Munki's "Al Naturale" Autoflower Outdoor Escursion - 2011

[Mr. Krip]

OK, it may be "bud porn" but I do read the articles, too!

So, I have a question on one comment I just didn't understand...

You said in your previous post, "Dirt is good this way over hydro."

But, it wasn't clear to me what you were referring to by "this way". Are you talking about the look & smell of the roots? Or, is it the way the rootball forms allowing for smaller space? I just didn't understand but am very interested in your perspective!

 

[Munki]

OK, it may be "bud porn" but I do read the articles, too!

So, I have a question on one comment I just didn't understand...

You said in your previous post, "Dirt is good this way over hydro."

But, it wasn't clear to me what you were referring to by "this way". Are you talking about the look & smell of the roots? Or, is it the way the rootball forms allowing for smaller space? I just didn't understand but am very interested in your perspective!

I thought it smelled somewhat better and seemed to form finer and more numerous roots. Also, in my limited experience, I had thicker tap roots when I did seed in hydro. It could be that since I would flood several times a day with the ebb and flow but only water the soil every other day. Just going off memory. Does that help clear up my previous statement?

BTW, thanks everyone for NOT LIKING post #249! I feel like I could have been brought up on charges at The Hague for such a crime!

 

[Mr. Krip]

Munki, thanks! That does help MOST of the way, but raises one more question...

What would be the advantages/disadvantages of thinner/thicker roots?.

I would GUESS that the thinner roots allows the plant to more easily uptake the nutes, but also would think that this would be needed in an environment where it was MORE difficult for the plant to uptake the nutes. So, the roots were thicker in hydro because the plant didn't need to work as hard to get the nutes it needed.

Again, that's purely speculation on my part and I could be WAY off, so looking forward to more input from you!

 

[Munki]

Munki, thanks! That does help MOST of the way, but raises one more question...

What would be the advantages/disadvantages of thinner/thicker roots?.

I would GUESS that the thinner roots allows the plant to more easily uptake the nutes, but also would think that this would be needed in an environment where it was MORE difficult for the plant to uptake the nutes. So, the roots were thicker in hydro because the plant didn't need to work as hard to get the nutes it needed.

Again, that's purely speculation on my part and I could be WAY off, so looking forward to more input from you!

Those would be good suppositions. Don't know for sure. Do think that in soil, the plant needs to hunt down the nutes from the media whereas the hydro supplies all the water and nutes without the plant needing to reach so much for them. Just speculation on my part. This plant was much smaller than the ones I grew in hydro but it was also my first autoflower.

 

[Mr. Krip]

OK...I suppose we can both suppose!

Thanks!

 

[Munki]

Update: Dried the plant for 1 week in the garage. It was pretty warm in there like in the 90s. Took it out yesterday and broke off the major buds. Crumbled off the outer leaves then trimmed them a bit. They are pretty airy but when put in a bag, they smell pretty darn good. A fruity grape comes through. Smoke is a bit harsh but not too bad compared to smoke in the past. High is strong but very manageable, with little to no paranoia creeping in. Quite nice indeed. Weight is very low; 6 1/2 grams kept. Rest was leaf, stem, caterpillar loss along with tossing the top part of the plant. It was too far gone. Bummed about the loss of the top the most. Happy I got something though. Plant could have done up to a 1/2 ounce if it hadn't been attacked earlier.

I do recommend this plant type if you have time and space for a little friend. I sure had fun overall. Thanks for reading my summer adventure!

 

[420GodsTrichome]

Thank you Munki for taking your time to share this grow with us.

 

[HerbFarma]

Grade A lookin buds...
Drool*

 

[420GodsTrichome]

Very nice Ananda!!! You are truly wise in many ways..

 

[420GodsTrichome]

LOL!!! No country of mine own, SE US.... I do very much love it though...

 

[420GodsTrichome]

is that a pic of you?

 

[TomatoPie]

Hey Munki, I know it's way too late but if you hit your plants preventatively with BTK at first signs of caterpillars or their damage, they will all die at small larval stages and not cause any damage. BTK is a bacteria which is naturally toxic to the butterfly family (especially their caterpillars), you can find it at most gardening/renovation stores.

I saw in one of your earlier pictures while cruising through the journal, when you'd found your first caterpillar, some excrements clearly visible near the top of the cola. Those big black turds are another sign to look for.

To ID the caterpillar, you could have kept a few fan-leaves and put him in a jar with them. He would have finished his last larval stage, cocooned and eventually emerge as a butterfly. That way you know who he is, and you have a butterfly fluttering around your house for a few days ! (Not in your special room!)

 

[420GodsTrichome]

how did you get that pic of my kin?? thought it was lost !!! LOL and my county of Trichome is not recognised by the government because we choose to medicate naturally instead of buying their poisonous man made socalled "Prescription Pills"
P.S. You are also my family in my eyes and soul, so I shall add your pic to my mantle, we are ALL just trichomes , part of a bigger picture.

 

[Munki]

Sorry all, I was away in Mexico this past weekend plus been busy at work this week. Just got a chance to catch up WITH MY OWN JOURNAL!

Thanks everyone for keeping up the talk while I was away. Always love to see what others are doing. No problems sharing here as the grow itself is done but always welcome hints, tips, and tricks that anyone has that would have improved the grow. Info posted here can be found by growers in the future, so share away!

 

[Munki]

If you decide to build a bud shack, you can veg indoors under the lights and put them out this time of year to stretch and flower. Everything outdoors is going off where you are growing due to the fact that as of today we are at 12h 56m of daylight and by 9/22 we will be at 12/12 and getting shorter.

I am in process of cloning a big batch of spikes that I will finish outdoors naturally to supplement what's going on indoors. I'd show you my cloner, it is state-of-the-art, but made by a non-sponsor, so it would probably be 'edited' out.

b

Cool. Get those posts up, then! Glad you are back around as you have much wisdom to impart to us, my friend(s).

 

[Munki]

Hey Munki, I know it's way too late but if you hit your plants preventatively with BTK at first signs of caterpillars or their damage, they will all die at small larval stages and not cause any damage. BTK is a bacteria which is naturally toxic to the butterfly family (especially their caterpillars), you can find it at most gardening/renovation stores.

I saw in one of your earlier pictures while cruising through the journal, when you'd found your first caterpillar, some excrements clearly visible near the top of the cola. Those big black turds are another sign to look for.

To ID the caterpillar, you could have kept a few fan-leaves and put him in a jar with them. He would have finished his last larval stage, cocooned and eventually emerge as a butterfly. That way you know who he is, and you have a butterfly fluttering around your house for a few days ! (Not in your special room!)

Yeah, that is the stuff Ganja Sadhana spoke of earlier. Should have gone that route instead of nuking the plant with the dry fogger.

Not sure if all the caterpillars were of the same species. I've seen both the butterfly and moth versions flying around; one with the 10mm wingspan and other with the 40mm wingspan.

 

[Munki]

It matters not, they all are destructive and the stuff works on all lepidopterans.

It will be in my toolbelt next time around. Don't mind them too much as they feed the birds but on my crops they must die and die quickly. I'll just have to live with my minor incursion into life's natural balance when using the bacteria.

 

[Poke Smot]

I wonder if a vegan would use that or just let there bud get destroyed.

 

[Propa Gator]

I'll just have to live with my minor incursion into life's natural balance

Humans evolved naturally on Earth, even if we are all made of stardust.
We are not the only lifeform to modify our environment, just the most obvious lately.

Great power demands great responsibility, so...
Somebody's going to pay

 

[TorturedSoul]

It will be in my toolbelt next time around. Don't mind them too much as they feed the birds but on my crops they must die and die quickly. I'll just have to live with my minor incursion into life's natural balance when using the bacteria.

There is always the possibility of placing a small "tent" made of fine screening material around a small autoflowering plant. Admittedly, it would cut down on the amount of light that reached the plant. But it would prove to be a barrier for any pests that could not tear/chew holes in the netting, burrow under it (and with a potted plant, that is not a problem), or fit through the holes.

I wonder if a vegan would use that or just let there bud get destroyed.

That brings to mind something I've wondered. If, after determining that an animal simply must be killed, would a vegan donate its carcass to a person or persons who would eat the meat and perhaps use the hide/etc. - or allow it to go to waste?

We are not the only lifeform to modify our environment, just the most obvious lately.

This isn't about environment-modification. Although I assume that they might do so if they feel the need, I imagine that they would be much more likely to live in harmony with their environment as much as possible and that any modifications they do need to perform would be as non-destructive as possible (and that, therefore, we probably wouldn't notice the modification). But anyway:

I recently saw a bit about tool-using dolphins. Specifically, how some of them use shells to catch fish. That's not exactly new behavior, and the ones that teach the behavior in a "vertical" fashion (meaning the parent teaches the offspring). But recently it appears that they might be teaching "horizontally," that is, teaching members of their own generation. I found it interesting.

And it's been known for a while that crows fly over roadways and drop nuts so that cars will run over and crack the shells so that the crows can then eat the nuts.

Then there are elephants, who when they see a mirror, will actually use it to examine themselves - they realize that the image IS them - instead of perceiving the image as another animal.