3rd try at this spot

Took some new pics of my site. The rodent hasn't been back. The weather has been mostly cloudy the last 2 weeks, I think the cloudy days has triggered my plants to go into flower, they haven't grown much in the last 2 weeks. The next month will be clear skies, I can see flowering taking place on most of the plants. I was at the site in the afternoon, you can see the shade that the tree casts on the plants.

Pictures taken 7/6/20

 

The plant on my porch has been growing very fast with mostly about 20-21 hours of light per day. I move it inside at night and put it out in the morning to get sun. It has some stretching but my lights have to be kept a fair distance to keep it from getting too hot. Lots of wind on my porch, it has caused the stems and stalk to grow nice and thick, it's about as thick as a pencil now. I'm not sure when I should just leave it on the porch and let it bud, maybe a little more growth time, when it's ready, I can start a new plant. I can't believe how fast it grows with all that extra light!

Pictures taken 7/6/20

 

Time for an update.
All of the plants are now in flower. The sweet cheese is the furthest along (pictures #7,#8,#9). Some of the plants have started to shed their large sun leaves, I've picked off a few so more light can get in, but only the ones the plant has decided to shed, I'm sure I will pick off more in the coming weeks. Weather has been pretty good, mostly sun all day now. They never did get as much growth as I expected, I was hoping for 6 foot plants but the clouds and the shade did me in. However, hopefully they will fill in good.

The good news, or bad news, depending on how you look at it is that the rodent came back but he got stuck in the netting. Unfortunately it was able to free itself but I found rat fur in the net (picture #17). Hopefully that put a big scare in him to forget about my plants. I hope it took him hours to get out of it, haha. No damage to the plants, traps still set. I had to fix the netting after it got stuck in it. I'm happy that that net actually worked but I'm worried he will not give up!

Pictures taken 7/19/20

 

The plant on my porch has had some trouble. I made the mistake of over watering it. I'm not used to growing in such small containers. The soil I'm using is high nutrient soil but it's very absorbent and it maintains moisture. As a result of the over watering the plant lost several large sun leafs. I stopped watering it and it has recovered but losing those leaves really slowed it down. Since it lost those big leaves I decided to tie the branches open with string to let more light get to the middle of it creating more bud sites. The plant has mostly recovered but it now needs more time to grow. I guess this is a learning experience, haha.

Pictures taken 7/19/20

 

No, I'm not sure, I suspect it's a gopher, but it might be a rabbit. The damn thing already killed one of my plants, and took one branch off of 2 others, but it hasn't been back since I found the fur in the nylon net. I take my dog with me when I go and let him piss around the area, and I take a piss there too, haha. I'm really worried about them, they are finally starting to flower and could be worth something in just a few more weeks. I got the net all around each plant, and then rat traps in each can if he gets through the net, I considered putting poison out, but fear it will just attract more.

 

Thank you! I know the light I got on them is not the correct lighting. It has 2, 500 watt halogen bulbs which are far too hot. I have to keep it a fair distance away which has caused some stretching but the purpose of the light was mostly just to keep them from going into flower and not so much to get growth. I move the plant outside every morning for sunlight. But you are right, I should just go get cooler light.

 

Thanks for the tip, I might check that stuff out. I was thinking of getting coyote urine, it's supposed to deter them. I wish I knew what it is, the reason I suspect a gopher is because I see gopher holes in the area, even close. Also, the plant that got taken, it's possible that he came up from under the net and into the can, not sure how he pulled the plant away. But he can't get to the roots because they are in cans. I should put more net, can't really have enough. Yeah, I need some luck!

 

Update:
Things have been going smoothly. The rodent hasn't been back. All plants have really started to pump out flowers now. I've seen quite a bit of bud growth in the last 2 weeks. The American Pie (pictures 1,2,3) has actually grown a little bit taller in the last 2 weeks. It's clear that the Sweet Cheese (pictures 7,8,9) should be done first, the Peyote Critical Limited Edition (pictures 10,11,12) is budding very fast, it says it only takes 55 days to finish which is the shortest bud time of all the plants.
Pictures taken 8/2/20

 

The plant on my porch is finally recovered from losing all it's large sun leaves, that really slowed it down much more than I thought it would. I've got lots of new bud sites coming up though.

Pictures taken 8/2/20

 

2 week update:
My plants are still there, rodent hasn't been back and no sign of it! Buds are progressing along fine. To be honest, I expected the rodent to destroy every plant by now, I'm trying not to get too hopeful.

The Sweet Cheese (pics 7-10) is filling in pretty good, it's still got a few more weeks though. I have picked off many sun leafs that were dying or dead from every plant except the Haze Berry (pics 4-6) a Sativa which could take up to 77 days, I'm certain the Haze Berry is still early in it's bud cycle and will be the last to finish. The Peyote Critical (pics 11-13) has shed quite a few sun leaves, the most! I was a little concerned but it's pumping out flowers now, it's the one with the shortest flower time. The Ice strain (pics 14-16) is losing too many leaves for my taste as well, they just turn yellow and die, I've picked off a few of the dead and dying ones, mostly at the bottom of the plant. This plant needs less water than the others, perhaps the can is not draining as well as the other cans, hope I'm not over watering it but it's pumped out more bud in the last 2 weeks. The American Pie strain (pics 1-3) is starting to produce many hairs, it's still in early flower for that plant.

The smell is surprisingly mild still, the sweet cheese strain doesn't seem to have a real strong odor although I can smell it, it's the furthest along, but none of them have gotten to that real sticky phase of growth yet. I fixed the net real good around each plant, traps are still set. Weather has been hot, 90+ degrees with few clouds. I need lady luck to shine on me and my plants!

Pictures Taken 8/16/20

 

The plant growing on my porch is doing well. I've always been a rather lazy farmer, just plant them outside, water, and hope for the best without putting in too much effort. But training it by tying it down really makes a huge difference! I think it's really worth it to do this to create more bud sites for a larger yield, even on an outside grow. I'm going to keep this plant in growth for a little longer until the bud stalks get a little more beefy before leaving it out to flower.

Pictures taken 8/16/20

 

Update:
It sure is nice to be growing buds and not sticks and leaves anymore, haha. And it looks like I've finally reached harvest time for my first plant. There is an old expression for outside growers like me and it goes like this: "It doesn't belong to you until it's harvested and taken home." It just means that someone could find it and take it or deer or other critters could eat it, so you never assume you have anything until you actually have it.

In the last 2 weeks the American Pie has really started to fill in. It has just started to change color too. Not much more to say about this except that it's coming along fine. (pics 1-3)

The Haze Berry is starting to fill in but hasn't lost many leaves yet and maybe it won't drop them as much as the other plants did. Hairs are mostly white still but it's growing several nice sized buds. I'm pretty certain that this plant will be last one to finish. (pics 4-7)

The Sweet Cheese is finally done, it's tricomes are mostly milky white with a few of them amber in color. The hairs have mostly changed color, nice and dense buds with a sticky texture. It's sweet smelling but not over powering. It really doesn't have a big smell to it so if anyone is looking for a light smelling bud you could try this strain. It budded early and it's done on August 30. The plant is not nearly as big as what my goal was when I started but it did fill in with some nice buds. There is simply no reason to leave it at the site any longer. I could smell the entire patch before I got there and the other strains are really starting to smell strong now, no sense leaving it to the rats, haha. Pics #12 and #13 are how my plant looks and pic #14 is the picture from the seed bank what they claim it should look like. (pics 8-14)

The Peyote Critical Limited Edition is really budding fast. It will be the next plant to finish. I'm amazed how fast it's flower cycle has been. They said 55-60 days and they are NOT kidding. It just shed most of it's leaves and the bud grew in at the same time within a few weeks. It is very sticky and has started to change color. Although they say it should turn purple, it doesn't look that purple yet. The Tricomes are still mostly half clear/ half milky but the speed at which this plant is flowering makes me expect to take it in 7 to 10 days. Again, a smaller plant than my goal and one branch was taken by the rat but It should be good bud though. It's got a pretty pungent smell already, much stronger than the sweet cheese. (pics 15-18)

The Ice plant has been pumping out the bud, still kinda white looking though, but it's budding faster than the Sativa strains (Am. Pie, Haze Berry). This plant is 90% Indica. It's got some more time though. (pics #19-21)

Now have 1 of the 7 plants that I planted harvested and I'm so happy it didn't get snagged by the rat. One is already dead (Afghan Skunk) and one is harvested (Sweet Cheese) leaving 5 more to go (American Pie, Haze Berry, Peyote Critical Limited Edition, Ice, and another Sweet Cheese growing on my porch.

Pictures taken 8/30/20

 

The plant on my porch has had a little trouble. I'm growing it in the wrong soil that is a bit too rich in nitrogen. The tips of my leaves have been burned a bit. However, I have decided to just leave it outside to flower now. Last night was the last night in my garage under the light mostly because I need the fan for drying my fresh bud now! This plant is another Sweet Cheese. It says 9 weeks to finish but I figure it might take a week to change to flower. I will figure in 10 weeks it should be done which means it should finish November 8th. We usually get good sun through November here but I might have to put it under the light in the day if the weather gets too bad in November.

Pictures taken 8/30/20

 

Thanks for the reply, I've been picking off leaves for days, haha, I'm so lazy to do it but the Haze Berry seems much more leafy than the other strains that I grew.

 

Update:
Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is the Peyote Critical Limited Edition has finished and has been harvested. I just took it today. About 30% of the Tricomes are amber, it's probably over done but I couldn't get to the site earlier in the week. The bad news is, the plant on my porch has died. We had a terrible heat wave here. It was over 110 degrees and humidity was through the roof, even at night! It was 11PM and still 100 degrees and it stayed that way all night. I gave the plant extra water but the next day when I woke up the plant had wilted and it never recovered. It just wilted and died, Kinda frustrating but that's the way it goes, damn!!

But, at least the rodent hasn't been back. I still have 3 plants left but they are not finished yet. I expect the next plant to be finished will be the Ice strain. Here are new pictures.
Pictures 1-5 American Pie
Pictures 6-9 Haze Berry
Pictures 10-14 Peyote Critical Limited Edition (harvested 9/14/20)
Pictures 15-19 Ice

Pictures taken 9/14/20