(This is my intro post, too.) THE QUESTION: I have a 3rd story patio with full southern exposure sun all day long. I'm literately 20 yards from a boat marina/water.. I am looking for varieties that will stay small (short). Not more than 2-3 plants, CA legal. I'd like them to mature at 4 feet tall max. This includes the container (any taller than that, they could be seen from the ground-level walkway). I'm assuming this will prob be an indica var., not sativa. I'm also assuming that mold, mildew, and fungus could be an issue... being that humidity is high and there are days of overcast and fog. No frost, and no +100*F temps here.... like ever. USDA zone 11a BACKGROUND: I haven't grown bud for like 30 years, since high school and college. But since then, I've developed a green thumb for all sorts of plants., and I have a decent organic patio garden of veggies, herbs, and ornamental tropicals. I bought some Super Lemon Haze (OG) buds from a dispensary, and they had seeds in them. Just for fun, I planted a few of them.... just stuck them one inch down into a previously used pot with the old soil (meant for hibiscus)(beginning of March).... and they look really good.... ultra fat leaves and stems... not leggy at all. Since these seeds were OG (outdoor grown), the male parentage is not known. But this soil has time-released chemical fertilizer... and I want to begin a new batch in organic soil. I've prepared a custom mixed organic soil in a 2gal pot... using layers. (I'm guessing this is good) No seeds have been planted in this vessel, yet. The bottom layer is 1.5 inches of charcoal. This is followed by filling the pot 3/4 full with a mix of organic "potting mix" (60%) blended with pumice (30%), and some coir chunks (10%). The top layer is about 3" thick, and is the same mix except I used more pumice and coir, for a looser mix. I plan on adding a layer of cocoa mulch to retain water, after the plants get established with 4 sets of leaves. I added a weak solution of fish fertilizer, to get the soil bio-active. I am a firm believer that the soil needs to be "alive" for an organic method to work well. Commercial "Potting mix" definitely lacks aerating materials like sand, vermiculite, or perlite. "Potting soil" is a little more porous. I am not a big fan of perlite, because it floats to the top, and pumice does not, plus it contains micro-nutrients. My next batch may include worm castings, some sand, and whatever else you guys suggest. Thanks for reading.
Green House Super Lemon Haze Autoflowering Feminised Seeds is what I'd leap for.. its an auto too, so a quick turnover and low profile you can hide it behind your chillies etc. ..lol hold off the current seeds until you get some experience good luck
im 1 mile from the ocean and did a balcony grow last summer , height being a issue I ran my plants in a scrog . They did at the end get a bit taller than I wanted how ever If I had started training the scrog a tad earlier they would of stayed lower that the top of the balcony wall . Run a fan on them and no mold issues
Unfortunately, in California your plants can't be visible to public view. This includes being seen by neighbors and adjacent properties.
You might look into some auto's. Their lifespan ain't long enough to grow too big. You can also top, LST, and scrog as much as you have room for.
Not arguing, just pondering..... Isn't that left to the counties to decide? IDK, I quit trying to keep up with the bullshit. Last I looked, I'm suddenly not even allowed to grow in my backyard. The wording is always purposely vague. But they're always gonna have a meeting to talk about it some more. Don't even know if I still give a shit. Lock me up or leave me the fuck alone.
Old post update from my balcony grow near the So Cal Pacific ocean, last season (2018) I ended-up with two fem plants. Males pulled. Total heights were under 4 feet, even though this variety is strongly sativa. This was because I did extensive topping and training...horizontally. They bloomed in Sept. and Oct. and were short fat bushes. Yield: about 5 ounces, cured. They were grown all organically... no chems or pesticides.....organic fert only. I had no mold or fungus. There were a few moth larvae just at the beginning of flowering, but I used some pyrethrin and picked those buggers off by hand.....that's it. Here's one sister......
Dried the trimmed flowers in my bathroom with the fan on 24/7, for about 10-12 days. Then put them in covered mason jars. ... burping them every other day or so. They smelled grassy. Then after two weeks, I dropped in some 52% humidity packets... and in another 2-3 weeks, they cured to smell like lemon sativa. In January, I vacuum sealed 1/4 oz portions for long-term storage.