Grow journal 📓 2021

[amy24]

After a few more days of rain, I still haven’t had time to build a shelter, and that branch developed LOTS of mold. I decided to cut it off GENTLY so I didn’t disturb the spores and then cut off the moldy chunk and hung the branches to dry. I saw the spores hit one branch so cut it off too.

Not sure if the mold has spread? I don’t see any obvious mold at all… just those white splotches I’ve had the whole time that look more like something else? I took a few photos of areas that could be developing? Not sure, might just be paranoid.

[amy24]

Since that plant has that moldy area, I decided to remove all the really big fan leaves on it to increase air flow and have less surface area for mold spores to land.

I’ve received and read varied advice on this… some say to leave all the fan leaves until they die on their own so the plant can absorb all the energy from those leaves, then others who say they are a waste of energy and to get rid of them so the plant only focuses on the buds. Both arguments make sense to me! I think I will experiment and leave all the fan leaves on the other mostly identical sister plant and see which one produces more.

All the buds are getting HEAVY so I added some cross supports and tied some loose yarn around some and attached the yarn the bamboo poles. I’m also shaking off the rain when I get a chance.

I did my last fertilizer round yesterday, will leave them alone until harvest now. Added some of the meal mix, a bit of brown oak leaves as mulch on top, then did the last dose of liquid seaweed bloom stuff. They are getting bigger every day it’s crazy! Hope everyone else is thriving too! ❤️

[amy24]

Update on this… still clearing the leaves from the one and letting the other twin be. I went and checked abd still waiting for cloudier trichomes so decided to just do a pre-trim and get rid of most of the big leaves on the one that’s being defoliated. So far I think the buds are comparable with MAYBE the one I’ve left alone growing a bit bigger. My theory is maybe clearing all the leaves puts it into shock for a tiny bit where the left alone one just keeps thriving? BUT I can’t detect mould issues as well so maybe I’ll loose more buds in the long run?

[amy24]

Things are going well, minus a few mould issues, but it isn’t that bad, definitely the least amount of mould I’ve ever had. I put the plants under a tent, but don’t like keeping them so close to each other. I don’t want the mold to transfer. I’ve been going through and pinching off any leaves that look like they may have powdery mildew and pinching off any buds that have bud rot. The rest still looks happy and healthy! I put some bits under the microscope today to check the trichomes. I was half hoping they were ready so the mold doesn’t spread, half hoping they weren’t ready so the buds would grow bigger. The trichomes were still pretty clear with only a tiny bit of milky-ness appearing. I like to wait until the trichomes are amber. Fingers crossed another week will do them well! 🤞🤞

[amy24]

Seems soon to post again but things are changing on the fly! It’s been sunny for a few days so the girls are nice and dry and the weather is supposed to be pouring rain for the next couple days… only two plants manage to fit under the tent so decided to take one down. Easiest to pre-trim the one I’ve already defoliated so did a nice little trim, pinched off any bud rot, and it’s ready to chop down! I also had to chop off a suspicious branch, looked like it has a bunch of powdery mildew on it, if anyone wants to confirm that for me, I added a pic of the branch. Also a pic of a little leaf from the bud area. I noticed a few of these that looked more crystally than the other leaves on the bud, maybe I’m just being paranoid? It does kind of look like PM under the microscope.

Did a comparison pic of a big bud from each plant to see if the defoliation has made a difference and I’d say they are pretty identical… going to leave the other two safe under the tent. The twin could mature a bit more but I think the one in the ground needs like two more weeks- the white hairs only started changing colour a week ago or less. Hopefully they can make it and i can keep the mould/mildew at bay. 🤞🤞

[SoOrbudgal]

Same thing going on with mine@amy24 gal good for you and going the distance. Outdoors is not for the weak LOL i sure want to chop one of mine down also it's getting defoliated like you i do it outdoors. All it's got is the suger leaf i will most likely give in to the weather now. It's barely hitting 60f here and rain on the way. Mine are getting munched by the flipping moth catipillars looks like bud rot break it open an see tiny turds then a worm. Mine is all cloudy just a few amber sure wish we could of got a warm fall with sunshine but alas........

[amy24]

Ugh I know what you mean SoOrbudgal it’s so annoying to be at the mercy of the weather. Only a bit of amber on the one I took down but hopefully the other one will get there.

[amy24]

Had to post a pic of it hanging…

[SoOrbudgal]

Excellent gal look at that lovely bunch. I just got done trimming 1/2 of a plant from my outdoors. Spent 2 hrs on it but i do a wet trim prior to hanging an break up into sections now adays. Boy it's time consumming for sure.

[amy24]

Thanks!!! So time consuming it’s insane! I didn’t do as patient of a job on the second one, started too late and then sun started to go behind the trees. I like your idea of breaking it up more, I just kind of chopped down a main section branch but mays we’ll take it apart more!

[amy24]

Took down the second “twin” and did lots of reflecting on whether it was worth it to leave it (when defoliating and leaving it to nature.) I would feel a huge dense bud and think oh yeah this is definitely worth it, it’s better!!! Then, I’d find a super thick cluster of smaller branches that all had powdery mildew and have to strip off basically a quarter of the bottom of the plant - that wasn’t worth it! So here is what I personally learned and what I would do next time:

-follow a similar plan, still defoliate, but aim to do a more of a drastic trim a week or two before flowering begins. I cleared off a lot more bottom branches this year, but next year, I’m REALLY going to clear off any small skinny silly looking branches, even the ones I think well maybeeee, nope, just chop em off! They are so annoying at this time!
-aim for that to be the major time, minus fan leaf removal later on, and then try to leave them alone so they don’t need to keep recovering
-more time did get the trichomes more amber! (Obviously haha) so for me the loss is worth it to have the stronger weed, but the mould does suck 😭
-hopefully with doing LOTS of preventative defoliation for more air flow, I can avoid the mould issues AND increase my yield ❤️

[SoOrbudgal]

I would call your outdoor grow a success this is how it goes for us hobby/rec. growers. We got limited times to work on them along with limited funds to protect the grows from eliments. We do out best with what we got for free lighting. I do believe amy24 that the stripping is neccessary in wetter cooler areas. I've tried to research shorter harvest dates for plants those with quicker flowering like 55days. But i like the photos for larger yields outdoors so i grow more indica hybreds. Still i'm sitting on 2 so it's not a perfect system we all have to bow to Mother Nature she's the boss of us. We got 8months to figure another season out amy24 LOL Enjoy the harvest great job

[amy24]

Thanks so much SoOrbudgal. You make some super valid points. I agree I think this is my most successful grow yet, makes me want to jump right back in but alas like you said gotta wait! Might try a small tent out, wanted to last year, but didn’t have the funds. Just a small little indoor grow to tide me over 😉

[amy24]

A long time ago I asked if I should put some clones in the soil? They never grew but they did produce the funniest buds! No roots from the stems but they managed to stay alive this whole time? So weird. Better than not having them I guess?

[amy24]

Well I guess this is the end of the grow! I’ll probably think of another couple of posts but had to chop down the last plant yesterday. It was pouring rain and the wind was strong and the awning/tent crashed down so we had to chop it down without doing a pre-trim and hang it up right away. I don’t like this… so much easier to trim when it’s standing, plus there are random bits of mold that I like to remove before hanging. I have a diffuser in the space with mold killing essential oils which may or may not make a difference but it always makes me feel like I’m doing something. Hopefully it works out OK 🤞

[amy24]

Forgot to post the photos…this is all one plant and it looks like my 12 plants from last year! ❤️

[amy24]

Had a problem uploading… here are the photos haha.

[amy24]

Final post almost a year later. Back in the garden today, cleaning up the totes. I threw a bunch of garden refuse in the big cage where the big male grew. In a couple months I’ll move all the stuff that didn’t decompose to my composter and get the soil ready all over again

Added a pic of a nice bud too, I’ve never grown such dense, sticky weed before! I was starting to think I couldn’t do it outdoors but all the TLC really paid off. 😍

[amy24]

Doing a repeat of last year! Green Gaia, compost and mulch! Plus a liquid fertilizer high in nitrogen. I stretched them earlier this year, so already really bushy.

[amy24]

PS some of those are pre and post bending/stretching

[ethanjon]

Grow looks great, keep going

[SoOrbudgal]

Helloooooo amy24 wonderful to see you again this summer ain't it great looks better than even last years grow. I'm still in the vegging stage with my outdoor also. It's starts getting very hot here in S.Oregon this week starting today upper 90'sf then gaining into 100's ugly LOL. I'm feeding mine every other watering now early mornings. I've got 5photos and 3autos going. I'm waiting to find out boy or girl on one photo still can't decide yet but the rest were fem. seeds. Your look great. Let us know how it's going now an then with the grow.