The girls are doing okay. I ended up being a bit too enthusiastic by putting them in the ground so early in May. Even though we were getting 14+ hrs of sun, one of the Durban Poison went into flower, which explains the excessive stretch it experienced during the first 2 weeks outdoor. It's now in a confused state of re-veging, so I lost a couple of weeks of early veg time on that one. None of the other plants, including a 2nd DP, show signs of flowering.
I haven't read about this recently so this is my not-so-great memory at work, but I think I've heard that it's a good idea to cut off the flowers that started and let the plant put its energy into new growth rather than creating the mutated growth that happens around it's trying to re-veg existing partial flowers? I'm sure there's good info around that somewhere on RIU, so I definitely suggest verifying that before you do anything -- and it seems that all "advice" can be specific to the situation, for instance how far along in flower it is before it switches back to veg may impact whether it's best to take action or just let the plant work it out.
I've been impressed by the growth of the Jorge's Diamonds. I'm usually not one to be attracted to F1 hybrids because I like to produce my own fem seeds so I want something genetically stable, but the JD check all the boxes on cannabinoid profile, and it's developing into a nice, tall, bushy shrub with copious bud sites. If it finishes early enough, it'll probably end up being my go-to outdoor plant.
For my 4th plant, I chose to go with Medical OG Kush that's supposed to be a early finisher, instead of the R2 Skunk that I'd originally planned. It also seems to be a nice, bush plant, and I'm wanting to mix it in with the rest of my harvest to boost the CBD % to soothe my poor, old joints. It's about 3 weeks behind the other 3, so still < a foot.
Sounds like you do your research, that usually pays off. We invest a lot of time and money into this process, might as well stack the cards in our favor. There are so many variables between pheno variation and marketing claims vs. reality, that it often comes down to probabilities. I have found, for instance, that with Mephisto seeds I have a high likelihood that 90% of the seeds will produce quality flower, even if the final result does not match their description in terms of plant size, harvest output, or flavor. It must be hard from their point of view, since we are all growing in different circumstances and these are... well, plants.
I've had a tendency to go for "over shoot", and grow 50%(+/-) more than I need to account for the inevitable unforeseeable mishaps and underachievers, but I'd like to work towards a more confined, controlled, and manageable outcomes over time. I'll lose some of the fun of endless variety, but gain efficiency and predictability.
Yup, it's been a slow couple of weeks, but the weather this week should produce a foliage explosion. I'll be interested to hear how your bug netting works out.
Funny thing, as I was typing the netting arrived. And it works out well, since I can't find any burlap and need something to cut the sunlight a bit while they harden. When I ordered this product, my plan was to have the girls much further apart (because of garden logistics and a tree stump...), so I got a really big net. As it turns out, the plants are much closer together. The big net is serving a purpose because I have it quadrupled over at the moment, later in the afternoon I'll just double it, and then by end of day tomorrow I can bring it back to just one layer. That should help them transition from cobs to sunlight.
I have tomato cages over them, if they stay as small as I suspect they will, that might hold up the netting and I won't need to even put up any hoops. I'll cross all the bridges as I get to them.