Outdoor R Wayne's First Outdoor Grow in SoCal

[R Wayne]

Hello AFN, Im starting my first outdoor grow for fun and experience.
So my circumstances have changed so much over the last 3 months. I moved my family from California to Oregon, then had to move back to help with some difficult family things 4 months later. But with not wanting to divulge too much info about that, we moved into a house in the great Los Angeles area (Zone 10a). I can finally grow outdoors. Im unable to grow indoors right now until some room is freed up and I can set up my tent. For now I started a couple beans (3 beans) in case one doesn't make it, so heres what we're working with:
Genetics:
Seed Stockers - Northern Lights Auto and Critical CBD Auto (growing for family member and my pittie w/ bad hips)
Atlas Seeds - Top Gun (Freebie from MVB)
Medium:
Two 10 gallon Grass Roots pots
One filled with FF Ocean Forest (Left over bag I found)
One filled ProMix Organic amended with 2 cups of BAS craft blend
Both have about 25% added perlite and some Extreme Mycos
Ive also added BAS 12 seed cover crop to help nitrogen fix and add some life before I transplant
Light:
Mars Hydro TS 1000 for the first 2 weeks then they will be moved outside to take in that good ol' sun.
Nutrients:
BuildaSoil craft blend, build a flower, build a bloom and worm castings
Recharge

I've germinated the seeds already, all of them popped tails and are now in their soloish cups. One large cup for the extra Top Gun seed. The medium in the small cups is pre-amended ProMix with a little perlite. Not much in the ProMix. The soil for the 10 gals has been mixed and put in. I added the cover crop and some barley straw. Will let the cover crop go until the seeds are ready to be transplanted and then chop and drop. I don't have much extra time so I have been using water straight form the hose. I just purchased a filter for the hose which is supposed to remove chlorine and cloramine. Haven't tested pH or PPM, but this will also be an experiment to see if these girls can withstand basically the same treatment as the rest of the garden. My mother in law had purchased these 3 ft mini green houses which I will keep the girls in until they outgrow it. Mainly for larger pest management. I also have some different essential oils including neem for smaller pest management. Though Im not sure if I need to start spraying the plants before signs of pests? Prevention is easier so I've read. Will be keeping it as simple as possible. I've had a few successful indoor grows and will apply that knowledge to this grow. Thanks for stopping by and any experience or knowledge is always appreciated.

Here is the make shift closet that has just enough room to set the light up. Will be running in 24 hours a day unless the light coming from the cracks bothers the wife.

The Northern Lights is popping her head out

 

[R Wayne]

Day 6 since germ update. Not too much to report. Seedlings are coming along nice in the makeshift closet. Will hopefully be transplanting them in another week or two. Cover crop in the 10 gals are sprouting and making an entrance. Ive had to use shade cloth to cover the pots because we've had another heat wave here. Temps have been close to the 100s and won't cool down for another few days. My "new" android phone takes crap pictures. My old phone seemed to take better pics

Little seedlings

Critical CBD

Northern Lights with codependent seed cover

Top Gun

Cover Crop and Shade Cloth

 

[R Wayne]

Let the hardening off process begin. Gave the little sprouts their first taste of sun today through the window. They only got an hour but seemed to really like it. I'll take them outside tomorrow for another hour, then increase the time each day. Planning on transplanting them in about a week. Its been 11 days since they got planted into their temp homes, they will get there first water tonight. The cover crop has also taken off.
I've been busy/lazy with watering the 10 gals with the cover crop. Not measuring and using our big watering can to add what I thought was just enough every morning. It was too much (even with our hot hot temps) and the bottom of the pots were completely saturated, starting to smell bad too. So I've removed the bottom trays and let them air out over the last couple days. Been using a sprayer just to keep the tops wet, the smell is gone and they still feel wet but much better. Im also going to leave the bottom trays off to help with air pruning.
I've finally got a place to set up my small tent. Its technically outside but in the water heater storage room. Been keeping tabs on the temps and humidity, so far so good. I'm waiting on some 2 gal autoflower rain science bags. I'll make a new thread once I can finally start that grow.

Cover crop in 10gals

Sprouts

Northern Lights

Critical CBD

Top Gun

*BONUS* wanted to add some pics of our little winter veggie farm

 

[R Wayne]

Transplant day, day 15 since they were planted in their small pots. These plants have been a bit neglected. We've been very busy with life stuff and now are sick, with a possible cold. But here we are.
I have put all the pots out in the sun since Sunday. They started at an hour a day the first day and Ive increased that one hour per day until transplanting them today. They have been over and under watered so far, still chugging along.
I used Mycos, poured some into the hole and onto the roots while transplanting. Then they got watered in just a little. Both 10 gal pots had plenty of water in them already.
It has been in the low 90s here still and they will be covered with shade cloth until the temps cool off in the next week. Hopefully! I will also be starting my first Grow Dots / Rain Science Bags grow very soon. Finally got enough room to set up my small 2x2 tent inside. I can finally get back to my controlled environment. Stay tuned for that, will be starting in the next few days. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Critical CBD Transplant

Northern Lights (right) Critical CBD (left)

 

[R Wayne]

Day 7 since they have been transplanted and day 22 since they popped outta the soil. They were a little sad after the transplant but perked up quickly and have grown quite a bit the last week. All I have done is add a little worm castings to the middle of the pot as a mulch layer and some food for the soil. The pots have stayed pretty heavy, so Ill I have done is spray the tops with a little water each day. Just to keep the top soil moist. It has still been in the mid to high 80s I have been using the shade cloth. The northern lights have been giving me some leaf curl (edges curling upwards) which usually means light/heat stress. Seems to be happier under the shade cloth for now. The temps are suppose to cool down soon. I hope so because Im planting a bunch of other cool season crops. The top gun, which was my "just in case" bean, is also cruising along outside.

Top gun (Atlas Seeds/not transplanted...yet)

Mini Greenhouses

Northern Lights Auto (seed stockers)

CBD Critical (seed stockers)

 

[R Wayne]

Day 14 since transplant and day 29 since the seeds popped. There is not much to report with the Northern Lights and CBD Crit. They have both been getting silica with every watering (started 4 days ago, cause I forgot to start earlier). Ive also given them their weekly dose of recharge. The CBD Critical has popped pistils, Northern Lights has not. But the NL is twice the size (Seed Stockers did say XXL auto).

So my mother in law has been all about having me garden/grow food and bud in the back yard. She ordered a cheap hoop house off Amazon. I set it up 2 days ago and decided that I wanted to transplant the Top Gun auto into a bigger pot and stick it in the hoop house. So thats what we did. It is also smaller than the NL but was popped the same day. I used Pro Mix Organic with a couple hand fulls of BAS Craft Blend, BuildaFlower top dress and 20% perlite. I also used Mycos sprinkled in the transplant hole and the roots. She looked a little sad yesterday after the transplant, but within 14 hours has perked back up and is praying to the sun. Yes, she also popped pistils, so we for sure have 2 females.

I will transfer the NL and CBD which are in their mini green houses to the hoop house in the next day or two. I also took off the bottom node on all 3 plants. I will also be working on putting some more raised beds in the hoop house and maybe some more autos...we shall see.

Lets get to the pics:

Mini Greenhouses

Northern Lights

CBD Critical

Top Gun in the Hoop House

Hoop House

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!!!
​

 

[R Wayne]

Weekly update: Day 35 for the 3 outdoor plants and day 17 for the indoor (now outdoor) Rain science/grow dots plants. So a lot has happened since my last weekly update. My father in law's ALS is progressing really fast, so my garden time has been really spotty

First, I decided that the plants with the grow dots were looking really sad and growth felt exponentially slow. I dont have much stash left from my last grow, so getting some healthy decent plants were priority number 1. So I decided to put them girls outside in the hoop house with the other outdoor plants. So they have become part of this grow.

Update on the OG outdoor girls: all the plants are chugging along nicely. The Northern Lights seems to be more pest prone than the CBD Critical and the Top Gun, but it is twice the size. I can see some leaf miner damage on one leaf and have noticed white flys on all of the plants. So i sprayed them with Organocide® Bee Safe 3-in-1 Garden Spray. Which is basically sesame oil with a couple other ingredients. The plants dont seem to mind it and it works well for the white flys. I have been looking into other IPM options and am thinking about getting some neem oil spray and Tweetmint Enzyme spray. I have read that it is best to switch up pest management sprays so they dont build up a resistance to them. But so far the bee safe has worked well.
I also top dressed the Northern Lights with about a cup of BAS Craft Blend lightly mixed into the top layer of the soil and a good couple inches of worm castings over that, then watered everything with some added fish fertilizer. I will be top dressing the CBD Critical in the next week at some point.

The 3 Grow Dots girls(hopefully): They seem to have a Nitrogen toxicity (dark leaves and the tips turned way down) from either the grow dots not working well with the Pro Mix or my underwatering at the beginning, not knowing how to use rain science bags. Then re-watering the dry medium released extra N. Im not sure exactly what is happening with them, but I decided to move them outside and start over indoor, which I'll cover more extensively in my Indoor journal. They are all praying to the sun and I will grow them out to see what happens. I have the space right now so I figured why not.

Lets get into the pics:

CBD Critical

Northern Lights

Top Gun

Fast Buds CBD 1:1

Gnome Black Strap

Night Owl ZaMango

Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT day!!!
​

 

[Dankerson]

Weekly update: Day 35 for the 3 outdoor plants and day 17 for the indoor (now outdoor) Rain science/grow dots plants. So a lot has happened since my last weekly update. My father in law's ALS is progressing really fast, so my garden time has been really spotty

First, I decided that the plants with the grow dots were looking really sad and growth felt exponentially slow. I dont have much stash left from my last grow, so getting some healthy decent plants were priority number 1. So I decided to put them girls outside in the hoop house with the other outdoor plants. So they have become part of this grow.

Update on the OG outdoor girls: all the plants are chugging along nicely. The Northern Lights seems to be more pest prone than the CBD Critical and the Top Gun, but it is twice the size. I can see some leaf miner damage on one leaf and have noticed white flys on all of the plants. So i sprayed them with Organocide® Bee Safe 3-in-1 Garden Spray. Which is basically sesame oil with a couple other ingredients. The plants dont seem to mind it and it works well for the white flys. I have been looking into other IPM options and am thinking about getting some neem oil spray and Tweetmint Enzyme spray. I have read that it is best to switch up pest management sprays so they dont build up a resistance to them. But so far the bee safe has worked well.
I also top dressed the Northern Lights with about a cup of BAS Craft Blend lightly mixed into the top layer of the soil and a good couple inches of worm castings over that, then watered everything with some added fish fertilizer. I will be top dressing the CBD Critical in the next week at some point.

The 3 Grow Dots girls(hopefully): They seem to have a Nitrogen toxicity (dark leaves and the tips turned way down) from either the grow dots not working well with the Pro Mix or my underwatering at the beginning, not knowing how to use rain science bags. Then re-watering the dry medium released extra N. Im not sure exactly what is happening with them, but I decided to move them outside and start over indoor, which I'll cover more extensively in my Indoor journal. They are all praying to the sun and I will grow them out to see what happens. I have the space right now so I figured why not.

Lets get into the pics:
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CBD Critical
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Northern Lights
View attachment 1531737View attachment 1531738View attachment 1531739

Top Gun
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Fast Buds CBD 1:1
View attachment 1531718
Gnome Black Strap
View attachment 1531719
Night Owl ZaMango
View attachment 1531727

Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT day!!!
​

Sorry to hear about your FILs condition. Sending good vibes to you and your family.

I wonder if the promix might be what's not playing well with the dots? The biobizz light mix I got first round was a bit water retentive so I add %25 perlite to help with drainage. Might be worth it to try that mix out on your next run.

 

[R Wayne]

Sorry to hear about your FILs condition. Sending good vibes to you and your family.

I wonder if the promix might be what's not playing well with the dots? The biobizz light mix I got first round was a bit water retentive so I add %25 perlite to help with drainage. Might be worth it to try that mix out on your next run.

Thank you for the good vibes it is much appreciated

I added like 20% perlite in the mix. Ive read a couple journals that other people were dealing with some nitrogen problems with grow dots as well. I thought one of those journals was yours? but I smoke too much so I dont actually remember :smoking:

I also tried to find biobizz light, but its no where around. Even at the hydro shops that are considered biobizz official resellers but Im gonna keep em going outside and see if they grow out of it, maybe produce some buds. Time will tell, I got lots of seeds to try out anyways

 

[Dankerson]

Thank you for the good vibes it is much appreciated

I added like 20% perlite in the mix. Ive read a couple journals that other people were dealing with some nitrogen problems with grow dots as well. I thought one of those journals was yours? but I smoke too much so I dont actually remember :smoking:

I also tried to find biobizz light, but its no where around. Even at the hydro shops that are considered biobizz official resellers but Im gonna keep em going outside and see if they grow out of it, maybe produce some buds. Time will tell, I got lots of seeds to try out anyways

Yeah that may have been me, I'm actually going to back off to 15g per gallon with my compost teas. I think as a standalone with recharge 18-20g works best but with the added nitrogen from the compost tea it was a bit much for a few of my plants. Might have better luck with a lower dose and supplementing with a dose of liquid nutrients here and there if you have to. Unfortunately it's not an exact science so what works for me might not be the exact same for you unless you can get the exact same stuff. Theres just a lot of variables with soil.