Espalerish summer plants

[PsillyRabbit]

Training my cannabis into the shape of my shade house to walk under.
I dont have a lot of garden space and cannabis is such a work horse that I like to play with it.
Big girl in the middle is called East Coast Delusions of Grandeur. EC D.O.G for short (white widow X ak47)x(Original glue X Tripple OG) she was started sometime in late November and is at least 200 days old . I have already cloned/ breed her and have seeds from the finished clones. She was planted on may 4th
-Two weeks after planting she started to flower the drop from a constant 18 hour indoors triggered the dance. Since than a light turns on for an hour at night from 2:30-3:30

The ground is 100% sand so its treaded like a "soilless" grow. 2'-3' down is amended with manure and Jonathan green love your soil. The immediate area gets amended with compost. Then top dressings of neem seed meal, azomite and bat guano have been added a few times each.
by june 12th there was signs of re-veg

Two that will be on the sides are Mazar I sharif X OG kush

On to the pics. feel free to comment, criticizes or ask any questions.

 

[013]

Busy garden and way cool- lattice as the scrog device!!!

I’ve always wondered about growing in sand…. so thanks for that!

 

[SmokingWings]

Usually done with fruit trees but I have seen "espalier" trained Marijuana plants pop in in blogs, articles and message board postings. The method was often used as part of a stealth grow. It looks like your espalier is off to a good start and it will be interesting to see how it works out.

Anyone who is not familiar with the method might enjoy looking at photos of the various designs people have come up with. A basic google search on espalier and select images

 

[PsillyRabbit]

I put in one of the two mazy kush on the sides. the othe will get another week or so in the sun. All the new growth on the middle plant has 1 leaflet. I cannot wait for it to look normal again.
Last pic is a shot of the ganja i grew in my tomato bed last year. It was fun to grow trees but i need that space for maters

 

[PsillyRabbit]

Happy 4th.
Last pic from the above post is from last year when I grew ganja trees in my tomato bed. Turned out to be a great learning experience for me in how to properly support my tomatoes.

 

[Azimuth]

Training my cannabis into the shape of my shade house to walk under.

Cool idea! But why not plant and train them on the outside of the structure to take more advantage of sunlight?

The ground is 100% sand so its treaded like a "soilless" grow. 2'-3' down is amended with manure

Have you considered using biochar mixed in with the sand? That would help it retain more of the nutrients that usually get washed through a sand based mix.

 

[PsillyRabbit]

The short answer is simply aesthetics. I also factor in that Im unable to amend the bed on the outside as easily and im short on space in the burbs. The flowers will grow on the outside.
Im not arguing its in less than ideal growing conditions but i give them supplemental lighting and understory fans while they make their way to the outside and then they have the trellis as their main support.
There is biochar in the jonathan green i give them but i will look more into it for next year. Is is more PH stable that adding ash from a firepit?

 

[Azimuth]

The biochar is inert, the ash from the fire place makes the soil alkaline.

Biochar is a great home for microbes and helps retain moisture and nutrients. Generally recommended at no more than 10-15% of mix.

 

[PsillyRabbit]

It's been weeks with high humidity and almost no rain. I have been using horticulture oil every 2-3 days to keep everything at bay. I spray both side of the plant and the lattice itself and the underside of all leaves as best as possible. I also spray the veggies surrounding the ganja. I'm sure there are less expensive products but I am a fanboy of Purecrop1. Despite that extra attention is see thrip damage coming over from veggies. I guess I have to use an actual insecticide before they flower.
Also killing Spotted lantern flys everyday over here...

 

[PsillyRabbit]

At this rate the ladies are growing about an inch a day. I have thinned out the branch structure by as much as 1/3. They will continue to get artificial light for about another month or until everything pokes out he top. I looked at my pictures from last year and these genes were showing signs of "stacking" by mid august. It took a long time but all new growth finally has 5 or more leaflets.
Its a shame she spent the entire first half of summer stressed out and recovering from the 6+ month she spent in a mother tent. Its all good she will yield plenty. Lots of small buds are better around here. Big fat buds equal mold by October.
I feed calcium every watering and have foliar feed calcium a couple of times. The plants on the sides are about 5 and 6 feet each.
Im going to start giving some flower fert in addition veg nutes since I wan these ladies to have everything they need when they start to go into flower. Getting mulched tomorrow with some seaweed. triple washed and rained on.

 

[PsillyRabbit]

When harvesting from nature never take more than you need. Never deplete an area of any resource. I aim for no more than 1/10th of what can be seen in the immediate area. Take seaweed from the very top of the high tide line. Preferably seaweed that has been high and dry for a little bit of time/ since that last full moon. Return any seaweed with live mussels back into the water. I routinely add seaweed directly to my veggi beds without washing.
I washed this stuff just cause... I watered my cucumbers with that wash water and they are as happy as could be.
This looks like a lot but it will be just enough by the time it dries out in a couple of days. I';m sure its gonna smell but i'm going to work ;0)

 

[PsillyRabbit]

So I will turn these lights off on august 1st. These ladies have a final week to poke out. I have continued with the thining out and moved the lights to the outside. I added a bigger fan to really help harden up the smaller branches. Im gonna start to use extra silica now that i dont need to manipulate the branches. I hope one week make a world of difference because I really fell short or what i was expecting. ( broke the camera on my phone and its hard to take pictures without a solar flare on the bottom left)

 

[PsillyRabbit]

Everything is now trained to the outside or trimmed off. One of the mazzys made it to the top. Tonight will be the first night with the two hours of light interruption turned off. Canopy-bog garden shots-Spotted lantern fly- First ripe maters-inside shots

 

[SmokingWings]

6th photo down in msg #13 is proof that plants have to eat too. .

 

[PsillyRabbit]

Sup plant people. Rainy day over here in my slice of the nyc burbs. Posting instead of outside watering.
What a surprise ; i fucked up :rolls eyes: One of the teeth on my timer was still up and the light was turning on for 15 mins at night... I guess i'm adding another week or two to the expected harvest date. I'm glad babe caught it when she did.
I was feeding pretty heavy for the last week and stoped training- she big bush now- Now the lights are just for supplement and no longer being used for dark cycle interruption. They go on in the morning (7-11) and the afternoon (4-7)

 

[PsillyRabbit]

Watered a few times with humates, fulvic acids and myco chum. Increased flower nutes to full strength. Still spraying pure crop 1 twice a week. The bulk majority of my flower stretch is over now. Officially time to bulk. Im thinking about adding bush doctor "Bembe" to the mix instead of just using molasses. Erythroxylum novogranatense is the light green plant. A good 3- years from seed and finally happy. Coca apparently loves fox farms too. the light up top is a 150 watt LED (450 watt "equivalent" ) and the string lights are 15 watts each( +/- 5 watts)
Next up should be some bud shots!

 

[Azimuth]

the light up top is a 150 watt LED

How you get it weather tight?

 

[PsillyRabbit]

I just searched for outdoor grow lights. I haven't modified it. They claim its actually waterproof so i'm assuming rain is okay.

" 【Super IP67 Waterproof Grade】With the professional technology of Bozily R&D team, combined with high-density aviation aluminum, silicone protection button switch and dual protection LED light source, plant grow light has achieved IP67 waterproof grade, and has passed FCC, CE, ROHS certification."

 

[PsillyRabbit]

Sup plant people- two weeks later. Happy Blue moon

 

[PsillyRabbit]

Fish emulsion and advanced nutrients overdrive for the next few weeks(+micro nutrients, sugars, calcium and always phd with liquid lime. )
(Blue moon shot ) Heavy bud development. Dig'n the clearly defined whirled bud structure visible on large outdoor plants. All the lights are back in the understory for the lower buds. Nug porn soon.