Outdoor The 55th North Parellel

[KapScot]

First full growlog – 4th year experimenting with Auto's outdoors.

Here we are at the start of another year, and off we go again. Having had two pretty poor summers with dull, wet and windy weather I've decided to revise my growing plan(s) for this year and think outside (or should that be inside) the box.

At a latitude of almost 56N we get some pretty long summer days but also a short growing season with bud rot proving a problem in recent years as the autumn season tends to be wet – I've also lost my small protective glasshouse which helped extend the season somewhat.

So this year I plan to start all my girls earlier indoors under artificial lighting (2x 125W CFLs). Plants will be started in batches with the first going outdoors end of May. The plan is they will stay for about the first 4 weeks under lights before being acclimatised to the outdoors in a sunny covered cold frame. From there they will be transplanted to their final sites.

I have three outdoor sites lined up each with very different conditions though one may not be viable – it all depends what the farmer plants this year. Two of these are guerilla sites, one along a field boundary and the other a woodland clearing, by their nature these sites will be visited very infrequently. The third outdoor site is a small garden grow, a somewhat risky affair given neighbours and communal access to the site, but having been put back on a steady diet of opiate painkillers by the doctor I'm more determined than ever to try and aim for some level of self sufficiency in medication this year to help combat pill dependency.

I've heard people here at AFN saying that both transplanting Auto's and mixing indoor/outdoor environments can cause stunting but we'll just have to see how things grow. The only other changes I plan for the outdoor girls is a bit of LST in the garden site to see how that works out (this will be a first for me as I just normally let them grow naturally).

Once the girls have fled the coup so to speak I hope to install some more serious ducting for the growbox and continue with a small indoor grow – but the wife has yet to agree to this so we'll start with the premise that the indoor growbox will stop seedlings and young plants littering the windowsills and therefore be less conspicuous ! (well that's my excuse anyway… if you can think of a better one do let me know).

Pretty much everything is either 'on order' or already purchased – so time to test my DIY skills with the growbox (pics to follow)..

 

[G.Leave]

First full growlog – 4th year experimenting with Auto's outdoors.

Here we are at the start of another year, and off we go again. Having had two pretty poor summers with dull, wet and windy weather I've decided to revise my growing plan(s) for this year and think outside (or should that be inside) the box.

At a latitude of almost 56N we get some pretty long summer days but also a short growing season with bud rot proving a problem in recent years as the autumn season tends to be wet – I've also lost my small protective glasshouse which helped extend the season somewhat.

So this year I plan to start all my girls earlier indoors under artificial lighting (2x 125W CFLs). Plants will be started in batches with the first going outdoors end of May. The plan is they will stay for about the first 4 weeks under lights before being acclimatised to the outdoors in a sunny covered cold frame. From there they will be transplanted to their final sites.

I have three outdoor sites lined up each with very different conditions though one may not be viable – it all depends what the farmer plants this year. Two of these are guerilla sites, one along a field boundary and the other a woodland clearing, by their nature these sites will be visited very infrequently. The third outdoor site is a small garden grow, a somewhat risky affair given neighbours and communal access to the site, but having been put back on a steady diet of opiate painkillers by the doctor I'm more determined than ever to try and aim for some level of self sufficiency in medication this year to help combat pill dependency.

I've heard people here at AFN saying that both transplanting Auto's and mixing indoor/outdoor environments can cause stunting but we'll just have to see how things grow. The only other changes I plan for the outdoor girls is a bit of LST in the garden site to see how that works out (this will be a first for me as I just normally let them grow naturally).

Once the girls have fled the coup so to speak I hope to install some more serious ducting for the growbox and continue with a small indoor grow – but the wife has yet to agree to this so we'll start with the premise that the indoor growbox will stop seedlings and young plants littering the windowsills and therefore be less conspicuous ! (well that's my excuse anyway… if you can think of a better one do let me know).

Pretty much everything is either 'on order' or already purchased – so time to test my DIY skills with the growbox (pics to follow)..

Hey there...sounds like you have some good plans! Though I am a bit south of you(45th parallel cannada) I do have some tips for you.

Your plan on starting them under lights indoor is a good one. If relative humidity is that bad, then avoiding the fall as much as you can will help. Some have said a healthy additive of silica to a fert schedule will help in reducing mold. I do the same thing with autos and have found with a careful transplant it can work out just fine....but I have recently read what sounds to be a better way. Start the plants directly into 3 gallon smartpots, and then plant the pots directly into the ground when weather permits. Speaking of I have found early frosts(or extended cool weather) to be the single biggest negative factor in the end result. It seems autos take cool stretches rough in their early life.

Save your training for the garden grow especially if you spend time in the garden. Tying an auto close to the ground will give it a very unique appearance that few people will recognize.

Whatever you do make sure you introduce the plants to sunlight, before putting them out full time.

Good luck on your season, hope weather is fair and harvest is plentiful.

 

[KapScot]

Thanks for the tips, tho being an allotment grower and also having worked in commercial greenhouses I'd consider myself pretty clued-up on most aspect of growing plants, but it's always good to get advice.

I will be looking at bud rot treatment(s) this year so silica may be something I will explore further. I'm not totally organic so I suspect a mixture of techniques may be used to try improve the chances of plants going to full finish (ambers - I want the med effect) rather than them getting the chop just as the trichomes get milky and the rot starts.

All the plants will be acclimatised to sun in a south facing coldframe - which even at this time of year is holding 9-11 deg C at night - so unless we get a really bad spell of cold weather just after transplanting I'm hoping temperature won't be an issue.

I'd love to be able to accommodate 3 gallon pots from the outset - but getting even 2 gallon pots to any of my sites would be a logistical nightmare - as well as being restrictive in terms of what I could start in my indoor growbox. Interestingly I've never seen an Auto I've grown outdoors with a root system that large (but then I've not been indoor growing) or of course it may be that in using smaller pots early on I've constrained and stunted the root growth and hence the plant somewhat.

In any case stealth in this country is the most important factor - better to have many lower yielding plants than get caught with a few good ones.

 

[G.Leave]

Cool man...never know how extensive the knowledge is with different members, so I just usually throw up generic experiences I've had personally, that I think could help in some form.
Good luck with your grow!

 

[Sourdough]

That's awesome man. I cant wait to see how it goes. I also have been working on making my seeds acclimate to growing in my yard. I have been planting seeds 3 weeks before the plant date. This year I want to 4 weeks before and see if they are happier. Although last year they did grow great. The last two generations seem to be real close, I am yet to grow out side for smoke just seeds so far.... I want to grow some just for smoke this year and try it. I'm testing some just for smoke in a tub of soil inside, so we will see.... Have you been seeding yours outside also?

 

[Jraven]

Watching, I'm at 56+

 

[pathway]

Sounds similar to what I'm planning to do so I'll tag along. I'm in the uk too but down south and this will be my first year trying autos outdoors, so I'll be interested in the strains you select, any recommendations?

Once the girls have fled the coup so to speak I hope to install some more serious ducting for the growbox and continue with a small indoor grow – but the wife has yet to agree to this so we'll start with the premise that the indoor growbox will stop seedlings and young plants littering the windowsills and therefore be less conspicuous

Flawless logic

 

[KapScot]

Not sure if I have any recommendations - every summer is different here and I haven't been growing autos outdoors long enough to pick a favourite that always performs. Diesel Ryder's were nice last year, but there are so many to choose from now it's like picking Jelly Belly flavour combinations. so I'm adopting a pick-n-mix this year, more exotic varieties for close to home and some of the Ryder x crosses for remote sites (they seem marginally less prone to bud rot due to having a looser bud structure, but their yields aren't that big).

 

[trailanimal]

hey SpliffScot, 66.5 here, early frost, August frost, fall mold and fungus season. Thinking strains like Sweet Skunk/Sweet Seeds, that grow tall thin and few leaves will help stave of rot. I'll be testing this outside the greenhouse this season, using 912's transplant suggestion, maybe on the ground instead of in, earth is cold up here

 

[KapScot]

Well who would have thought a routine hospital check-up could turn into a calamity. My arm ended up the size of my thigh and all construction was postponed for a week until I could feel it again.

The Growbox
(55cm W x 100cm L x 110cm H) – wooden frame with screw'd n glued plywood panels.

2 x 125W CFL with reflectors – these are fitted with the warm spectrum for flowering stage. I may purchase some cool veg'ing bulbs if finances allow but went with the warmer spectrum in the hope of taking a couple of plants to completion indoors later on. There are also 4 x 30W cool CFLs that will help with the brief vegging stage.

Venting, light baffled open base vent, with a single ultra quiet 12V PC fan at the top for heat extraction. Later this exhaust vent will either be used in combination with a filter/fan assembly into the room or preferably vented directly outside.




I will add a small but decent circulation fan as well as I want these plants to develop strong stems from the outset so they won't flop at the first storm they encounter outdoors.

After a dry run with all the lights on it seems to top out at 28degC so should be perfect for growing... still have to finish making the door but will be starting off some beans tomorrow.