Amy Gardner's First Journal - Outdoor - Critical Cure & Chaos In The Forest

[Amy Gardner]

You'll love that magical butter machine if ya don't already have one.

I’d kind of let go of being able to get one. But earlier I looked at MB in Oz and it’s just this last month become available here and MB has an Aus. based website too, that’s a new development. I wonder if this means it may be possible after all... I think I’d fall over the moon if that happened!

Alas it seems that MB in Aus is a franchise and has no connection to the contest. I’m gonna beg MB in the US to try to do something for me - but I think it’s a lost cause. Will have to request one for my birthday or something! I would dearly love the ease it could bring to oil making. Which, incidentally, I haven’t done for ages ... better get some of that CBDCC into the oven!

damn... I gotta stop looking at journals before i finish the ones im trying to read through... Ill be back in a while, 27 pages to catch up on! Congrats on the win!

Thanks Pj

And to the Gardner’s garden! Thanks for coming by. The last 7 pages have all been in the last week I think! Before that it was a pretty stately pace ‘round here. Stick around - there’s more to come yet before this season is done...

( almost feel abandoned now that you got your harvest lol)

not done yet Hacker! I still have a bush pod to harvest and the solstice babies to finish.

Plus some pictorial on budrot development and some oil making and pain cream (or just oil, we’ll see what I can manage) to make for the first time! Stay tuned...

 

[InTheShed]

Alas it seems that MB in Aus is a franchise and has no connection to the contest. I’m gonna beg MB in the US to try to do something for me - but I think it’s a lost cause.

Have MB ship it to someone you know stateside and then have them ship it to you. I'd volunteer but they just sent one to me in February so they might find it suspicious.

 

[dynamo1]

Have MB ship it to someone you know stateside and then have them ship it to you. I'd volunteer but they just sent one to me in February so they might find it suspicious.

 

[Amy Gardner]

Have MB ship it to someone you know stateside and then have them ship it to you. I'd volunteer but they just sent one to me in February so they might find it suspicious.

Yeah - problem is with the power. Our mains is 230-240v and the MB is only for 110. The Aus version must have a different power unit.
I’m thinking about that for the VB11 though (they can’t ship out of USA either). I guess you’d be in the same boat there - just got one didn’t ya!?
Thanks Shed - the thought does count!

 

[Amy Gardner]

will be in contact...

 

[InTheShed]

Yeah - problem is with the power. Our mains is 230-240v and the MB is only for 110. The Aus version must have a different power unit.
I’m thinking about that for the VB11 though (they can’t ship out if YSA either). I guess you’d be in the same boat there - just got one didn’t ya!? Thanks Shed - the thought does count!

I'm sure someone sells power adapters down under, for a lot less than the cost of an MB2e! And I still haven't gotten the VB11. Something about a slow boat from China.

 

[Amy Gardner]

I'm sure someone sells power adapters down under, for a lot less than the cost of an MB2e! And I still haven't gotten the VB11. Something about a slow boat from China.

Really? That’s a very slow boat!

It’s not just an adapter. You need a voltage step down converter. We actually have one for a piece of audio equipment we bought from the USA years ago. So I’d be fine. If I can’t get an Aus version, then maybe I will get it sent to someone there and see what we can arrange. (Just didn’t fancy having to move the converter from the studio every time, but maybe it’s a small trade off...)

 

[InTheShed]

(Just didn’t fancy having to move the converter from the studio every time, but maybe it’s a small trade off...)

You probably won't have to do it very often. 2 cups is the minimum in that machine!

 

[Smeegol]

Amy you won, and here I was going huh huh even though I congratulated you earlier this week but not sure what you won......lol was it MOTM Amy huh huh... Amazing super chuffed ....

 

[Smeegol]

Yeah - problem is with the power. Our mains is 230-240v and the MB is only for 110. The Aus version must have a different power unit.
I’m thinking about that for the VB11 though (they can’t ship out of USA either). I guess you’d be in the same boat there - just got one didn’t ya!?
Thanks Shed - the thought does count!

But Amy can't you use a travel adapter suited to your voltage.... you should be able to get it an any gadget shop and apologies if that's been suggested....

 

[Amy Gardner]

But Amy can't you use a travel adapter suited to your voltage.... you should be able to get it an any gadget shop and apologies if that's been suggested....

Yeah - needs to be a step down converter. Not just a plug adapter. Because it has to step down teh supplied voltage or it will blow out the MB... I have one... its just a bit bulky and a bit noisy (has some fan in it or something). TBH, i’m Going back about 15years to when we got it for the studio equipment. Should probably research that again. BUt yeah - if I can;t get an AUs one I may just do something else that will mean using the converter...

 

[Amy Gardner]

Yep - still the same deal. Depending on how many watts you need it to be, the step down converters are anywhere from $30-300AUD.
Dunno what the watts are. Can someone who has one check the wattage requirements please?

 

[InTheShed]

Yep - still the same deal. Depending on how many watts you need it to be, the step down converters are anywhere from $30-300AUD.
Dunno what the watts are. Can someone who has one check the wattage requirements please?

From here:
"Power consumption: I haven't found any mention of amperage or wattage in any of their literature, nor (surprisingly) on the unit itself. So - I measured my 120-volt North American MB2e using my Kill-A-Watt. It varies, of course, but the heater alone seems to draw about 850 watts, and the blender another 150, for a 1000-watt maximum draw. Under nine amps, so you should be able to use it safely on any circuit, just so it isn't sharing it with a high-wattage device like a space heater. "

P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

 

[Amy Gardner]

Yeah - that’s what I was expecting. And I couldn’t find any info on it either Shed - I’m amazed it’s not on teh device or box at all.

So get a step down converter for that (1000watts or less) it’d be $160, so I don’t think I’m gonna do that! I’ll check the one I have, but I don’t think it’s that powerful - it’s for a studio sound module and the power draw in that is super low so I don’t things we would’ve bought a high watt converter. I’ll report back...

 

[Radogast]

A thought on your plant yellowing early in harvest, and the soil running out of oomph:

A cup of worm castings on top of the soil can give you another 4-5 weeks. No need to scratch it in, top dress and water.

 

[Amy Gardner]

A thought...

Thanks Radogast... I will. Indeed I did about a month ago and it was on the schedule to do it again 2weeks ago but I haven’t been able to (due to needing someone else to dig out some from the bottom of the big compost pile). So I’ve been trying to coax it along.
So uncanny - I’ve literally been writing up an update this morning and had written about that - so when I saw your post, I was like “wait! I didn’t even post that yet. Rad is reading my mind!”
But I did mention it in passing somewhere, maybe in the lounge...

Thanks in any case - there are some methods I need to get in place so that when things like this happen, I’m not needing to wait till someone is here to get stuff happening. Takes work to set it up tho. It’ll get there. That’s what this season is all about, working out how to do it and what to be ready for! Some friends are coming to visit today - the fella is strapping and adventurous. I’m sure he’ll do it for me

 

[Amy Gardner]

Garden Update - who's left?!

I've realised while writing that this has become the “pests and problems outdoor grows can have” update. lol! After a couple of beautiful harvests we might as well inject a little reality balance, eh?

None of these little issues I’m showcasing here are disastrous by any means. They’re all things that can happen to any grow so rather than grumble a bit about them and keep them a bit quiet, I thought I’d feature the progression of a couple of things.

There's been quite the transition with the harvest of the 2 bigger plants (how great were my harvests! CBDCC harvest & Professor Chaos harvest) in the raised bed. The little solstice babies I was training along the ground became little bonsai type things and are building some nice looking miniature colas. The Ice (Female Seeds) is particularly small but I think the light was the least in that spot and, well, I stressed them early plus they had a shortened veg time - so a few factors working against them there. The Money Bush (Afghan x Skunk #1) out in the Bush Pod must be close to harvest. I haven’t been out to check it in about a week. 10 days ago it had some botrytis removed - last time I checked, the rest looked ok . More on that on and the solstice babies later. I want to start with the one I want some input on (well I’m happy for input whenever, on any of them of course - but this one has me concerned)

Golden Tiger x Northern Lights #2 (40 days in flower)

This is the solstice baby (dropped seed at summer solstice) who ended up in the big pot and was looking soooo good a few weeks ago. She is now in a little bit of struggle. In the last few weeks, some yellowing of lower fan leaves started to happen. No biggie, I thought, and at first it was only a few leaves and only here & there (all lower, all a little bit in the shade etc.) but it’s escalated the last week or so to a level I don’t think is ok. It’s only about halfway through flower so it’s too early for this many fans to be yellowing to drop off. And, the fade is traveling up the plant. I’ve managed a bit of adjustment that should help (i hope!) and that has included some (a pinch of) epsoms. Some photos of the fade are below. First though, let me show you her new home, because yesterday she got ‘moved’ to the raised bed where the 2 now harvested have been growing (kind of between them).

Space.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

The bottom of the pot got removed (thanks Shed!)...

Removing the bottom.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

Freedom.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

I sprinkled some Mycos in there on the soil... forgot to photograph that (but at least I didn’t forget to do it!)

And it’s now all tucked in ...

Tucked in.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

Fade wise, a month ago when just entering flower she was looking almost brixy!

GTxNL#2week10.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Mar 8, 2018

Golden Tiger x Northern Lights: outdoor, organic

But then here she is 10days ago (on the left) already clearly losing a bit of vigour, and on the right a week later (last friday)

GTxNL#2April-fade.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

We’ve had super amounts of rain so there’s definitely been the potential for some depletion in a pot. I supplemented afterwards with an organic, made for weed, seaweed based fertiliser (OGS). And it’s been topdressed in that time with worm compost and freshly ground malted barley and a pinch of epsoms (because the fade was starting already then and it looked like low magnesium fade). But it’s been 2+ weeks since the topdress as I haven’t been able to collect the compost/castings.
On Thursday my garden helper was here and he convinced me to check the Ph of the soil in the pot. So I did. It was low - like 6. Resisting his desire for me to use dolomite, I sprinkled some hardwood ash on the surface. Don’t ask me why I didn’t get him to dig out some compost/castings for me - it was a big day, he had a lot to do and, well, it just didn’t happen. Ph wise, the soil in the raised garden bed, that the cutoff pot is now sitting on, is good, at 6.5, so I’m hoping that things are going to work themselves out quickly enough to to recover and finish off ok (with a topdress as soon as humanly possible). I’m a little bit bummed that my soil didn’t make it through the whole grow in the pot because I was thinking it was good and planning to do something similar for my indoor run in a couple of months - but I suppose the rains washing it through won’t happen indoors, and maybe that did more to deplete it than I’d think. Plus, I had no such trouble with the raised bed soil - it’s been fabbo! So I expect something similar indoors without the rain depletion, plus ensuring my stinging nettle tea can last the whole grow, will see me right. But I’m getting ahead of myself there.

For the purposes of diagnosis and in case it helps others, here’s an image showing the progression of the fade on leaves. This is 4 seperate leaves at different stages. I’m fairly sure this is low magnesium, followed by low calcium too considering the brown spots that only appear right towards the end of the fade. There was plenty calcium in the mix and she grew strong bones so I’m thinking its either washout from the rain, or lockout because of Ph - or a little of each

Mg-Ca deficiency progression.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

My own diagnosis is Ca and Mg being washed out of the pot by the heavy rains which has led to the depletion as well as the ph drop - which exacerbates the deficiency (because of some lockout perhaps).

Elsewhere she is still looking ok but nowhere near the vigour of a few weeks ago. Here’s hoping she bounces back! Also that she gets enough sun to finish. That’s the purpose of running her like this actually. To see how long the spot retains good sun so I can pick future chemovars that will finish well in the timeframe of the lowering sun. But I've become attached - she gave me my first 9 bladed leaves and she's been so beautiful till now! She's almost 6weeks into flower and I've no idea what her finish time is. The GT is long flowerer and the NL is short. She looks Sativa dominant to me so I'm guessing a long flower... hope I can get her through!

I leave you with some pics of her better parts (the tops are holding their colour so far - but you can see the yellow sneaking in to some of these pics)

GTxNL#2April6c.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

GTxNL#2April6b.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

GTxNL#2April6a.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

GTxNL#2-April4.jpg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

GTxNL#2-april4b.jpg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

The other solstice babies
Her ‘little sisters’ are chugging along ok in their tiny-ness, so cute. They took a lot of punishment! It was a fun experiment but I’d do things differently in the future. The GT x NL #1 has succumbed recently to the white fly population by the looks of her leaves...

GTxNL#1Apirl6-whitefly-a.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

GTxNL#1Apirl6-whitefly-b.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

However, she looks pretty good regardless and is coming along towards harvest...

GTxNL#1Apirl6a.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

GTxNL#1-april4.jpg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

GTxNL#1-april4b.jpg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

Ice (Female seeds) is positively tiny. Damn sticky though! I trimmed them all up the other day and got so sticky just pulling off some of her minuscule larfy buds from the lower stems. She's very cute...

35B18E91-772D-4572-8EB0-8245CEC39348.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

Ice-April4.jpg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

Harvest update - the dry and cure
Well, drying and curing cannabis when you’re ambient humidity ranges from 70-85% is a challenge! It’s taken a long time for the CBD CC to get to the point where I can maybe put the bovedas in the jar. I’ve had a tough time getting the humidity on my room down so every time I burped the jar, the RH inside the jars went up! I jarred the CC and it was between 60-65 and then over the next week it ending up at 70+ and would rise wth each burp. The Professor Chaos had been hanging 6days by Friday and I wanted to get it into jars too so I’ve ended up bringing the dehumidifier from the bathroom into my room. That's worked well the last 2 days - once I get the RH below 65% I open all the jars for a good number of hours until the meters read 62% or under and then seal them all up again. This morning the RH in the jars is reading about 66% for the CBDCC and 70% for the Professor. The ambient RH in my room was 72-73% again so I’ve been running the dehumidifier for about 40 mins now and its down to 68%. Once it gets below 65% I’ll open them all up a for again for a while. The CBD CC will probably get the Bovedas then. I’m not sure If I’m meant to keep burping them daily once the Bovedas go in - or if I should wait before adding them. Don't want to wear out the Bovedas by opening the jars into 75% RH. Anyway - the dehumidifier seems to be doing the trick!
I love this way of lining up the jars I have worked out - check it! The jars lay nicely on the lids and sit up at a slight angle. It makes it easy to see and easy to gently turn the jars for airflow occasionally - plus, I think they look pretty funky all lined up like that - this was the Professor Chaos' first visit into the jars!

ProfessorChaos-cure1.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

ProfessorChaos-cure2.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

It’s quite a process developing ones curing ‘Kung-fu’! I hope I’m doing it right! This first stage is certainly happening very slowly! Just a bit nervous about mould - it is very humid here.

So speaking of mould - the pod update includes a bit of a budrot lesson...

The POD! (Money Bush by Heavyweight)

According to my garden helper, many folks in the area have lost their bush plants this season to mould and rot. This makes me very happy that I’ve managed to harvest well. It also makes me think I’d better get out there and see how close the Money Bush is to harvest (aiming to try that today). I’ve already had to cut off a cola top due to botrytis. I saw that some botrytis was possibly coming and couldn’t do a thing about it so thought I might as well turn it into a little pictorial on what it looks like when its developing.

The first thing I noticed was weeks ago in a photo, on March 16... see the necrotic leaf...?

So I reached through the net (it's flexible) and pulled that leaf off. It came very easily of course and I knew then the rot was on! Couldn't get in to fix it up so ... a week later this... you can see on that back cola some discolouring...

MoneyBush2.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Mar 21, 2018

There might be some budrot developing on the cola at the rear...

Another week on and heaps of rain and I was finally able to dedicate my activity allocation to that project - between harvests!

First pic is whole plant and you can see the botrytis clearly on the top right cola - even in the bad light!

MoneyBush.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

Showing bud rot on top right cola

So I got in took some closeups of it to give you all a really good look!

BushPod-budrot-a.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

BushPod-budrot-B.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

BushPod-budrot-C.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

I snipped of at the stem a bit below where the rot was... but on inspection there was a suspicious something left behind...

BushPod-budrot-remnant.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

BushPod-budrot-Remnant-b.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

I chopped the main stem below this bud too and ended up with this in the hand...

MoneyBush-March29-removedrot.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

I gave the rest of her a cleanup and a really good inspection and couldn't detect any more rot. Here's some of her sugar...

MoneyBush-March29a.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

MoneyBush-March29C.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

MoneyBush-March29B.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

MoneyBush-March29C.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

And the trimmed cola...

MoneyBush-March29Cola.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

And finally all closed up again - one exhausted Gardner!

MoneyBush-March29-full.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 8, 2018

The budrot has gone into the freezer for future paincream oil infusion as per Shed's guide (linked a few pages back).

When I replaced one of the big rocks that secure the net at the entrance, I was very startled by about 20 ants - they weren't huge (about 1/2 an inch) but they scattered quickly and they were jumping. I recognised their features and behaviour instantly as Jack Jumper Ants - yes, for those of you who remember, the species of ant that put me in hospital with anaphylaxis on NYE!
I only managed to get a pic of one with my phone, the others had scattered so fast - and I was keeping a distance...

View media item 1524050
Treacherous here ain't it! I'd literally just been crawling all over the ground in there. It's not the bite - they have a sting at the back end, a bit like a scorpion!

We only usually see them alone so to see so many together like that makes me pretty sure they have a nest right at the entrance to the pod . They make nests hidden under leaves and mulch so I'm fairly certain. I haven't been back out there since - and I'll be getting help with the harvest so will be being extra careful. I may even just delegate the whole thing... I certainly shouldn't be there when the net gets removed! Hoping to harvest that one this weekend. NO idea where it's up to now - will check it today or tomorrow.

I can't make the jack jumper ant the critter of the week - even if it is life threatening to me.

More appropriately, I'll focus on the birds I've been talking about. They're very busy about the garden at the moment, in & out of the enclosure and always all around up while we harvest. I'm developing my skills with my new camera - this week has been manual focus practice and with little birds, this is super challenging and you have to be quick. This one came out pretty well. It's possible you could read this as a pic of a trapped or caged bird, but consider: is it trying to get out, or in?

View media item 1524061
I try to say it all in less words, I really do! Thanks for hanging with me (if you did) and for enjoying another Gardner's update. Love to all who visit here and happy gardens too...

​

 

[Kismet]

Garden Update - who's left?!

I've realised while writing that this has become the “pests and problems outdoor grows can have” update. lol! After a couple of beautiful harvests we might as well inject a little reality balance, eh?

​

Thanks for the wonderful update Amy ! And the tutorial on botyritis and of course the great pics

 

[Amy Gardner]

Hey @Kismet! Thanks - glad you enjoyed.

Could you do something for me and edit that post to exclude all the pics in the quote please? When posts are quoted, even though we can’t see them, the page is trying to load all those pictures twice (once in my initial post, then again inside the quote)! I was trying to show a friend one of my pics and it’s taking forever to load (and it wasn’t earlier). The quote possibly isn’t necessary at all really - unless you’re trying to highlight something specific i said.

 

[dynamo1]

beautiful pics your camera practice and skills are looking good.I have netting on my blueberries, it has birds testing it's integrity all the time at harvest time.