Help, if there is any this late in the grow. I'm growing 2 saliva dominant clones, Lambs Bread and OG Ghost Train Haze, and they're bushy demons just beginning to flower. While they're still at least a full month and more from harvest, it looks like I'm not going to get anything besides popcorn. Is it a temperature thing (nights too cool in the 60's, latitude 38, NorCal)? Or is there some defoliation/thinning/training/pruning I can still do? Imagine trimming all that tiny bud...
Dang man, that looks like a hell of a nice bush too. I have no idea what the answer is i just wanted to comment how pretty your plant is.
Thanks, man, that makes me feel good. I think they look nice, but what do I know? I sure like the way the organics are working so far. I'm lazy and like doing just enough in the garden instead of wasting time and $ on a blunderbuss nute program. I started with my pretty mature tested garden soil that already has plenty of organic matter, calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron. Wish I checked the pH, but it's too late to do anything about now. Someone here reminded me to grow a winter legume cover crop. I planted cow peas that I turned over in early May. My girls got bone meal in the planting hole, soaked alfalfa pellets for growth hormone and N about 3 or 4 times, and a bit of kelp meal for traces. Now I'm using Bud and Bloom about weekly. I keep the bed mulched with 3 inches of my own composted horse manure/stable bedding that I'm about to top off cuz the soil organisms have eaten is much up. Now all I need is some idea how to prune/thin/defoliate these outdoor saliva hybrids. Last year my saliva hybrid Pineapple Thai produced only popcorn...but it was good popcorn.
I've seen sativas that look like they will produce just popcorn, but in fact, have filled the entire branch with lovely bud!!!! They like to go from that first bud formation and go entirely back down the branch and almost fill it up! I'm not familiar with your strains, but for me this has held true. Your girls look great! I try to prune back the large 'sucker' or 'fan' leaves, but it's a matter of choice and be warned...there are very specific ideas out there! O/T growers tend to prune off fan leaves. Some would probably give you a whack if you did. All a matter of choice, IMHO. Looks like you should be in for a hell of a harvest when they fill in! Keep us posted!
Hey, thanks for that. I hear you on opinions about defoliating fan leaves. I hate to state the obvious, but it could be both sides are right. I've spoken to old timers who've grown for 35 years who keep saying, "It's weed. Grow it like a weed. By the time you harvest, it shouldn't have more than a few green leaves left so it's sucked every last nutrient it needs out of it's own leaves." The logical types suggest that having that full coat of energy-producing leaves makes for a bigger and more productive plant. What's an old girl to do? I think I'll experiment a little and slowly get more light down deep in those beasts.
There ya go! I did the same...first time outdoors. Since everyone is protected from the wind/rain, I feel like I can afford to lose a few of those shady leaves! My well water actually registers better than the rain water, so I use a drip irrigation system. Girls are at 12-14 ft. right now and budding up nicely! I believe that all the leaves are really needed if you are growing 'remote' and have no access to water other than rain. The leaves are a backup source in that situation. Opening them up will hopefully give us both a great yield....best of luck on your grow!! You'll be surprised at how quickly new growth will take over where you have opened things up!
And I was thinking that it might depend on latitude, like grapes. You see grapes all nekkid in some climates, but in hot summer climates, you'll see the canes weeping down to protect the scion and/or bud union from sunburn. Wait! Are you saying your clones are 12-14 ft? I'm not sure I can push them that hard, but maybe.
Well, they used to be clones! They are now making flowers! And yes, 12-14 ft. Some strains are just about 6-8 ft. tall and one (blueberry) is even shorter but putting on weight daily! Totally virgin ground...didn't have a previous grow. Added horse manure and potash last fall and tilled it in. Let it set all winter. Added 12-12-12 to the holes this spring and planted a large majority of them in mid-May. Once they began to flower, I've added bone meal to each girl and they look great! The more you trim back those fan leaves, the bushier they get and they have growth spurt after growth spurt. I had thought about just letting them go and see how they did, but I'm not sure I can step away from defoliating now...seems to work!