Heists Hazy Hobbit - Outdoor Autumn 11

[heist]

This is more of an experiment, really. I'm trying to make all the beginner mistakes before summer rolls around again (I'm in the Southern Hemisphere). I have a farm lined up I can use for a large grow in Summer.

It's the first couple of days of Autumn now, so I'm not expecting much out of this except an education.

The potting mix for plant 1 is a mixture of half Yates Premium Potting Mix and half dirt from the backyard. I've grown good sized tomatos in the backyard before but the ground is quite compact in places so hopefully this is a decent compromise.

The seeds are bagseed from weed thats kicked my ass in the past. I buy this from a really short guy so I'm going to call this strain 'Hazy Hobbit'.

I went with pots so I can move these around to maximize sunlight, and to minimize security problems.

Heres some photos. I'm the worlds shittiest photographer so keep that in mind.

Plant 1 (8 days old)

I like how the plants leaning away from the lighter as if its saying "I know what you're thinking! Keep that fucking thing away from me!"

Weather for the next 7 days - mostly sunny and 24 with possible thunderstorm on Saturday

 

[heist]

I promised myself I wouldn't post everyday but I do have some questions.

In a lot of grow journals I've read that growers monitor the pH level of their soil and water.

Is this something I should concern myself with? Or is it only for indoor/hydro growers?

And if so, what kind of pH level should I maintain both for soil and water in an outdoor garden? From what I can gather the soil should be about 6 but I'm not sure about the water?

And what does pH stand for? I know it measures how acidic the soil is and marijuana should grow in a fairly neutral soil (around 7, right)? But I don't know what the letter pH stands for..

Anyway, to break up my stoned ramblings, lets have some photos.

Plant 1 still looking healthy @ 9 days old.

This is one of the plants I grew over summer almost ready for harvest

 

[heist]

I was happy to see my plant making new friends

even if it is only two days old.

Plant 1 doing well @ 13 days

We had a couple of days of cloudy skys and showers but nothing too intense. The next weeks going to be sunny and 24ish.

 

[HempRocket]

pH stands for p (power) and H (hydrogen ion). The most basic definition of pH is "the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution". pH is the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. It is very important to know the pH because plants have a range of pH in which nutrients can be taken up by said plant. If the pH is out of range, some nutrients are locked out and cannot be absorbed by the plant leading to a deficiency.

Here are some nutrient uptake charts for Cannabis:

 

[HempRocket]

If you grow right in your garden soil and not in a container, the soil will most likely buffer any changes in the pH (if you maintain your soil well) but containers are a different story. You need to know the pH of the water that goes into your pot and you need to know the pH of runoff. Runoff pH should be around 6.5-6.8 (ideal). Many people, including myself, have problems with the runoff pH being in range so we top dress with dolomitic lime and make sure that we water with water with higher pH. Hope this helps out.

 

[heist]

HempRocket I can't thankyou enough for that information, that all makes perfect sense except one thing. Whats the term "runoff" referring to?

I noticed our local hardware store sells pH metres so Ill get right onto it.

 

[MadMardo]

I was happy to see my plant making new friends

That made me lol.. good luck with the grow

 

[HempRocket]

runoff is the water that leaches out of your container when you water.

 

[heist]

Thanks again HempRocket (and MadMardo).

I took your advice and bought this

I couldn't find a digital metre for sale anywhere here. It indicates the soil pH is around 5.5 - 6 so I'll recheck it again tomorrow and if it's the same I'll do something to raise it up a bit. I don't think I can check the runoff pH with this kit but I'm going to the city for a work meeting in a couple of weeks so I think I can pick up a better metre or kit while I'm there.

Todays photo updates.

Plant 1 @ 15 days

I noticed there are some light faded (very light) spots on plant 1 but let's just see whats going to happen once I've adjusted the pH. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

Plant 2 @ 4 days

 

[HempRocket]

Your babies look happy.

 

[BassPlayer]

Hi heist

Is this grow still alive?

If so, please update us with some pictures and info.

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read the photo gallery tutorial:
Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

I am moving this to abandoned journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world!

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine!