Outdoor Outdoor UK, first time - journal & ref

[Peteey010]

Hiya just noticed your thread good to have another UK outdoor grower here.
My og kush has been outside since the beginning of May now she's been through alot like blowing over hailstorms all the usual good English weather but she is thriving now and starting to bud. I know it's a little long for an auto but it was freebe test seed i won and there not quite stable yet.
She's been in the same pot since her second set of leaves as auto's don't like their roots messed with so if you can get them in their final pot so you don't have to transplant again
Good luck with them i'll be dropping by now and then for a look how their doing

 

[Somerset]

It looks really healthy Peteey, good work mate. What day is it at/how old is it? And what are you feeding it?

 

[Peteey010]

It's just pure luck on how healthy she is I think. When I found out there was a problem with this strain not autoflowering properly I kind of gave up on her and just let her do what she wanted.
Since putting her in the pot she's in now all I have fed her every other water is a general purpose liquid tomato feed.
But since she has now decided to auto (she's just a little over 10 weeks old now) I have got some bloom nutes Ionic soil bloom it's called.
Once she's finished stretching i'll start to use it. From most of the other test grows of this strain on here she'll go to about 120 days in total whereas an auto in my book should go no more than 90 max

 

[Somerset]

As I'm clearing space in the garden for the plants to grow - how much space does each plant need? I assume a 1m per plant plan would be enough to allow light and air around each one, but then maybe with smaller Autos (like the ABH) they don't actually need as much? What advice do you guys have with regards to space/spacing plants.

 

[Somerset]

Does anyone know what these small white marks are on the leaves? I gave some plants to a friend and his had this appear in the last day or two (mine are all clear!)


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Does anyone know what these small white marks are on the leaves? I gave some plants to a friend and his had this appear in the last day or two (mine are all clear!)

 

[Waira]

Hey Somerset :smoke: ....that is almost certainly thrip damage, I'm sad to say... they are very active, mobile vermin, and it's hardly uncommon to have then ravage and move elsewhere, often leaving behind eggs, with are laid in/on the plant...adults can fly, BTW, and are very small- this dash would be a big one> (-)...lots of ways to kill them, many products like Neem, Azamax, stuff with Spinosad,... but repeated treatments and constant vigilance and scoping is just as important, because of their life cycle and behavior... they are fast, even as larvae, and will actively hide from you as you look for them, even jump away! they pupate in the soil, but don't feed at that time, so some diatomaceous earth on the soil surface will also help cut the life cycle down,... start looking under leaves for larvae adults, even on the top too... a magnifier will help quite a bit,... kill brother, kill!!! :twist:

 

[Somerset]

Thanks Waira - thats really helpful to know and I'll pass all that info on. Are they a serious pest or do they not cause too much damage?

 

[Somerset]

OK, latest update on progress.
Generally speaking, the weather is really settled here and my babies have had a great start. I decided to measure various temps today because the weather is so damned good here right now, I wanted to feel smug (FOR ONCE!) Also, my garden seems to be a heat trap and usually seems much hotter than the official weather app data (which is recording averages such as daytime highs of 23C (74f) and night temps of 11C (52f) although these vary by a degree or two either from day to day.) My garden is south facing and gets sun all day, so a quick check with the thermometer revealed I was right about higher actual temps:

air temp in shade: 28C (82f),
soil temp in shade 33C (92f) and
soil temp in full sun 44C (110f)!!

Humidity is about 96% first thing in the morning and drops to about 50% later in the day. There is a steady warm breeze that constantly makes the plants appear to flicker/shake gently and they get well watered once a day.

Feedwise, I've inserted some Miracle Gro continuous release plant food tabs (14-9-11) which also contain other beneficial micro nutrients.

I've also prepped all the new grow areas in readiness to plant them out by digging the soil over, weeding them thoroughly, sprinkling in some wood ash and bonemeal, then and digging in a mix of well composted garden waste and a bag of old horse manure. The plan is to give them a few more days in the pots to bring them on even further, and plant them out at the end of the week. ABH will be 21 days and AY will be 16 days on Friday this week.

On the down side, I caught a couple of pesky aphids on one (about 5) that were quickly rubbed out of existance - so I best stay vigilant! Might try and nab some ladybirds from other parts of the garden to hunt them down and keep them clean.

New pics attached, comments and feedback welcome!

 

[Waira]

..they can be, sometimes devastating, and quickly! ... population numbers are a very local proximity thing, and is why you have to keep a haddock-eye out for them once they show themselves, or their dirty work! I spotted some damage and a couple of the little shits on my OD plants last week, and hosed them with a spinosad product... they are ubiquitous at times, so again, be vigilant! That silvery patching on the leaves is from them peicing the surface and sucking up juices; look around on the top of the leaves for tiny black speck-- turds! -tell-tale thrip sign,...
>> temps are too hot for healthy plants mate, I see signs of heat stress in the leaves,... some shade cloth of some type will help a great deal,... speaking of hot, now that soil you're prepping for in ground transplanting will be waaaay too hot!! I don't know the specifics here, but you'll likely fry them in that... it'll have to cook down some first at the very least, more time than you have in those pots... Auto's are far more nute' sensitive than photo's are, and even finishing soil must be on the milder side in general,... also, remove those tabs- they will also cause root burning.... too much, too conc. in one area for them,...amend the soil with less nutrient rich stuff, or at least less poop, and I strongly advise a soil pH check before you plant as well,...

 

[Somerset]

Did I say no Thrips.. i found one! I will indeed be vigilant, wise words indeed.

Your comments really made me think, thanks. Firstly - what do 'signs of heat stress' look like? I've deliberately been keep them in full sun of as many hours of the day that we are lucky enough to have them (not often much in UK!) because I thought they needed maximum light (they're getting it.) I realise that light and temps are often linked outside but didn't think that natural temps would affect them too much, particularly here in UK, but maybe they will. To be honest, they look ok to me at the moment (and I've been growing normal plants a long time.) The temps I quoted in the last post where the max in the heat of the day yet are currently (9pm UK time) much, much lower - more like 21C (70f) and will get down to around 12C (54f) by dawn. And when I said soil temp, I laid the thermometer on the surface of the soil, but didn't stick it into the soil... maybe I should have done that? I might do it tomorrow and get a reading 5cm down.

With regards to the nutrients, the instructions on the pack say 1 per small pot (3-5 per large pot) and that they should last 6 months each (way longer than I need). The tabs are made up of small granular balls (each 2mm across?) and each little ball is rock solid, so I assume they dissolve slowly over that period. I was worried about root burn when I put then in a few days ago, but the increase in growth already is phenomenal. I crushed a couple previously because I was concerned to see what they were like inside and they are really frikken hard. This made me think that they'll work slowly, reducing in size gradually as the nutes' leach out. Fingers crossed...!

The manure and compost however... that bummed me out! The soil here is slightly alkaline (a lot of chalk in the soil) so I wanted to put of a lot of composted material into it to help balance it out. Having read your advice, I think I'll thin it out some more before digging it in thoroughly and letting the rain soak right through it, into the wider area. Manure and compost is all pretty old (6 months minimum) should be pretty well composted by now hopefully not too powerful...

Are there any other characteristics that are specific autos and are worth noting/pointing out to a novice with regards to how they differ from either normal weed, or other plants? FWIW, this is my first time (never grown any weed ever) but I am a pretty green-fingered, experienced gardener that understands plants well. I want to push the plants to perform, but I certainly don't want to slow them down or damage them! I'm even happy to stress them a little bit (as they'll get a degree of that growing wild from time to time) but not knowing 'autos' (or even cannabis) as a grower, I'm at a significant disadvantage to know where the limits are.