The outdoor grow of doom?

Ditto......my very first grow(also in Michigan). I have 16 plants going and 4 different stages of growth. I put out my first ones in June and we had wind storms followed by very cold nights (was hauling plants in at night for that) and now all this heat. And yesterday a torrential storm. Not to mention I've already been battling many types of bugs & powdery mildew.

Talk about a huge learning experience.....holy smokers. I can't even believe all 16 are still alive right now. All are flowering except the 4 seedlings. I may lose those.....the wind yesterday blew them sideways in their cloth pots....I was in such a hurry to get them all to cover I sort of pushed them back into place hastily & covered w/ soil. Standing this morning but those roots MUST be mad.

I am beginning to understand why so many here in the mitten grow INDOORS

Good luck moving forward.......maybe she'll give us a break now? ugh,lol.

Aren't you starting a bit late for an outdoor grow in Michigan? I'm above the 45 parallel in the state. I started mine inside in May except one plant I started in the middle of June. My plants are all doing fine. I had them outside before June, they survived one night at 32 degrees and many in the 40's. They are all flowered up but this year I am pollinating everything I am growing this week. All autos. Most over three feet tall.

I currently have four photo plants in the ground, survived 28 degrees with plastic sheeting. I have cut them back repeatedly to keep under six feet tall.

Last year I grew autos outside. Any started last year on July 1st ran right up until snow fall in October and by that time I only harvested half the buds on the plants. Days got too short to create large hard buds. Those started at end of May and moved outside ended up with huge colas.

June 30th outside autos in MI.

One photo in the background is now nearly five feet.
Autos two weeks further along now have doubled or more in size and have been topped. Packing on buds, but I am pollinating this week.

These were my photo plants in the ground by end of May. Picture taken June 3rd. They are all near five feet now. All have been topped repeatedly.

Defo a lil late but I figured with this climate change making the seasons themselves change and summer fall remaining hotter longer; thought Id take a chance.

Some I started late last year I would leave them under the sun during the day to get full benefits then move them into a tent at sundown to grow under lights to catch up. This year I just used the tents and grow lights to get them started. I only have one plant I started outside completely and it is growing slowly. Might put it into the tent if the temperatures drop some as my tent is in a pole barn which gets too warm during the day.

Days will get shorter every day now. You want to take advantage of the entire month of June when days are getting longer. I found out last year that I had to jump start the autos inside because the autos seem to take longer under natural sunlight with all the cloudy days.

That's a very good point @Doug58. I may supplement with extra lighting indoors as well. Defo can tell the difference with lack of control I have here and my hydro plant. She is thriving. I suspect as far north as you are light factors are an even bigger concern. Good luck with the garden this year.

Hello fellow Michigan growers. I have seen @Doug58 around this site and must be close to my hood. Go @GreenMonkeyGrows 20 years ago I was in the Fenton area before transplanting here. First time in many years trying growing in the outdoors again. Don't have to tell you two the perils of an outdoor grow here. It was 45 degrees last night Here is some pics of my pot in pots. Since they are mobile I have been using my blacked out garage for light deprivation. I leave the Stardawg auto out since she is a auto and doing her thing. Still figuring it out I hope.

Green Hornet said:

Hello fellow Michigan growers. I have seen @Doug58 around this site and must be close to my hood. Go @GreenMonkeyGrows 20 years ago I was in the Fenton area before transplanting here. First time in many years trying growing in the outdoors again. Don't have to tell you two the perils of an outdoor grow here. It was 45 degrees last night Here is some pics of my pot in pots. Since they are mobile I have been using my blacked out garage for light deprivation. I leave the Stardawg auto out since she is a auto and doing her thing. Still figuring it out I hope.

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Was in the 40's at my house the other night, also and days have been cloudy, cool and rainy. I'm down to two photo plants now, having started with five. They got huge planted straight in the ground. One was male, two refused to show sex and I cut them down to make room for the final two which had plenty of space between them but with all the bending of branches to keep them under six feet tall they have grown laterally instead, growing into each other. They still are not budding. If they don't start budding out by the middle of the month they might have to go. They were supposed to be fast finishers but they probably won't well this far North. I should have stuck with the photo strain I grew last year. I really defoliated the lower two thirds of the two photos the other day. Don't want any PM starting.

My autos would be finished by now if I hadn't pollinated them for seeds. The seeds are maturing at different rates. I have been harvesting individual seeds or buds from different plants. I have a couple hundred seeds so far that look like they were done. Others are either duds, rotted inside or immature. I probably will manage to get several thousand seeds if I let the plants continue. All the rain and high humidity seems to effect them adversely being outside. I plan on cutting the White Widow this weekend and hang it to dry out to harvest the seeds.

I had to move a non-pollinated plant started sometime near the first of July into a tent under grow lights last night. It had just started budding up and then the cool cloudy weather came and it stalled in growth and would likely not yield much being started so late. Last year any auto started on July first didn't finish outside until just as snow started falling in October. Instead of 65 days or so start to finish they ran closer to 100+ days. Two different Fastbuds strains, Gorilla Glue and Pineapple Express. When I grew under lights the same strains inside finished about four weeks sooner and were more compact with a larger cola and smaller side colas. Outdoors they resulted in a large multiple branched plant with smaller individual buds instead of large colas.

I'm near the Tip of the Mitt.

Heeeyyy... I'm from the Thumb. Marlette. In Genesee County now. How bout this climate change eh fellas? @Doug58 @Green Hornet I thought the opposite was occurring, ya know, we were getting more like Florida-weather, they were starting to get more like ours (South has had historic snowstorms last few years) but it doesn't seem to be that way. If "dog days of August" is dead in Michigan that's defo gonna change the outdoor grow regime for many. Well my outdoor gurls will at least each give me a sample, which is more then I expected. The thrips here have been relentless.

Also since I have a bunch of Michiganders in one area, who else had issues germinating seeds this year?? That'd be that new shit they put in the water. All of Michigan, because of what happened here in Flint. I had 3 seeds not even germ and that NEVER happens for me. Talked to another grower (biggest amt grower I know) and she said same thing, seed issues this year, she is slower because she used mostly clones this year.

Cheers all and happy growing.

I had an entire pack of Fastbuds seeds which did not germinate. I'm on well water, but once I move my plants outside I use natural rain water. I catch in buckets off my pole barn roof. I live on an island and could use lake water but they just sprayed herbicides in the lake to kill weeds. Watch it contaminate my well.

If you need autoflower seeds hit me up by pm in a few weeks. No guarantees but I might be able to hook you up. They won't be feminized but the mothers are apparently hardy strains from a breeder on great lakes genetics. I also have a Fastbuds White Widow I crossed with a male from Afterthought Autos Northern Lights strain. I can't guarantee them but they would be free. Beats paying $10.00 a seed.

Fastbuds sent me a replacement pack with extras.

Doug58 said:

I had an entire pack of Fastbuds seeds which did not germinate. I'm on well water, but once I move my plants outside I use natural rain water. I catch in buckets off my pole barn roof. I live on an island and could use lake water but they just sprayed herbicides in the lake to kill weeds. Watch it contaminate my well.

If you need autoflower seeds hit me up by pm in a few weeks. No guarantees but I might be able to hook you up. They won't be feminized but the mothers are apparently hardy strains from a breeder on great lakes genetics. I also have a Fastbuds White Widow I crossed with a male from Afterthought Autos Northern Lights strain. I can't guarantee them but they would be free. Beats paying $10.00 a seed.

Fastbuds sent me a replacement pack with extras.

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Aww that'd be sweet. I love running Michigan genetics now. The fact we can do that now, still blows my mind. Yes mine this year that did not germ, were all Fastbuds beans as well. But my best outdoor plant this year is a FB plant too. So.. Who knows?? Yea seed prices just keep following bitcoin. Smh.

GreenMonkeyGrows said:

Aww that'd be sweet. I love running Michigan genetics now. The fact we can do that now, still blows my mind. Yes mine this year that did not germ, were all Fastbuds beans as well. But my best outdoor plant this year is a FB plant too. So.. Who knows?? Yea seed prices just keep following bitcoin. Smh.

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I'll message you once I am done getting seeds and coordinate getting you a pack of seeds Then you can let me know if you get them to germinate when you decide to grow them. I should be cutting the Fastbuds White Widow cross this weekend and hang it to dry out. I already have taken 100 seeds from two tiny buds.

GreenMonkeyGrows said:

Aww that'd be sweet. I love running Michigan genetics now. The fact we can do that now, still blows my mind. Yes mine this year that did not germ, were all Fastbuds beans as well. But my best outdoor plant this year is a FB plant too. So.. Who knows?? Yea seed prices just keep following bitcoin. Smh.

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Sent you a message

Green Hornet said:

Hello fellow Michigan growers. I have seen @Doug58 around this site and must be close to my hood. Go @GreenMonkeyGrows 20 years ago I was in the Fenton area before transplanting here. First time in many years trying growing in the outdoors again. Don't have to tell you two the perils of an outdoor grow here. It was 45 degrees last night Here is some pics of my pot in pots. Since they are mobile I have been using my blacked out garage for light deprivation. I leave the Stardawg auto out since she is a auto and doing her thing. Still figuring it out I hope.

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Green Hornet, how far North are you?

Doug58 said:

Green Hornet, how far North are you?

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Just outside of torch lake Bro. The poorer side

Green Hornet said:

Just outside of torch lake Bro. The poorer side

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oh yeah. You are Up North like me. I must be just a bit NorthEast of you. Just off I-75.

You guys should be using Northern Lights for staples in ur gardens. Lol. Just came back from a day trip up there, not quite that far tho. The air and trees are special for sure..

You got a package coming to your mailbox. Should be there Wednesday.

Woohoo! I love beans enroute. Cheers Doug!