Thai Sativa Outdoor Scrog Grow

G'day gents & ladies, new member here, I'm hoping to share my current outdoor Thai sativa grow log on the forum. For this run I'm trialling an outdoor scrog set-up in my small 1m³ area to maximise harvest quantity, reduce the chance of bud rot, mould & places for bugs to hide plus keeping them from growing too tall.

My first/last run with this strain I just let them grow without any training so I could see how they perform naturally. All plants ended up with massive main colas with a few side branches that all needed support to keep them from bending over and hitting the ground when it would rain. Each plant had genetic foxtails appear before harvest. Once dried and cured the smoke was great, just not enough of it as I only had 7 untrained plants. Here's a couple pics taken during that last grow.



This current grow I've still only got about the same amount of plants (9) as last time but I expect there will be many more heads as I've got plenty of squares to fill-up in the scrog. Last grow I only had one male out of the 8 plants, I'm hoping this year will be the same...I should know in the coming weeks as the summer solstice is only a few days away now and I live just under the tropic of cancer. Maximum sunlight is a bit over 13hrs at summer solstice here and a minimum of 11hrs of sunlight around the winter solstice. It is possible to grow year round in this location.

Anyway, the scrogs going great, I've already filled around 30 holes in the net over the last week, with about another 60 odd spaces to fill up as the girls will stretch even more coming into flower over the next month. I've set my net quite high as it allows the plants a better vantage point for the sun and it gives me plenty of room to get underneath to spray for aphids and to keep a decent amount of airflow passing beneath the canopy. I've added a mosquito net as there's thousands of grasshoppers around at the moment, doesn't appear to have affected the wind flow negatively, more than likely due to having alot of wind where they are positioned. I've also added a small clear plastic roof this year as we get torrential rains that not only weigh them down but also lead to overwatering symptoms and root rot.

All seeds are planted straight in the ground in an old compost pile. I don't feed any nutrients throughout the grow and my water comes straight from the river. I use neem oil for pest prevention up until flowering, after that I use my own mix of garlic, chilli etc spray. If they need more food I will use my own homemade nutrients.

Here's some pics since planting the seeds on the 9th of April.


First topping after the 5th nodes fan leaves were big and strong.

Few days after topping, new shoots look healthy.

Can easily see how the node and the stem have really bulked up after topping.

Second topping after the 2nd node before training begins under the scrog.
Little praying mantis I found in the garden last week, with any luck he'll help me control some of the bugs this batch.

Last picture is from today the 19th of June. The net is filling up well, hopefully pre-flowering begins soon.

I appreciate anyone tuning in, I'll update the grow journal regularly. Cheers.

@Thai Fox Welcome to RIU!
Nice start to your run. I like the custom scrog net!

CaliRootz88 said:

@Thai Fox Welcome to RIU!
Nice start to your run. I like the custom scrog net!

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Thank you for welcoming me mate cheers, the scrog net is a little unconventional as I do try use whatever I've already got around the house, but next year I will definitely use hootchie cord for the entire net or another product that doesn't hold water as I'm sure the small rope I've used now could become a spot for mold to grow.

I'm also in Thailand, but i do indoor hydroponics.

Was wondering about outdoor grow. Isn't it too hot and wet for them to grow outdoors?
I mean I'm burning under a thai sun, im sure they would too or do you just put them in shade?

White.Black said:

I'm also in Thailand, but i do indoor hydroponics.

Was wondering about outdoor grow. Isn't it too hot and wet for them to grow outdoors?
I mean I'm burning under a thai sun, im sure they would too or do you just put them in shade?

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I guess it depends on the location mate, for example it doesn't get very hot up in the mountains. Plants are also accustomed to wherever they grow so there's no real issues. The water could be a problem if you can't dry them out quick enough though. Definitely don't give them any shade, rather cut the surrounding trees to allow more sun

Thai Fox said:

I guess it depends on the location mate, for example it doesn't get very hot up in the mountains. Plants are also accustomed to wherever they grow so there's no real issues. The water could be a problem if you can't dry them out quick enough though. Definitely don't give them any shade, rather cut the surrounding trees to allow more sun

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I'm not in the mountains. Down here it's up to 40c in the sun. 29c at night. In shade it's 33 34.

Was contemplating 4 or 5 pots behind the house, but don't want to burn them, or even drown them in the upcoming months, when the rainy season hits.

Your stuff looks great btw. Will follow.

Thai Fox said:

I guess it depends on the location mate, for example it doesn't get very hot up in the mountains. Plants are also accustomed to wherever they grow so there's no real issues. The water could be a problem if you can't dry them out quick enough though. Definitely don't give them any shade, rather cut the surrounding trees to allow more sun

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i could be wrong, but you sound a bit like an aussie, living the good life in thailand, good luck with the grow mate, will be watching the grow

White.Black said:

I'm not in the mountains. Down here it's up to 40c in the sun. 29c at night. In shade it's 33 34.

Was contemplating 4 or 5 pots behind the house, but don't want to burn them, or even drown them in the upcoming months, when the rainy season hits.

Your stuff looks great btw. Will follow.

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I think you'd be right starting some outside no dramas at all mate, I'd get them in now too if I was you as you'll be harvesting around chrissy if growing sativas. My guess is they'd probably get a foot tall before flowering then stretching to 6 foot if left untrained...

The rain may give you issues though, is there anyway to throw a small piece of clear plastic over the top? I've only put a small piece over mine the same size as the canopy and it's been working a treat during this years rainy season (although not in flower yet) which has included 1 solid week of rain with basically no breaks at all. Last year they grew from seed to harvest without any covering and they didn't get any mold or root rot, all they needed was some support to stop the colas from laying on the ground. The aphids are a pain in the arse though.

Cheers, it is a great smoke, lovely smell and taste and also very easy and quick to chop up compared to the stuff most people sell here full of seeds, mould, spiders, low THC from cutting at the wrong time etc.

bursto said:

i could be wrong, but you sound a bit like an aussie, living the good life in thailand, good luck with the grow mate, will be watching the grow

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Haha you're on the ball mate. Yeah not a bad gig over here that's for sure!
Cheers, I'll continue to update as things progress.

Hello from Korat, here since 9/2000. Out in the paddies by close to Pimai.
Now that's it's legal here, time to do some hydro and maybe some dirt grows.Have to wait till I get back from my first trip back to the U$ in 15 years, mid July.
Nice looking grow TF
Lamok555

Lamok555 said:

Hello from Korat, here since 9/2000. Out in the paddies by close to Pimai.
Now that's it's legal here, time to do some hydro and maybe some dirt grows.Have to wait till I get back from my first trip back to the U$ in 15 years, mid July.
Nice looking grow TF
Lamok555

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Sounds like a plan mate, get stuck in

G'day again, just a quick update now that the summer solstice has just passed. I've since given the girls a couple inches of top dressing with a little bone meal and a few buckets of soil I stole from the missus's tomato patch. That should hopefully feed everyone through until harvest. I've only added it this year though as we were running light on compost due to planting heaps of different fruits & veggies around the house which used most of the good stuff. A dusting of cinnamon over the top has kept the animals away as it has masked the bone meal smell.

Most foliage under the canopy has been gradually pruned over the last 2mths making spraying underneath the leaves much easier now, especially now they're being trained beneath the net. I'm just waiting on the last couple plants to reach the canopy before giving them all a final lollipopping.

The rough 4x4 net squares have worked out quite well for these plants due to their long internodal spacing, although I'd go 3x3 if running a scrog again as it would help with fine adjustments when tucking. I wouldn't change the height but I'd definitely use a smaller diameter rope, ultimately the same hootchie cord that I've used in the corner would be perfect for the entire screen. There's only a few millimetres difference in size but the larger rope does still block some of the light hitting various bud sites. Another option to run the branches out could be to just tie them down on top of the net, rather than tucking them under it. I can think of a few pros and cons to using both methods or even a combination of the two but I guess the final say will come down to the particular plant being trained.

Some plants are now showing pre-flowers, the one's I can see by eye are all females by the looks of it, just need to continue to monitor them closely over the next few weeks to weed out any males. I may try to use the dslr in the next few days, as I should be able to zoom right in for a clearer image rather than using the phone.

The praying mantis is still alive, not sure how much he's been working yet but either way I've got no real issues with pests, I can thank the neem oil and homemade sprays for that this year! With any luck the mantis will grow a bit more and once the flowers arrive he'll be more of a team player. I'm also going to try introduce some ladybugs next week as I will stop using the neem oil once the good stuff starts growing. Nets slowly filling up.

Anyway that's about all I've got to report at the moment. Cheers.

G'day again, all plants have now reached the net and are growing along underneath it without too many dramas. Considering we've had pretty constant rain here lately I think everything is tracking along okay. Rain won't be an issue anymore now though as I've since put up a bigger clear plastic roof. I made the scrog net a little larger, there's around 150 squares to play with inside the mosquito net now. Filling up nicely.

The underside of the canopy has been trimmed a couple more times over the last week, I'd say only 1 or 2 more sessions before all of the leaves will have been removed from underneath the scrog. The plants are looking super healthy and growing quite steadily, their stems have been thickening up quickly since reaching the net.
I've added another little top dressing as I picked up some worm castings, and then gave the ground a dusting of diatomaceous earth. I dug out about half a cubic metre of red clay from right beside the girls and replaced it with an organic compost/bone meal/worm castings & pearlite mix in preparation for next seasons grow. I have also caught 50 or so lady beetles around the house over the last couple afternoons, great timing heading into flower within the month. I haven't had to spray any neem oil or anything else on them for over a week now. The praying mantis is still going well, he never tries to leave when I keep the screen open. I seen him shed his skin the other day and then eat some sort of a fly.

The plants are getting quite smelly when tucking them back under the net. I can see a few girls but still waiting to weed out any males that may pop up.
The plants outside the scrog in the picture below were only planted as a back up and for also attracting the bugs away from the main scrog. They have actually come along not too bad though, so I've since planted one in the ground under that white scrog net I knocked up yesterday. I will be using the net as a support structure rather than training underneath it like the main scrog.

Will update again once I know how many females I'm working with. Cheers.

G'day, well we weren't as lucky as last year which produced only 1 male from 8 plants, this year I've had to remove 5 males from the original 9 scrog plants. Here's 1 of the males pictured below.

Here's what the screen looks like after removing all of the males.

Seems like a lot of males but when you add in the outside back up 3 plants, which 2 of them were females, then that gives 6 females and 6 males out of the original 12 seeds.
Anyway is what it is, I've since been using one of the outside female back up plants to help fill in the scrog from the other end (plant on the left that hasn't been lollipoped).

It was no hassle at all removing the males from the scrog and one positive that came out of it was seeing how healthy the males roots were when pulling them out of the soil.

I'd say I'm just under halfway home at this point, the plants that are left are about 13-14wks old since planting the seeds. I picked up a few gadgets online for a bit of fun and also to get a rough idea of my growing conditions. Here is a PH tester and PPM tester checking the river water I use for feeding, PH = 6.4 and PPM = 43

The soil probe was showing a PH of 6.5-6.8 and and the fertility was around 5.5-6.0 it appears all those numbers must be providing a pretty decent grow environment going by the plants overall health.

I have added a layer of rice straw to invite spiders & good bacteria to take care of them throughout their long upcoming flowering cycle, which I feel they are pretty well primed for this year. I found a bigger praying mantis and her ootheca to add to the room a few weeks ago. I later seen her trying to chase one of the littler ones down but she ended up settling for a meal on a couple of my ladybugs.

Although I think the lady bugs and praying mantises would have possibly helped to control the upcoming attacks from aphids, whiteflies & mites as I won't be spraying any more neem oil, I still decided to remove the mosquito net. I feel it was restricting too much airflow as well as sunlight and it was limiting the space the plants could potentially spread out into during flower. Plus it makes it much easier on my back and the plants did seem to look a little healthier after a few days of the net being removed.
After pulling so many males I went and planted another 4 seeds and took three cuttings from two of the females, they'll hopefully get a month of veg in before flowering, they may end up running a little long but with any luck all wrapped up before chrissy.

I'll update again once I've got pistils and my training sessions start to cease. Cheers.

Hi Fox, now that is it legal do you expect there to be some vendors producing seeds in Thailand? I'd love to get some true Thai genetics to grow in tropics

Roo. said:

Hi Fox, now that is it legal do you expect there to be some vendors producing seeds in Thailand? I'd love to get some true Thai genetics to grow in tropics

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Plenty I'd say mate, if it really does turn out to be legal then every man and his dog will be trying to make money from cannabis paraphernalia in some form. A real great opportunity for many. For sure there's going to be a lot of scams and poor quality products getting around but there should be some select suppliers providing good gear I'd say.

G'day again, all plants are now 4 months old since planting seeds. Pistils have started to emerge. I moved the wall behind them back a bit to make training sessions easier on my back. The scrog net is nearly full and slowly moving into the overflow areas. Since there's quite alot of branches going everywhere, I started training on top of the net using small cable ties to pull them down instead of pulling them back underneath to a new square. It has been much easier manipulating them and spreading them out, plus I think the net should help to support them once they start getting heavy.

The bottom of the stalks are still fattening up but so have some of the branches in the net.

Here's a pic of those back-up seedlings I started after pulling out so many males.

And here's that cutting I trialled putting in a cup of water a couple weeks ago, it has started to root so I'll be moving it into a pot tomorrow. If it survives I atleast know it will be a female.

I've also scored some auto flowering seeds which I'm pretty excited about because if all goes well they'll be done before the scrog is harvested, plus I'm not going to be training them at all so they're going to be easy to take care of...I guess we'll see how they go. Here's a spot I knocked up in the chicken house for a couple of them to grow.

I'm going to try 1xWhite Widow, 1xCheese & 1xWest coast. Has anyone grown those outside, how'd they go?
Anyway, I'd say overall things are coming along pretty well even though there's been plenty of rain and mostly overcast days the last couple weeks. Having the plastic roof has been great for keeping them dry and stopping the ground from being too overwatered though. I'd say the next update will be showing buds forming if I'm lucky. Cheers.

I love sativas,, your plants look great ..

farmerfischer said:

I love sativas,, your plants look great ..

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Cheers, hopefully they stay healthy throughout flower

Looking good so far!