Okay, here we go again.
Last year was a failure. I had lots of plants going and they were in great condition but then my water line froze. I should have run another hose from the house to the back shed but I didn't think of it. When the plants started showing signs of dehydration, I attempted to use water from my hot tub, which I got rid of the chlorine from but not whatever else was in there, and that water killed all my plants.
That shed was too far away. That shed had too many plants. Not for space but just for paying attention to. My foot hurt last year, more than usual, and I procrastinated dragging myself out there. That shed was too far away to have any automation relayed back to me without going into extreme tech measures which I was avoiding.
This year I'll throw a 150-ft ethernet cable back there. But I won't be using it this year for most of the effort. It's just too far for me to walk to when the weather is yucky. I'm old.
I have lots of reasons or excuses for last year's failure. Let's see if I can fix it this year.
First of all, get mail order clones, not seeds. I can't get clones locally but I can have them shipped for 40 bucks apiece. That saves me 4 weeks of fragile nursery time and early vegetative mode. Well worth it.
Risks of clones are disease or parasites. Keep a close eye.
I got the following. It took 4 days from the order and was shipped overnight as promised. Described in order of picture like clockwork, starting in the upper right.
Key lime pie: indica/sativa hybrid strain bred from Durban Poison, OG Kush and Cherry Pie. Perfectly happy looking.
DJ Blueberry: 80% indica. Cross of purple thai and Afghan. Showed up a bit tall but very happy looking. I expect indica to be short and bushy but lack of light can make it tall. Very happy with this one.
Orange Cookies: indica hybrid crossing Girl Scout Cookies with Orange Juice. This one looks sad. Showed up with lots of leaf burn. I'll give it a couple of weeks before I complain to see if the new growth is good or bad.
Pineapple Express: sativa-dominant crossing Trainwreck with Hawaiian strains. I failed on Maui Wowie last year. Let's see what happens here. I expect to have to do a serious tie down with this one.
Super silver Haze: 80% sativa Cross of Northern Lights, Haze and Skunk #1. I've been looking for this for 15 years. I saw it in High Times and really wanted it. I never came across it. Finally. This is very tight and bushy looking. Unexpected for sativa dominant. Looks very good. I suspect this one got a lot of light to start off with.
Grow environment is a small shed. About 6x6. Sloping roof. Washington state. Rarely freezes, rarely gets hot. Attached to the front of my house. 15 steps down and five steps to the door. Never gets any sun. Doors open to enclosed overhang space.
I use mylar backed bubble wrap insulation. I cover the walls and ceiling with multiple layers of it. I use a lot of double-sided carpet tape and T-Rex tape.
The hose is right there. It has a filter good for 8,000 gallons to handle chlorine, chloramine, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It's the best water in the house.
Inside the shed I have several baker’s racks shelving units. They have varying heights due to the fact of the sloping roof. They're wrapped and covered with multiple layers of the mylar bubble wrap. They have perfect temperature and air flow control.
The floor of the shed is left bare. I want to be able to hose it down if I have to. There are some vents left open on the upper sides of the shed.
The shed has a single high amp (sideways blade) 120 v line coming into some very convenient power distribution strips with individual switches for every outlet monitored by something that shows me the what the draw is at all times. I can easily run multiple lines from additional dedicated circuits. I don't see needing them though. My max pull will be around 1,000 w when flowering. I love winter growing, no AC required.
The main power strip goes through a GFCI intermediate cord for safety. Nothing touches the floor and nothing electrical is in any path of water flow possibility.
... More in next post because this one got too big ...
Last year was a failure. I had lots of plants going and they were in great condition but then my water line froze. I should have run another hose from the house to the back shed but I didn't think of it. When the plants started showing signs of dehydration, I attempted to use water from my hot tub, which I got rid of the chlorine from but not whatever else was in there, and that water killed all my plants.
That shed was too far away. That shed had too many plants. Not for space but just for paying attention to. My foot hurt last year, more than usual, and I procrastinated dragging myself out there. That shed was too far away to have any automation relayed back to me without going into extreme tech measures which I was avoiding.
This year I'll throw a 150-ft ethernet cable back there. But I won't be using it this year for most of the effort. It's just too far for me to walk to when the weather is yucky. I'm old.
I have lots of reasons or excuses for last year's failure. Let's see if I can fix it this year.
First of all, get mail order clones, not seeds. I can't get clones locally but I can have them shipped for 40 bucks apiece. That saves me 4 weeks of fragile nursery time and early vegetative mode. Well worth it.
Risks of clones are disease or parasites. Keep a close eye.
I got the following. It took 4 days from the order and was shipped overnight as promised. Described in order of picture like clockwork, starting in the upper right.
Key lime pie: indica/sativa hybrid strain bred from Durban Poison, OG Kush and Cherry Pie. Perfectly happy looking.
DJ Blueberry: 80% indica. Cross of purple thai and Afghan. Showed up a bit tall but very happy looking. I expect indica to be short and bushy but lack of light can make it tall. Very happy with this one.
Orange Cookies: indica hybrid crossing Girl Scout Cookies with Orange Juice. This one looks sad. Showed up with lots of leaf burn. I'll give it a couple of weeks before I complain to see if the new growth is good or bad.
Pineapple Express: sativa-dominant crossing Trainwreck with Hawaiian strains. I failed on Maui Wowie last year. Let's see what happens here. I expect to have to do a serious tie down with this one.
Super silver Haze: 80% sativa Cross of Northern Lights, Haze and Skunk #1. I've been looking for this for 15 years. I saw it in High Times and really wanted it. I never came across it. Finally. This is very tight and bushy looking. Unexpected for sativa dominant. Looks very good. I suspect this one got a lot of light to start off with.
Grow environment is a small shed. About 6x6. Sloping roof. Washington state. Rarely freezes, rarely gets hot. Attached to the front of my house. 15 steps down and five steps to the door. Never gets any sun. Doors open to enclosed overhang space.
I use mylar backed bubble wrap insulation. I cover the walls and ceiling with multiple layers of it. I use a lot of double-sided carpet tape and T-Rex tape.
The hose is right there. It has a filter good for 8,000 gallons to handle chlorine, chloramine, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It's the best water in the house.
Inside the shed I have several baker’s racks shelving units. They have varying heights due to the fact of the sloping roof. They're wrapped and covered with multiple layers of the mylar bubble wrap. They have perfect temperature and air flow control.
The floor of the shed is left bare. I want to be able to hose it down if I have to. There are some vents left open on the upper sides of the shed.
The shed has a single high amp (sideways blade) 120 v line coming into some very convenient power distribution strips with individual switches for every outlet monitored by something that shows me the what the draw is at all times. I can easily run multiple lines from additional dedicated circuits. I don't see needing them though. My max pull will be around 1,000 w when flowering. I love winter growing, no AC required.
The main power strip goes through a GFCI intermediate cord for safety. Nothing touches the floor and nothing electrical is in any path of water flow possibility.
... More in next post because this one got too big ...
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