Deer guards for young plants?

[gato]

I was thinking of an outdoor planting next year an need something to protect against deer nibbling the young plants.

The situation does not allow much of any trips to check on the plants, can but prefer not. The location I used before and is safe, but one time deer chewed them totally.

I thought of a circular tomato cage and wire the top so they couldn't reach inside. Thinking the branches could grow through the wire gridding and grow large enough to survive deer nibbling.

The plan was to prepare the soil early...use slow release fertlizers and return near harvest time.

I know that means possible shock of nothing, but that's ok, it isn't a big deal if they do not survive at all.

Anyone have experience using that grow system? Just plant and forget until harvest? Appreciate tips on what to avoid and what worked best?

Thanks

 

[LittleCat]

If you are going for a fence against a hungry deer it needs to be about 10ft(around 3m) tall and very strong,kinda not so rogue if that is what you seek, other ways include motion sensor sprinklers around your garden, coyote(or any type of predator) urine, i even heard of people using mixture of rotten eggs and fish (deer have very good sense of smell)

P.S.:if you make it low and top it with wire, there is possibility some wont ho thru ending up in shade of the ones that did find their way thru causing them to die, or best case scenario, they all grow out and deer gets to eat the best parts of the plants, tops

 

[Major PITA]

I use deer netting around my plants with 7' posts. It won't stop a bear or even pigs, but I've never had a deer get through it. The netting is inexpensive and very easy to cut and work with.

For small individual protectors, the netting would still work well with anything to support it. I've made LARGE tomato-style cages from fence wire and hog wire. If the leaves poke through anything, the deer will browse on them. I have a volunteer within 2 feet of my primary house door and it got munched. For really small starts my wife makes a bell-shaped cover from chicken wire.

These are 8' posts driven into the ground 2'. I extended them with some wood lath to get them up to 7' above ground. With 10' posts, you don't need to extend them, but they cost more and are more difficult to drive into the ground.

 

[gato]

I'd like to avoid anything elaborate or cost much of any money.

I like the netting idea and had thought of that. Was thinking I could possibly secure the netting to a small tree branch and anchor it over the plants. I only plan on 3 or 4 fem plants grown to a foot tall to transplant. It doesn't sound very promising. I was hoping that I could get enough growth using some protection system to get the plants large enough to allow deer their munching and still get some crop.

I grew some outdoors 30yrs ago and the deer were no problem. Back when God Bud came out, I did a couple of plants down the road in a long time unused field and there was nothing left. They nibbled them to the ground. Used the same area next year and planted up closer to the road using junk beans. The deer were left alone. Not sure if it was the proximity to the road and the houses directly across from it or not, but they didn't touch them.

The field isn't used, but not sure if someone might walk their property...so nothing can be seen to indicate a planting. Thought I might get away with wire cage anchored down and protect them long enough for growth to out perform any deer munching.

Guess it will be the hide in plain sight and hope they don't eat them method instead.

Appreciate the responses

Thanks

btw

I see Liberty Haze? I have one small plant on a balcony starting flower. The buds I got the seeds from was decent, but not sure if well done. May I ask how LH was for you and what sort of production you got outdoors....no info on soil and nutes...just curious of potential harvest for a decent grown plant and qualities of the high?

thanks

guess I'm adding another question. I see you grew/growing a couple of strains I was considering for the grow. Zamaldelica and Golden Tiger. Don't know Ace Of Spades, but have had GG4...it was ok, but I like the trippy stuff and to my knowledge Zamal and GTiger are that? Strong Sativa Trippy as in where did Kansas go?

Is that this year or previous year and you have info on those 2? Would you and the other responder too...appreciate also. Would you have recommendations for an intense (talking rocket ship trippy sativa that would mature in the midwest?

thanks again

 

[Major PITA]

I'm afraid all the plants shown are still growing. That picture was from a couple of days ago and I have not grown any of them except AoS and GT(+) before. The ZD and GT are definitely the style you are looking for. No yield results until November. Last year AoS only gave me about 1 pound of trimmed, cured bud per plant but I was fighting a mite problem. I hope for better results this year. AoS last year at 8':

GT(+) mini indoor shower grow

 

[Major PITA]

I bet some flexible sticks/branches and bird netting will do the trick and wouldn't be obvious - especially if there is grass and other natural debris around.

This is the chicken wire cover. It would be even less obvious if it was smaller and painted black or brown.

 

[LittleCat]

If you want to go full rogue and inexpensive you could try with rotten eggs and fish, costs you nothing but a few gags here and there but some people do say it works

As for recommendations hmmmm lets see, Blue Dream( would not recommend outside grow), Belladonna or Jack Herer...at least those gave me that kind of high you describe, but at the end i guess its all about personal preference and effects....Im weird like that...coffee does not wake me up, and once i slept like a baby after smoking Northern Lights

My strain of choice is White Widow

 

[LittleCat]

@ Major PITA: WOW that chicken wire thing you got going there is quite artsy i must say I love how it looks

 

[gato]

thanks to all of you for the info. It is helping.

That picture of the potted plant looks ok. Was thinking something like that. Just enough protection for them to get a start. Maybe I can get a piece of chicken wire, but was thinking more in the line of a circular tomato cage. Figured I could use shrubbery limbs and stuff to obscure into the background. The larger opening for branches being that choice and leaving them in place.

The spot faces away from the road and is separated by some trees. So the shielding to that side is ok. The other has small trees and bushes and plenty of weeds. The owner never does anything with it and it may be used wetlands protection too.

I saw the name Ace, but don't recall the details...will check it.

The November doesn't sound good, but sometimes we go that late...have lately (global warming is here to stay)
Would appreciate how zam and tiger were?

To the rotten eggs...I heard that long ago and will give it a try. Your recommends...Blue Dream I remember when it debuted at BC Buds(?). Thought is was a mellower one? Jack I know...thought it was a strong mellower one too...not a rocket? Not sure I ever had real jack though. Belladonna I heard of will check. Certainly know WW.

Thanks for the tips....they helped. Will use the caging and rotten eggs.

 

[LittleCat]

Well Belladonna had the strongest of "that kind of feel" to me, but the rest had some of that kick too...at least to me, but hey trying out new stuff is the most fun part. As for Belladonna i had it in a bar when i lived in Holland...went with friends for coffee ended up batshit crazy trippy lol at one point i was sure i cant produce a sound hahahahaha ended up sending text messages to friends around the table they still have a go at me for that one xD
I guess that is why i like WW, just like the balance where i can get a bit relaxed and still have my funny bone tickled

 

[gato]

As for Belladonna i had it in a bar when i lived in Holland...went with friends for coffee ended up batshit crazy trippy why i like WW, just like the balance where i can get a bit relaxed and still have my funny bone tickled

Will check that thanks....know what you mean on WW...you still like to function kind of moderately normal.

--

that GT Shower grow looks decent to me. The flowers look like they had a bit of something added. Doesn't look as delicate thai?, but I really wouldn't know.

Don't want to change topic to strains...so thanks for the tips

 

[Major PITA]

Will check that thanks....know what you mean on WW...you still like to function kind of moderately normal.

--

that GT Shower grow looks decent to me. The flowers look like they had a bit of something added. Doesn't look as delicate thai?, but I really wouldn't know.

Don't want to change topic to strains...so thanks for the tips

That's why I call it GT(+). It is Golden Tiger crossed with another undetermined sativa, likely panama or purple haze.

 

[gato]

That's why I call it GT(+). It is Golden Tiger crossed with another undetermined sativa, likely panama or purple haze.

thought so...nice looking to me at least. may I ask how tall she got and what yield?

Difficult to judge size, but it looks like you started them direct from rooted clone into flower?

May I also ask what the odor was growing it. Would one plant that size smell up a small apartment...without odor control?

I was thinking of Wild Rose for one next year, but if I can find an early enough maturing sativa like GT or Z? I've been checking some seed sources...hadn't check Ace yet....if they have the GT genetics...imagine the others would be quality also.

That Z sounds other worldly and that Golden Tiger reminds me of my 2nd most favorite poem -- "Tyger, Tyger, Burning bright in the forests of the night"?

LoL...btw..my nickname is "El Gato Tomas"...so Golden Tiger meets El Gato Tomas?.....LOL



try to make this the last question or it WILL be turned into a strain thread......

If the odor isn't too bad? Thought I might try cabinet grow it...would I need an odor control system installed in the cabinet...with fan and such...or would the odor for one small plant like that shower one be ok without an odor control or cabinet.

I could just haul it out from a closet into a sunny place and not built a cabinet at all?

thanks...

 

[Major PITA]

I grew two of the GT(+), both from seed. They are not an easy grow simply due to their stretch. These had an extremely quick veg 'cuz I knew I would be in trouble otherwise (flipped 38 days from seed germination). My indoor grows have been in a shower. It is only 33" square, but with 8' of height. Not much room to train them outward into more of a bush. They look so goofy, partly because I did a hardcore supercropping on the taller one. It goes up about 2' then I bent the stems and wrapped them around the circumference of the bamboo stakes. I would estimate it would have been more than 6' tall if left unbent/broken. The photo below shows one of them in its 7 gallon pot, at the chop, in front of a 55 gallon barrel which is sitting off the ground by a few inches. You might find a quick scan of this journal helpful. I grow under a single 600W HPS. Smell is on the mild side and is bright with hints of citrus (lime). I've never seen plants stretch like these things. Hope this helps. Oh - yield averaged 5.3 ounces per plant. These take a longggg time to finish.

These plants got off to a very rough start. The soil gave me a lot of grief in the beginning. This is a picture of the same plant at the flip. You can see just how crazy it got after the bloom phase hit. I almost culled them all. I'm glad I didn't. GT(+) looks completely different in soil that is working well but with a 4 month flowering I'll never get to see it finish completely.

 

[gato]

That GT looks nice to me. The color with the yellow leaves is very pretty. 4 months to flower. The only method I could have is start indoors and flower close enough for the light cycle outside matches enough to finish. Not practical and that eliminates it and no doubt Z.

Wacky growth means Wacky Weed...*

I wouldn't mind the low yield....5oz of that GT would probably last me half a year...lol

The training wouldn't be so difficult. I did orchard work for a while and you can train an apple tree into any shape you want. Your wrapping the around the bamboo holds the plants into the center.

Would think it probably better to have just the stem in the middle and the branches tied on the outsides of the bamboo? Opening up the middle for light and air flow. Possibly coiling them around the outside of the bamboo?

I'm no expert...just use tree training and the same techniques should apply to MJ

Appreciate the info...will have to check for an earlier maturing sativa. Know some, but some have problems too. Guess this thread is done. Thanks for the reminder of the rotten eggs repel too.

----
Correction if misunderstood. When said about coil around the sticks. I meant not coil one branch around one stick, but all the branches coiled around all of the sticks....keeping the center open to light and air flow.

Thanks for the helps...I glanced at the GT grow journal and the GT buds are gorgeous colors and crispy looking.