jutjut's Outdoor Sativa Grow Journal - 2012

[jutjut]

Aloha,


This is my first journal. Hope you all enjoy the slightly different journal from most of the indoor grows around here. I'd just like to say that I shall sincerely appreciate every single one of the comments posted on this journal and hope to learn a lot from every single one of you.

I have been using LST to keep the height of my plants low as I don't really want my neighbours becoming fascinated with the plants.

Recently there were 5 days of pretty much continuous rain luckily the plants don't seem to be suffereing from overwatering or storm damages.

Number of Plants: 5. 4 are of the same strain, 1 is a different strain that randomly popped up in my garden out of nowhere.


What strain is it? - Not sure on either.

Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? - The 4 same plants look predominantly sativa although I suspect there could be some indica in them. The 1 lone soldier looks even more sativa that the others with thinner leaves and brighter colour. I've seen images of the OG kushs and the likes and I'm sure the 4 plants aren't predominantly indica. But if anybody disagrees I'd more than appreciate any insight.


Is it in Veg or Flower stage? - Veg

If in Veg... For how long? - Approximately 1 month

Indoor or outdoor? - outdoor

Soil or Hydro? - soil

If soil... what is in your mix? - compost, manure and normal garden soil. The soil is of good quality.

If soil... What size pot? - straight in the ground

Any Pests ? - I've found insects on the plants but this is expected in an outdoor environment. There is no particular insect that is attracted to the plants, the types are completely random. Small bits of the plants' leaves have been eaten by insects but in very small quantities. I suspect small garden grasshoppers (similar to locusts) might be the culprits.

How often are you watering? - When soil is dry. This depends entirely on rain and other environmental variables.

Type and strength of ferts used? - No ferts used as of yet. Want the grow to be as organic as possible. No fertilisers or pesticides

This info will make it much easier for accurate help to be given when needed and keep the members interested in your grow.

Yield? - Will disclose this asap.

Will post images after this.

Ciao for now

 

[jutjut]

- Group of the 4 same ones.

- Plant 1 from above

- Plant 1 from the side showing LST to date

- Plant 2 taken a week ago

- Plant 2 leaves slightly turned up on edges

- Plant 2 HST on the top node.

- Plant 3 side with LST visible

- Plant 3 aerial

- Plant 4 aerial before last LSTing

- Plant 4 aerial after last LST. Side branches have been LST'd for first time

- Plant 4 more. Top node LST'd

- Plant 5 The odd one out

- Plant 5 again

 

[jutjut]

The reason the LST was done weirdly on plant 2 is that it got damaged slightly lower down on the stem and therefore bending it over horizontally from the lower stem would cause it too much stress and maybe snap it.

 

[jutjut]

Sorry for multiple posts but my "Edit Post" button isn't working. When i click it everything in the edit box goes grey. Could somebody please move this to journals in progress please.

Thanks a million

 

[jutjut]

Some questions:

(1.) When do you think these plants will start showing sex? They are mixed sex and therefore I'd have to be extremely fortunate for none of them to be male. I have sexed plants before and I know I'd be able to tell when they do eventually start showing signs but when do you think the males might start forming pollen sacks?

(2.) Do you think I should pull out plant 2 (the one that got damaged but is recovering slowly) and put in a new plant, or should I just let it stick it out and see what happens?

Thanks

 

[jutjut]

(3.) I realised that the depth of the soil isn't very great and I also know that cannbis plants have a tap root. THe soil is bout 2,5 ft deep in most areas and then there is a hard layer of clay and rock. Will this compromise the growth of the plant or will the roots start growing more horizontally instead of stopping when they reach the vertical limit?

I also know that such a impenetrable layer can lso cuse water build up which could cause root rot but as of yet there hasn't been a problem and there has been A LOT of rain.

Would really appreciate some feedback guys I'm new to posting but have been reading journals for a while and this is my 3rd grow.

 

[jutjut]

Okay I've realised that maybe I should be a bit more proactive with my questions and go find the answers for myself rather than waiting for a reply. I'll post my findings in my next update.

IS LST ALWAYS GOOD?: Another thing I was wondering is whether LST in some cases is not a good idea? Is the height gained by the plant if not trained beneficial to it? Is the closer it is to the natural sunlight beneficial or is it negligible? Obviously through LSTing a plant you increase the area it has to capture sunlight which in my mind will help it grow faster. But maybe the taller the plant the more intense the sunshine is that it is receiving? Any opinions on that?[/U]

I'll post photos later if I get the chance. Have quite a few deadlines at the moment.

 

[jutjut]

UPDATE!!:

I've germinated 4 more babies in anticipation that some of my current plants are soon to be showing sex and could possibly be males.

Right now I have 2 babies in polystyrene cups and then I've planted 2 straight into the soil where 2 of my previous babies got trodden on by my dog.

This means I have 2 substitute babies that I can sub in for males that may (and most probably will) crop up.As soon as I'm certain a plant is male I'll just yank the plant out and transplant one of the babies into that spot.

The reason the babies are being protected right now is that there has been a lot of heavy rain recently and I wouldn't want them to be harmed. Wind isn't too much of a problem it's mainly the rain.

Questions:

When I was looking at my plants today I found a few ants on plant 4. Not many, but a few. This raised another 2 questions that I have:

(4.) Are ants a risk to your plants?

(5.) If you dry your buds and there are insects in the dried bud nd you smoke it is there any possible danger in doing this? Will a minute ant or aphid be problematic to the final products quality?

I haven't really had an opportunity to go and find answers for my previous questions yet. i'll just round them all up when I have time and go on an answer hunt. Obviously if anybody has answers to any of my questions I'd love your wise oppinions.

Photos:

~ Group Photo. Top left: Plant 1
Bottom left to right: Plant 2, Plant 3 and Plant 4
Top Right: Plant 5

~Plant 5 aerial

~Plant 5 Latest Top LST

~ Plant 4 Side branch LST

~ Plant 4 Top Branch HST becuase it was getting too tall

~ Plant 3 two Side branches LST

~ Plant 3 Lastest top LST

~ Plant 1 Side Branch LST

~Plant 1 Side Branch LST closer

~ Substitute babies in their germination house

~ Babies in the ground protected by glass bottles until fully sprouted. The ground does look dry but that is just the light. I can assure you the ground is damp everywhere.

~ Babies before being planted into their respective homes



Hope you enjoyed the update

 

[jutjut]

Another question:

Does LST affect the root growth of a plant?

 

[jutjut]

~ The two babies in the fish tank. Fish tank baby number 1 on the left and fish tank baby number 2 on the right.

~ ground baby number 1

~ Ground baby number 2

 

[jutjut]

HELP!!!

I think i may have identified plant 3 as a male. Is the pollen from the males orange? I'm pretty sure the pre-flowers for females are white and the hairs I'm seeing on this plant are orange. Please can you help me identify whether its male or female? Hope the image is clearly visible:

Plant 1 and 2 I am pretty sure are females as white preflowers are clearly visible at a few of the nodes. Plant 4 and 5 haven't shown any signs of sex. Here are the latest photos of the plants, I think by the end of the week they'll all be in flowering stage:

~ Plant 4

~ Plant 3

~ Plant 2 side

~Plant 2

~ Plant 2

~ Plant 1

~ Plant 1

 

[Concept]

Hey there! First of all, your plants look pretty cool, especially with the rocks and such. Lets see if I can't catch you up with your questions .

In response to your last post, it's hard to see but it looks like plant 3 is female to me. You have some time before it could become a problem. I'm not sure if the color of the hairs has anything to do with it, personally I've never heard of it being part of sexing. Keep an eye on them and upload another picture in maybe a week. It might just be a little slower than the others.

Plant 1 looks like its going to yield pretty well

"Does LST affect the root growth of a plant?"
Granted I don't know this answer for sure or in whole. However I'd assume LST would increase root development, if for no other reason but because LST helps the plant gain access to more sun. Amount of light seems to be one of the driving conditions of how much food/water the plant will try to uptake, and thus spend to become larger.

"Are ants a risk to your plants?"
Some are yes, depends what their using the plant for. They shouldn't be problematic unless their building a colony in the soil or using the plant as a main food source or something. Keep an eye on them, you might need a pest-aside (organic is available).

"If you dry your buds and there are insects in the dried bud nd you smoke it is there any possible danger in doing this? Will a minute ant or aphid be problematic to the final products quality?"
I've never really heard of this however I imagine it happens a lot. I'm assuming here, but I think unless the bud is actually infested, I don't think an ant or two will harm anything.

"IS LST ALWAYS GOOD?"
Yes and no, it is going to depend what kind of end result you want. I think the important part of LST is learning how much training is actually needed. From the research I've done, it seems LST is pretty harmless and when compared to the results, it's in general a good idea to try and train the plant at least a little. One could argue plants that are trained to be really close to the ground like yours may get less air movement. However I don't think your doing any harm to your plants by LSTing. In regards to light, I imagine the amount of light lost from being another few feet from the sun is probably unnoticeable.

"I realised that the depth of the soil isn't very great and I also know that cannbis plants have a tap root. THe soil is bout 2,5 ft deep in most areas and then there is a hard layer of clay and rock. Will this compromise the growth of the plant or will the roots start growing more horizontally instead of stopping when they reach the vertical limit?"
You should be fine, 2.5ft is pretty deep, but yes the plant will start growing more horizontally once the roots start hitting the rock.

"When do you think these plants will start showing sex? They are mixed sex and therefore I'd have to be extremely fortunate for none of them to be male. I have sexed plants before and I know I'd be able to tell when they do eventually start showing signs but when do you think the males might start forming pollen sacks?"
I've never had a fully male plant, but my one hermie seemed to not show as obviously as the others and then it exploded with sack growth. So judging from your more recent posts, you should probably be knowing this week if you have any males.



Hope that was helpful. I'll try to keep an eye on the grow and help when I can . Good luck with your ladies.

 

[jutjut]

Sup Concept

Thank you very much for the reply and the first comment on this journal from an external party. The answers that you gave were great and I understand all of them clearly.

Kinda busy right now and I'm sure you are too but when you have time if you could just tell me what process you go through when choosing which seeds to buy? I want to choose seeds that are well suited to the environment I'm going to grow in and just want to make sure I choose the right ones.

Also when you're buying your seeds to you Pick and Mix a couple, 5 fems, 10 fems or 10 regular seeds? I feel as if I should get about 2 feminised seeds of as many strains as I can to see how they cope and then maybe buying a few more of the ones that do well. What do you think?

Will definitely pop round to your awesome journal when I get the chance. Saw you got some new seeds

 

[Concept]

Hey there, no problem at all . Don't worry, my journals don't get many posts either lol. Glad it came out clear lol, some times I type a sentence and re-read it, and I'm like, "wow that makes absolutely no sense" lol.

Thats a great question actually, so many seeds so little time 0.o. First you will have to think about any limitations you have, especially environmentally. For example my area has very high humidity, so that's a big limitation I needed to work around. I could only find 5 strains that have a reputation of being mold resistant. After factoring that, should ask your self what effects you want in the product. Maybe you want alil of everything. After indica/sativa, I look for highest yielding and highest potency. Some will also have to factor in things like popularity of a name. A bag of AK-47 will sell 10x faster than a bag of sour cherry kush, just because the average smoker has heard of ak-47. Easiest place to start of course is the top 10 list on attitude. Can't really go wrong with any of those. I like my plants from Humbolt seed organization a lot, green house seeds has a good rep, so does Barny's farm.

I generally just go with pick and mix because I want lots of strains. I think that your idea will work well. Two seeds is good so if one fails you still have one plus you also might get a better genetic.

yep my seeds finally came today . look forward to hearing from ya

 

[jutjut]

K sweet. I made a post on your journal. Took a browse around the site you recommended and for somebody like me who hasn't seen many top quality plants it was a mouth watering experience.

Anyway, a little update:

Yesterday my plant 1 (female) had slightly droopy leaves. I think I cought the symtoms in their early stages as it wasnt too serious. Now I know that the symptoms for over-watering and under-water are very similar. I trusted my intuition after feeling the soil at the trunk of the plant (which felt pretty dry and slightly hard) and watered the plant a bit. It turns out i was correct and the plant was just craving a little sip of the popular liquid.

It is official that 3 of my plants are females, plant 4 and 5 are yet to show signs of sex that will allow me to be certain about any idendifications.

Later on I'm going to go do some LST'ing and then I'll pop by agaain and maybe post some updated photos.

Another thing I desperately need to do is get down on my hands and knees and start weeding! The weeds are taking over and I think it's about time I start plucking them from the soil before they steal too many precious nutrients.

Cheers for now guys

 

[jutjut]

Sunny Update For 10th of November

What i've done:


~ Firstly you will see little babies and teenagers in the midst of the older ones, I will update you about them in my next post.

~ I finally got down to weeding around my plants

~ I softened the soil a bit since it was pretty compacted from the rain and the contraction of the soil.

~ I also made little resevoirs around my plants so the water doesn't run away immediately when I water them as it is on a slope.

~ I have taken off the cable ties attached to rocks that I used for LST'ing my plants. They are still holding their shape very well and i am expecting them to blast off with the new given freedom.

~ I have have maken a fatal mistake for plant 2: Plant 2 because of its injuries early on was trained a little differently and was attached to metal rods with cabel ties a little higher up. (Can be seen in my earlier pictures) Earlier on I accidently made the cable ties a little too tight. it didn't seem so at the time but I didn't expect the width of the stem to increase so drastically. Recently when I inspected the cable ties I realised they were severely restricting the growth of the plant and it was growing out the sides. I immediately cut of the cable tie and in so doing may have ring barked the plant in two places! I have subsequently wrapped the stem in plastic where it is damaged and hoping for the best.

Photos of the natural princesses (plants 1 , 2 and 3) and the one possible evil prince (plant 4):

~ These photos were taken in the late afternoon whent he plants weren't being exposed to much direct sunlight.

~ Group shot from ground level

~ Group shot

~ Plant 3 with no LST and the top node is growing taller

~ Plant 2 side

~ Plant 1 top

~ Plant 1 side no LST

~ Plant 4 No LST top node growing taller

 

[jutjut]

It's Sunny Update time again for 13 of November

These are the images from the 13th of november. I know it's been a while but never-the-less i will post them as it is important to see the progress of the gaia girls. I will also be posting current photos later today.

This update is very messy and i know I need to make the namign of my plants a lot simpler. Will get round the doing that at some point. but this is my first journal so I'm just learning.

Gaia girls:

~~ Family shots:

~ plants 3 and 4 are visible as well as teen 1 and 2.

~Plant 3's lst is visible



~~ The 1st generation fishtank babies (I know this is getting confusing):

ground baby 1:

ground baby 2:

~~ The 2nd generation fish tank babies:~~

~~ The teens:

~ Teen 1:

~ Teen 2:

~ Teen 3:

~~ The in-their-twenties ladies:

~ Plant 1:

~ Plant 2:

~ Plant 3:

~ Plant 4:

 

[Concept]

Hey there, sorry for not posting early. Life got in the way . Sorry to hear about your losses and males. But your ladies look beautiful and healthy. Can't wait to see the bud off these gals.

 

[jutjut]

Okidokey, well I'm very embarrassed for the way I have left this journal unattended to for ages. The plants have grown considerably. I'll post photos tomorrow. The scary thing is that the one plant (plant 4) still hasn't shown sex!?

 

[Truth Seeker]

How did this grow turn out?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info!

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read the photo gallery tutorial:
Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

I am moving this to Abandoned Journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world.

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine.