Pwerple PunTang GrapeDrink(I broke off one of the tops when I was training it, so I've got that in a diff place attempting to root it) PunTang(Tell me this one isn't a male, just try) Same age as all the others, but twice as tall and lanky...hmmm...
They're just about 2 months old. Their growth was very very slow in the beginning, and I'm trying to work out why. But I think it was from having few CFLs too far away from the seedlings. I've got them under my 600W now since I have nothing flowering anymore, and the growth rate increase is definitely noticeable. I've been topping the hell out of these b/c Idk who's going to get the plants or how much headroom they have. I'll be outta here in 2 weeks, and I have a best-friend and an Aunt who are both interested in growing, so maybe they can be foster parents. I have all the soil and IPM stuff for them, I just won't be here to do it. I may have to dump one or two off on you, if you'll have the space.
I have plenty if space and would welcome the fosters with open hands brother. Mine now are about 34 days from sprout and are tremendously bigger is why I was asking, but I'm pretty sure I got my soil dialed in with the compost I'm using. I would also be willing to put A little money in your pocket for any extra amendments or whatever your wanting to be rid of ....equiptment etc.
Caught up!! Good thing you're not long winded like I am! Steve, you're a pretty inspirational grower! Between your ganja and the veggies...I'm half tempted to get off my ass and go pull them weeds in the bed. Seriously though, I want crops like yours. Also congrats on wherever your journey takes you for working on the farm. I WISH I had the freedom to move around like that. I'd definitely make a bee line for the north west. I still want to hike the rain forests.
Ha, this isn't exactly a hang-out place, I just felt it was time to stop posting my things on other threads and just have one spot for my plants. I've certainly given certain plants in my garden priority and more time than my pot plants. I would like to be in more of a permenant situation before I start really applying what I've learned about growing cannabis from these forums. Vegetables really are more of my passion, at the moment, anyway. My happiest moments are when I'm working in a garden with friends. Pot is a very durable plant and can grow well w/ very little attention, so I'm happy with what it can produce by me doing the bare minimum. I would say that my soil isn't exactly dialed-in, at the moment; I believe crustacean meal would do a world of good, along with me sourcing better humus. My best soil mix was given to my container veggies. I'm happy with this just being a resource for people who have a very bad spidermite infestation, though. I think a travel journal would suit me better than a growing journal, at this stage in life. I need to sate my desire for travel and exploration before I start having those responsibilities like children... And, yeah, once I get out to the west coast, it won't take me long to start hiking rainforest, old-growth forest, new mountains...
I really need to figure out a way to get my outdoor soil up to snuff for veggie production. I've been trying to find decent priced stuff that I can amend but man....here where I am that can only really happen if I purchase it by the bag. My local nursery sells soil by the yard but it's actually just sand mixed with mulch....that's it. The guy at the nursery admitted it to me. I don't know how anyone is growing anything other maybe cacti in that mix. Perhaps I need to look into ways to build that stuff up. My native dirt is straight desert sand. At approx $8-$15 a bag, it's gonna be tough getting enough bagged stuff to make a difference and even then, it's gotta be amended. I'm taking any and all advise if ya got any!B) Man I wish that I'd had your sense of travel desire back when it was just me. Maybe one day I'll convince the wife to take a trip up north with me. We're exact opposites when it comes to getting outdoors and doing things....not sure how that came to be, lol.
Some veg updates. Pwerple, topped 2x Grape Drink, topped 2x, but snapped off one of the main shoots the other week... PunTang, just got it's 2nd top PunTang male, stretching for the sky (with some weird, white discoloration on one of the leaves) @[member="Cabinetman864"], certainly considering handing them off. My extra amendments are going into my compost pile, but if I part w/ my light, I can just hand it over free; it's nothing special. My other idea is to dig a trough in my woods, fill w/ all my soil, plant these plants outside and let the male pollenate the femals, then have a friend collect the seeds at the end. (Then dig up my forest-amended dirt whenever/if I get back).
Just let me know bud, I will take excellent care of them if needed....really. I wouldn't know if you put them out if the would have enough time to produce seed. Say you put em out tomorrow, that might give em what 6 weeks? Cuz it's starting to cool off around here already.....I dunno I'm just thinking
D3 don't you have a lowes or hd around you? They generally will carry a compressed 3cf bale of decent peat for around $15. You can easily ammend this to quality specs. If you have a Wally world nearby check out their 'ship to store' option. They give Amazon a run for the money on some things. Quality bales of peat might be one - I've never checked that.
Howdy Poss, so sorry for the late as heck response. I do have a Lowes local to me that sells Premiere peat (I think that's the name) in 2.5 cuft bales. We also have a nursery that has Alaska Peat in 3 cuft bales for $15. I need approx 40 cuft of soil to make the next raised bed. I was planning to save up some cash so I can get it all going. I want to make a good soil that I can build up over time. Can't spend alot up front because I just dropped all my saved money on house repairs. ...ugh. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
If you're on a tight budget you can accomplish quite a bit with an outdoor raised bed by using off the shelf items in my experience. The premeir peat is fine as is cheap bags of top soil. Add a few of your own specifications and favorites, cover with alfalfa hay, and in about 6 months you'll have you something to start the spring season with. When spring comes around you can broadfork it up, throw some dry organic fertilizer on it to get things started and you'll be off to a good season of low maintenance growing. If alfalfa hay is not easily available in your area but Tractor Supply is they sell a compressed bale of alfalfa. It's small and it's expensive but it's pure alfalfa and not a mix. But in short, and I know this isn't popular in some thought processes, but for outdoor raised beds the premeir peat and other bagged "shit" you get at the big box stores will get you by just fine. Just like everything else that's talked about - compost it up!
Man am I glad to hear you say that!! Or should I say I'm glad to read you type that . I was just at my local Tractor Supply looking at another composter and I saw the bales of alfalfa and Timothy hay. Once I get the soil in, I'd like to use the hay and compost as mulch. The soil is my main concern due to cost ofcourse. I did exactly as you suggest above with my first bed. Lowes marks down bags that are ripped open during shipping so I snatched up a bunch of them last year and filled the bed in. While it worked out "okay", I definitely didn't get the results I hoped for in regard to crop yeild. I also mulched with cedar....which I now wish I had not and used hay instead after reading how well it works for mulch amd soil nutrition after decomposition. Thanks for guidance Poss!
You just make it work brother D3. You know - run whatcha brung kinda deal. I grew a single zucchini this season that produced something like 50'ish quality fruit. The tomato's produced an unbelieveable quantity. I use or have used a lot of the methodologies shared in the O section around here. Most works pretty well depending on the application. But Rodale's general methodology works excellent for outdoor raised beds IME. Done well the earthworms will rise up from the ground and make that their new home. Feed the worms and that's about all that matters. Run with it. I even used playsand and a few other "not allowed" items LOL. Results is all I'm interested in while staying within the boundaries so-to-speak. Good luck!
Well, the biggest lesson life has been teaching me for 25 years is to never put too much stock into future plans. A lesson that I must still need to learn because future plans are constantly changing for me. I never made it out to California, when I was in Yellowstone I got a message from my farm telling me they had acquired sufficient help and no longer had a need for me, unless I wanted to come in mid-November (yeah, right). So I took advantage of my extra time in Denver with my sister and hiked almost every day. I sought out other farms where I would have an opportunity to work and learn, building towards my goal of acquiring all self-sustainable skills. I landed on a farm in Kentucky surrounded by tobacco fields. This farm had no learning opportunities, and instead, I was teaching the couple sustainable, organic practices. This was an undesirable situation for me and ,along with some other negative factors, led to me deciding to put this on hold for the winter, save up more money, and try again in the Spring where more farms will be wanting help. This is certainly not the outcome about which I had planned, dreamed, nor bragged, but c'est la vie. I have, for the past 5 years, considered tattooing an outline of a cresting wave on my wrist to constantly remind me to, "go with the flow" and not get upset about unrealized plans. I'm now taking advantage of my extra time by growing some plants. I recently opened up a closed-in area in my basement by removing, whole, 12" cinderblock. I then had to pickaxe 3ft of dirt to level off the ground, painted cinderblock white, filled in cracks with foam, wired in 2 outlets and a light connected to a switch. This room's 4'x7.5'x7' WxLxH. My plan is to scrog some plants in here with the 4'x4' scrog screen I built in the Summer. I also want to set up a SIP system so I don't have to do too much w/ these. Still using a 600W HID, but I'd like to add maybe a 400W or something to help increase my yield. The seeds I sprouted are (3)PunTang and (4)Pwerple from MikeTrich/Zombie Mike. I also have pollen from Pwerple saved so that I can make some seedstock. I bought some seedling soil from BAS to run against my own soil at the seedling stage and gauge how my soil is: My soil has more mycelium growing after watering with enzyme tea. BAS has better drainage so the plant in BAS that got overwatered has little to no damage, the plant in my soil has more damage: leaf yellowing and some droopy new growth. In terms of growthrate, I see no difference, none whatsoever. The biggest plants are 2 weeks old, the smallest are but a few days above soil. Group shot(one seedling's missing b/c it's still in the planter tray) Here's the plant I overwatered in my soil, very first leaves are yellow with some shades of brown, and the top leaves are a little droopy, though firm. Look at that node stackage I love fall; sweet potato pie! My very first Barm sourdough starter (2 days old) Thanks waktoo! Here's some ghost chilis drying all ornamental-like
I'm attaching the recipe I used for my sourdough starter. It's from a book called "Crust & Crumb" by Peter Reinhart, recommended by waktoo. It's a 5 day process and is a lot of typing so instead of clogging up my already lengthy posts, I'll just attach the txt file. View attachment Sour Dough Starter.rtf