BJ's 38 degree NorCal backyard grow-The trials and tribulations of a moron

BigJon

Well-Known Member
Hey everybody! I'm a longtime lurker, but it's been a long time since I've been involved in an online community where I'm semi-anonymous so I decided to make this official and offer my electronic handshake. I try posting about my meds on FB, but I get very little "likes." And that sucks, because I know there a muhhfuhhs in the world who appreciate some good ganja talk!

Just like everybody else in California, I get super super excited when the sun comes out in February/March. I stayed patient, however. I watched. I waited. I blankly stared off into empty fields fantasizing about the potential until my wife wakes me up with a slap to the back of my bald head.

A little background: I'm a Prop215 medical patient living in NorCal, around 38 degrees. I have had success in the past doing what I thought was "living organics." My soil consisted simply of 50/50 FFOC and Kellog brand compost. I fed it nothing but machine dispensed reverse osmosis water and I top dressed it with some high quality bat guano when the flowers started to form. I had a wonderful harvest. The tastiest herbs my buddy's ever had. But in the few years since then, we had went from a house, to an apartment, to a trailer, to an apartment, back into a nice house.

I grew about 4 Purple Urkel clones and 5 Jack Herers. I know that seems out of my legal limit, Jack matures in my area around late September. So while the 5 are maturing, the 4 urkels can still pass as an immature plant that "may be a male." Of course, despite constant helicopters, I was left alone. I love California.



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BigJon

Well-Known Member
The problem with my version of living organics, is that there's a lot more things I could have added like earthworm castings, azomite, etc. I could have went with a bigger pots that year. I put one Urkel and one Herer right into the ground and they did fantastic. The rest did okay but I had some issues with a rootbound GDP I put out too early and a few of the Herers in those small pots. The urkels did well and most were transplanted mid season.

My yields suffered but the taste and high was superb. My urkels for sure approached 20% THC although lab testing was not as prevalent as it is today.

This year I will be going with SubCool's supersoil mix in 5 gallon buckets. Except for one plant.

Read on to find out what happened there.

April 1st

That Sunday morning I woke up in great spirits as I headed to the local Lowes to buy some soil to fill my raised vegetable box with. I was so excited about Spring, that I decided I should grow veggies to satisfy my urge to grow something.

I filled my box with 1/3rd proportions of peat moss, cow and chicken manure (composted), and perlite/vermiculite. I planted three kale plants, 1 early girl tomato, 3 collards, and 3 cucumbers.

I was so happy and ecstatic about my new raised bed!



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BigJon

Well-Known Member
April 5th

Woke up April 5th excited to see how my plants are doing only to be sorely dissapointed.

My Early Girl tomato and my cucumbers...dead. My kales and the collard seedlets I started weeks before were doing great. It was either a frost, with it being very cold that morning, OR I didn't let my soil mix sit long enough before planting. I'm pretty sure that's what it was. The kales and collards must have loved the extra nitrogen. Oh well. We live, we learn. I planted a few more kale seedlings I was going to throw away to fill up the spot where the early girl was and I moved a collard over to fill in more space and leave the bottom left corner of the box for some cannabis. I figured I would put in a Black feminized seed that I picked up from a local farmer for $1 each. Plans went a little different.
 

BigJon

Well-Known Member
April 6

I look at a local dispensary website and see that they have Jack Herer clones! I had to get one because I do not see Jack very often and I like her so much because of that September harvest and that lovely daytime high. Those are some genetics that I needed to have despite the fact that I am NOT prepared. I have zero indoor lights, but I do plan on at least being able to set up a small CFL grow for clones when she's big enough to give them.



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I originally intended to get a Lavender teen, but they were sold out. (I love my Urks, GDPs, and Lavs as great reliever of my gout symptoms.) Luckily, they had this lovely GDP that was very well rooted and almost a teen. I snatched her up. Again, it's all about genetics. I love my NorCal purple varieties. I have gout and a nice .5 blunt has me bouncing around like a kung fu fighter even during a gout attack. It's amazing.

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So even though I have no lighting, my plan was to keep it in the window during the day and in the kitchen at night to prevent it from flowering.
 

BigJon

Well-Known Member
looks legit bro i live on the coast near eureka hopefully i dont get any mold..
I'll be sending positive vibes your way! Stay away from the kushes!

April 9

Predicament-My cat loves the flavor of cannabis leaves. If I leave my plant as it is, rotating between window and lights, she is going to eat it.



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So I threw it out in the bottom left corner of my box. Because of how afraid of the burn from the tomates and cucumbers, I mixed in some mushroom compost to balance it out. My cannabis soil mixes have more stuff than my box planter but this was an emergency and I didn't have any other dirt to put it in.

However, its supposed to rain all week so I mocked up an umbrella for her.

I'm afraid of her preflowering, but I will pick off all I see and feed a fish emulsion or a high N tea (which i have never made before). But I know I dont want it to flower.



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BigJon

Well-Known Member
So here's where I have some questions. I'll need some help from the veteranos to help me get myself out of this hole I dug for myself.

Checkit...

1) GDP is in a 18inx18in hole. The first foot deep is manure, peat moss, perlite, and mushroom compost. Like I said above, my favorite clones come and are gone quick at the dispensaries. If I saw a strain I wanted, I have to get it, even if I'm not prepared for it. :/

Can I use dolomite lime and trace minerals (Glacier Rock is what I have access to) as a top dress? Or is it useless if I didn't premix it into my soil.

2) If I notice that it starts to flower, will picking small buds and feeding it high N fish emulsion keep it from flowering? Any idea how long that will set me back?
 

Humboldtchronic

Well-Known Member
Looks good man im confused too on when to put my clones outdoors you think may 1st would be alright dont want them to flower they will be about 1 foot tall I live near eureka.
 

BigJon

Well-Known Member
Thanks Placebofan! Let's just hope I'm lookin' good in October!

Green Please, Are you a pretty experienced outdoor grower? I do hope you’re right.

@Humboldt, the general rule of thumb is mid-may to june. In the past, when I put stuff out in March or April, my clone will go from a 3 inch clone to a foot tall flower. The risk is going from 24 hours light to close to 12 hours of darkness at night. The plant also feels the sudden drop in night time temperature. It can cause a plant to think that fall and winter is coming.

Are you growing your clone at home or mini guerilla? If you’re at home, gradually work its way down from 24 hours of light before you start hardening it off.
 

BigJon

Well-Known Member
April 11,

Very nice beautiful rainy day! I caught some rain water to soak some seeds in over night. I dropped about 15 seeds of Blueberry bagseed. It was from a free 8[SUP]th[/SUP] at a dispensary. I hope to get some lovely surprises from it and I’ll be bringing males to my mom’s greenhouse to finish.

I also have 4 feminized The Black seeds that I got from a farmer’s market that used to run in the city. The original seeds were from BCBD but created the feminine seeds himself and his The Black outdoor herb wasn’t great. But he’s a non-patient who went to cultivation school in Oaksterdam. I’m hoping my love of the plant can bring out more terpenes than he was able to produce.



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Because of the rain, I put up a ghetto umbrella with a garbage bag and 4 thin bamboo sticks.

My kitty eaten Jack Herer has new growth! Yay! Root system is coming along, might have to put it out this weekend. J

 

Humboldtchronic

Well-Known Member
My buddy is veging them for me till may I think they should be fine ill ask him to make sure there noy veging 24 hours we never get snow here and the last frost is over just Hella rain.
 

BigJon

Well-Known Member
Hey Humboldt, when you put your stuff out, are you gonna post pics? Or at least when they're flowering? Gatdamn I love some good ol' juicy bud pics. This time next year, I'll have an outdoor harvest because I hope to force myself to do some indoors come winter.

But until then!

I'm not so sure about the coloring of this GDP. Magnesium issues? PH balance issue? Whatever it is, it will have to wait a couple weeks cuz a brotha'$ broke. Still, it's standing strong and healthy and the new foliage is going to be lush.



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Jack Herrer's recovering super nice from the cat attack. Herrer's been out in the elements for 2 days. Partially protected by an opaque plastic box.
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She'll be transplanted in another week or so. I ran out of soil (again!). Can I put her in straight earth castings? That's bout all I got at this point.



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2 Black Feminized seeds popped in the papertowels. I planted them Saturday night so hopefully I see some leaves soon and one of my blueberry bagseeds (out of about 20!) has a root coming out. So I'll find a nice place for that.

What do you think guys? Any help would be appreciated. More strains coming soon!
 

Randm

Active Member
I'd be very wary of putting them out so early, due to them flowering on you. I know they will re-veg but does't that take productive time away from them and reduce yeilds? I was of the opinion that a solid 14 hrs of daylight is needed to prevent that, as well as adjusting the photoperiod of the young ones to 14 hrs daylight. Am I wrong here? Because of this nice weather I sure would like to get mine in the ground but due to the afforementiond problems I am hesitant to do so. I put mine in the ground last year between May 15 and June 1 and had fairly decent results of around a lb. per plant with no early flowering or other problems. I'm around 39 deg lat.
 

BigJon

Well-Known Member
I'd be very wary of putting them out so early, due to them flowering on you. I know they will re-veg but does't that take productive time away from them and reduce yeilds? I was of the opinion that a solid 14 hrs of daylight is needed to prevent that, as well as adjusting the photoperiod of the young ones to 14 hrs daylight. Am I wrong here? Because of this nice weather I sure would like to get mine in the ground but due to the afforementiond problems I am hesitant to do so. I put mine in the ground last year between May 15 and June 1 and had fairly decent results of around a lb. per plant with no early flowering or other problems. I'm around 39 deg lat.
The Jack Herrer gets interrupted light at night. I don't let it get more than 4-6 hours of darkness after the sun goes down.

The GDP I put in the ground because of emergency. It was too big to hide from my cat on the window sill and I didn't have any soil to put it in. If she starts to flower I'm going to pull the small buds off and hit her with some fish emulsion.

You're doing it just right, I just bought my clones because they were favorite strains and I wasn't sure when I'd see them come through the club again. Plus I'm married with children so when I have money I have to spend it because I might not have it later.

I dont think its the 14 hours of light they need as much as they don't need 12 hours of dark.
 

BigJon

Well-Known Member
Thanks No Clue! I'm posting and learning myself! :) In a few years, I hope to really know what I"m doing lol
 
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