Stunger's Organic Soil Stealth Balcony: Landrace Mulanje & Other Sativas

[BakedARea]

Looking amazing man! I got a bit behind but caught up.

I am thinking that the BT that I have sprayed for caterpillars will be better not getting washed off with foliar feeding.

Definitely want to keep it on for as long as possible. How far into flower are you planning on using it? I need to revise my plan for this upcoming season.

Aside from a little maintenance this morning and a BT spray, I am just watching and waiting,

Speaking of maintenance. Is it too late to do some lower canopy pruning? Only reason I mention it is because the BT may not give you good enough coverage in the inner canopy. Ask me how I know about that one...

Nearly all my inner branches with smaller buds had caterpillars. My outer and top colas did much better but still had some. I stopped spraying a couple weeks into flower. Too early I think. Last season, I cleared out a lot of lower foliage and branches. It helped me get the sprayer inside the plant and get better coverage.

That's cray! I didn't realize it was a government declaration rather than an astronomical occurrence.

I thought you would know by now, this late in life, that governments always know better than any of us could possibly know what's good for ourselves. Just trust them. With everything.

I am mostly giving them a daily mid morning watering of fresh tap water, to moisten up the soil and mulch layer, then midday/afternoon I given them a larger watering that includes 'worm wee' from my worm farm.

This, along with a couple other posts I read tonight, convinced me that I'm underwatering my outdoor plants that are in containers. I never watered daily last year. Something else I need to revise. I know it depends on the type of soil and its components, but we have similar soil. I'm convinced that I sacrificed overall plant health and ultimately the yields.

*The above quantities are for the smaller 30L (13 gallon) containers. I added a bit extra for the larger 50L (13 gallon) containers.

I need to find these kind of containers that are different volumes...but the same...
I couldn't resist dude.

Each pot then had 2 - 3 cups of fresh worm castings (including some worms) added on top.

Holy hell dude! I need to get my worm bins going stronger. I've been super lazy with my bins and I basically neglected. I rarely harvest castings. How big is your bin(s)? I need to order some more worms and recharge my bins.

 

[Stunger]

Looking amazing man! I got a bit behind but caught up.

Hey thanks BA, no worries, I know what it is like, always lots of stuff to do.

Definitely want to keep it on for as long as possible. How far into flower are you planning on using it? I need to revise my plan for this upcoming season.

Basically as long as I need to. I wasn't too sure how effective it was last year, but I have a new packet this grow in case it was past it's expiry date, and also, I am trying do my spraying early in the morning to allow it to get several hours before the sun hits them, just in case that reduces it's effectiveness

Speaking of maintenance. Is it too late to do some lower canopy pruning? Only reason I mention it is because the BT may not give you good enough coverage in the inner canopy. Ask me how I know about that one...

Nearly all my inner branches with smaller buds had caterpillars. My outer and top colas did much better but still had some. I stopped spraying a couple weeks into flower. Too early I think. Last season, I cleared out a lot of lower foliage and branches. It helped me get the sprayer inside the plant and get better coverage.

I am adopting a more frequent BT spraying routine and are using that to allay my concerns of them escaping the BT. Currently 3 of the 4 plants have in the last week started some lower leaf lightening. So if they want to cannibalise some leaves I am reluctant cut some good ones off. But I am taking the yellow ones off, as I don't want them landing in the neighbours yard. I may take some off if it looks like a problem occurring. Last year I didn't, but the weather is always different.

This, along with a couple other posts I read tonight, convinced me that I'm underwatering my outdoor plants that are in containers. I never watered daily last year. Something else I need to revise. I know it depends on the type of soil and its components, but we have similar soil. I'm convinced that I sacrificed overall plant health and ultimately the yields.

Bearing in mind that I have heavily drilled into the sides and bottoms of my pots so they do lose water quicker than if not drilled.

Holy hell dude! I need to get my worm bins going stronger. I've been super lazy with my bins and I basically neglected. I rarely harvest castings. How big is your bin(s)? I need to order some more worms and recharge my bins.

Well, I am much same, my worm farm is a 3 layer affair, each is about 20L I think, 5 gallons? I have never got around to employing the 3rd one. So I thought I lift the 2 layers out and scoop up some of the casting sludge that ends up in the bottom worm wee catchment level. But when I opened it up, it'd been so long that I found the whole thing was full of castings so I scooped out over half a bucket and there was plenty left.

My worms do great being fed chopped up banana skins almost every day, and they like melon rinds too. I put some brown cardboard over them and they love that and eventually eat it too. I add their worm wee to the watering every day and the plants seem to like it otherwise I'd stop.

 

[Jon]

Update - A fraction more top dressing and mostly pictures

Yesterday I relented on my recent proclamation of a 4th and final top dressing, and I gave both 30L (8 gallon) pots 1 tablespoon each of Guano Phosphate, and I gave 1.5 TBSP to the 50L (13 gallon) pots. It's a is pretty tiny amount only a 1/16 of a cup, but I don't want them wanting and I don't want to overdo it either!

Today has been sunny and overcast and fairly windy which is great. Cooling overnight now too, my capsicums are all of a sudden busy fruiting. I trust the balcony girls know what they're doing!

The balcony line up today

4F59E631-3454-453E-87EE-399B9E1BD900_1_201_a.jpeg

• Stunger
• Mar 5, 2022

The Mulanje
This is the only plant that I can fully open the door for, only because it's at the widest part of the balcony. If I tried that with the other 3 plants there would be a good chance of canopy damage, which I'd like to avoid if possible.

Mulanje

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Some close ups - mostly pistils

Mulanje

• Stunger
• Mar 5, 2022

Mango Sherbert

• Stunger
• Mar 5, 2022

Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras

• Stunger
• Mar 5, 2022

Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje

• Stunger
• Mar 5, 2022

And the late afternoon view from the side window

The view from the side window

• Stunger
• Mar 5, 2022

Thanks for dropping by good 420 folks! I hope you are all keeping safe, and your gardens are blooming.

Are these side pictures just you standing up or are you perched on a rail or something? Hard to tell. Awesome girls.

 

[tropics]

As per usual Stunger
absolutely beautiful!

 

[Stunger]

Are these side pictures just you standing up or are you perched on a rail or something? Hard to tell. Awesome girls.

Cheers Jon! The side view picture is taken from inside the house looking out the side window, the same as the budding pic of Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje, it was taken thru the glass.

As per usual Stunger
absolutely beautiful!

Thanks tropics!

 

[Stunger]

Update - Selective pollination attempt

Greetings 420 enthusiasts! This morning was the time for pollination, the ducks were all in a row, the wife had gone out to do a shop and pick up some of the free govt RAT tests, we're currently fine, but kids at our daughter's school are getting it, so sooner or later... My sister and brother in law have just got over it, headache, tiredness and a head cold were their symptoms.

Anyway, I briefly had chunk of 'nag free' time, plus the plants were at an ideal stage to attempt pollination, and... there was no wind to do a Marilyn Monroe on the girls and have their skirts flapping the pollen everywhere!

Mulanje Pollen

I have been collecting Mulanje pollen from collecting drying pollen balls in a fine sieve and letting the pollen fall thru on to the baking paper lining the bowl underneath.

I was going to use the pure collected Mulanje pollen, but I decided there was no need, that I would instead just take some dried pollen ball stems that I cut off the male yesterday and put them directly into the shaker. So when it came to doing each plant, I added more 'fresh' dried pollen balls to the shaker and trying to be careful that I manually sealed the open top of the plastic bag around the shaker before proceeding to lightly 'shake' the pollen onto the bagged buds.

Preparing for selective pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Mulanje pollen collected from dried pollen balls in sieve

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Fine mesh shaker for applying pollen

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Plants selectively bagged in readiness for pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

After carrying out the selective pollination. I sprayed all the plants with water, well actually I used the opportunity to add some BT powder to the spray bottle so I could use the spraying also as a caterpillar prevention, as well as neuter any stray pollen.

Post pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

I will leave the bags in place for 3 or 4 hours before removing them, and I will then spray all of the plants again in case any pollen escapes the bag when they are removed. I could leave the bags on for longer, but when I last carried out a selective pollination using bags, 3 or 4 hours seemed to work fine, and also, being plastic bags I don't want too much humidity building up in the bags in case it neuters the pollination attempt.

I bagged up

• 5 lesser branches of the Mulanje (I did 5, but several were minor larf stems)
• 4 of the Mango Sherbert (I did 3, because the budding was still early, mostly minor stems)
• 1 of the Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras (this was a chunky double branch)
• 2 of the Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje (this plant is the most immature in it's budding)

It was a bit of a mission, and it took me a couple of hours preparing and carrying it out. I am glad that is out of the way, and now in the hands of the gods.
Thanks for dropping by, keep well, and I hope you're enjoying some lovely self grown buds.

 

[Jon]

Update - Selective pollination attempt

Greetings 420 enthusiasts! This morning was the time for pollination, the ducks were all in a row, the wife had gone out to do a shop and pick up some of the free govt RAT tests, we're currently fine, but kids at our daughter's school are getting it, so sooner or later... My sister and brother in law have just got over it, headache, tiredness and a head cold were their symptoms.

Anyway, I briefly had chunk of 'nag free' time, plus the plants were at an ideal stage to attempt pollination, and... there was no wind to do a Marilyn Monroe on the girls and have their skirts flapping the pollen everywhere!

Mulanje Pollen

I have been collecting Mulanje pollen from collecting drying pollen balls in a fine sieve and letting the pollen fall thru on to the baking paper lining the bowl underneath.

I was going to use the pure collected Mulanje pollen, but I decided there was no need, that I would instead just take some dried pollen ball stems that I cut off the male yesterday and put them directly into the shaker. So when it came to doing each plant, I added more 'fresh' dried pollen balls to the shaker and trying to be careful that I manually sealed the open top of the plastic bag around the shaker before proceeding to lightly 'shake' the pollen onto the bagged buds.

Preparing for selective pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Mulanje pollen collected from dried pollen balls in sieve

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Fine mesh shaker for applying pollen

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Plants selectively bagged in readiness for pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

After carrying out the selective pollination. I sprayed all the plants with water, well actually I used the opportunity to add some BT powder to the spray bottle so I could use the spraying also as a caterpillar prevention, as well as neuter any stray pollen.

Post pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

I will leave the bags in place for 3 or 4 hours before removing them, and I will then spray all of the plants again in case any pollen escapes the bag when they are removed. I could leave the bags on for longer, but when I last carried out a selective pollination using bags, 3 or 4 hours seemed to work fine, and also, being plastic bags I don't want too much humidity building up in the bags in case it neuters the pollination attempt.

I bagged up

• 6 lesser branches of the Mulanje (I did 6, but several were minor larf stems)
• 3 of the Mango Sherbert (I did 3, because the budding was still early)
• 1 of the Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras (this was a chunky double branch)
• 2 of the Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje (this plant is the most immature in it's budding)

It was a bit of a mission, and it took me a couple of hours preparing and carrying it out. I am glad that is out of the way, and now in the hands of the gods.
Thanks for dropping by, keep well, and I hope you're enjoying some lovely self grown buds.

Brilliant. Thanks for the education.

 

[BakedARea]

Awesome update! Crossing my fingers for ya that those flowers get loaded with seeds. All should make for wonderful crosses.

Nag free time for me ends up with stupid ass anxiety, sitting there and wondering what I would be getting nagged about, for doing nothing. Mind you, I have a wife that doesn't nag...at all!!!

 

[Porky82]

Update - Selective pollination attempt

Greetings 420 enthusiasts! This morning was the time for pollination, the ducks were all in a row, the wife had gone out to do a shop and pick up some of the free govt RAT tests, we're currently fine, but kids at our daughter's school are getting it, so sooner or later... My sister and brother in law have just got over it, headache, tiredness and a head cold were their symptoms.

Anyway, I briefly had chunk of 'nag free' time, plus the plants were at an ideal stage to attempt pollination, and... there was no wind to do a Marilyn Monroe on the girls and have their skirts flapping the pollen everywhere!

Mulanje Pollen

I have been collecting Mulanje pollen from collecting drying pollen balls in a fine sieve and letting the pollen fall thru on to the baking paper lining the bowl underneath.

I was going to use the pure collected Mulanje pollen, but I decided there was no need, that I would instead just take some dried pollen ball stems that I cut off the male yesterday and put them directly into the shaker. So when it came to doing each plant, I added more 'fresh' dried pollen balls to the shaker and trying to be careful that I manually sealed the open top of the plastic bag around the shaker before proceeding to lightly 'shake' the pollen onto the bagged buds.

Preparing for selective pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Mulanje pollen collected from dried pollen balls in sieve

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Fine mesh shaker for applying pollen

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

Plants selectively bagged in readiness for pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

After carrying out the selective pollination. I sprayed all the plants with water, well actually I used the opportunity to add some BT powder to the spray bottle so I could use the spraying also as a caterpillar prevention, as well as neuter any stray pollen.

Post pollination

• Stunger
• Mar 6, 2022

I will leave the bags in place for 3 or 4 hours before removing them, and I will then spray all of the plants again in case any pollen escapes the bag when they are removed. I could leave the bags on for longer, but when I last carried out a selective pollination using bags, 3 or 4 hours seemed to work fine, and also, being plastic bags I don't want too much humidity building up in the bags in case it neuters the pollination attempt.

I bagged up

• 5 lesser branches of the Mulanje (I did 5, but several were minor larf stems)
• 4 of the Mango Sherbert (I did 3, because the budding was still early, mostly minor stems)
• 1 of the Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras (this was a chunky double branch)
• 2 of the Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje (this plant is the most immature in it's budding)

It was a bit of a mission, and it took me a couple of hours preparing and carrying it out. I am glad that is out of the way, and now in the hands of the gods.
Thanks for dropping by, keep well, and I hope you're enjoying some lovely self grown buds.

Shit mate you got it all sorted. Growing seeds and buds at the same time. Love it!!

 

[Carcass]

Great job on the pollination, Stunger!
I hope you get plenty of seeds, and they only grow where they're supposed to..

 

[Emeraldo]

Basically as long as I need to. I wasn't too sure how effective it was last year, but I have a new packet this grow in case it was past it's expiry date, and also, I am trying do my spraying early in the morning to allow it to get several hours before the sun hits them, just in case that reduces it's effectiveness

I am adopting a more frequent BT spraying routine and are using that to allay my concerns of them escaping the BT. Currently 3 of the 4 plants have in the last week started some lower leaf lightening. So if they want to cannibalise some leaves I am reluctant cut some good ones off. But I am taking the yellow ones off, as I don't want them landing in the neighbours yard. I may take some off if it looks like a problem occurring. Last year I didn't, but the weather is always different.

Here's to your seed crop, Stunger!

A lot going on there. As to BT, has that replaced neem in your battle with the insects? If so, do you think BT is as effective? BT seems to decay faster, requiring more frequent application. How often are you using it, every 3 days or so? Will you apply it right up to harvest?

 

[Phillybonker]

My use of diastatic malted barley comes from Jim Bennett, who you may have heard of for formulating his famous Clackamas Coots soil recipe. I have a lot of other things in my soil so I must say here that I am not using his mix, but I liked his reasoning for adding a source of Chitin which can be crab meal or insect frass, or in my case, because I couldn't get either of those locally I used dried shrimp that I purchased from a local Asian food shop. Diastatic means that the malted barley contains enzymes. I buy mine from a beer brewing shop, they sell a bunch of different malted grains, but some are smoked which we don't want for 'gardening' as the diastatic content will be destroyed.

Chitin is a polysaccharide that when bacteria break it down it releases Chitinase which in turn breaks down hard insect shells. Diastatic malted barley is added to bread making to enhance the activity of the yeast. Barley when sprouted will produce at least 8 different enzymes. In bread making one of these enzymes, protease, will accelerate the breakdown of gluten so that's why in bread making they don't want to add too much otherwise the bread will lose it's structure. But out of those 8 enzymes found in diastatic malted barley it is Chitinase that we are interested in. So this is added to further assist in breaking down the Chitin source I added (dried shrimp). There are a number of defensive pathways that plants have to respond to pest and bug attacks, this relates to the Chitinase Salicylic pathway. The upshot is, that the plant becomes 'pre-warned' and stronger against hard shell insect attacks. Jim Bennett also found that the plants grew stronger and flowering reached the harvest point a little quicker. Jim Bennett is an absolute legend, he has been growing the same plant for getting close to 40 years! Taking cuts off the mother plant, which has enabled him to observe the response of his amendments, just phenomenal!

I amended my soil in the 'off season' with dried shrimp (first washed to remove any salt) and diastatic malted barley. Without checking, I think I added about a cup of each at that point. So for my recent topdressing I gave lesser quantities. I hope this makes some sense.

I'm currently experimenting with foliar spraying Botryzen - Armoury-Zen which has ground up crustacean shell as its active ingredient, combined with Botry Zep WM which has Uloclandium oudemansii as it's active ingredient (bacteria that competes with botrytis) and BT spray all mixed together. That way I can soak the colas with that mix and hopefully not have to worry about mold and at the same time give every single caterpillar a good drenching. It's an experiment still in progress.

Ubuy got crab meal for $200NZD for 5lb including shipping if you wanted to use that. I might consider grabbing me some next season.

​

 

[Stunger]

Brilliant. Thanks for the education.

Thanks Jon! It is not so long ago that I was a rank beginner, and I gained lots of help from those with experience, so if I can, I like to document so someone starting out can get an idea of it, or spot my mistakes and make it better.

Awesome update! Crossing my fingers for ya that those flowers get loaded with seeds. All should make for wonderful crosses.

Nag free time for me ends up with stupid ass anxiety, sitting there and wondering what I would be getting nagged about, for doing nothing. Mind you, I have a wife that doesn't nag...at all!!!

Thanks BA! Yep hopefully I'll get some seeds from today's efforts, it's all part of the suspense when harvest comes to see if it worked.

Shit mate you got it all sorted. Growing seeds and buds at the same time. Love it!!

Cheers Porky! I have a Mulanje male (which I wanted) so I'd be crazy not to try for some seeds!

Great job on the pollination, Stunger!
I hope you get plenty of seeds, and they only grow where they're supposed to..

Thanks Carcass! Actually I don't mind if a few do pop up elsewhere. As I said before, I don't sell it, it's just for me and whoever else I share with, so any odd surprise seed found won't be a biggie, well not if the smoke is special.

Here's to your seed crop, Stunger!

A lot going on there. As to BT, has that replaced neem in your battle with the insects? If so, do you think BT is as effective? BT seems to decay faster, requiring more frequent application. How often are you using it, every 3 days or so? Will you apply it right up to harvest?

Thanks Emeraldo, the opportunity is there so I have to go for it!

Interesting re the BT. Last year, I wasn't so particular when I sprayed BT, I did so probably most of the time in the sunshine, and it didn't do a 100% job. The packet says to spray once every 3 to 12 days and I was probably spraying once every 5 days. So far this year I am trying to only spray in the early morning 2 or 3 times a week. My balcony plants don't get direct sunshine until early to mid afternoon so I wondered if it is more effective done in the shade, too early to say so far, but it seems to be keeping them away. I started about a month ago when I noticed 3 little caterpillars, and since I have been BT spraying I haven't seen another, but I am using a fresh packet so it could be that.

As for Neem, so far this grow, that I don't seem to have been hit by anything else. But I have given several top dressings of Neem meal, and I also gave a good amendment of Neem to the soil in the off season as well. And also, I have been amending with dried shrimp and malted barley for the Chitin/Chitinase, which is said to make plants stronger against hard shelled insects (those made of Chitin). Maybe it's working, or maybe they got better pickings elsewhere, or maybe they're yet to strike.

I noticed one of the ingredients of some of the natural mite treatments was Rosemary oil, so I bought a bottle of that in the off season. I thought when I do a Neem spray, which I will probably do once I have let the pollination attempt settle. And I thought I would then combine the Neem with a drop of Rosemary oil to the spray bottle. But I must say, I am a little surprised that the bugs are not so apparent so far this grow, probably just around the corner!

I'm currently experimenting with foliar spraying Botryzen - Armoury-Zen which has ground up crustacean shell as its active ingredient, combined with Botry Zep WM which has Uloclandium oudemansii as it's active ingredient (bacteria that competes with botrytis) and BT spray all mixed together. That way I can soak the colas with that mix and hopefully not have to worry about mold and at the same time give every single caterpillar a good drenching. It's an experiment still in progress.

Ubuy got crab meal for $200NZD for 5lb including shipping if you wanted to use that. I might consider grabbing me some next season.

Cheers Phil, I would love to be able to buy amendments locally like crab meal, feather meal and a bunch of other things that were not available down here when I last looked. But crab meal I would only use it for the Chitin component, and it was easy enough to buy several packets of Dried Shrimp for Chitin from an Asian food shop as a replacement. From memory, I think each packet gave about 1.5 cups after washing it, and was only about $4 something per packet.

 

[Emeraldo]

Thanks Emeraldo! In my very first post of this thread I have listed Diastatic Malted Barley in the amendments I added in the outdoor growing off season (about a cup for the bigger pots). What follows is a cut n paste I made to answer why it's there.

My use of diastatic malted barley comes from Jim Bennett, who you may have heard of for formulating his famous Clackamas Coots soil recipe. I have a lot of other things in my soil so I must say here that I am not using his mix, but I liked his reasoning for adding a source of Chitin which can be crab meal or insect frass, or in my case, because I couldn't get either of those locally I used dried shrimp that I purchased from a local Asian food shop. Diastatic means that the malted barley contains enzymes from sprouting the barley. I buy mine from a beer brewing shop, they sell a bunch of different malted grains, but some are smoked which we don't want for 'gardening' as the diastatic content will be destroyed.

Chitin is a polysaccharide that when bacteria break it down it releases Chitinase which in turn breaks down hard insect shells. Diastatic malted barley is added to bread making to enhance the activity of the yeast. Barley when sprouted will produce at least 8 different enzymes. In bread making, one of these enzymes, protease, will accelerate the breakdown of gluten which is why in bread making they don't want to add too much, otherwise the bread will lose it's structure gained from the gluten. But out of those 8 enzymes found in diastatic malted barley it is Chitinase that we are interested in. So this is added to further assist in breaking down the Chitin source I added (dried shrimp). There are a number of defensive pathways that plants have to respond to pest and bug attacks, this relates to the Chitinase Salicylic pathway. The upshot is, that the plant becomes 'pre-warned' and stronger against hard shell insect attacks. Jim Bennett also found that the plants grew stronger, and flowering reached the harvest point a little quicker. Jim Bennett is an absolute legend, he has been growing the same plant for getting close to 40 years! Taking cuts off the mother plant, which has enabled him to observe the response of his amendments, just phenomenal!

Stunger, thanks for this info. I gather you add the diastatic malted barley in order to break down your dried shrimp shell amendment to make it into readily accessible nutrition. Do you think adding the disatatic malted barley would be necessary if I've added crab meal to the soil? In crab meal, the shell particles will be broken up, but maybe the malted barely will make the crab meal more digestible? Any thoughts on that?

 

[InTheShed]

once the harvesting is carried out the balcony it then looks so empty after 7 months of plants growing!

Then we'll both have to look at my backyard I guess.

Yesterday I relented on my recent proclamation of a 4th and final top dressing, and I gave both 30L (8 gallon) pots 1 tablespoon each of Guano Phosphate, and I gave 1.5 TBSP to the 50L (13 gallon) pots. This is the only plant that I can fully open the door for, only because it's at the widest part of the balcony. If I tried that with the other 3 plants there would be a good chance of canopy damage,

So in order to top dress the soil you need to crawl on all fours under the canopies?

free govt RAT tests, we're currently fine

Glad to hear neither you nor your wife are RATS!

but kids at our daughter's school are getting it, so sooner or later... My sister and brother in law have just got over it, headache, tiredness and a head cold were their symptoms.

Oof, sorry to hear that. I read that NZ is having a spike these days. I hope you and the kids get through it as unscathed as possible.

I used the opportunity to add some BT powder to the spray bottle so I could use the spraying also as a caterpillar prevention, as well as neuter any stray pollen.

I was just about to ask about the pollen and here you go with a full on pollination update. And good thinking have the BT do double duty!

Nag free time for me ends up with stupid ass anxiety, sitting there and wondering what I would be getting nagged about, for doing nothing. Mind you, I have a wife that doesn't nag...at all!!!

 

[Stunger]

Then we'll both have to look at my backyard I guess.

Yes, exactly! It's nice to see at least what magic others are working in their gardens.

So in order to top dress the soil you need to crawl on all fours under the canopies?

Yes, it is more of a top sprinkle as opposed to any sort of working in. Since the last mulch layer was added all top dressing has gone on top of to be gradually watered in. It was too much trouble to take the plastic trellis bits out and lift the mulch out. I cannot even rotate the pots, that is how jammed in the canopies are - but I got blessed with 3 females from 3 regular seeds so can't complain about it.

 

[tangwena]

OH boy I love orgies ha ha I can feel the magic working from here.
Back crossing the MulxMal Ethiopian to Mulanje is going to make some magic happen brother they will be magic seeds.
The Mulanje straight will also be gold nuggets I'm getting very excited just watching ha ha beautiful diary.

 

[DutchinAB]

Feels like I was absent for an entire growing season, but your plants are making me want to start up soon!!

Sending the best pollinating vibes your way, Stunger!

 

[BakedARea]

Feels like I was absent for an entire growing season, but your plants are making me want to start up soon!!

Sending the best pollinating vibes your way, Stunger!

Dude, every damn time I open up Stunger's journal, my outdoor garden itch gets worse and worse!


How's growing in Alberta Dutch? Zone 9B, Central Coast Cali for me. I feel truly blessed with my mild climate. Seeing the other types of struggles other outdoor growers experience, gives me reluctance to complain about anything. But Caterpillars? F*ING HATE caterpillars and wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. Watching Stung's application of BT closely to keep me focused on a better outdoor season for 2022.

 

[Stunger]

Stunger, thanks for this info. I gather you add the diastatic malted barley in order to break down your dried shrimp shell amendment to make it into readily accessible nutrition. Do you think adding the disatatic malted barley would be necessary if I've added crab meal to the soil? In crab meal, the shell particles will be broken up, but maybe the malted barely will make the crab meal more digestible? Any thoughts on that?

Cheers Emeraldo, I missed this post earlier. Yes that's the way I see it, that it would make the chitin sources more digestible, and also, because of an account I've mentioned before, of a sack of spilt dried shrimp that caused a bamboo grove to grow crazy.

OH boy I love orgies ha ha I can feel the magic working from here.
Back crossing the MulxMal Ethiopian to Mulanje is going to make some magic happen brother they will be magic seeds.
The Mulanje straight will also be gold nuggets I'm getting very excited just watching ha ha beautiful diary.

Thanks Tang! I'm just trying to avoid screwups at this point and praying the weather gods give the balcony a nice run to harvest.

Feels like I was absent for an entire growing season, but your plants are making me want to start up soon!!

Hey thanks Dutch! I get so much inspiration from other folks gardens and approaches. It's all good!

Dude, every damn time I open up Stunger's journal, my outdoor garden itch gets worse and worse!


How's growing in Alberta Dutch? Zone 9B, Central Coast Cali for me. I feel truly blessed with my mild climate. Seeing the other types of struggles other outdoor growers experience, gives me reluctance to complain about anything. But Caterpillars? F*ING HATE caterpillars and wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. Watching Stung's application of BT closely to keep me focused on a better outdoor season for 2022.

Thanks BA! The pests that come with outdoor growing are a challenge when they hit. I feel it is really from now on that they arrive, so I'm on lookout for them (said the blind man ).