Karri0n's 2008 Outdoor Companion Grow

[size=+2] Karri0n's 2008 outdoor Companion Grow[/size]

I did not notice any companion grows on here, so I decided to try one. I started off with extreme noob growing the first half of veg, so not much scientific data available as to the effectiveness of FIM, topping, supercropping, and LST on different plants. I did, however, notice that LST made them grow new shoots far faster and far more than any other method. As of this point I will not be stressing the hell out of them any further and will use LST until it comes time for flower, when I will unbind them. The feed for all plants is Espoma Dried Blood, 1 handful per gallon weekly during veg. I will be switching to half this amount and substituting the other half with Alaska liquid fish emulsion (5-1-1) and Maxicrop liquid fish fertilizer (5-1-1) at 1 tbsp each per gallon and respectively until flower. I will then be using Metanaturals Bloom (1-5-5). All plants are currently 3-4 feet in height, and vary in bushiness/number of fan leaves. I will keep this post updated throughout the grow. Pics to come.

1. 3x "xmas trees" - Bag seed from unknown *nice* bud acquired from a friend on xmas. The product did not smell or taste of pine. Shared 8 gallon container.

Germed: Mar 1
Planted: March 5
Transplanted: March 30 from Plastic cups to wooden crate
Transplanted: June 20 from wooden crate to large polyethylene pot

Topped 2x in april-may, then LST in june, continued until flower.

2.5x random Mid-grade bagseed. Shared 18" x 4' plot.

Germed: Mar 1
Planted: March 5
Transplanted: March 30 from Plastic cups to wooden crate
Transplanted: June 30 from wooden crate to earth

Topped 1x in may, LST July 1, continued until flower.

3. 1x random Mid-grade bagseed. Directly in earth.

Germed: Mar 1
Planted: March 5 into earth

Planted directly into the earth, topped May 20. FIM, Supercropped and main stem accidentally [size=+1]MUTILATED[/size] june 20. LST to come in July after full stem recovery.

The following plants were placed into the same soil and grown next to all of the plants. Their uses are listed as well.:

***Beans - Nitrogen enhancer - planted(direct sow) 7/4/2008

Garlic - insect, deer, & disease control

***Mint - Pest control, growth enhancer - germed 7/5/2008

Yarrow - Pest control & excellent fertilizer, increased oil/thc production

***Chile pepper - root rot & deer deterrent - germed 7/5/2008

Beet - improves garlic & beans; adds large amounts of trace nutrients to soil(also great compost)

If you want more info on companion growing, here are a few links.

https://www.rollitup.org/organics/87218-organic-companion-planting.html

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/04-26/beneficial-insect-natural-pest-control-article.htm

http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html

http://rootsandharmony.com/companion-planting/

I will be watching this one with interest....

does each plant have a different companion?

or are your plants like partying with like 6 companions each? thats wild.

And I assume your growing outdoors? or are you doing this indoors? that would also be wild.

this is outdoors, and the plants are all in shared plots that will have all the companions. If I had a large enough scale, I could do a different companion for each plant to see different results, but the real purpose is to create a miniature ecosystem with proper nitrogen and energy cycles. There are, however, several problems I have regarding my progress with this grow. The first, and most glaring, I used far too many training techniques and did a few of them poorly(regarding supercropping: I feel like a butcher at this point. only about 3 of 15 stems don't have cracks in them that I did this with). Secondly, I underestimated the size of root system I would need, so my wooden crates needed to be scrapped in late june, which meant a full transplant of 5 and 3 large plants. This really put a lot of shock on the plants, and they took about a week to recover. The third thing is that I didn't get around to planting my companions early enough. I would have liked to have that nitrogen boost from the beans to be kicking around early may rather than late july. I take this one as a learning experience, but I also know that I have around 9 weeks of veg at least left, and hope to recover a lot of this by then.

wow best of luck, this is unique, i have family that do this with their non marijuana gardens. nice.

Update:

Currently the bean seeds have germinated, and it appears I have beans everywhere except the single outdoor plant that is not with the others. The potted three and the five other outdoor ones have bean sprouts. It appears the other plant has finally recovered fully from the terrible job I did at supercropping, as it has taken the lead as far as number of leaves. This makes sense as it is the only plant not to have suffetred transplant shock. The five other outdoor plants were transplanted in a bit of a hurry, and the plot definitely doesn't look as neat as I would like it to. I fear it also has very compact/rocky soil below where I tilled. These plants are not doing very well atm, but are starting to gain a few leaves. some have only 3 leaves on them, and are two and a half feet tall. The potted LST'd plants are doing well, and have gained a signifigant number of leaves and new tops. As of now, the best plant seems to be the one I messed with the least.(go figure) This plant was put directly in the ground from its plastic cup, and was topped only once, much later than I began topping the others. I DID horribly mutilate the stem in a badly failed supercropping attempt, but this one is growing best now. it has by far the most new branches and tops, and just looks generally healthier than the rest. I still haven't gotten any pics, but I will do that soon.