BakedArea's 1st Grow! 2019 Outdoor/Greenhouse: StrawDiesel x Critical+

[BakedARea]

Ok Fam! After multiple recommendations from folks here, I'm going to start my first grow journal! Nervously excited. I have wanted to grow for quite some time but never was in a position to start. Last year we purchased our home so now I have MUCH more freedom to do what I want! I love gardening in general. I find peace and tranquility in the garden. I grow organic fruit and veggies for my family. It is only right to also grow my meds right?! Well it is finally that moment in my life to start this adventure. Last Friday (7/26/19), I was fortunate enough to find a local grower. We met up and thankfully hit it off. He trusted me enough to invite me into his backyard garden and pick out some plants! I purchased these Strawberry Diesel x Critical + ladies (16 & 12 weeks old). One plant is very short and bushy whereas the other is stretching out and much taller. Same genetics! The shorter gal just looked so pretty and thick. I had to have her for some reason! I know it sounds weird but it's like she was calling my name. I'll be picking up 1 or 2 more (same strain) from him soon to improve my odds. He's giving me a killer deal so why not right?! Since it is late in the growing season I thought getting older plants would give me a good head start instead of getting clones. I grow in a great zone (9B) so we typically have a long season. I would greatly appreciate your insights and advice as I progress through this grow though. I love learning and this new adventure is certainly a deep rabbit hole to jump into!

Strain:
Strawberry Diesel x Critical +
Container Size: 25 gallon & 15 gallon Smart Pots
DIY Soil Mix
#5 Plastic Pot = 1 part
2 parts - Peat
1 part - coco coir
1 part - perlite
1/2-3/4 part - play sand
24 cups - Worm Gold Plus (worm castings)
1 TB per gallon container - Azomite (mixed in container)
1/2 - 1 cup per 5 gallon container - Kellogg organic plus 4-5-4 (fruit tree) granular fertilizer
Extreme Mykos - as listed (mixed in container and a little extra in the hole)

Additional Nutrients:
Kellogg's Organic Plus Fish & Kelp Liquid
Fertilizer 2-2-2 ( for foliar and soil feeding)

I have not yet tested the soil pH, N, P, or K. I have soil sample tests that I perform on my fruit trees and veggie garden. I will likely run soil tests this week on the ladies and adjust accordingly. I grow blueberries and various other fruits that require some finicky soil so I am comfortable with making the changes as needed.

Currently watering with a 2 gallon watering can filled with tap. Already an in-line filter for the hose. Will remove chlorine and various other things. Watering schedule will probably be every 3-4 days. Still learning the smart pots evaporation rates inside the greenhouse. I may do a light daily or every other day watering instead of heavy cycles and waiting for the pot to drain and dry out too much. Would like insight from others about how they approach watering cycles with the fabric pots.

Location:
Outdoor in 6x6 Harbor Freight greenhouse (opened up in afternoon to get full sun and some extra air)
I have a 4 ft 5000K shop light that turns on for 4 hours at dusk giving me 18 total light hours. I also have a 65W "grow light" directly over each plant.

Any Pests ?
I have seen a couple ear wigs crawling around the base of the pots in the dirt. They are now in hell. I have also spotted a couple white flies (also in hell). I gave the girls a single neem oil treatment the first afternoon after transplanting as a precaution because I am dealing with cabbage moths and a few other pests in my veggie garden. I do plan on continuing the neem oil throughout the grow.

I will post the pics I captured during the first day I had them and after transplanting. I have a few other pics since then that also include some unknown damage to a couple branches.

Checked on the girls today and the one with the split branches is definitely not happy. Droopy and sad. I'm sure she'll rebound...at least I hope she will.

The last pic is my other beautiful girl gently smelling and enjoying the aroma. She's too cute. She does this with the many veggie and fruit blooms throughout the garden.

20190726_153451.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 29, 2019
• critical + critical plus strawberry diesel

Strawberry Diesel x Critical Plus

20190726_153456.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 29, 2019
• critical + critical plus strawberry diesel

Strawberry Diesel x Critical Plus

20190726_153500.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 29, 2019
• critical + critical plus strawberry diesel

Strawberry Diesel x Critical Plus

20190726_192504.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 29, 2019

Strawberry Diesel x Critical Plus

20190727_203654.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 29, 2019

20190729_224507.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 31, 2019

20190730_173007.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 31, 2019

20190730_173113.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 31, 2019

20190730_213143.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 31, 2019

20190730_213211.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 31, 2019

20190730_174155.jpg

• BakedARea
• Jul 31, 2019

Ellie smelling gently and enjoying the aroma. 2 beautiful girls.

 

[AdaminCO]

Welcome! I’m down for the ride.

I use medical tape on breaks and spray it down with water daily. Almost seems like it helps it heal quicker.

 

[John Wick]

I'm in, glad you decided to go with a journal and congrats on the plants.

AdminCO is right, tape is the way to go.

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

Congratulations on your journal start . will be great to watch along with this one. you obviously have some great experience of general gardening so will be a great member to soil growers out there too. There is a member here called Emilya. look for her threads and stuff among the many she has here. she is our go to person for soil and general watering , living soil , micro herd knowledge ect
Have my slippers on and pipe ready for the long haul now mate. enjoy meeting your new playmates and say bye to the real world ones. lol
Girls are looking good. soon get over those minor nicks in the stems.

 

[BakedARea]

Welcome! I’m down for the ride.

I use medical tape on breaks and spray it down with water daily. Almost seems like it helps it heal quicker.

Thank you so much for joining. Medical tape? As in the super sticky white tape? I will need to research that some more. Won't water in those areas increase the chance of stem rot? It's an open wound after all. Someone else I spoke with outside of this forum mentioned sealing the area around the wound with melted candle wax! I had never heard of such a thing but it makes sense to make the wound area waterproof ultimately.

I'm in, glad you decided to go with a journal and congrats on the plants.

AdminCO is right, tape is the way to go.

Thanks again JW for being awesome! I appreciate you coming along my side to help guide the way. In regard to the tape though...we are talking about the same thing sports trainers use to tape up athletes?

Congratulations on your journal start . will be great to watch along with this one. you obviously have some great experience of general gardening so will be a great member to soil growers out there too. There is a member here called Emilya. look for her threads and stuff among the many she has here. she is our go to person for soil and general watering , living soil , micro herd knowledge ect
Have my slippers on and pipe ready for the long haul now mate. enjoy meeting your new playmates and say bye to the real world ones. lol
Girls are looking good. soon get over those minor nicks in the stems.

I appreciate the follow more than I can express. I will be sure to look up @Emilya and read up on their knowledge! Thanks for that insight.

This new adventure can be daunting because of ignorance. Thankfully, I am comfortable with organic gardening in general. I have been doing it for many years. I spent a healthy amount of time when I was younger with my grandmother's and their gardens. I found so much peace and love with them. Often, I would get annoyed with the weeding, prep, and clean up but it was not until later during the harvests that I realized all that tedious work meant more success. It was also in those moments together where we talked the most and spent the most time together. It was those moments together when it was never boring. With all that said, there are still so many things to improve and learn from in my gardens (in all of life). This particular plant is a whole new path that requires additional philosophies and skillsets in my opinion. Not necessarily more difficult but it certainly can be. I think it is dependent on the approach each person takes. The more care and attention we put into these plants brings to light more methodologies and wisdom that we did not know before making things more complicated (in a good way). The more complicated it becomes can deter some people. Thankfully, I enjoy challenges and learning. Being ignorant and recognizing it is the best way to learn something new! Thankfully, there are literally thousands of people here with decades of wisdom to share and tens of thousands of threads to read to learn even more. LOL

 

[Canuckush]

I'll tag along and see how she fares.

 

[BakedARea]

I'll tag along and see how she fares.

Appreciate it. I hope she pulls through too. It will be a great learning experience either way.

 

[John Wick]

Thank you so much for joining. Medical tape? As in the super sticky white tape? I will need to research that some more. Won't water in those areas increase the chance of stem rot? It's an open wound after all. Someone else I spoke with outside of this forum mentioned sealing the area around the wound with melted candle wax! I had never heard of such a thing but it makes sense to make the wound area waterproof ultimately.

Thanks again JW for being awesome! I appreciate you coming along my side to help guide the way. In regard to the tape though...we are talking about the same thing sports trainers use to tape up athletes?

I appreciate the follow more than I can express. I will be sure to look up @Emilya and read up on their knowledge! Thanks for that insight.

This new adventure can be daunting because of ignorance. Thankfully, I am comfortable with organic gardening in general. I have been doing it for many years. I spent a healthy amount of time when I was younger with my grandmother's and their gardens. I found so much peace and love with them. Often, I would get annoyed with the weeding, prep, and clean up but it was not until later during the harvests that I realized all that tedious work meant more success. It was also in those moments together where we talked the most and spent the most time together. It was those moments together when it was never boring. With all that said, there are still so many things to improve and learn from in my gardens (in all of life). This particular plant is a whole new path that requires additional philosophies and skillsets in my opinion. Not necessarily more difficult but it certainly can be. I think it is dependent on the approach each person takes. The more care and attention we put into these plants brings to light more methodologies and wisdom that we did not know before making things more complicated (in a good way). The more complicated it becomes can deter some people. Thankfully, I enjoy challenges and learning. Being ignorant and recognizing it is the best way to learn something new! Thankfully, there are literally thousands of people here with decades of wisdom to share and tens of thousands of threads to read to learn even more. LOL

Dude, any tape, I use duct tape.

Smile's to you.

 

[Canuckush]

As said above, check out @Emilya regarding proper watering and also her homemade calmag recipe, I made some of that too for bloom.

 

[John Wick]

Great idea Canuckush.

Hey Baked, here's to your future . . . . . .

The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot How to Water Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion...

www.420magazine.com

 

[BakedARea]

I just realized how bad my memory is...I read that thread a couple days ago from @Emilya ! Lol. I actually incorporated that method yesterday except I did not have a beverage. I am still trying to figure out my evaporation rates but that will come with time and learning how things grow in fabric pots.

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

Great idea Canuckush.

Hey Baked, here's to your future . . . . . .

The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot How to Water Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion...

www.420magazine.com

great call mate

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

I just realized how bad my memory is...I read that thread a couple days ago from @Emilya ! Lol. I actually incorporated that method yesterday except I did not have a beverage. I am still trying to figure out my evaporation rates but that will come with time and learning how things grow in fabric pots.

Fabric pots are the bomb for air pruning those roots mate. Creating a big rootball before flowering is the whole aim of the game with our ladies. Anything that promotes that is a hit with us guys. lol

 

[BakedARea]

After rereading the post about watering from Emilya, I am seriously thinking I have over watered these ladies this first week of having them. Besides the transplant and breaking those branches, I have a feeling they have too much water. The description given in that thread about how they droop and look with overwatering is evident the past couple days. They got water yesterday. I'm going to back off and keep track of the soil moisture with my probe and finger method.

Has anyone ever tried sticking moisture probes through the fabric pots toward the bottom of the pot? It would be interesting to start tracking that moisture content and aligning that with Emilya's explanation of how the roots stretch more for water when they are allowed to dry out some in the upper sections of the pot.

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

After rereading the post about watering from Emilya, I am seriously thinking I have over watered these ladies this first week of having them. Besides the transplant and breaking those branches, I have a feeling they have too much water. The description given in that thread about how they droop and look with overwatering is evident the past couple days. They got water yesterday. I'm going to back off and keep track of the soil moisture with my probe and finger method.

Has anyone ever tried sticking moisture probes through the fabric pots toward the bottom of the pot? It would be interesting to start tracking that moisture content and aligning that with Emilya's explanation of how the roots stretch more for water when they are allowed to dry out some in the upper sections of the pot.

sounds doable. the pots are porous anyway so a small probe hole wont hurt if your mindful of the roots too. Maybe allow it to dry right out and feel the weight before you rewater , then feel the weight again when full. This could help know when you need to water again in weight. Emilya is a true guru and is always so helpful. Her time must be so tight due to all the folks who ask for help and the amount of times i sub her into a thread when stuck. She must hate me !!. lol.
Hopefully you will see those leaves praying as they should soon enough mate. keep positive and green

 

[Simon Limon]

After rereading the post about watering from Emilya, I am seriously thinking I have over watered these ladies this first week of having them.

I'm also new to growing cannabis, also using a greenhouse and 20 gallon fabric pots. I bought a moisture probe but in the end, based on advice given here, I simply heft the pot to determine how heavy with moisture it is. I've done that enough times this summer that I don't need to actually lift it off the ground, just grab an edge and raise it a couple of inches. This method is very quick and easy.

I really enjoy following greenhouse journals here, especially from another organic gardener!

 

[BakedARea]

I'm also new to growing cannabis, also using a greenhouse and 20 gallon fabric pots. I bought a moisture probe but in the end, based on advice given here, I simply heft the pot to determine how heavy with moisture it is. I've done that enough times this summer that I don't need to actually lift it off the ground, just grab an edge and raise it a couple of inches. This method is very quick and easy.

I really enjoy following greenhouse journals here, especially from another organic gardener!

I'm digging the insight. Thanks. I'll have to do some lifting and learn the weight of each pot at different stages. One of my issues and main reason for growing is because I'm a medical patient. I struggle with chronic pain. I have been making my own meds for the past few years (oils, capsules, tinctures,etc.) But not from buds I grew myself. That is purpose of doing this. Lifting can become problematic at times. Not always but lifting anything heavy typically leads to very unhappy vertebrae and surrounding muscle groups shortly after. Anyways...that won't discourage me from learning this method. I will start lifting them or do the side lift method you mentioned.

Speaking of moisture meter, I don't particularly trust the cheap ones. I was thinking of the higher end probes. Here's a pic of my daughter helping me out with 2 new plants using a cheap probe but it's in the shape of lady bug face which makes it 1000x more accurate. She has been the official moisture tester for all the fruit trees and garden all year. Naturally, we took on the role of helping me with these ladies. In case you're wondering she's the best water tester in the whole wide world. I am reminded of that often so I figured I would clue you all in on that fact!

These "girls" are the same genetics but younger and very leggy. The grower is leaving town for a couple weeks and asked me if I wanted a great deal on a couple plants. I figured, why not. It's worth the chance and learning experience. They are unconfirmed female at this point I think unless I can get good enough pics for folks here to help me confirm. I also included a couple update pics of the main girls. I gave them a light foliar feed tonight. I am seeing something weird with some leaf curling (last couple pics). Now what's wrong?!

 

[Carcass]

Hey,Baked-looks like you've got a pretty good start on things-I like that little greenhouse- I'm going to have to stop by Harbor Freight and check them out!

have also spotted a couple white flies

If you want to keep those little bastards away from your plants-stop by Trader Joe's and pick up a basil plant- place it near the door to the greenhouse,and all the whiteflies will be drawn to it like a magnet...and they'll ignore the cannabis...
But if the neem's working,keep that up-the basil will only help with the whiteflies...

 

[BakedARea]

Hey,Baked-looks like you've got a pretty good start on things-I like that little greenhouse- I'm going to have to stop by Harbor Freight and check them out!

If you want to keep those little bastards away from your plants-stop by Trader Joe's and pick up a basil plant- place it near the door to the greenhouse,and all the whiteflies will be drawn to it like a magnet...and they'll ignore the cannabis...
But if the neem's working,keep that up-the basil will only help with the whiteflies...

Thanks. Also, thanks for the basil tip! I've got lots of it and can plant some more. Will give that a go tomorrow.

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

didnt notice the curling mate. if it is on the last pic attached of new growth. all is normal on that one. The yellowing of the lowers could be needing feeding , doesnt look like lock-out of nutes. hard to combat if overwatered and waiting to dry a little. The yellowing is withdrawel of chlorophyll as she is cannabalising herself when feed related. similar to the cotyledons on seedlings being scoffed first. All looking ok from here mate. keep up the love. hopefully the soil tester will be multi-roled and help with the trimming too. lol