Outdoor Organic grower, winter preparation?

1. When I harvest my plants, should I chop the stem as close to soil level as possible?
Yes.

2. After lopping it off, do I just leave the "stump" as it is?
Yes.

3. What should I do with my 15 gallon pots of soil after harvest until winter comes (Located in New England = snow fall)
You can just let them stand. Might just want to cover it for the winter with some plastic so rain doesn't leech the soil.

4. I showed and am still showing signs of deficiency. I'm not sure what yet as I'm learning to identify these things still, but I believe I have different issues in multiple different plants. (some have clawing leaves, some have brown spots, some have yellow edges with brown, the list goes on haha). Should I re-amend my soil next season? Or perhaps it's all due to the fact I didn't use any liming agent to pH buffer the soil mix? Whoops!
Ok this one is a bit more complicated as you need to first identify what exactly is the issue. Is it a deficiency or lockout and whats causing it. PH could definitely be a cause if you don't have enough buffer in the soil in the form of lime. Does sound like you have more then one issue (clawing, spots..). Post up some photos of the troubled plants so we can try and identify the issues (pics of whole plant with pot and close up of the top growth and troubled area will help)

5. Should I plant a "fall" cover crop in them? I don't think it would do much good as first frost in my region is usually mid October.
Can't hurt, no big deal either way IMO.

6. Once my seedlings next season are ready to be transplanted from their "sprout" container, should they go directly into the 15gal no-tils?
Yes.

7. Are there any steps I should do prior to planting in the no-tils other than making sure they are properly hydrated?
Are you familiar with the Hokey Pokey?
Just continue with the regular inputs (kelp, neem malted barely etc..) once you get them up and running again.

Anyone caring to suggest anything not pertaining to my questions please do!
Driving home with take out food? Put the bag on the passenger seat with the seat heater turned on to keep it warm.

 

“showed and am still showing signs of deficiency.“

Couple things - First, how big are these plants? Care to show a picture?

The reason I bring this up is because cannabis, as a fast growing annual plant can and will grow monstrous in a very short time in the right conditions and outdoors under the sunlight, 15 gallons is simply totally insufficient. This is why you see the big boys using hundreds of gallons per plant. The plants will use up every little speck of nutrition in the pots. In my younger days I made the same mistake and would often pull out a root ball that had zero soil left in it - zero. The plants had eaten it all up.

If you’re planting your cannabis in early spring, mid spring or late spring, 15 gallons is on the small side imo.

Then there’s also the possibility, that if this isn’t the case, that a lot of folks think the cannabis will finish flowering looking picture perfect - it can’t; it won’t - so do t expect it to - even under the absolute perfect conditions.

If you don’t already - MULCH MULCH MULCH - with dead organic matter.

“When I harvest my plants, should I chop the stem as close to soil level as possible?”

Doesn’t even vaguely matter. You can bet that if you chop your plant 6 feet off of the ground that over a couple of months it’s going to end up cut at the soil line on its own as this plant dies back.

J

 

@jerry111165 beat me to it! Lol. I always encourage people to use the largest containers possible.

I would put all the soil in a pile and mix in 1/2-1 cup of each neem, kelp, crab, oyster and rock dust. This fall I would add 2 or 3 contractor bags worth of leaves to the pile and mix it up. After this is done I would cover the pile with as many leaves as possible.
I'm assuming you already have a compost pile rocking or better yet a worm bin that will come in handy next spring. If you have a wood stove and can make biochar over the winter all your bases may be covered without the need to buy more soil.
I'm sure @jerry111165 can give you more insight on this. He's been known to never let a good leaf go to waste. Lol.
RD

 

2 and 3 look like the same pics.

 

@Sinescent I had the exact same questions this was my first year growing and I think my plants are doing very well. Although they hermied last week around day 25 into flower, but they will finish out well.

I figured I needed bigger pots also I used 10 gallon smarts and learned quickly maybe 2 bigger ones then 5 smaller. 5 plants is alot of time.

So my question is I was going to get some big plastic crates or trash cans and just throw my soil in with the leaves over the winter that should be good until I am ready to use?

RD is there a post on how to make BioChar?

 

This is a 20 gal pot that I have been using for 5 years no till.
it has dried out a few times and came back strong every time.

 

IMO growing outside is gonna be harder with the weather and critters. If yer IPM game is strong and you don't see any bugs, mold, or whatever, you will still have fan leaves that will yellow and die because the plant is maturing. I would go with bigger pots outside so the plants can reach their full potential, your plants look good overall.