Southern's Little Garden Of Health & Healing

[Southerncough]

Made a good bit of progress tonight in the garden.
Chopped down my finished afghani, cleaned up the leaves on the floor, sprayed everything down with ISO alcohol, moved the big veg afghani in and the DWC purple haze into the bloom cabinet and roughed up their branches a bit. By the weekend i should have an idea of how I want to train them and which wimpy branches will be removed.
This afghani wasn't my proudest harvest but the first one in months to cross the finish line mostly in tact. So I'll take that as a win.
Veg tent is loaded up with small and medium sized clones and seedings, some of which are already getting some bending and twisting.
Next new exciting thing to come is a little tangerine auto that i just popped.
Put the seed into a little fabric pot and that's where she'll stay for the next 3 months. Pretty amazing what you can do in a small fabric pot!

 

[Southerncough]

Everything is cruising along. Still getting a few outbreaks of spider mites here and there but still treating with SNS209 every watering and picked up some SNS217 spray that I'm alternating with safer soap treatments. Got some Pakistani clones rooted and ready for coco. The veg tent is doing well. Just lollipoped the girls in flower and even got some lettuce going!
The little tangerine auto is doing well and a new thing came up...white mushrooms in my coco?
Looked them up and they may be pretty poisonous so i tossed them asap!

 

[Southerncough]

Bloom room is moving right along!

 

[drift]

With all the bad bugs in our state, I learned long ago outside plants stay outside and if working on outside plants stay way away from inside plants until you shower. Only once with white fly's now I have never had a problem since that 1 time . Keep it green!

 

[Southerncough]

Thanks! It's a little tougher since my garden is in the garage which isn't exactly bug proof. I try to only tend to the plants at night while in clean clothes, etc. But sometimes i have to go into the garage after working in the yard and put the weed eater away etc. Not much i can do to avoid that but definitely learning a lot about pest management and prevention!

 

[Southerncough]

On a whim last week I ordered a cannagar mold and packed it full of afghani bud. Only problem was that I didn't have the right size wooden tips or a decent blunt wrapper so i joined a few king sized rolling papers but they kept sticking to my mouth when I'd puff on it. Then I spotted my bong out of the corner of my eye and had an idea...remove the bowl and squeeze the cannagar into the stem and voila! A smooth hitting watergar!

 

[Southerncough]

what's up everyone!
Been a LONG time since posting updates on this journal but taking care of Mrs Cough and working to keep the lights on have taken top priority lately. The garden has been....soso. My battle with spider mites has been a constant struggle. These SOBs are tough and keep me on my toes. The plants that did make it to harvest were so beat up from the mites that they didn't yield very well but still managed some meds. Finally think I found a recipe that beats them up but now it's on me to stay consistent when I don't always have time to spend in the garden, sometimes for days at a time.
Anyhow now on to the interesting part...
While flowering some of my pakistani girls I put a big northern lights in the bloom room that turned out to be a male...
I started to remove it but decided to see what would happen if I let him nut on my pakistani ladies....hmmm...
So maybe in the near future I'll be trying out my NEW STRAIN "Paki-Lights"!
The Food growing operation is under way again. My outdoor tomatoes are getting chewed up by caterpillars and something else that's small but hopefully things will level off.
My indoor lettuce is doing fantastic and I gotta get in gear with basil production because Mrs Cough is starting to be able to eat again after battling throat cancer all year and she loves her some home made pesto which means we go through a LOT of basil on a weekly basis.
When she lost the ability to eat I had let our basil plants go to seed while dealing with other stuff but on the plus side there are lots of tiny basil plants all over my outdoor garden area.
Meanwhile, working on setting up some hydroponic basil bins to go along with my lettuce grow.
Not as much about the money as it is having access to fresh produce because I'm sick of throwing out slimy green I just purchased two days ago because they've been sitting in a bag for who knows how long, etc.

In other news I treated myself to some seed deals on Black friday and some of the packs started arriving which is super exciting. One of which are supposed to be some authentic Acapulco gold, fingers crossed it's the real deal but I'm afraid I'll be in over my head trying to grow a wild sativa in my tiny grow tent. Really need a good outdoor space or a tall greenhouse to do her right.

Now the decision anxiety of which beans to start next.

Currently in veg I've got some mango, purple haze, pakistani, afghani, and a very special seed from my jamaican friend's last trip back home.
Think I'm going to retire the afghani. Going to try some CS on one of her clones and see if I can get some fem seeds off her and then grow out the rest without taking any more cuttings.

 

[Southerncough]

Wow it has been a long time since I've posted an update just so busy so little time. Things have been ongoing and they're grow still battling with spider mites The beneficial mites have helped a lot but they got a hold on again so I had to keep ordering more and more but hopefully this time will do the trick got some new strains I'm excited about as well as some old favorites in the cycle including Northern lights mango and purple Haze. The Pakistani Grand mommy purple and Cinderella are all doing well this Cindy and grandmommy purple are about to go into bloom any day now. Hopefully we'll have some nice sativa for a beach days to coming this summer and some pool parties etc just harvested a little gelato autoflower the other day and she smells amazing I've sampled a few buds and it's very positive and energetic good for doing the dishes or having a deep conversation with the wifey.

 

[Southerncough]

Another day another dollar.
Still battling spider mites and the mealybugs are showing up here and there above and below the soil! What??
Was able to knock back the mites with soap spray but getting too far along on flower to keep that up so I'm hitting them weekly with predatory mites which are helping but gets expensive not to mention all of the bedding material I'll be cleaning out of the buds come harvest time.
The mealybugs on the stems are getting blasted with ISO alcohol in a spray bottle while taking caution to avoid the flowers and leaves and once every few days I pull the root ball up and spray the outer edges with ISO. I know, not good for the roots but neither is thousands of those bastards gnawing on them. Tomorrow a fresh order of rove beetles should arrive and I've got my fingers crossed they'll take care of the mealybugs PLEASE!!!
MEANWHILE, Cindy 99, grandmommy purple, and a few afghani are in a holding pattern in the veg tent while the pests are resolved in the bloom cabinet and even though I could squeeze them in I'd rather not have it too crowded while dealing with the bad bugs so they'll get to sit tight for a few more weeks. In the meantime started some new seeds including sour diesel auto, laughing Buddha, Maui wowie, and a new purple Haze and Purple panty dropper. The last ppd I started seems to be stunted. She has cute little leaves but at 5 weeks old is still only 3" tall. Haven't culled her yet but who knows maybe she'll do something interesting or maybe she'll always be tiny?

On the seedlings shelf I started way too many jalepenos assuming not many would germ and to my surprise almost all of them did! Yikes! Got some kitchen herbs, a few tomatoes and some citronella cuttings going.
Thought it would be fun to take some leftover basil cuttings from last week's harvest and stick them in a dwc bucket and most of them rooted and should be taking off soon.
Outside the tomatoes are hanging in there producing mildly despite pest pressure and caterpillars.
Pineapples are rocking and have over 20 fruit on the way just in time for summer!

 

[Southerncough]

Pineapples are coming along!
These are just a few, we've got them all over the place front and back yards

 

[Southerncough]

Bloom room is looking pretty beat up but cruising along. Grandmommy purple and Cinderella 99 are ready and waiting along with a few afghani lasses.
Might just wait a few more weeks to flip them

 

[Southerncough]

Baby sour diesel and laughing Buddha looking good!

 

[Southerncough]

Okay, here we go!
Wrapped a pretty infested purple Haze in a trash bag, pulled as much air out as I could with a shop vac, taped the bottom closed around the stem and inflated the bag with CO2...now we wait and see what happens
Fingers crossed!

 

[Moto258]

Okay, here we go!
Wrapped a pretty infested purple Haze in a trash bag, pulled as much air out as I could with a shop vac, taped the bottom closed around the stem and inflated the bag with CO2...now we wait and see what happens
Fingers crossed!

What's the infestation my friend!!? Looks serious but I'm intrigued to know that method of locking them up with co2!!

 

[Southerncough]

What's the infestation my friend!!? Looks serious but I'm intrigued to know that method of locking them up with co2!!

spider mites. The mealy bugs are trying to come back as well in some of the roots/stems but I've tossed those plants

 

[Moto258]

spider mites. The mealy bugs are trying to come back as well in some of the roots/stems but I've tossed those plants

Have you tried SNS spider mite controle yet? I have not had them but I've had many other pests I've had to deal with but them guys seem destructive!

 

[Southerncough]

Have you tried SNS spider mite controle yet? I have not had them but I've had many other pests I've had to deal with but them guys seem destructive!

Yeah I've been using it for a while from seed to harvest but hasn't seemed to stop them. Maybe the mites are wimpier wherever they make that stuff because these southeast US mites are tough s.o.b.s
Hopefully the CO2 tent will kill them but you're supposed to do it every 5 days to kill any new hatchlings

 

[Southerncough]

well...after killing off the bugs eating the tops of my plants I'm still losing them to the bugs eating the bottoms!
Freakin heart breaking! My rove beetles where supposed to arrive today but Fedex decided to keep them in Memphis an extra day so I PRAY they're still alive when they get here tomorrow because I've got one surviving plant left in bloom and Mrs Cough is plowing through our back supply with all of the weather fronts keeping her in constant pain.
C'mon rove beetles!
On a positive note, the Maui Wowie, Laughing Buddha, and Sour Diesel seedlings are quickly turning into young plants and the purple haze & purple panty dropper seedlings are looking happy. The veg tent is hanging in there but I lost an afghani last week to the mealybugs and I'm starting to see signs on some of the other plants as well. NOT a good time to start over or lose everything but it really feels like I just cant catch a break! At least the plants I lost in the bloom room have some medicinal value as they were in the last few weeks of flower I can still decarb what's there for edibles, etc

 

[Southerncough]

Time to flip some new ladies into bloom and transplant seedlings and clones into some new pots. I've really grown to love the fabric one gallon with the Velcro down the side for easy repotting down the road.
Last lady in bloom is the Pakistani who's getting pretty sticky and smells amazing
Joining her are two afghani lasses who will be the last I'm growing from a seed I popped years ago, Cindy 99 and grandmommy purple. All got a nice trim and topdressing before graduation.

 

[Southerncough]

Pakistani is entering her last week. Had an old bottle of winter frost laying around so I gave her some to see what happens. She's got a little mite damage but is the best looking/smelling bud I've grown in a while.
Now just gotta get all the stuff from the predator mites bedding off the flowers which isn't so easy with sticky bud.
The rest of the girls in bloom are looking good knock on wood