On Walden's Outdoor Grow In The PNW '18: A Nonlinear Tale

andIhalped

andIhalped

Well-Known Member
Nov. 2: Another year’s harvest is in from my legal & spartan outdoor grow. Everything’s trimmed & curing + 2 quarts of stony fan leaf oil made, and 2 grams of trim hash curing, too.
curando.jpg

curando.jpg

Happy to report: Third year running with no pest problems whatsoever, even though I don’t use any sort of miticides or insecticides. Why I never spray for pests

Despite living in the PNW with its rainy, cool, dewy autumns, I only lost less than ½ a gram to mold. So, I’m completely safisfied.

But we’ll go back to the beginning in case you’re wondering how I got here.

Time’s just a construct, anyway.
 
February ’18 Let’s starts with soil— everything does!

Mine’s very simple, relying mainly on the native soil together with some work and lots of patience, a decidedly rare virtue in our modern world.

The soil started out quite clayey. But I’ve worked it with lots of my own cold compost and mulch over the last 15 years to where it’s quite decent, though still not truly optimal for gardening.

But in my dotage, I’ve become a satisficer rather than optimizer. (A lesson learned cumulatively the hard way in my youth.)

The soil’s good enough & is getting better.

During the winter, I added some local and very cheap steer & chicken manure…but that’s it in the way of retail amendments.

This is partly because I try to grow cheaply, but mainly because there’s already been enough boxes & bottles on the planet. I really try to avoid contributing to the need for more of that crap & the attendant burning of fuel involved in it’s distribution…in daily life, as well as gardening.

I don’t expect other folks to do what I think’s right, but there’s something wrong with me if I don’t do what I think’s right…
 
Oct. ’17 Seeds…I’d decided to go back to growing from seeds, which is what I’d always done over more than 35 years of on & off clandestine growing.

But, the previous two years I’d grown from legal clones sold in dispensaries, because of Oregon’s rec. homegrown regs, limting a household to 4 plants. With those limits, clones were the only way to maximize a legal grow.

Those grows were absolutely great, but I was no longer concerned with maximizing yield & I’d longed to go back to seeds. So I did.

Decided to go with local seed sources, especially because I found some fairly bizarre strains from those local sources that both avowed were bred for the PNW—early flowering & fast finishers.

Oregon Green Seeds fortuitously put some of their seeds on sale, so I picked a pack of:
  • a hybrid of Nepalese and Lebanese landraces crossed with Grape Ape;
  • Amnesia Hashplant (Amnesia Haze x Blue Sattelite x Danish Gold).

Local, affordable & the promise of quick finishes were appealing, but odd lineages also attracted me. I’ve always made a point of growing plants that I’d either never tried, or were bagseeds from weed in the days of yore that wasn't grown to potential (sometimes with spectacular results).

I stumbled onto Cannabeizein in PDX, which had seeds from interesting mashups, so from them I picked up seeds for:
  • a hybrid of Trainwreck x Big Bud x Skunk x Jack the Ripper (which I’ll refer to in this journal as “Purple Goat”);
  • LambsBread x Sour Diesel x JesusOG x Purps x Trainwreck, which I’ll refer to in this journal as “El Chuy.”
…my curiosity continues to have a formidable effect on my life.

Cannabeizein was extraordinarily generous—they sent almost 2x seed than what I’d ordered, including a bunch of seeds from their Tree of Life, which I’ll try in my next grow… Thanks, Cannabeizein!
 
Nice my wife went down 2 visit her brother in sister's Oregon and stopped in Portland and brought some side car kush seeds back for me to add to my seed collection. Like I need more lol. Cool that we can just buy them now . Oh and I'm in Tacoma wa. Area :ciao:
 
scrogster said:
Nice my wife went down 2 visit her brother in sister's Oregon and stopped in Portland and brought some side car kush seeds back for me to add to my seed collection. Like I need more lol. Cool that we can just buy them now . Oh and I'm in Tacoma wa. Area :ciao:
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Legalization & all that comes with it has definitely been a nice change.

I never had a close call with any of my clandestine grows, but it's a rather pleasant change not to have be concerned with the risk of jail, fines, and having my family broken up just for growing. Illegality was & is incredibly cruel.

I've seen your work in Tacoma, @scrogster & it's impressive--you're a fantastic outdoor grower!

Grow on, compadre.
 
andIhalped said:
February ’18 Let’s starts with soil— everything does!

Mine’s very simple, relying mainly on the native soil together with some work and lots of patience, a decidedly rare virtue in our modern world.

The soil started out quite clayey. But I’ve worked it with lots of my own cold compost and mulch over the last 15 years to where it’s quite decent, though still not truly optimal for gardening.

But in my dotage, I’ve become a satisficer rather than optimizer. (A lesson learned cumulatively the hard way in my youth.)

The soil’s good enough & is getting better.

During the winter, I added some local and very cheap steer & chicken manure…but that’s it in the way of retail amendments.

This is partly because I try to grow cheaply, but mainly because there’s already been enough boxes & bottles on the planet. I really try to avoid contributing to the need for more of that crap & the attendant burning of fuel involved in it’s distribution…in daily life, as well as gardening.

I don’t expect other folks to do what I think’s right, but there’s something wrong with me if I don’t do what I think’s right…
Click to expand...
I accidentally misled due to a memory lapse. One retail soil amendment that I use every spring and fall is a light application of storebought dolomite that I put on all the garden plots annually. Soils here tend to be quite acidic.
 
andIhalped said:
Decided to go with local seed sources, especially because I found some fairly bizarre strains from those local sources that both avowed were bred for the PNW—early flowering & fast finishers.
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One other note on the seeds/strains: another factor in my choices is that none were feminized and all were photoperiod. I try to go as bio as possible, plus it’s just old ways.

I’ve got tremendous respect for Subcool & TGA – grew their Space Candy last year which was a wonderful plant/smoke. One thing I’ve noted about TGA is that they only do the bio approach, too, at least so far.

I think there’s something to be said for it.
 
Kudos and congrats Michigan! Way to get the ball rolling in the midwest! :goodjob:
 
andIhalped said:
February ’18 Let’s starts with soil— everything does!

Mine’s very simple, relying mainly on the native soil together with some work and lots of patience, a decidedly rare virtue in our modern world.

The soil started out quite clayey. But I’ve worked it with lots of my own cold compost and mulch over the last 15 years to where it’s quite decent, though still not truly optimal for gardening.

But in my dotage, I’ve become a satisficer rather than optimizer. (A lesson learned cumulatively the hard way in my youth.)

The soil’s good enough & is getting better.

During the winter, I added some local and very cheap steer & chicken manure…but that’s it in the way of retail amendments.

This is partly because I try to grow cheaply, but mainly because there’s already been enough boxes & bottles on the planet. I really try to avoid contributing to the need for more of that crap & the attendant burning of fuel involved in it’s distribution…in daily life, as well as gardening.

I don’t expect other folks to do what I think’s right, but there’s something wrong with me if I don’t do what I think’s right…
Click to expand...
Hey Bud, glad you're doing this. I'll be following along for sure. Your last sentence says it all, Kind of the way I try to look at life myself.
I'll be picking your brain about seed saving too as my goal is to grow my own strains and rogue for the best for my climate. Hard to do with only 6 plants a year though. Later Bud
 
kgg634 said:
Hey Bud, glad you're doing this. I'll be following along for sure. Your last sentence says it all, Kind of the way I try to look at life myself.
I'll be picking your brain about seed saving too as my goal is to grow my own strains and rogue for the best for my climate. Hard to do with only 6 plants a year though. Later Bud
Click to expand...
Thanks @kgg634 ! Glad you dropped in & hope all is well w/ you & yours!
 
April 23 Germination begins. 4 strains, all bio. I’d like to get at least one fem of each strain & with the probability of female being about 50%, I decide to germinate three seeds per strain to increase my odds of the desired outcome.

Of course, this’ll also require growing the 12 until they flower. So, I’m going over the legal limit, but with the intent that after flowering, I should be at the 4 plant legal limit.

So be it.

But there’s lots of constraints with growing 12 plants in my garden: limited space, fairly limited sunny spots, and I give equal priority to the other plants in the garden for the sunny spots, including lots of tomatoes, peppers, peas, and other herbs. This prioritization within my constraints will be the biggest factor limiting my yield, as it’s been every year, which bothers me not at all.

So, I’m going to need to plan the garden before planting, contrary to my nature—I’m not a planner. But it’s good to adapt, by letting the situation rather than inclinations dictate the approach.
 
Mid May Garden plan’s nearly executed. Tomatoes & peppers planted according to my mapped plan & I’ve got 12 germinated plants in a soil in an egg carton ready to go into the ground

Most of the seeds germinated, but one Amnesia Hashplant from OGS didn’t, so I germinated another. Same situation for one Purple Goat seed.

So two of the 12 are about 9 days behind the others.

Once they pop, I give ‘em a coupla hours in the sun daily, then inside for the cool nights.

The planned locations for all of the strains is partly premised on a leap of faith—I plant the strains that are purported to finish the earliest according to the breeders are planted in locations that get the least sun in late September, so I’m hoping they’ll finish before then.

Just to be clear, I don’t assume that stated flower times will be accurate, but I’ve got constraints & need to cut the deck, so I decide to go with the info I’ve got & hope for the best.
 
Late May I’m mainly a gardener that grows weed, so I’ll report that my peas are producing part of my daily breakfast.
A Good Old Fashioned RedHotChiliPepper Grow Off

Meanwhile the 12 are looking happy and healthy.

They’re growing fast enough that I’ve already started topping & LST. I’m a little tight for space, but am still aiming to have plants that’ll be about 4 feet tall, but about 5-6 feet in radius with lotsa bud sites at the time of flowering. So I start in early.

Also a matter of habit from years of clandestine grows. My MO back then was to top & LST extremely aggressively, so that plants never got over about 1.5 feet tall, but often more than 6 feet wide. I’d grow ‘em underneath the canopy of a garden I’d let go very weedy to completely hide the desirable weed & it worked great. Taught myself to do it oughta necessity…had never even read about the technique, just paid attention to the plant’s habits.

Got no doubts that that heavy handed approach in my clandestine grows significantly limited yield, but didn’t care because a coupla oz’s of quite good, albeit illicit, sinsemilla tops was much better than none…or having a plant that was too easy to spot---lots of my past grows were in states where anti-weed hysteria was manifest in enforcement & the “judicial” system.

My fave such clandestine grow was in Nev...I grew from some Oaxacan seed I had saved. Barely got an ounce of tops from a plant about 1.5 feet tall & about 5 foot in radius. Buds were pencil thin & wispy (like many landrace sativas), but holy bejoley, them buds packed a wallop. Buzz lasted 4+ hours & was damn near like tripping! Wish to heck I still had more seeds...but it's like the rest of life, if you bump into something nice that passes, you're lucky to have caught it!
 
andIhalped said:
April 23 Germination begins. 4 strains, all bio. I’d like to get at least one fem of each strain & with the probability of female being about 50%, I decide to germinate three seeds per strain to increase my odds of the desired outcome.

Of course, this’ll also require growing the 12 until they flower. So, I’m going over the legal limit, but with the intent that after flowering, I should be at the 4 plant legal limit.

So be it.

But there’s lots of constraints with growing 12 plants in my garden: limited space, fairly limited sunny spots, and I give equal priority to the other plants in the garden for the sunny spots, including lots of tomatoes, peppers, peas, and other herbs. This prioritization within my constraints will be the biggest factor limiting my yield, as it’s been every year, which bothers me not at all.

So, I’m going to need to plan the garden before planting, contrary to my nature—I’m not a planner. But it’s good to adapt, by letting the situation rather than inclinations dictate the approach.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean by having to prioritize your garden space. That's why I ended up using fabric pots instead of going directly into the ground. My tomatoes, herbs and veggies needed the permanent ground space. It worked out pretty well in the end.
 
BeezLuiz said:
I know what you mean by having to prioritize your garden space. That's why I ended up using fabric pots instead of going directly into the ground. My tomatoes, herbs and veggies needed the permanent ground space. It worked out pretty well in the end.
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Growing in fabric pots certainly has many advantages, especially being able to move 'em, but I'm stupidly stubborn (& vice versa). But another aspect is that space & shade is so limited in my situation, that planting in pots wouldn't help--anything with adequate sun has already been converted to garden plots.

Wish I had more sun, but it's mainly outta my hands, since most of the shade is due to neighbors' trees. I counted it as a big victory when I convinced one to take down a big tree. Part of making that happen was that I split the cost of removing that tree.
 
Early July Garlic’s been harvested & it’s a gorgeous crop. A nice reward for having worked improving the soils for so many years.
garlic.JPG

garlic.JPG

The weed’s looking good, too. These are Leb-Nep-Grape Ape hybrids (which I’ll refer to in this journal as “LebNep”) & the Purple Goat plants
4strns'18.JPG

4strns'18.JPG

outdoorica
Due to the LST, these are about 1.5 feet tall & about 4 feet in diameter. They're running out of horizontal space, but in not too long, I should be pulling at least a coupla males, which'll give more room to the rest. The basil won't be taller than they are for long.
Already clear that all four strains are unstable lines—some obvious phenotypical variation, which I sorta expected & welcome. Fun to have some differences, which is the part of the allure of growing from seeds, for me. Viva variety!

One of the LebNep is a on it’s way to being a beast with sativa growing habit & sativa-esque leaves, while the other two are much more indica in their habit, but with quite spindly leaves.

One Purple Goat is an obvious runt, which I’m hoping won’t be my lone female from that strain.

Tomatoes, basil, & peppers are harvestable, too. An early year for all those. Great for salsa while I wait.
sepsalsa.jpg

sepsalsa.jpg

These are the peruvian yellow which sounds like a strain. They're fire!
peruv.jpg

peruv.jpg

 
My mouth waters every time I see those peppers! :drool:
 
:high-five:
 
Intermezzo I There’s lots of different tools for LST & most work-- a buddy used plain old bolt washers to weigh down branches, similar to the bonsai approach & it worked quite well.

The simple hardware I use in my garden grow are tent stakes & large paper clips bent into small stakes that I use to stale down the bent restrained branches:
LST stakes.jpg

LST stakes.jpg


I use the tent stakes for the main trunk & primary branches & the paper clip stakes for the smaller branches. As the smaller branches grow outward, I just move the clip-stakes outward, until I either run out of horizontal room or decide to let ‘em head vertical.

Here’s the plant growth pattern I aim for, so that the plants grow in a semi-circular pattern in plan view:
lst-pattrn.JPG

lst-pattrn.JPG

The aim is to: 1) use space fairly efficiently & 2) end up at flowering with little overlap among the flowering tops. The latter helps with ventilation & staving off rot & mildew, both of which are always risks in the autumn in the PNW.

& here's an example of the structure I more less aim for, flashing forward to a 70% harvested LebNep in mid Aug (hey, it's a non-linear journal!)
elebchoppd.jpg

elebchoppd.jpg

 
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