Outdoor UK Forest with a clay floor.

[dafthandler]

Hi, Not too far from where I live is a sparse forest, which is very rarely entered and as such is quite overgrown and difficult to walk through.

The ground appears to be clay with a few streams cutting through. A nice layer of leaves, dead branches, brambles, the odd bush. Visibility through the scrub is 20 meters tops. It all looks pretty good, and I'm seriously thinking of planting 4/5 autos.

I have read not to dig a hole in clay and fill with compost, but to just turn over the ground and then mulch it a bit further down the line.

I'm reading what I can find on UK outdoor growing, but are there any on here with a bit of UK experience who I can chat with, and get a bit of advice from?

 

[KushNFT]

Others have had better luck than me but I'm going to try again anyway.

 

[EvilScotsman]

i tried putting a couple autos in my local woods last year. they lasted about a month then something ate them. id put some chicken wire or something round them for protection bud.

 

[G.Leave]

I talk with some uk guys often, and these are some things you need to know...in an overgrown area like evilscotsman suggested you will almost certainly need some protection for the plants. Its seems rabbits in the uk love eating grass. Ive read from uk guys that blood meal one the ground will help stop deer and rabbits.
Slugs are likely to be a problem. Diomascus earth, crushed egg shells can make a barrier around plants that they will not cross. Ive had success with copper tape for stopping slugs.
Mold is the biggest challenge in a wet 70%+ humidity environment. Find strains that are resilient to mold. Off the top of my head I know several UK guerilla growers that grow Dinfems Auto White widow and do very well with it. Ideally pick taller strains, the further you are from the damp ground the better...try to pick areas where you get morning sunlight and also decent wind.

 

[KushNFT]

I talk with some uk guys often, and these are some things you need to know...in an overgrown area like evilscotsman suggested you will almost certainly need some protection for the plants. Its seems rabbits in the uk love eating grass. Ive read from uk guys that blood meal one the ground will help stop deer and rabbits.
Slugs are likely to be a problem. Diomascus earth, crushed egg shells can make a barrier around plants that they will not cross. Ive had success with copper tape for stopping slugs.
Mold is the biggest challenge in a wet 70%+ humidity environment. Find strains that are resilient to mold. Off the top of my head I know several UK guerilla growers that grow Dinfems Auto White widow and do very well with it. Ideally pick taller strains, the further you are from the damp ground the better...try to pick areas where you get morning sunlight and also decent wind.

Is a poly tunnel a bad idea?

Or maybe just a fine mesh to try to keep the dew off but allow airflow?

The last couple of years my plants were wet pretty much every time I checked on them and morning sunlight wasn't enough to dry them off and warm them up to do much growing......I brought a White Widow Auto back home to finish indoors and it was 184 days from seed to harvest thanks to things going in slow motion outside.

 

[Dave_Shorts]

Is a poly tunnel a bad idea?

Or maybe just a fine mesh to try to keep the dew off but allow airflow?

The last couple of years my plants were wet pretty much every time I checked on them and morning sunlight wasn't enough to dry them off and warm them up to do much growing......I brought a White Widow Auto back home to finish indoors and it was 184 days from seed to harvest thanks to things going in slow motion outside.

I built a poly tunnel greenhouse. Works amazingly and keeps temps up I. Our colder climates. Ive had plants out for just over a week now and they are not affected by the night temp drops

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

 

[dafthandler]

@912GreenSkell thanks for that reply, thats exactly what I was hoping for with this thread. I will look into the white widow, I haven't grown that strain before, the last white widows I tried didn't germ. They were from vision seeds though, so hopefully Dinafem will be better.

 

[G.Leave]

Is a poly tunnel a bad idea?

Or maybe just a fine mesh to try to keep the dew off but allow airflow?

The last couple of years my plants were wet pretty much every time I checked on them and morning sunlight wasn't enough to dry them off and warm them up to do much growing......I brought a White Widow Auto back home to finish indoors and it was 184 days from seed to harvest thanks to things going in slow motion outside.

Yeah that's a pain in the ass!! The only solution other than a greenhouse(which is ideal) would be dew shields, or find a more open higher wind area which to me is the best solution. We live in a valley and heavy daily dews happen throughout summer until it cools down in the fall.

If cold is the problem then for sure a greenhouse is the best solution, like dave said.

@dafthandler - no problem bud. I would also look into the Autoflower POrtal. Their plants have been bred in high humidity, and some of the taller strains might do well. (sour lemon sour caramel)

 

[G.Leave]

@KushNFT
dew shield...easy and effective, though not stealthy at all. Been suggested you can use green tarp which would be better than clear plastic for stealth, but might have to raise higher to allow more light.

.

 

[G.Leave]

@dafthandler - A couple of more things...clay soil "can" be a decent medium, but should be amended to make it more porous. Depends on density and the sticky factor how much you will have to do to make it worth using. The problem with clay based soils(especially heavy clay) is water retention and dense soil makes roots have a tough time penetrating to form a solid root mass. One good thing about clay based soils is they often have decent nutrients, just accessing them can be tough due to the root penetration.I know lots of UK guys search out stinging nettles for a place to grow...nettles prefer neutral well draining soil.
Additions like hardwood leaf compost and perlite would be very useful to break up the consistency.