New Grower Upcoming Spring Outdoor Grow - Advice Wanted!

[Exotic Flower]

Thanks for the tag @Maria Sanchez ,woot woot,rhats a lot of great choices.you are gonna have a great grow,sending good Karma your way !!

Thanks for the good karma buzz, @budelee !
I like to plan things carefully before I move.
And have learned a lot about autos and my present location for outdoors last year.

 

[Exotic Flower]

Good to see you're laying plans to get your grow on. I'm subbed up for the ride. You have a sweet selection of auto seeds, but 2 plants in 1 pot and later culling seems like a waste. If you are starting autos in March, you will have time to do at least 2 auto grows before the rainy season. Maybe even more if you stagger the starting points 6-7 weeks apart. Just my 2 cents.

Hi there, @Duckster!

As for the season, the ideal would be to go from May - June - July (if it were 90 days).
Sometimes the monsoons come in by July already, so may have to pull early.
But these months would be the best for sunshine hours, most of all, and rainfall not bad.

But ... my personal life schedule for July is a bit crazy, so planning on ending late June.
If it were a 60 day grow, then May - June.
But ... even though most of these say "60 days", may need more.
So, late March means April - May - mid June?

Maybe I should start just one seed per pot in late March,
and leave open the possibility for starters in April as well.
Hmmm... this is a good idea, thank you!!

Love and hugs,
MJS

 

[Exotic Flower]

Buenos Dias Maria Sanchez,

Thanks for the tags, nice to be useful. When you get my age, you will seek validation wherever it manifests itself.

I see you have a pretty good grasp of what you are doing I think. Probably still some minor tweeks to iron out once you get going.

Buenos dias, @Eekman !

I have quite done quite a few indoor grows with various strains back in the 90s under MH lights.
I'm only just back into things, doing outdoor and a bit of LED in a tent.
So, still learning a lot!

So this is a balcony growish, 10-14 Hours of sun per day, semi coco grow looks like a winner. You will do the auto's and veg the photo's at the same time. This is way early for starting summer seeds. I think you could get in a whole auto grow before you would have to seed for summer photo's. However, In 2015, I popped seed in mid April, vegged indoors for three weeks, and had plants that would go 2 lbs at harvest (and amazingly, some where in only 7 gallon bags). Mother nature has a way of evening things out.

It really ends up as a guerilla grow, but not far from where I live.
I just start them in the window, boosted by the LED in the tent, and get them used to outdoors on the balcony.
The balcony would actually be really ideal, in terms of light and maintenance.
But... security side of things, a complete nightmare, as my living space is shared with a lot of people!!!!

Then, I probably can't be around for July, so have to wrap up by end of June.
But, for the photos, I'm just going to put them out there and see what happens.
Maybe they'll already start to flower, because even mid-summer here is just 13.5 hrs / day of light.
Or, maybe they'll just turn to monsters... don't know if they'd survive the monsoons though, they are brutal...

I must say that as far as nutrients go, I am on my first full grow on a nutrient only coco system. I have only ever grown in a "super soil" organic type of soil. I know this though, you WILL need the cal mag in your nutrients because of LED's. Don't hesitate, just buy an additive, they are cheap, and you don't use very much, but it is essential. Don't wait for problems to arise that could affect your overall yield.

I would suggest in the future, you look into a fully amended super soil recipe. You mention you might not be able to get to them for periods of time. Coco needs attention almost daily. Supersoils can go up to a week with properly wetted soil without attention, though I wouldn't recommend going more than 2 or three days. It also depend on Pot/inground too.

The crystals you talk about, is that silica? If so then yes, it is a good idea for coco, and it helps with calmag issues. helps keep it stable.

This is really super helpful, thank you!!!!
I was going to use the AN Sensi Coco Bloom A+B as the main nute,
and because that's a bloom, it's a bit low on the N,
and so was thinking about one of those Ca-Mg supplements that also has high(ish) N.
Hard to get super soils where I am.

The "crystals" are those expanding water absorbing silica pellet / ball things, yes.
The idea was that they'd keep the water levels up if I can't water daily.
It's pretty humid here, so evaporation won't be too massive.
July-Aug is massive rainfall, but March-...-June also has a bit of rain, it's not "dry" at all.

Buena Ventura

Gracias, mi amigo!

Love and hugs,
MJS

 

[budelee]

Dear AFN amigos and amigas!

Spring is coming soon, and Maria has been getting ready, planning for some fun!
My basic plan is similar to my last grow, but learning from some mistakes.
I'm starting this thread to get some advice and guidance from the experienced growers here on AFN.

Some background:
My last grow is here < Tropical Outdoor: White Widow Max, AK47, Cheese, Great White Shark, Northern Lights >.

Some basic grow site / location information:

Latitude:
somewhere between 23°0~25°0 North
Geography:
fairly mountainous, at around 500-700m altitude
soil type, not sure, but looks fairly fertile if not a little rocky in places
Climate (for March - June/July):
rainfall from ~120 mm / month in March to 220 mm / month in June
(far lower than my monsoon season madness from Aug - Nov last year!)
average temperature ~20-27° C (the altitude helps)
Light situation (for March - June/July):
daylight hours ~12hrs / day up to maybe ~13.5hrs / day by end of June
sunshine hours ~100 up to ~150 hrs / month (= ~5 hrs / day), not ideal but ...
In short, it is mostly sub-tropical, fairly hot and humid / wet, and also at slight altitude.​

The Seeds / Strains:
These should already be in my mail box back home, as I've been out of town for a while.
Ordered through Seed City.

Fast Buds: Green Crack (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)
View attachment 698409

Fast Buds: C4-Matic (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)
View attachment 698405

Fast Buds: G14 (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)
View attachment 698408

Sweet Seeds: Cream Mandarine XL Auto (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)
View attachment 698406

Sweet Seeds: Dark Devil Auto (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)
View attachment 698407

Sweet Seeds: Jack 47 Auto (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)
View attachment 698410

Dutch Passion: Auto Mazar (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)
View attachment 698404

+ Freebies:
Ministry of Cannabis: Auto Blue Amnesia (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)
View attachment 698416

Mandala Seeds: Safari Mix (6 Regular Photo Seeds)
View attachment 698412

Lounge Lizards: Liquorice Bud (2 Regular Photo Seeds)
View attachment 698411

Originally I really wanted to try out the Fast Buds and Sweet Seeds strains.
Seeing all the grow journals here on AFN convinced me of that.
They're all excellent genetics, and the FB seeds are generally easy grow / low maintenance, which suits my grow situation.
The DP Auto Mazar is just a legend, couldn't resist.
The freebies, well, the MoC Auto Blue Amnesia looks great too, I like sativas!
And the Mandala Safari mix is a nice way to get a bunch of wild hybrid photo regs.
I am planning on starting these earlier, and hoping for some males to seed (more below),
and might get a nice female that finishes in time.
The Liquorice Bud is just something that magically appeared free in my cart.

Germination and Seedling (Day 0-10 or so):
Start with the reg photo seeds, the Mandala Safari mix and Liquorice Bud, in maybe early March.
Let them get a start, they'll need longer, and they're expendable.
If I get a nice male or two, their pollen will be ready when the Auto ladies are ready.
Then, the autos in mid-late March.

I'm going to probably use TaNg's method of two seeds per pot, and then cull the weaker in a week or two. I've got 3+ seeds per strain, so then also keep a back up seed if need be (prob no need). Will have to be ruthless and cull, even if both look nice (not easy, but it's the best method IMHO).

Pots and Medium:
Start in smaller 1 L pots ( = 0.3 Gal).
40% seedling / potting mix
40% coco
20% perlite and vermiculite
Nice and light, let the roots have lots of air.
I'll put them on a nice tray I have, 8 pots (the auto strains),
which will maybe start in a nice sunny window,
and then move into my Mars Hydro 120x120 (4'x4') tent,
under my Mars Hydro Reflector 192 (400 W).
I'll have a bunch of other herbs in there.

Outdoors, Balcony (Day 11-20):
Once they have their second or third set of true leaves,
I'll give them time out on the balcony when the weather is nice.
Let them get used to the sun and a bit of wind and rain.
At first, no need for nutrients or anything, they'll be fine.

I really hope that they can get a nice start going when they're little.
Last time they went outside around day 20,
but they didn't have time under a nice LED grow light before that!

Pots, Medium and Nutrients:
I'll also gradually move them into larger pots, prob 8-10 L = 2-3 Gal.
For the medium, change to something like this:
50% coco
30% potting soil
20% perlite and vermiculite
with some added "water crystals" (see below).

As they are going to be in mostly coco, and need less K but more Ca+Mg,
I think I'm going to use Advanced Nutrients Sensi Coco Bloom A+B.
And use a feeding schedule something like < TaNg's EASY Auto Feeding Schedule >.
I'm thinking about maybe getting something with more Ca+Mg and a bit of N for the vege stage.

Outdoors, Wilds (Day 21-... chop):
Once they are getting to a nice size, they'll go outside.
I can't keep them in my tent, and even having them there when they are small is risky.
My living situation is just not good for this at all.
(Check out crazy story from last grow, Code Red.)
They aren't too far away, but I can't always visit them,
and when I can, it's usually at evening / night.
Location is fairly open and gets good light (for the cloudy mountainous area it is).

Questions for the Experts:

1. Advice / suggestions on the medium.
   Ratios of coco / potting mix / perlite / vermiculite?
2. Use of water crystals? Use of water crystals with coco?
   I'm afraid that I can't water personally regular,
   and that rainfall isn't super high (very different from Aug-Nov last year....)
3. Advice / suggestions on the nutrients.
   I don't have a massive budget... (spent too much on the seeds, haha!)
4. Any other advice / suggestions welcome.

Oh yeah! Writing this thread makes me want to get back home and check the mail!

Love and hugs,
MJS
View attachment 698417
PS: Not me! But kind of looks a bit like me!!! ;-)

Thats a very pretty girl in that picture....the brunette aint bad either...comedy break!!!

 

[Exotic Flower]

Hey thanks for the tag!! Love outdoor growin' and helping out where i can!!
Wonderful strain choices!! I honestly wouldn't grow 2 seed per pot. I prefer to grow in individual smaller pots and cull only those that absolutely need it. Instatransplant pots make it so I can grow in smaller pots without a concern of root restriction, or for damaging root during transplants These days I very, very rarely cull. Culling in that way would be fine if funds were ample, but being on a budget, no need to toss half your seed money away!!

I was mainly thinking this after last year's very bad start
-- almost all the seeds germed, but then never popped above ground.

Maybe I have a light hand, because my transplants seldom if ever have any problems.

I'm going to have to transplant at some point.
That's because up to day 20 they're going to move a bit between under the LED and on the balcony.
So, don't want to have to move 10 or so 2+ Gal pots around several times a day.
I have a nice tray that I can fit maybe 8+ 1 L pots in, so just pick up the whole tray and move it.
And also if they have problems when small, I don't need to have a large pot to deal with.

Can you see if you can get an average relative humidity chart for your area for the months of flowering...I have a sneaking suspicion that will be your biggest struggle?

According to the climate / weather stats, all the way from March through June is about 80%+.
Sounds very bad, but... didn't have any mold issues last year even during monsoon!!!!
(The only problem was harvesting when still wet,
but I already have a solution for that if it comes down to it.
Key point is, I'm harvesting before monsoon.)

Well said all around @Eekman - I start my photo seeds on april the 1st and by the end of sept they are huge. Maria if you cant get to the plants very often, I think you will find it difficult to keep up with the needs of giant photo plants. I would expect flowering to begin as soon as the light period starts to decline, but that would depend on the strain trigger. A much different light regime than my own(16 hours at the peak), so I might be wrong!

Sounds like a solid plan overall!!

While the strains I picked are all possible monster plants,
because it's a guerilla grow and most of the time light hours are 12-13.5 hr / day,
I think that they'll stay relatively small(ish).
So, huge genetics in this situation should still lead to okay results.
That's my thinking.......

LST or Fimming or Topping....????
This is also a good question, but may wait until they get going.
Maybe some nice LST work, as I've been practicing on my mint plants!
Top / Fim some and leave the rest, making a learning comparison.

 

[Exotic Flower]

hey @Maria Sanchez i dont know anything about outdoor grows but i know a little something about this plant we all love so much
im def gonna sub up and watch and lend any advice i can once they get growing
for this great adventure!

Thanks @tripaholic88 !!

I know you've used coco a lot.
What is your take on coco and the Ca-Mg issue? and the K issue?
(I.e. the idea that coco needs more Ca-Mg and less K.)

And have you ever used silica / water crystals with coco?
I'm guessing not for indoors (no need!)

 

[Exotic Flower]

Good growing, Maria! We'll be happy to follow your garden
[HASHTAG]#EnjoyGrowingFaster[/HASHTAG] and easier, as you said

Ty!!!!

Thanks, @FastBuds !!
I love the look of your genetics so much, just had to have some.
Do you do any outdoor grows for your breeding programs?
I've chosen the strains that FB rates as easy or for beginners,
because in the rough outdoors, I need a hardy and tough plant.

Hope to have some nice photos for you to show off FB outdoors!

 

[Exotic Flower]

New grow excitement growing for lots of us! Wonderful strain selection. Have you considered preparing a spot in soil to plant? Would be some work up front, but less work over the grow. I'm thinking your hillside is well drained, and in the soil would support the plant much better than a pot, and relieve watering worries. Photos in well prepared soil produce big time. Cheers Maria, your are a true canna commanda

Hi @trailanimal !

I was originally planning on doing that last year, but time was not enough to prepare.
But, actually, this is a really good thought for this time around, as I have more time.

Maybe... how about this idea: I do an in-ground site or two for the photo plants?
That could let them really do their thing, and grow nice and big.

I know a couple of good spots, quite a bit further from me (about 1 hr hike) in the mountains.
I thought about digging them out, and dropping in coco blocks to wait for the rains.
Then add in a bunch of organic nutrients to them once the rains expand them out.
Then just check on them every couple of weeks or so...........

Thanks for the reminder on this one!

Love and hugs,
MJS

 

[Exotic Flower]

The only thing that could be a major drawback is if the PH is off....I wanted to suggest this, I really did!! Trail is right though...try at least a couple straight in the ground. Watering is far easier in te ground..i can easily water heavily and leave for a week without a single worry with plants directly in the ground(our soil PH is a nice 6.2-6.5).

Okay, if @912GreenSkell suggests it, must be a great idea!
I can go pH test it before hand.
The location I'm thinking of is a little south facing peak above a nice stream.
I can just leave a water container hidden around the stream, and get the water as I climb up.

Oh... more hiking this spring, it seems!!!

 

[Exotic Flower]

Thats a very pretty girl in that picture....the brunette aint bad either...comedy break!!!

If I put a photo of myself, I'd break the AFN forum!!!!
Have to just find another chica morena hispana lookalike....