First Time Outdoor Grower in Portland - Advice?

[jddrews]

Your plants are looking good! Mine were much farther along by July 1st when you started yours, so yes, an earlier start would certainly get you bigger plants. From what you started with, though, it looks like they've really taken off! Mine have officially begun flowering. It's been a solid week now, so I would suspect yours should start soon. Can you see any calyx yet? Hopefully your girls will kick into gear. I haven't done any pruning, only pulling yellow fan leaves after they've done their job. My taller plant just took on that shape all it's own. It's very uniform. One thing to keep in mind is making sure your pots stay cool. Too much sun on them and it will raise the temperature of the soil with can inhibit growth. I'm lucky with how my house is situated, the plants get full sun while the pots stay within the shade line of the house. I believe that's been a benefit.

 

[nwpassage]

Ola fellow Oregonians. I'm in Coos Bay, and growing a few on the deck that look much like yours. Mine was sent to me in seed from a sister in Pennsylvania who's a long time grower so I'm a little concerned they aren't acclimated to this zone, but what the hell, first time grow is better than no grow. I pulled one plant that looked suspect, and have two really nice plants that sure look female but haven't give me a sure indication of sex yet. I thought I saw pistols on both plants, but I'm a novice for sure knowing only what I've gleaned from a couple of handy forums. Growing organically using only Medic 4-3-3. I see we don't truly hit 12/12 until 9/15 so I won't cry until then if they still haven't flowered, but I'm sure getting anxious.

Edit: On closer inspection I am starting to see sign of flowering beginning on the tallest one, and definite sign of femality on the other, very nice. I'm starting construction of a open ended rain cover so I can put them under the eaves on the side of the garage, slide the cover over them on crummy days, and pull it off on nice days through the season to hopefully get them to the end. Good luck to you guys for sure!

 

[nwpassage]

 

[moss1310]

Great plants nwpassage. Welcome to the discussion. Your idea on the cover for the rain is great. I'm going to look into doing something similar.

I just returned from a 4 day trip and it looks like my plants are beginning to flower. I was hoping they could get some more growth before they did, but oh well, for the first grow, I want to learn.

I'll change the nutrients up now. What are the both of you using for flowering?

 

[nwpassage]

Mine's called Medic 4-3-3, and it's a product (organic) you just double the dose for flowering. I'm trying to keep it simple after trying too much too soon early in my novice excitement. The local gorilla grower shop talked off the edge and into some good advice for a first grow. Next year will be far more methodical, and hopefully in ten years I'll get a pretty good technique down. I finished the tent today and made in mainly from scrap two by fours. It's 7 foot high and wide, and three foot deep, nailed together and braced, then covered in 4 mil. I'd post a pic but you get the idea, and I don't want people laughing at my carpentry skilz.

 

[jddrews]

Nice plants, nwpassage! I just switched over to Buddha Bloom 0.5-2-1.5 by Roots Organics. It's a company out of Eugene that makes it. I add a tablespoon per gallon at every other watering (each plant gets a gallon at dinner time every other day). I used Buddha Grow for the vegetative period and really liked the results. Never had any signs of nitrogen overload or anything, and they grew like wildfire . I'm glad to hear you've started flowering, moss1310. There's plenty of time to get a full harvest before the weather turns. Not sure about Coos Bay, though. Wise move building a tent. Maybe this monster El Nino will keep the heavy rains at bay until Winter.

Here are some close up pics of the flowering. I'm about 2 weeks in.

 

[moss1310]

Nice pics! Its amazing to see the progress and the flowers just bring extra anticipation for the final results. I had already purchased Fox Farms Tiger Bloom as part of a trio, so Ill stay with that and see how it works out. It will be interesting to hear feedback on how everyone's grow worked out.

 

[jddrews]

Awesome side-effects aside, it's no wonder humans are so drawn to these plants. They are fascinating! I'm really happy that Oregon allowed for rec-home-grows in the bill. Good luck down the home stretch!

 

[annjulieah]

Hello fellow Oregonians and All

For new first time growers it seems to me your plants look great! I too am growing a few plants for the first time in containers on my deck. I've made and then learned from a bunch of mistakes but these girls are fairly forgiving, at least so far. I think I'm attaching a pic of my C99, my furthest along.

Nice finding some new growers who're nearby. This is a great resource 420 offers. Best of Luck to all!

 

[nwpassage]

Beautiful plant Anna. Seeing others success just makes me want to keep trying again instead of folding my hand . I think it's the positive vibes from the other growers here. Whoever said weed was evil had to be the greatest deceiver the world has seen so far.

 

[moss1310]

Gorgeous plant. Great job. I concur with nwpassage- this has been an amazing, positive resource for new plant growers!

 

[brightlight]

Congrats to each of you on your growing!

 

[annjulieah]

Whoever said weed was evil had to be the greatest deceiver the world has seen so far.

Not me!

Don't be discouraged nw. That C99 has had some rough days/weeks. She's looking heat stressed today - this weather is a B!

 

[rdog]

I planted in the ground so there is no way to move them inside if it rains. I've got clear greenhouse grade plastic to cover them and fans at the ready is this enough precautions or am I trippin

 

[nwpassage]

We're all gonna find out together rdog. I think next year I'm going to top twice, try some low stress training, and then force flower them in my shed late July or August and get them done in September. I have no faith in October and November around here. It's funny though, I never dreaded the rain until this year. I actually love it. Early finishers and mold resistant when I buy seeds next year.

 

[brightlight]

Take a look or join Norcaliwood's Our Ongoing Grows journal. He's up your way & an old timer who knows his stuff & the problems growers encounter there. A good guy too. Keep up the good work!

 

[nwpassage]

How about an update Moss? Now that the weather is cooling are you guys getting good flowering? Mine are definitely in the next stage and of course it's a whole new bag of anxiety and anticipation. Yesterday the sun never broke out of the fog, so of course visions of powdery mildew and bud rot danced in my head, but today the sun popped out, the wind blew and the plants looked gorgeous. It's awesome watching them transition to the next phase of their life and I'm already boning up on drying and curing so I can give my wife and sister-in-law some tasty smoke towards the holidays.

Peace, Ed

 

[jddrews]

It's still sunny (and not smokey!) in Portland but there's a little rain in the forecast for this weekend and the temps have dropped off a bit. Flowering has definitely picked up. I will keep an eye out for moldy conditions and make sure the ladies are getting plenty of air flow once the rain sets in.

I'm about 3 weeks into flowering now and I've switched to the bloom formula. One thing that is happening that I believe is normal is that the lower leaves are yellowing. From what I've read and what I understand this could be due to the plant putting its energy into flowering and the lower amounts of nitrogen in the mix. Let me know if its anything I should be concerned about.

Here are some pics...

Note the lighter colored leaves toward the bottom.

3 week old flowers!

 

[nwpassage]

Yours are definitely ahead of mine by a week or two, but we're right there in the same ballpark. I did a little pruning down low, and took out a few sun leaves hoping to get a little airflow. Fortunately I'm in a pretty airy space and get good wind. I'm debating whether or not to hide them from the rain and think I probably will but one of mine has already grown taller than the shelter I made, so up on blocks it goes. Damn, what a learning experience.

Edit: From all I've gleaned those yellowing leaves are normal. and some of the ones I took out on mine were those trying to open up the plant to the wind. I had some big ugly sun leaves that were injured by my attempt to force feed the young plant harsh fertilizer (organic, but hot) that looked way worse than yours. It was nice to get them off just for the aesthetics of the plant.

 

[moss1310]

Hey Guys- I'm behind you as well jddrews. Here is my Platinm Kush

And here is my Sapphire Star

I have done a little trimming. They seem to be doing ok. My first big problem has occurred though. A couple days ago, noticed white flies. Not tons, but a few pop up when I shake the branches, and tonight there were definitely a few more than the night before. I'm going to search this site, but other articles I have seen suggest some fly strips and neem oil. I wanted get it taken care of immediately. Has anyone experienced those yet?