Outdoor Robin Hood: Prince of Weeds (2017)

[Micron Creek]

Thanks man, will be good to see you around in the forums. Good luck for this season ahead, I will be keeping an eye on your grow of course...



Personally, I use wire mesh/cages, 1 metre high at the minimum. Roe deers are usually put off by a 1 metre fence/mesh, but I have still lost plants to them. However the Red Deer are definitely capable of reaching over a 1 metre cage, in fact they can reach up 6 foot high which is why most of my cages are around 5 foot high at least. I have tried soap, piss, dog hair, beard trimmings, bells on wire etc none of it works. Deer around here are brave and don't give a fuck. The only thing that I will ever use is a wire mesh/cage.

I know you said piss, but was it predator urine? I am not sure about uk., but hunters have done some work to make an industry out of it. Red fox, and wolf to name a couple.

 

[Anglo Automatics]

I know you said piss, but was it predator urine? I am not sure about uk., but hunters have done some work to make an industry out of it. Red fox, and wolf to name a couple.

No man, I just straight up pissed in the spot. At the same time I had soap hanging from the nearby trees as well. None of it helped. I looked at predator urine online and animal repellents, but they are hard to get hold of in the UK, and need to be shipped from North America. A few people have said it didn't work on UK animals either. The deer and mammals over here don't have any natural predators (no big cats), so maybe they react different to the cougar/wolf/bear piss and other deterrents used on American animals. I know Red Fox piss doesn't scare off deer over here either. I tried a UK animal deterrent spray with fox urine a few years back and it didn't work.

 

[Exotic Flower]

Thanks Maria, the difference in climate between the south and north of the UK is immense and it's actually pretty good growing weather for cannabis in the south of the country...especially during the summer months when there is 18 hours of daylight. It is actually quite warm, sunny and there's not much rain. At least there hasn't been in recent years. But it is quite variable. We have already had 26 degrees C here last weekend, although it is a bit cooler this this weekend, only 15-16C. The last frost was on 16th February I think, so over 2 months ago now. Plants put out in mid February would survive and some of mine have grown pretty big already such as the Critical+ 2.0, Jack 47 (non-FV) and Serious 6 which are being used for breeding.

And that's a nice looking Cream Mandarin XL. I myself have a Cream Mandarin XL and a Big Devil XL rolling out in about 1-2 weeks during my first wave of autos. I doubt mine will grow as big as yours though as it will be vegging in the first half of May which isn't optimum. Temperatures and daylight hours are still lagging a bit at that time. The biggest autos for me will be the ones that go out in mid June.

All the best!

I'm keen to learn from your outdoor grow skills.
That finished grow from last year that you recently shared with us shows you know your stuff!
Cool, you also have Cream Mandarin XL, too.
I also have a Dark Devil, but she's a little behind the others at this point.
The Big Devil XL was also very, very tempting....

I actually think you'll be able to grow bigger / better than me.
Cos you're at higher latitude, any time in the late spring through summer through early fall
will have more daylight hours than me. I'm at 13.5 hr/day max, you can get 18!!!!

Take care. Mind the deer, my dear.

 

[trailanimal]

Hi everyone. It looks like I am back at it again this year, with both photoperiods and autos. Time to kick this diary off as work has been going on behind the scenes for many weeks now. Hopefully I can produce a good diary and reap the rewards this summer and autumn. Good luck to everyone else growing outdoors this season. And fingers crossed I don't run into the sheriff this year.

The below pictures are from February 2017...

The deer pack. My single biggest threat when growing...
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The location of the Battle of Hastings which took place here nearly 1000 years ago, back in 1066.
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Battle holes
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A grub of some kind hiding in the soil...
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Late February in the Valley of Snakes
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Sussex sunset
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It is already warm enough for an ice cream on the beach in late February, 18C (64F).
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The following pics are from late March...

Dinafem strains soaking
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Sweet Seeds strains soaking
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Mini grow house
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Dinafem & Sweet Seeds photoperiods
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Here is a Critical+ 2.0 which was propagated outdoors from seed in late February. Here it is about 10 days old...
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And here it is at 20 days old in mid March.
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Adios amigos :smoking:

beautiful place you live English Archer! Very impressed with how early you can start, blessing of the Gulf Stream. laying down a hex to confound Sheriff

 

[Anglo Automatics]

I'm keen to learn from your outdoor grow skills.
That finished grow from last year that you recently shared with us shows you know your stuff!
Cool, you also have Cream Mandarin XL, too.
I also have a Dark Devil, but she's a little behind the others at this point.
The Big Devil XL was also very, very tempting....

I actually think you'll be able to grow bigger / better than me.
Cos you're at higher latitude, any time in the late spring through summer through early fall
will have more daylight hours than me. I'm at 13.5 hr/day max, you can get 18!!!!

Take care. Mind the deer, my dear.

I might be able to grow bigger/better photoperiods as that is pretty much my speciality and the area where all my experience is. When it comes to autos though, you're probably a lot better than me and more experienced. If anything it will be me learning from you, seeing as last year was my first year using autos, to mixed results. I pretty much lost 75% of my autos to animals, and a lack of care, in my first year... but I also got a few great plants, one of which was the cornfield blueberry auto that is in my pics/diary from last year. I also got good results with Dinafem White Widow XXL and Fast Buds West Coast OG & Girl Scout Cookies.

Let's see what I can do this year. I already have some autos outdoors in the UK right now - Moby Dick XXL, Blow Mind & Blue Kush to name a few. Not expecting much from them though, just a small early harvest in June. The nighttime temps are still dropping down to 5C / 43F on a lot of nights which will surely slow down growth. On clear sunny days the temperature can reach 25C / 77F by mid afternoon, but then drop down to 5C at night, although most nights right now are closer to 10C. Even still, this is a bit chilly, especially for autos. If I wait until June to put autos out, nighttime temperatures are closer to 15/16C. I'm going to try and get everything right this season :smoking:

 

[trailanimal]

Right, so let's bring this diary up to date now with my most recents pics from 15th April 2017...

Here is a groupshot of the Sweet Seeds strains and some better close ups (2 weeks post emergence)
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Indigo Berry Kush
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San Fernando Lemon Kush
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San Fernando Lemon Kush & Indigo Berry Kush
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Green Poison FV
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Jack 47 FV
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Killer Kush FV
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Check out the root coverage of this San Fernando Lemon Kush already, at just 2 weeks above soil. And I am loving this see-through, transparent pots.
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Just a word on this season... I am literally praying for some rain. We are in the midst of a draught right now which has been going on since July last year. In fact since August 1st 2016, we have only recorded 6.1 inches of rain, in almost 9 months. In comparison Los Angeles has had 11.7 inches of rain in this time and Barcelona has had 14.4 inches, which goes to show just how dry it has been in the south of the UK in the past year or so. Here, we usually get 21 inches of rain a year, which is still less than San Francisco, Rome and Perth, but we haven't even had half of our usual amount over the past 12 months! I can't believe how dry it has been! I can only remember about 10 days or so since the start of 2017 with any measurable precipitation. It is at the stage where the ground is all sandy and dusty, even in the woods. If you kick the ground, there is a dust cloud.


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It has also been abnormally mild/warm over the past 18 months. The past 2 winters have been very mild. Last summer was baking hot and very dry. Last autumn was very warm and dry. This winter has been dry and mild and so fat spring has been incredibly dry as well with above average temperatures. So it is no wonder that it is draught like conditions. I can see a hosepipe ban coming this summer, but I am hoping we get a decent bit of rain over May and June, to top up the water table... and then some hot dry weather from July - September when things are flowering. That would work for me. Somehow I don't think it will pan out that way haha.

Adios Amigos :smoking:

yeah, no matter how I order up the weather, never pans out that way, offering it up in canna smoke

 

[trailanimal]

I might be able to grow bigger/better photoperiods as that is pretty much my speciality and the area where all my experience is. When it comes to autos though, you're probably a lot better than me and more experienced. If anything it will be me learning from you, seeing as last year was my first year using autos, to mixed results. I pretty much lost 75% of my autos to animals, and a lack of care, in my first year... but I also got a few great plants, one of which was the cornfield blueberry auto that is in my pics/diary from last year. I also got good results with Dinafem White Widow XXL and Fast Buds West Coast OG & Girl Scout Cookies.

Let's see what I can do this year. I already have some autos outdoors in the UK right now - Moby Dick XXL, Blow Mind & Blue Kush to name a few. Not expecting much from them though, just a small early harvest in June. The nighttime temps are still dropping down to 5C / 43F on a lot of nights which will surely slow down growth. On clear sunny days the temperature can reach 25C / 77F by mid afternoon, but then drop down to 5C at night, although most nights right now are closer to 10C. Even still, this is a bit chilly, especially for autos. If I wait until June to put autos out, nighttime temperatures are closer to 15/16C. I'm going to try and get everything right this season :smoking:

solar powered hot fence for deer?

 

[Anglo Automatics]

beautiful place you live English Archer! Very impressed with how early you can start, blessing of the Gulf Stream. laying down a hex to confound Sheriff

Thanks man. Yeah, the gulf stream, jet stream and our proximity to the Atlantic keeps the temperatures very mild year around. Both winter and summer are very mild by North American / continental European standards. The past two winters have been very mild, even in January and February we have frequently had highs of 16C and lows of 8C. The past two years I have put seedlings out in late February or planted in the ground in February. Growth can be sluggish until April, but they definitely survive and grow still.

The problem is cold snaps can still occur from time to time with below freezing temps and snow. In 2010, we had snow on the ground for 4-6 weeks from early January to mid February. That spring was freezing cold as well, with frosts well into April, so any plants put out early would have been fucked. That year was a bit of a one off though. As I said before, the past few years have been very mild with above average temps and I haven't seen any snow for 2-3 years now. And our last frost this year was in mid February, 2+ months ago now. Hence why the plants have done so well this spring. Hopefully this coming summer is as warm as last year's one as well. So yeah, southern UK weather can be pretty good for growing IMO.

All the best.

 

[G.Leave]

Nice looking journal and pics so far @English Archer If I was there I'd be packing my bow and already flung a few arrows. Nothing like a few deer steaks on the grill and some jerky.

Haha friggin' right man...get me there too...we'll reduce the population a bit, and get to eat great too!!...wait a second...are these the King's deer?

 

[Exotic Flower]

I might be able to grow bigger/better photoperiods as that is pretty much my speciality and the area where all my experience is. When it comes to autos though, you're probably a lot better than me and more experienced. If anything it will be me learning from you, seeing as last year was my first year using autos, to mixed results. I pretty much lost 75% of my autos to animals, and a lack of care, in my first year... but I also got a few great plants, one of which was the cornfield blueberry auto that is in my pics/diary from last year. I also got good results with Dinafem White Widow XXL and Fast Buds West Coast OG & Girl Scout Cookies.

You're too polite, haha! First time I ever did Autos was .... late last year.
Lost almost all my germed seeds, and only a couple made it to even half maturity.
Then they got thrashed by tropical cyclone monsoon storms....
Only thing semi decent was .... a small Northern Lights photo.
So, that's my auto experience.

Many, many years ago, in a distant land, far away, I grew photos indoors.
Maybe did ... who knows ... less than a dozen grows, from seed or clone to harvest.

Let's just learn from each other, and leave it at that!!!