Gort's Outdoor Grow In Oregon

[StoneOtter]

So since I moved up here to Oregon from CA I have been kind of obsessed with getting the soil in my backyard as good as I can get it. My old yard was infested with gophers so my only in ground option was in my 8 ft x 8 ft greenhouse. I didn't put in a floor just dug it out and lined it with Gopher wire. When I did I had to go down about two feet. The clay layer there was like potters clay and it took along time to get it into decent shape. Lots of compost, manure, peat and some Gypsum to help break up the clay. I had it in pretty good shape and then I moved here.

The soil here is a red clay base but nothing like I had in CA. The Willamette valley was a flood plain. When I started digging I found all the rocks to be like those you'd find in a riverbed. I'm not much for soil testing but I do have a simple PH meter. It was in the mid range. The beds were for the most part rotting and when I was digging up the soil I found that in each bed they had put that fabric membrane in the bottom of each bed. I'm not sure why they put it in as all it was doing was keeping worms out of the beds. I dug them all out and added some new beds. It was a lot of work digging down and amending below the grade level but I wanted to do it right the first time. I have piles of stones that I pulled out. The good news was that I didn't have many tree roots to deal with. There was one thing I did notice and that was a total lack of earthworms when I dug down a ways. So that is one of my goals to get plenty of earthworms in the soil. I did all the soil work this last spring so when I amended the soil I did so that I could grow vegatables and cannabis this season. So in the lower level I used compost, peat, manure, gypsum and some lyme. When the season is over I'm hoping to do an experiment.

I have been reading up on winter mulches for beds and cover crops. There are tons of leaves here in the fall you just have to get the right ones. Nothing too acidic. I also got my hands on a couple bales of straw that hasn't been treated with herbicides. I'm hanging onto plain cardboard and I'm saving coffee grounds. I also get them for free from the coffee houses. What I'm hoping to do if my back holds up is do dig out the beds again before the rains set in and layer coffee grounds, manure, leaves, straw and cardboard. Put the dirt back in and plant a cover crop. I will have a good five months for everything to decompose.

I have looked into buying worms but most are for compost piles red wiglers. There are night crawlers which are regular earthworms from what I have been able to read so I may get some of them and throw them in when I'm done.

Man you're a digger. I dug for days around the house over the years. Something about it for me that's fulfilling. What do you do with clay? It's so dense . It sounds like you are going to create a super grow environment. It 's strange you didn't find worms. You're going to have a garden space to behold when you're done.

 

[StoneOtter]

Smoke still gone Gort?

 

[The Dirty]

Awesome looking plants man and I'll resonate what others have said.
I miss growing outdoors...

I'll just be over here with your dog munching on some BnB.

 

[Gort]

A few pictures from this afternoon. Finally starting to get a hint of fragrance.

 

[StoneOtter]

A few pictures from this afternoon. Finally starting to get a hint of fragrance.

Now we're talking! Looks like they took bud steroids since last pics. Beauties

 

[Gort]

Thanks Stone. I saw this guy today I think its a Mud Dauber Wasp. Good to have on the plants. They do look like the sting would be nasty though

 

[grower987]

Man, they are looking good.

 

[Gort]

So there is a little rain in the forecast but not enough to have to cover the plants yet. Yesterday my weather station recorded a whole .01 inches. A few showers with sun breaks and small amounts. We need the rain but I'm hoping it will hold off.

 

[Blew Hiller]

So there is a little rain in the forecast but not enough to have to cover the plants yet. Yesterday my weather station recorded a whole .01 inches. A few showers with sun breaks and small amounts. We need the rain but I'm hoping it will hold off.

What is the plan to cover them?

 

[andIhalped]

Looks like several rainy days in the PNW.

I never cover my outdoor grow & have been through some very wet autumns. But still haven't lost anything major to PM or mold. (knocking on wood). Does require vigilance though.

I also plant strains w/ good resistance to fungal afflictions. Structurally, too: I don't plant strains w/ super fat buds, like BIg Bud. Great & lovely plant, but prone to mold problems due to bud structure.

 

[andIhalped]

In a related matter, I've got a purple strain, which I've never had in grows before.

I'm finding that one thing I don't like about it is that w/ the brownish-purple coloration, I keep thinking I've spotted rot. Had my clippers in hand about 3 times on different tops...I'll get used to it, I hope.

plebseptop.jpg

• andIhalped
• Sep 8, 2018

 

[Gort]

In a related matter, I've got a purple strain, which I've never had in grows before.

I'm finding that one thing I don't like about it is that w/ the brownish-purple coloration, I keep thinking I've spotted rot. Had my clippers in hand about 3 times on different tops...I'll get used to it, I hope.

plebseptop.jpg

• andIhalped
• Sep 8, 2018

I bet that's got to be nerve wracking. Where I grew down in the Bay Area opposite San Francisco I was on the constant look out for Botrytis. PM oddly enough was never really a problem. The last few years we never had those real Indian summers that would be so good for flowering. With all the fog I used to just plan on casualties.

Good luck with the plant.

 

[StoneOtter]

So there is a little rain in the forecast but not enough to have to cover the plants yet. Yesterday my weather station recorded a whole .01 inches. A few showers with sun breaks and small amounts. We need the rain but I'm hoping it will hold off.

Looking fat n happy

 

[Gort]

What is the plan to cover them?

I have 3 ft rebar which I will knock in the ground and 1 1/2 inch PVC. Two twelve foot pieces joined at the top with a 45 degree bend. I'll just slip the PVC over the rebar. I'll run some nylon cord between the sections and then just use utility clamps for the plastic. This is really temporary. As long as it doesn't get too windy I should be fine. I'm hoping I won't have to use it at all. Dream on right?

 

[andIhalped]

Hope you escaped the storm...in the N. Willamette Valley we got hit with about 45 min of torrential rain, including about 20 min of blasting hail. The "white combine" (midwestern wheatfarmer term) knocked the shit out of my sunflowers, but the canna's fine. Caused flooding in PDX, too. Yikes.

When the sun came out today, I coulda kissed it despite that whole it would vaporize me thing.

Grow on!

 

[Gort]

Hope you escaped the storm...in the N. Willamette Valley we got hit with about 45 min of torrential rain, including about 20 min of blasting hail. The "white combine" (midwestern wheatfarmer term) knocked the shit out of my sunflowers, but the canna's fine. Caused flooding in PDX, too. Yikes.

When the sun came out today, I coulda kissed it despite that whole it would vaporize me thing.

Grow on!

Was that today? I have literally not had a drop of rain here today in Eugene. I put in a weather station about a week ago that has been sitting in a box for 7 months and I had a whopping .05 inch yesterday. Thanks for the info.

 

[andIhalped]

Was that today? I have literally not had a drop of rain here today in Eugene. I put in a weather station about a week ago that has been sitting in a box for 7 months and I had a whopping .05 inch yesterday. Thanks for the info.

Nope, N. Willamette Valley. I'd guess about 1.5" in 45 min. Thunder, lightning, hail. But those cells are often quite isolated & patchy.

 

[StoneOtter]

Hope you escaped the storm...in the N. Willamette Valley we got hit with about 45 min of torrential rain, including about 20 min of blasting hail. The "white combine" (midwestern wheatfarmer term) knocked the shit out of my sunflowers, but the canna's fine. Caused flooding in PDX, too. Yikes.

When the sun came out today, I coulda kissed it despite that whole it would vaporize me thing.

Grow on!

Glad you didn't get hit too hard. Next couple of days are going to be real trouble in the S.E. I haven't seen the sun for days in the N.E.

 

[Gort]

The Jillybean flowers are starting to get a little sticky.

 

[andIhalped]

Awesome! Beautiful outdoorica.

I took this early girl down today...bizarre cross of Lebanese x Grape Ape x Nepalese

pyum915clr.JPG

• andIhalped
• Sep 17, 2018

Grow on.