What a Long Strange Trip it's Been!

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I'm not certain that this is even where I should post this but here it goes and I'm sure if I am in the wrong place, (it wouldn't be the first time) , some one will kindly let me know. I wanted to join this site because it seems to be the ellowist friendliest site I have found. Here is a little about myself

I'm an old guy. I started growing for friends back in 1976 when I didn't even smoke. I have a B.S. in Horticulture and have been growing since then.
I am a professional farmer of produce so I guess I kind of come by this naturally. I have been growing produce since I was 10.

Back in 1979-81 I began to try to improve the mexican and columbian genetics that i had been working with. I copped (that's 70's terminology for you youngsters out there) some thai sticks with seeds, I was even able to get some loose thai from a diplomatic source as my reputation grew. Some friends went to Jamaica on spring break and brought me some lambs bread seeds. But none of these did much for the important part of strain improvement that I was looking for. You see back then the seeds had the kick. Mexican varieties yielded earlier and crossed with columbian santa Marta golds and reds made them even better.But they flowered so late in the midwest that they didn't yield the large mature buds that i was shooting for. Finally in the 81 I got some Afghan seeds from Chicago. That was the ticket.I began crossing affies with jamaican /thai/mexican crosses that I had been working with. The funny thing was that the bigger sticky buds that we grew no one was interested in buying at 100 dollars and ounce! We had to lie and say that it was Maui Wowie then they snatched them up like candy and bragged to their friends about the killer weed they had scored! It makes me laugh even today.

After years of low level outdoor guerilla grows just a few heavily pruned plants pinned down in the fence rows for personal use. I have to admit I am proud and even a little envious of some of the newer growers on here! You folks are kickin some serious butt. Back in the day when the fuzz wasn't flying all over the place me Linc , Pete and Julie (that's another throw back reference to you youngsters out there) could put a thousand plants in a cornfield ad get away with it. Now those were some harvest parties.

I have come up with alot of tips and hints and am more than willing to share some of my limited knowledge. Ive done buckets with soil, Hydro woods and field grows. I found that walk in coolers make great grow rooms.

I look forward hearing from some of you folks on this site and wish you all the best.

Your Bud,
Uptheholler

Comments

K
Actually, that's the funniest story I've heard in months. Love it. I can just *see* the cocker spaniels, with their big brown eyes, looking at you for a clue as to what to do. That's what's so funny....

Out in the sticks: I think I'd like that. Dark skies for looking at stars. Very little noise most often. Sounds rather nice and peaceful. i especially like the idea that you grow your own food. We have a small organic plot w/ 90 others and grow a small garden. No morels that i know of around here.
Hugs.
Lady K



uptheholler;bt7972 said:
Hey Folks! Tonight I had a backwood's epihany . There was an sudden knock at the cabin door ..my 2 spaniels just sat there and stared blankly at each other...That's when it hit me......You know that you are out in the sticks.....when your dogs don't know what a knock on the door means. Because they never hear it. Ha! They just sat there. I just started laughing.....Oh man I entertain easily don't I!
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U
Lady K it's a pleasure to have a fellow Saluki visit here at the homeplace! Come back anytime. We have 2 cavaliers and a Springer. You've found a great site and you'll fit right in!
 
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U
Hey Colorado Kid! First off welcome to the holler! I am really honored that you took the time to spned your time reading on my blog. It makes me feel good that someone enjoys my ramblings Thank You for stopping by.

I am glad to hear about your friends grafting project ghive him a pat on the back and an Atta Boy! from me. I am going to be playing with doing some of those projects myself this summer. I am interested in what the effects would be grafting a heavy producing standard clone onto an auto flower rootstock.
The multiple variety idea I think could be a great offering for medical users withlimited grow space..
I will be elaborating on how folks can do some of these tricks later on in the blog so come on back for a visit!
 
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U
Hey ColoradoKid I'll tell you a couple of things that you always want to keep in mind when dealing fellow growers. This comes from many years of being a part of literally thousands of kitchen table dope growing conversations a few of which almost came to blows between people

-First every man naturally thinks that his way of doing things is the best. But if we just subscribe to that idea then no advancements in growing methods ever takes place.

-Secondly- No farmer has an ugly daughter! They all think that their crop is the finest.

Do what you do to make yourself happy.
I will be posting some of my grafting projects as I get going on them this year. Pretty much along the lines of Dr Frankenpot!
It's always a pleasure to have you here!
 
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budnoob2
Great stuff Holler! I hadn't even considered going the outdoor route until reading this thread :) I grow lots of peppers, onions, tomatoes, herbs, beans and greens outdoors on a household scale and to give some away to family and friends. I'm also a firm believer in organic methods so we keep compost piles outdoors and we just started doing some indoor composting as well. I am on first MJ grow now and journal is started, although I've been partaking since around 83 and had to laugh at some of your stories. Wish I could've been there. Looking forward to seeing more!
 
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U
Hey Budnoob, I just friended you. It is a pleasure to have youvisit and take time out of your day to read the blog. Feel free to add to it if you have stuff to share. I'm going to be posting about crosses and producing your own seed next. Then I'll be covering some greenhouse construction tips and general hort stuff. I am really happy that you decided to jump in the pool and look forward to you visiting again! best of luck with your grow!
 
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U
Hey GIJOE I am happy to have you visit the cabin! As I tell everyone I am so thankful that you took time out of your day to read my project. It means alot to have the support of folks like you. If you ever have any thing to add or questions feel free to post it here and I'll do my best for you. Come on back and see us!
 
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U
Hey SABO really glad to have you stop by I have been pretty tied up on the farm. But We are getting ready to start discussing making your own crosses and producing seed shortly pull up a rocker and have a seat!
Really is an honor to have you visit for a while. I appreciate all of the folks who give up their time to visit on here! Thanks!
 
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Buddy Ebsen
Thank you UptheHollar for the heartfelt welcome!

I just finished reading your entire blog, it has brought back some fond memories of my youth. I'm only a couple of years younger than you, so we grew up around the same time, but I grew up in the Panhandle around Oh, Wv, & Pa bordering on the good ole Appalachians.

I still go ginseng hunting & I have some great patches & learned from my Grandpappy how to find it & also how to keep it hid from others who like to poach. I hate Poachers!

I really admire your blogs and 'Words of Wisdom". I never thought I'd be growing "Whacky Tabaky", but I thought I'd give it shot. Stop by my journal if you ever get some time, I know you a very busy man right now with the spring being here.

Your style of writing makes this a very enjoyable read for me. It's almost like I'm sitting on your porch or around the fire when reading your posts. and just listening.

Well, I rambled enough & I also sent you a friend request & would be honored if you would accept!

Take care "UptheHollar" love the name by the way and God bless you and your family!
 
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U
Hey SABO It's great to have a neighbor stop by and visit. It's a blessing living in Appalachia Yeah, there aren't a plethora of jobs. But, if you've got that mountain spirit you can cobble together a pretty good way of life. As you know it's nothing fancy just good salt of the earth people and great scenery. It's really humbling to me to think that you have taken up so much of your time to read my entire blog. You have my sincere thanks. Hopefully ,I have given you some food for thought. If you ever have anything to throw into the wood pile jump right on in. I will stop by and see your journal and we are now officially buds on the site. Take care of yourself and the best of luck with your efforts!
 
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U
Hey I'm glad that you showed up this morning! Grab hold of the top of that post there and pull it back towards you there!. That's it! A little more now while I tamp this in. We had that big wind storm over the winter and I had to replace some of these posts down here on the raspberry trellises. They got to leaning real bad. It was partly bad but also partly good. Look at all the new transplants we're goning to have from it. Do you see where all of those plant tips got beat down by the snow? Well since those tips touched the ground and then leaves and mud kind of covered alot of them up some of them have taken root. If we did it on purpose it's called tip layering. So I guess we can say that Ol' Mother Nature did some tip layering for us. Well I'll finish this up later. Come on up to the barn and we can talk a little about making you some seed this summer.
There you go. Have a seat where ever you think looks good to you. Just knock that old barn cat outta of your way if she becomes a nuisance. So I hear you decided to try to make some seeds of your own this year. Let me throw out a couple of questions for you to think about before we get started.

- Obviously we all know that good pot grows good pot. It doesn't take an Einstein to tell you that. But ask your self a couple of questions about what you have to work with. Have you tried a test grow on your varieties first? I would never tell you to just cross seed before you had experience with the plants that seed can develope into first. Are the plants well suited for your geographic area? Or if you are growing inside do they produce enough in the amount of time and at the expense that you are willing to incurr? How quickdo they flower? can they stand a little shade?Those are all questions that you can only tell by first growing the seed you have to completion.

-Is the plant a tough or easy grow? Some varieties of pot are just tougher to grow. Some start slow until the plant is developed and then shoot up like crazy. Some are very tolerant of hot or dry or cool or wet conditions. Still others act just like a weed. So your first task in developing seeds is that you grow out a sample and take very specific notes on the entire process. Preferably form all of the batches that you are considering crossing. Doing any thing other than that is just hap-hazzard natural selection. Remember what I am trying to show you is how to objectively judge your seed stock and then we move onto the next step.

-Assuming that you know what you are working with, you've grown it out and you have made great observations regarding growing problems , pest problems including insects and molds and relative maturation times and potentcy. It's time to make your pros and cons list and your wish lists. This is the fun part. But, my bride is poking her head around the corner and that mean she wants me to actually do something today. So I gotta make tracks. At the end of every day in the Spring she is going to ask me what I got done. Trust me when I say just staring ahead with a blank look on my face is not the answer that is going to keep me out of the doghouse. Make sure you stop on back. We'll get you a few raspberry starts and we will try to get you a good breeding plan to get you on the way to growing your own signature smoke! Thanks for stopping by and come on back soon!
 
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Buddy Ebsen
Hello UptheHoller,

Walked by your cabin this morning cause I saw smoke coming out of the chimney, no one was one the porch, but since it's springtime I figured you'd be out in the fields, plowing, seeding, fertilizing or just mending some fences.

I'll stop by later on & check to see what you've been up to. :high-five:

Enjoy the Weather & Enjoy Life!
 
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K
uptheholler;bt7539 said:
One of the techniques that I am really excited about is the use of low tunnels or cloches over plastic rows.
I make these by first making a raised bed 6-8 inches high and then covering it with 4 foot wide black plastic. I then plant my clones about 18 to 24 inches apart down the row. I then bend spring wire or 1/2 inch pvc pipe over the row leaving about 2 to 2 .5 feet of head space. Next cover the rows with white ventilated plastic which is available from any produce growing seed source or hort supply source.
Shovel soil down on the edges of the plastic and you have buttoned up the girls. As they grow basically I pin them down LST style with the same spring metal pieces or coat hanger pieces that i have cut about 12 inches in length and then bend double. By doing this the plants have a perfect amount of humidity. They get optimal diffused light similar to a greenhouse grow and they really thrive. The buds produced are very tight with greenhouse type trych development. Also it totally protects your plants from critters.
The only thing you need to keep on top of is watering which is easily done by lifting the plastic edges and trimming the giant fan leaves that will be pressing against the plastic and stand out like a sore thumb if you don't either trim them or pin your plants down more so they dont press against the plastic.
What you essentially have is a totally stealthy sea of green outdoor/greenhouse grow for a miniscule amount of money. Total investment for one row 60 feet long is less than 100 bucks and you will not believe the results. Incredible! Let me know if you have any questions but I only have one. Why doesn't every one do this ???
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Wow upthehollar it is so funny you invite me here today as yesterday I was on the phone with titan controls asking about weather I should change my atlas 1 to an 8 so I can have fuzzy logic as we were talking I said to him man if only each plant had its own eco system we wouldn't have the co2 waste...... he then continued on to tell me he had been speaking with a gentlemen not to long ago and described exact what you have here so your not the only one who dose this and I am currently trying to find a way to incorporate this into my room but I do not use beds so im having some trouble doing this with my bucket system
 
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K
he also happened to mention trying to use this indoors with flood table hoop houses also looking forward to trying this out but that will have to wait for winter
 
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U
First...Hey Buddy Ebson and Colorado thanks so much for stopping by. I have to offer you and everyone else an appology. I've been so stinking busy lately that I have been hee at home much.
I've got about 2/3rds of my stuff in the ground. Now I'm trying to finish up in the greenhouses.

But I'm going to wrap up our talk about making your own crosses. After that I've got a plan to see what we can learn together about Autos and to further explore the stages of plant growth. Remember alot of what we are going to be talking about is about plants in general. Then along the way I'll see if I can't figure out to show you how you can apply these techniques into your own grows.

Again, Thanks alot for stopping by and come back soon.
 
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O
uptheholler;bt7514 said:
Ralph Buddy Glad to have you as a friend on here! I too grew up in Indiana where we have great sunsets, hot hay fields and damn good watermelon. I remeber when most of the sheriffs were local guys who probably graduated high school with your sister! Most of the time if you got pulled over they would make you pour out the 3/2 beer that you drove to Ohio to buy. Ask you if any weed was in the car and if you said yes they would make you dump the bag in the ditch and tell you to get your ass back home. The problem back then was boredom. you would drive around town run into people and agree to meet at some country crossroad intersection or bridge on some creek and have a road party. You know pop the trunks and crank some Allmand Brothers! I envy you guys in Colorado right now. Must be great! I do hydro in the off season and still a few low profile grows in season. Mainly because I can't afford these insane prices. I'd be happy with a 15 dollar oz of Oxacan or a 25 dollar oz of Gold Columbian buds hard as rocks and full of seeds! Still made us laugh our asses off!
Happy to count you among the tribe!
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MauiWauiGuy
Holler,

The ramblings of an old man bring back so many memories (Yes I am old, 54 in March and I ramble as well).
Your blog reminds me of the 3, 4,5 finger lids depending on who you bought from. Sitting out in the woods of Northern Idaho smoking Columbian Gold out of smashed up beer can and drinking what we called Animal beer. You know Schmidt beer with all the forest animals on it.
My best friends dad was a Sheriff and oh boy I do remember the days of him catching us out driving with beer. Not only did we have to dump out all the beer but he would call my dad and tell him that his not so good son is on his way home for shameful reasons.

Ha, one last thing to part on, we used to have a place in Couer D Alene' ID called the Ace of Spades. Was down at the end of Sherman at the freeway. I just so happened to have a dozen or so doobies with me that I had been sharing of and on with the ladies. We would come out spark a doobie and go back have a drink and dance.
Well at 2 it was time to go home and up Sherman we go to the Circle K at the other end of town. A soon as we pulled into the store (Best friend was driving) the cops pulled in right behind and came to my door and asked me to step out. Yep you have it right, they had been watching me all not sparking doobbies with the girls that they thought they had them selves a real live drug dealer. Oh my were they ever disappointed. Much to my own luck, I had smoked everything I had so I had nothing on me. Be yet the arrested me and of to the local jail I go.
Well damn, my sisters boyfriends dad happens to be the jailer that night. I am thinking "Great". He doesn't even put me in a cell, just tells me to sit there and wait for my dad to come get me as he has already called him.
Yeah dad came to get me but that is a whole other story.

Thank you Holler for your blog as it has indeed sent me on memory lane. Had a blast growing up in the era I did,

Maui
 
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M
It's been a month since any posts here, and this is off-topic a bit, but I'll post anyway, 'cause I have a couple of stories similar to Maui's. :31:

I think it was '73, so I'd have been 19 years of age. Went camping near Westport, on the Washington coast with a bunch of friends. Two funny things happened; First, driving down the road on the way to the campground with 3 buddies, sheriff's deputy pulls me over. I rolled down the window, and a big cloud of smoke hits him in the face. :lot-o-toke:He shines his flashlight at us, pauses a moment, asks us where we're headed, then says "well, you boys better get to the campground. State Patrol is working this area, and they don't take kindly to this sort of thing." :3: Next day, we're in a tent, throw a sleeping bag over our heads to trap the smoke, and proceed to get high. Up walks one of the guy's dad, he pulls back the tent flap, says "what are you boys doing in.......Ohhh", and walks away. Never another word about it. Good thing he was cool about it; I married hs daughter a few years later. :circle-of-love:

About a year later, got arrested in a tavern for being underage. Had 2ounces of pot in my pockets, but managed to get away with stuffing into the back seat of the cop car, so only charge ended up being for underage. Well, my friend was drunker than hell, and drove to the police station to file a complaint because a cop called him a "f......ng turkey" while arresting me. Of course they arrested him too then. He called his dad, who drove down and bailed us out in the morning. Yep, that was my future father-in-law. He was impressed though, because I paid him back the bail money :laugh2:
 
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