as organics go, I think it's about HOW you spray rather than WHAT you spray.

Yah that makes sense... I was alternating neem/spinosad/soapy sprays on my little outdoor plants and it seems to have worked alright. Prevention and consistency of a regimen during veg and early flower seems like the way to go.

 

[El Bandito]

While waiting for things to finish up, I have plenty of time to worry about whether the potency will be any good. I've sampled a couple of quick dried buds here and there but I am such a heavy smoker that it's tough to tell whether or not it got me high. Should have probably made it the first hit of the day. Anyhow, I took that ounce of Larfy loose bud and made butter last night. Half of the butter went into a batch of brownies. I ate a few and this morning I am still way too stoned. I can't see straight. Houston, we have ignition!

 

[El Bandito]

Decided it was time to chop the plant that took the brunt of the mite damage. The plant was pretty dry and wasn't drinking very well. Last night I disconnected her drip irrigation line, carried her into the garage, and placed her on a hay bale. While the other plants got watered, I took all of her twist ties off.

I woke up at 6 am today and cut her down. I felt like a farmer slaughtering the pig he spent the past year caring for. 2 pots of coffee and 8 hours later, everything is trimmed and drying.





This pic is a bit blurry but it's the top of the stem of one of the branches. The surviving mites have climbed to the top. There aren't many but they still make my stomach crawl. I am going to burn them all after an hour or so. Want to make sure they all get to the tops first.

 

[El Bandito]

Ok I have another plant that I think is ready. Here's what the trichs look like- you can def see the signs of my spider mite troubles.



The buds are still a little fluffy but I feel like all the stress has caused early thc degradation.

 

[Chunkypigs]

sorry about the bugs but you have probably smoked worse, no?
this year was powder mildew with me. hope I never see those little beasts but i'm sure it's just a matter of "when". i heard of a few indoor ops that were destroyed by them recently.

let it go as long as you can for best potency, enjoy your harvest!

 

[El Bandito]

Woot hi again Chunky. Yeah I think I just need to be patient and stop stressing about every little irregularity. As a beginner you read about these 7 day long harvest windows and trusting your instincts and it gets a bit nerve-wracking. I bet most new growers end up harvesting too early.

 

[FRIENDinDEED]

nice grow EB, down teh line i hope to have a greenhouse with vegetable and a few cannabis plants in it in and amongst the rows

 

[Chunkypigs]

It's not uncommon for my meds to get left up an extra week or 2 if I'm unwell when they are ready to trim. I don't think it hurts anymore than picking a few buds early.

lets see your girls...

 

[Zdub7k]

better to harvest too late than too early IMO...I like the couchlock tho

 

[ukganjafarmer]

Good looking plants bro, im so envious of you american medical growers LOL

 

[El Bandito]

Yeah the medical card is the only way I could do this. I am 41, have a good job, and have too much to lose by trying to grow illegally. I get enough flak from Mrs. Bandito as it is. Here's the full update:

I cut down a second plant yesterday- she was my tallest and smells like Chem D or Sour D. The buds were not as tight as they could have been but for some reason she just have up a couple of weeks ago. No more new pistils and some of the buds were drying out. Mostly cloudy trichs and very sticky. Hopefully it will cure well.


It's funny how throughout the grow each plant has been my favorite at one time it another. This plant was my favorite clone- so bushy and vigorous. It never got past 18" tall and is super dense. Great strain for a closet but not so good for outdoors. While it has brooded in the corner of the greenhouse, mostly neglected, it has developed rock hard dark green nugs that smell fruity with a tinge of skunk. I'm thinking it's maybe a strawberry kush or something. Getting excited about this one again.



Onward to second GDP plant. This is the twin sister to the first plant I cut down. She never took much mite damage and is still looking green and vigorous. The buds are still swelling and the trichs are mostly cloudy. Hoping another week will firm up those buds.



Finally we have the twins- two sativa plants that spent most of the grow as overlooked runts. They bushed out well and are loaded up with relatively dense golf ball sized buds. Lime green, a bit of lemony scent- maybe a lemon haze type of strain? These might come down this weekend.