Gold Country Outdoor Grows

So, I am creating this Forum Topic because I would like to share ideas and my progress with other outdoor growers from the Gold Country (Sierra Foothills) area of California who can relate and give me insight. Please, if you have any knowledge that could be helpful, post in on here, even if it's constructive criticism. I have been growing for several years indoors, and this will be my first big run at doing an outdoor this season. I am already pretty behind,  getting a late jump on securing my new plot of land for the season. Either way, I feel I am trying to take all the necessary steps to make this a successful season and I hope with a little help from all you wonderful people out there in the Grasscity community, I can make it an even better one. The one thing I ask is that everybody checks there egos at the door before posting on this forum topic and I will promise to do the same. We, as growers, must all understand, we do not have all the answers, even if we think we do, and being open to suggestion only makes us each wiser with every shared bit of knowledge we soak in. I look forward to everyone's input over the season and hope it is a prosperous year for us all. 
 
2014 season background thus far.
 
I have secured a private and remote 10 acre piece of land in the heart of Gold Country at the base of the Sierra Foothills. It is situated at approx. 2200ft elevation on the top of a small hill with southern exposure. I have built a 8ft privacy fence down two sides of the garden to block the only vantage point a weary traveler could chance upon. The remaining sides of the garden are currently just covered by a 4ft lattice which I will extend higher with horse fencing, in the next couple weeks. I am running 24 200 gallon smart pots with my own custom soil mix. While I have been getting all this up and going, I have had a mix of Afgoo, Mr. Nice, Chem 4, & Fire OG Kush clones vegging under 15.5 hours light for the last month or so. They are only about 2ft. tall and not very bushy yet, but they are very healthy (as I mentioned, getting a late start). These were not my first choice of strains, as I originally ordered some heavy hitting seeds but they unfortunately arrived too late to utilize this season. I did, however, get a few autoflowering feminized seeds which I will probably grow after I get all the main plants going. I have purchased a 300 gallon reservoir, which I hope will be sufficient enough for the 24 pots. I have enough healthy clones that I could plant two sister clones together in one pot, if I so choose, but I have not decided yet, which would prove more rewarding; 1. planting 2 matching clones in one pot, or 2. planting just one plant per pot. The garden receives a fair amount of direct sun (approx. 4-6 hrs, with partial sun the rest of the day).
 
This is pretty much where I am at up to this point. I plan to transplant the clones into the smart pots sometime this upcoming week (by June 1st, 2014, latest) but know there are still many things I am still overlooking or have not thought of, so based on what I have told you, if you can think of things, please let me know so I can take them into account. I will continue to update this forum with pictures and other questions as they arise, as well as, to answer any questions you may have for me. I truly appreciate all the help from everyone and look forward to the ongoing developments on here and in the garden. Happy Growing!
 
 

 

Here are the pictures of where I have made it to so far. All the pots are filled with the soil. I have been mixing and watering the soil for the last week, trying to prevent any hot spots. The spacing between the plants is way tighter then I originally pictured them being with these pots. I have a feeling that space will become a real issue later into the season. Please let me know what if you have any suggestions or critiques. As always, thank you for the help.

 

Yeah I agree, some have over 10ft, but for the most part I have around a 7-8ft diameter unfortunately. I am still going to keep them where they are because I don't have the space to move them out anymore and I'd prefer not to do less numbers. It's just going to be tight in a lot of places.

 

I do which is great for some privacy but most of the land is unusable thicket and dense forest which only helps with preventing people from coming onto the property. 

 

SO a little updating guys,
 
It is now June 5th and I have had the plants outside in 5 gallon pots under a shade tarp getting them hardened and ready for there final transplant. I added some supplemental light (i.e. dual 1000w light) which comes on at around 5:30-7:30 a.m. and again at dusk between 7-10 p.m.. I began seeing preflower pistols firing out on most of the clones after only a couple days outside, so I am using the supplemental light to ensure the plants stay in veg through the solstice. I hope that the Preflowering does not mean that it is about to go into flowering but instead, simply that it is maturing and showing its sex but is still remaining in a vegetative state. From what I have read, with the addition of the extra light, I shouldn't worry about it. The fact that they are only showing two pistols at the nodes and nothing more somewhat relieves more worry as well. If anyone has had this happen to them before, please let me know what you did to resolve or if it is anything to worry about now.
 
I have also been mixing and leaching the soil mixture I am using to try and cool it down a bit. It was running extremely warm upon first filling the pots and has drastically cooled to the touch, an inch or two under the soil, where as is was running HOT when I first mixed, so I am hoping that that has helped in preparing the pots for transplant. I also first planned to use straight well water throughout the season since the PH levels are within a safe level, but since I have leached the soil a few times to get rid of the hot spots, I have added a 350 gallon water reservoir with a sub pump. This will allow to me run liquid nutes later in the season if the soil begins to run a little depleted. Hopefully it wasn't a big waste of money, but either way, I can atleast utilize it and add sweeteners and other full season additives to the mix. Let me know if you have any thoughts on that?
 
I have also covered the ground level of the garden with a Castor Oil (Mr.Sweeney's x2 pellet repellent), and saturated the ground following coverage. After making the error of placing chicken wire under several of the pots, I wanted to try to utilize some sort of defense against any rodents that could pass through my garden. After some research online, I read some pretty good reviews about the product I used, being explained that castor oil is a very effective deterrent against garden rodent pest. I guess will just have to wait and see. I currently have not seen any signs of mole or gopher holes around my property so I am hoping the castor oil will simply keep it that way. Hell, if I am lucky, I wont need anything, if the smart pot fabric is strong enough to act as a barrier in itself, but the castor can't hurt.
 
Although I am usually a big fan of deer, for obvious reasons, I would like to avoid them as much as possible this season, so I have been taking my dogs hair after combing him, and spreading it out around the garden line. Since his introduction to the property, I have not seen many of deer, however, I must assume, they pass through during the evening when myself and the dog are sleeping inside. I think I am going to add some trail cameras for both security but also, to see exactly what is roaming around the property that I am not aware of.
 
That's pretty much it for now. Next, I plan to heighten the lattice going around half the garden, and within the next week, I will be making the final transplant to the 200 gallon pots. Since I have decided to only run 1 plant per pot, I will be taking the extra teens, and planting them in 45 gallon pots which I will make extra space for beyond the garden. I feel like I would get more yield doing it that way, then to plant two sister plants within the same 200 gallon pot. 
 
I'll take some updated pictures of everything to show everything I have mentioned in the update, within the next couple days. Please, if you are doing anything differently, that I am overlooking, do not hesitate to chime in. I'm shooting from the hip on most of this and some valuable input would graciously be appreciated. As always, happy and prosperous growing to everybody.

 

Correction to the above post;
 
after making the error of NOT placing chicken wire under several of the pots...........

 

Thanks for the info and links. They are all very helpful. Following on your points, I have been using Azamax and BT once a week since the plants were moved outdoors. The azamax, I believe, is derived from Neem oil, but, so far, it seems to be effective in preventing any mites or other harmful pest that I have noticed. Also, so far, I keep inspecting for caterpillars but have not seen any at this point. I will probably introduce other pest controllers as the season goes along.