New Grower Two crops a season in Canada?

[Nelson]

I try every year to do some little research thing to help with growing knowledge. This year I tried to decide if it is possible to grow two crops a year outside using autos. Remember I am in southern Quebec which is Canada.

There are conditions that I must confess are totally out of my control. The biggy is of course is when is the earliest frost. This year we had a rather early heavy gound frost that hit the evening of September 20. Not only did it spell the end of the experiment and but it also ruined the buds of a couple of my late harvesting photos.

I don't mind an early frost, grass plants are tough and usually make it through the frost with minimum damage so I try to get them in early. There is a real problem with frost on the buds. The buds turn a dark colour and drop most of their crystan on the ground and look limp and useless to me. The buds take on what I call the frosted look even in the bag and lose their bag appeal. I can always tell frosted bud when I see it. You can still smoke it but it oses at least half of its whack and flavour. I just throw them in the hash pile when it happens to me.

Anyway to get back to trying to get two crops out of two beds. My Russian Rocket fuel was totally finished August 1 so I harvested it. I put in 5 Mi5s into the plot I took the RRF out of Aug 1.

My SCH was finished the end of August. I replanted that bed and put five more Mi5s into that bed.

The results were as follows the first bed planted Aug 1st were not finished when the frost hit but did produce about an ounce and a half of frost damaged bud in total. Could be smoked in a pinch but defanately damaged. The bed planted September 1st barely yielded a few grams of poor grade pot.

I guess without a coldframe or greenhouse a second crop in Canada is kind of out of the question. This kind of makes a second crop of autos not something I reccomend. Then again many of the photos don't even finish early enough to avoid the first frost. I have this problem with a couple of Sativas that I am no longer growing for just that reason. Durban Poison is one of them. About half the time I have grown it just didn't make it to completion without getting frosted. I love sativas for my daytime smoke. SCH does finish in time so I am now growing an auto to replace long season sativa photos. Yeah autos.

 

[Muddy]

Yep, hard to get a second crop when you get heavy frost that early. But I know you're a handy guy and it wouldn't take much to fashion a cover for your beds. If you could extend your season by a couple weeks on each end you should be able to get the 2 crops in.

Even here, with the longer season, I stopped trying to grow sativas outdoors this year. Last year my CRH and G13 Haze didn't finish till after Thanksgiving. Think it was Nov. 28 or 29 when I picked the last one. I'm done with outdoor grows but if I were still doing them, and wanted a sativa, I agree that super autos are the way to go.

 

[Nelson]

I think putting covers on the beds would just make them a little too conspicuous for my liking. I am glad to get the sativa types like SCH in without worrying about frost and probably won't be bothering with any photos, just too much of a crap shoot getting them to finish one year and man oh man do I hate frosted bud.

What was your favorite outside plant this year and when did it finish.

Yep, hard to get a second crop when you get heavy frost that early. But I know you're a handy guy and it wouldn't take much to fashion a cover for your beds. If you could extend your season by a couple weeks on each end you should be able to get the 2 crops in.

Even here, with the longer season, I stopped trying to grow sativas outdoors this year. Last year my CRH and G13 Haze didn't finish till after Thanksgiving. Think it was Nov. 28 or 29 when I picked the last one. I'm done with outdoor grows but if I were still doing them, and wanted a sativa, I agree that super autos are the way to go.

 

[Muddy]

I tried to grow all 8-9 week flowering strains this year, so mostly indica or indica dominants. Night Shade was the best. Got 9 oz., most of it buds between 13 - 16". It was done around the 3rd week of Sept. I had Pakistan Valley, Afghani, LSD, Pineapple Gum and the Night Shade all finish up between the 2nd and 3rd week. The Pineapple Chunk and Amnesia were about a week and a half after that, and the Powerbud a week later, early Oct. But the Amnesia and Powerbud were both sativa dom crosses. I could have picked the Night Shade a little earlier but I was busy with the other plants. It had about 20% amber by the time I picked it, a little more than I usually like for an indica dom plant.

Get yourself some 5 gallon nursery pots and put them over your plants the nights they call for frost. Take em off the next day. Or rig up something you can easily take up and down. Enough to keep the moisture off of em.

 

[Monkeypox]

Overlap your grows . Start the second batch before the first is done . If frost is close to the end of bud cycle , just plant a few weeks earlier . Just an idea.

---------- Post added 11-08-2011 at 06:58 AM ----------

Btw , OD green mosquito netting is cheap and placed above plants will keep the first few frosts from effecting the plants . It tends to blend in fairly well if that is a concern.

 

[Nelson]

Both of those are good ideas. I know fruit tree growers use smudge pots but I totally know nothing about them. I wonder if bed sheets come in camoflage? I asked my wife about it and she says she never seen any. Maybe I could just make some if I can find camoflage material. It might be an idea for the cold nights and ward off the odd cold night in September. I t sometimes doesn't frost till late October and I can get later plants in by then.

We were talking at our local breeders club and one old guy chimed up and said "I never grow any pot that has the word Mexican, Hawaiin, Colombian or any other hot place in it. You need pot that can take the cold and finishes quick. So true.

Overlap your grows . Start the second batch before the first is done . If frost is close to the end of bud cycle , just plant a few weeks earlier . Just an idea.

---------- Post added 11-08-2011 at 06:58 AM ----------

Btw , OD green mosquito netting is cheap and placed above plants will keep the first few frosts from effecting the plants . It tends to blend in fairly well if that is a concern.

 

[Muddy]

Is WalMart up your way? I know they sell camo burlap. I've also seen it in some sportsman's catalogs like Cabellas.

 

[Nelson]

Yeah we got a Walmart. Most of us get around in wagons pulled by polar bears but we have a Walmart. I'll harness up the bears and mossy on over. Thanks for the tip Muddy.

Is WalMart up your way? I know they sell camo burlap. I've also seen it in some sportsman's catalogs like Cabellas.

 

[Muddy]

LOL, on the polar bears! Round here it's an old pickup with dogs and trash in the back. Check the sporting goods dept.

Yeah we got a Walmart. Most of us get around in wagons pulled by polar bears but we have a Walmart. I'll harness up the bears and mossy on over. Thanks for the tip Muddy.

 

[Nelson]

Probably the only difference up here is that all the pickups are four wheel drives

LOL, on the polar bears! Round here it's an old pickup with dogs and trash in the back. Check the sporting goods dept.