nice work veggiegardner. lot of people seem to hate our valley for the same weather that grows such beautiful plants. year after year - no mold, no fungus, 8 month season with 7.5 weeks of clear sunny days...love it. glad to see another cencal grower using that quadrillion-mega watt ultra enhanced super spectrum light. unfortunately i have to keep it small - my neighbors are gangsta. i could only wish for a retired cop, or two dozen. subscribing and looking forward to some inspiration. keep it up.
My Outdoor Garden-2010
- Thread starter veggiegardener
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veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
Can I ask what your location is, roughly? I'm near the Sacramento River Delta. PM, if you prefer.
I'm a huge fan of the Sun. Worked my entire career, outdoors, in heavy construction. I hate being inside when the sun is shining, and as you know, we get sunshine over 80% of the time.
I'm a huge fan of the Sun. Worked my entire career, outdoors, in heavy construction. I hate being inside when the sun is shining, and as you know, we get sunshine over 80% of the time.
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
Hmmm...
I'm not usually that pushy. I'm as paranoid as the next guy and should know better.
I was thinking it would be good to talk to someone experiencing the same weather, bugs, etc.
no worries.
im in the fresno/madera area so pretty much the same weather id imagine. you must get some delta breeze in summer eves though. no such luck for us. but still, i love it more every year. bugs love it too. constant battle with mites indoors, which i think i may be winning right now. knock on wood. outdoors theres the valley usual - caterpillars (loopers ithink..) aphids and this year i had a crazy grasshopper hatch. i went out to look at my ladies one eve as light was fading and it looked like the leaves were moving. they were covered with baby grasshoppers, less than 1/4 inch long. hundreds and hundreds of em. i freaked and just dove in, a ten-fingered grasshopper squishin machine. every morning and eve for about 3 weeks i would have a smoosh session. at the end my fingers were stained green! but i got the bastards. only time ive ever had a prob with fungus or mold was a couple years ago when it rained on my uncovered plants in sept. purely my fault and completely avoidable. what kinds of creepy-crawlies do you get? roughly the same, i imagine...
im in the fresno/madera area so pretty much the same weather id imagine. you must get some delta breeze in summer eves though. no such luck for us. but still, i love it more every year. bugs love it too. constant battle with mites indoors, which i think i may be winning right now. knock on wood. outdoors theres the valley usual - caterpillars (loopers ithink..) aphids and this year i had a crazy grasshopper hatch. i went out to look at my ladies one eve as light was fading and it looked like the leaves were moving. they were covered with baby grasshoppers, less than 1/4 inch long. hundreds and hundreds of em. i freaked and just dove in, a ten-fingered grasshopper squishin machine. every morning and eve for about 3 weeks i would have a smoosh session. at the end my fingers were stained green! but i got the bastards. only time ive ever had a prob with fungus or mold was a couple years ago when it rained on my uncovered plants in sept. purely my fault and completely avoidable. what kinds of creepy-crawlies do you get? roughly the same, i imagine...
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
The caterpillars in the valley are the offspring of the "Skipper" butterfly. They are energetic and voracious. Use Bacillus Thurengiensis(Caterpillar Killer) a couple times a month from July 1st on. I only saw two of the worms this year, and one was already dead.
Whoa! Good work on the grasshoppers! I've been lucky, mostly because I have a large buffer of neighbors who all use extermination services, like Clarke's.
Like you, mold is rarely a problem, even in the Spring, when I usually mature a seed crop.
Pictured below is a White Widow and another cross that were baking seeds, last Spring. My tags are visible, I think.
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nice. that durban mix is really pretty plant with those sharp serrations. yeah, i BT my whole yard. my ladies are mixed in with the veggies, so i have to be on it as far as killin bugs. i did a couple trainwrecks last year, kept tying em down so they were only about a foot tall, but the two took up an entire 4'x8' raised bed, floppin over the edges about a foot either side. no pix though...dangit. it was pretty cool...trainwreck, while not my favorite strain (at all) is just a champion here. sucks up that sun.
skipper butterfly...not sure about that one. lots of cabbage moths though. my wife thinks theyre pretty...
skipper butterfly...not sure about that one. lots of cabbage moths though. my wife thinks theyre pretty...
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
Did you ever meet a guy by the name of "DC Greenhouse"? Not his real name but is the one he was best known by. He had a dispensary in your area.
dont know anyone by that name. which disp was he associated with? madera and fresno (long known for their progressive attitudes...sarcasm, heavy) shut em all down in oct or nov. way to stand up for states rights, counties. in fresno, all businesses in the city have to be run in accordance to local, state and federal law. which is odd because dea said they are done busting legit disps in ca. theyre already opening up in county islands within the city. its funny...cant do it here, but if you go across the street they cant say anything.
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
About five years ago his dispensary was shut down and the feds sentenced him to ten years. Very bad scene. I haven't heard anything since. Just thought you might have heard. He was pretty high profile for a while.
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
I found a story that might interest you, on the subject.
http://www.counterpunch.org/gardner08132005.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/gardner08132005.html
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
The reason I mention him is that we met at several functions. My wife and I even attended a retreat at his (20 acre) place. It was actually quite a success as it drew several dozen MMJ activists including a couple pro Cannabis Libertarian candidates, an MMJ doctor and several MMJ lawyers.
As time passed, it became obvious that he couldn't accept "Yes" for an answer. He didn't understand the benefits of trying to work WITH the authorities, instead of being adversaries.
I understand his attitude. Cannabis has forced most of us "old timers" into a paranoid space that is difficult to escape. We've seen a crooked legal system destroy good people over a shrub.
Nevertheless, it's a new day, and time for us to try to work WITH the regulators.
Sorry for the speech. DC shouldn't be in prison, but at the same time, he was too radicalized to be a trustworthy leader.
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
i understand his attitude as well. and agree that he shouldnt have been arrested in the first place, as he was operating under the (somewhat vague..)laws of the state of california. seems like he shouldve tried to maintain a slightly lower profile. while only a medium-old-timer myself, gardenings been a family affair and pops taught me well - you need a good paranoid streak balanced with a healthy dose of calm-the-fuck-down. too much makes you crazy, not enough gets you dead or busted. fact is im still a little leary about having gotten my county card. it is cool having somethign with the state seal, my picture and the mmj greenlight all on the front though.
nice babies. when do you usually put them outside? i like the cuttings myself, nice and predictable, but it sucks having to wait til june to put em putside. im gonna try for a spring crop this year though. probably put them out 1st march.
nice babies. when do you usually put them outside? i like the cuttings myself, nice and predictable, but it sucks having to wait til june to put em putside. im gonna try for a spring crop this year though. probably put them out 1st march.
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
They go out very soon after pollination. Usually mid March if weather permits. Not all plants get pollen, but I like that as a guide. Most strains begin to show signs of revegging about April 15th, which gives me just enoiugh time to mature and harvest the mature and seeded buds.
slabhead
Well-Known Member
This is so true. It riles me up when I see someone say the deer or cattle won't eat the cannabis. BS!
I'm curious as to why the plants in post #45 are so small and flowering. Were they put out while the hours were still too short or did you intentionally flower them indoors before setting out? It seems like with your long growing season you'd want bigger plants for a bigger harvest.
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
The best I've done with pollen is freezing it for about six months. Even then, some strain's pollen didn't survive.
I do save pollen through the summer to use on plants about August 15th. About half(12) of the pollenated kholas produced seeds, this Fall.
Old seeds are tricky. I suggest you sand the seeds(a jar or match box lined with a fine sandpaper, shaken with seeds in it).
Although I've never tried the following, I've heard people say that a couple drops of dish soap and a pinch of sugar in the the soaking solution can be helpful when germinating old seeds.
veggiegardener
Well-Known Member
Talking about cattle reminds me of a friend who'd lost a crop when a rancher let his cattle into a previously unused field where he had a bunch of plants. His plants were scattered throughout a huge stand of willows along a local waterway. Those steers found every plant and munched them thoroughly.
The friend told me about the disaster and asked about remedies. Half kidding, I suggested he go to the Zoo and request lion and tiger droppings. I'd heard, many years before that all herbivores will avoid such smells.
Turned out my friend had a family member who was an assistant Zoo Keeper. He took buckets of Big Cat poop out to his spot, the following Spring, and through the summer.
It WORKED! Not a single plant was bothered.
The plants pictured in Post #45 were matured in the Spring for seeds, and revegged naturally. A couple pix of the same group of plants in the Fall.
