JohnGalt's First Grow - Outdoor Surprise 2010

[JohnGalt]

9/13 - Watered with full nutes and superthrive. Found my spider mite infestation has returned; sprayed each plant with 16 ounces of Safer's Insecticidal Soap.

PICS INCOMING

Side views of both plants; notice the second plant has a bunch of new lower bud sites popping up (this plant gets a bit more sun than it's sister due to the need to keep them hidden from view).

The following pics I was trying to get a decent bud shot, but ended up getting decent shots of the spider mite damage.

With damage:

Healthy bud site:

A couple leaves I pulled off the lower part of the more infested plant; note that the first one is the biggest fan leaf I've seen on the plant to date, but was the worst infested I've seen:

If you look very closely you can see a couple fine strands of web between the leaf-tips on the left side of the leaf:

Photo courtesy of Google Images, so you can see what I saw on these leaves with the help of my pocket microscope (buggers were dying due to the spray, but were still moving a bit too much for me to even try to line up a picture through the microscope):

And finally, a decent picture of a flower (I took about 15 pictures and this is the only one in focus):

For those who may recall I had a previous spider mite infestation, it is noteworthy to point out this is a NEW infestation. The old infestation were red spider mites, these are Twospotted spider mites (looking at the picture it's pretty obvious why they're named thus).

Also noteworthy is that unlike last time, this time I'm seeing a lot more eggs on the leaves. Also, last time I saw one or two mites and one or two thrips out of several leaf samples. This time... I saw 3 spider mites all at the same time, and probably saw at least a few dozen on each leaf.

So I'm bracing myself for this one to be more trouble than the last infestation... (trying to stay optimistic) at least I won't be bored for a few weeks...

 

[JohnGalt]

On a more somber note; today is the 13th, which marks 17 years since my dear friend Ron passed away. Possibly the second-hardest life event I've endure was the loss of this friend.

Ron, this toke's for you.

 

[Mmmmick]

Ah well, no harm in trying. Your pics are looking pretty good anyway even if you can't quite get as close as you like.
Plants look good, lots of budsites and growing well.

Times like this I'm not quite as jealous of outdoor grows.
You caught them early so shouldn't be too tough to control them. Ever tried Azamax? I've seen others talking about how effective it is and they say it can be watered in so you don't have spray it on your buds. OMM might be able to give you some details here.

OldMedMans's 3rd Grow AirPots and 6 Strains

Looking forward to your scrog grow, good luck with the mites.

 

[Mmmmick]

On a more somber note; today is the 13th, which marks 17 years since my dear friend Ron passed away. Possibly the second-hardest life event I've endure was the loss of this friend.

Ron, this toke's for you.

Hey JohnGalt, sorry you lost your friend. It's good that you haven't forgotten. I'll spark one in his memory.

 

[JohnGalt]

Thanks Mmmmick. I'll check out OMM's thread. I really like the idea of not having to spray down my plants. The leaves always seem a little dry and brittle the day after spraying. Also, as the weather cools and humidity rises, I want to introduce as little foliar moisture as possible.

 

[JohnGalt]

9/15/10 - Weather has been mild, and though I think they could have gone another day without water, I'm having a house guest stay over so I won't be able to tend to my plants again until Saturday. 1/2 gallon tap water each (and just realized I forgot to add pH down... again... good thing they can't walk or I'm sure these plants would be gone and I'd just find a note saying, "fuck this, we'll take our chances without you."

9/17/10 - Full water with full nutes & superthrive pH'd to ~6.5 (I remembered!). Other than the already existent mite damage, the plants are looking healthy (except for a few leaves that are dying off.

Not sure what's killing these leaves. Doesn't look like anything I've been able to find in any guide... might be due to the colder-than-seasonal overnight lows. (Only 1:00 AM as I type and already dipping below 60F, might see below 50F tonight.)

Busy weekend for me with lots of house guests and more orchard work going on near my grow plot (post-harvest tree trimming), so might not be able to get pics up until Monday.

 

[JohnGalt]

9/20/10 - 1 gallon each water with superthrive (no nutes). Applied foliar spray of Safers to follow up on the spider mites.

Also decided to tie a couple of the main stems on one plant, as they were really crowding and the whole thing rocked in the wind. Adds stability and also spreads the two main stems a bit so the middle gets a bit more sun.

Planned on doing this for both, but the other simply is way too bushy with tiny branches, and seemed to endure the wind much better. Come to think of it... the sturdier plant is upwind (we have very steady wind patterns in my area); so the one that has been sheltered from the wind is noticeably less sturdy. (I had heard this before, but pretty amazing the difference between these two.)

Sorry no pics this time. Trying to minimize exposure so my hidden plot isn't discovered.

 

[Mmmmick]

Sounds like you've got things well in hand JohnGalt. Can't blame you for wanting to keep it stealthy.

 

[JohnGalt]

9/23/10 - Watered with full nutes & superthrive.

Took a sample of a small leaf from one of the top buds to check trichomes. They appear to be "sessile" (meaning orbs with no visible stalks - they just look like beads sitting on the leaf surface). Roughly 40% cloudy.

As I was looking over my sample leaf I found something moving. After chasing it around for 10 minutes (little bugger didn't want to sit nicely under the microscope), got a good look at it... turns out it's an adult thrip... alive and well just 3 days after spraying with Safer Soap... might be time to step up my chemical warfare.

Only mine was not orange/red at all; was clear except for the eyes and the lines of it's back end and tail spikes/hairs (w/e those are).

 

[JohnGalt]

So, anybody have some insight into how far from harvest I might be? It's been about 6 weeks since I first noticed pistils developing (but to be fair I wasn't looking for it as I thought they would veg for another month or so since they were getting 14+ hours of daylight). I know it probably varies by strain, but what do my "capitate-sessile" trichomes tell me? Does it matter that I looked at a leaf instead of the actual bud?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JohnGalt]

9/25/10 - Watered 1/2-gallon each (forgot to add pH down... again). Noted some leaves dying, but couldn't tend to the problem due to house guests being over all weekend. (Barely got away long enough to water them.) Also noted continuing/worsening thrip/mite infestations.

9/27/10 - Watered with full nutes; sprayed with 1:1 mix of water and rubbing alcohol. Chose this over Safer's due to the possibility of needing to harvest in the next week... don't want buds covered with a nasty soapy flavor. Also checked pH of runoff water of the troubled plant... which was spot on (amazing considering how much pH 8+ water has been put in the pots).

I've all but given up on beating the bugs... with harvest being over the farm isn't concerned if their leaves are eaten by mites, so they aren't spraying for them anymore. So, every time I kill them, more are going to migrate from the nearby trees and weeds. My last resort may be to buy Lady Bugs and make them stay on my plants. (I read a handy tip on using soda pop mixed with water to glue their wings shut for a week to make them stick around.)

Noted some signs of serious trouble with one of the plants. At first I was looking at nutrient and pH issues... but both plants have been given identical waterings. Nutes are mixed in one batch, so no chance I gave one plant something that I didn't give the other. Noted that the areas most affected were leaves that were very close to or touching a brick wall (very light gray, probably decent reflectivity). At 80F outside the brick was warm to the touch already... I can only imagine how hot it gets when it's 95F+. Also, the affected plant is west of the healthier plant. This means it gets more sun in the later hours of the day than the unaffected plant... that's extra sun during the hottest part of the day.

So, I think I've pinned it on heat stress. We haven't seen any record temps the past week, but we had a cold spell and now we're enjoying a heat wave. Also been more humid than usual (usually gets down to 25% mid-day and today it has barely dipped below 50%). I've pulled the stem of the plant to better center it over the pot, and also am slightly rearranging the grow plot so the plants won't touch the wall.

Also have some minor problem with a larger leaf muncher of some sort... I can't think of the name, but if I recall correctly it's some sort of bee that makes almost perfectly circular cuts in leaves... well anyhow I only found one or two such leaves... so not too worried about them.

Pics incoming!

Three of the worst damaged leaves I found... looks almost like P deficiency, but that's the most abundant nutrient I'm giving them.

Bud on the troubled plant that was pressed against the wall (the stem is broken and taped, so the weight on the bud was pulling the entire plant over into the wall!)

Bud growing horizontally (note the semi-circular cut in the leaf very bottom center of the picture)

Another troubled bud (note bottom left background - slightly out of focus - is a leaf showing slightly different symptoms)

Bud on the healthier plant.

 

[Mmmmick]

Hi JG, looks like your buds are bulking up. Hope the mites back off long enough to get the chop done.

Gotta get that PH into a consistent range. Any deficiencies etc will probably clear up when ph is correct.
Good luck, they're getting close.

 

[ToiletMint]

That bug you posted looks like a mature thrip.

 

[JohnGalt]

Hi JG, looks like your buds are bulking up. Hope the mites back off long enough to get the chop done.

Gotta get that PH into a consistent range. Any deficiencies etc will probably clear up when ph is correct.
Good luck, they're getting close.

Checked my pH runoff yesterday and it looked good (I only have a liquid test kit, no digital meter), around 6.5.

Bad news is the plant is way worse today. I'd say nearly 10% of all the leaves are curling and necrotic. It got up to about 100F today, so might be the heat again... a week ago the high was maybe 85F...

In other bad news, one of the biggest/longest stems on the healthy plant snapped yesterday. Got it tied up so it's still upright, and so far seems to be ok... but it's now blocking light to other parts of the plant.

 

[JohnGalt]

That bug you posted looks like a mature thrip.

Yes, that was a stock photo from Google Images. I posted it since I couldn't take a picture through my pocket microscope. Mostly just wanted to have it there in case someone comes across my thread and hasn't seen one before. I know my first encounter with thrips I found conflicting information when trying to match the symptoms to the insect.

Speaking of pests... less than 4 hours after spraying with alcohol, found alive and well thrips and mites on both plants... either the spray didn't work or I'm doomed by the fact that there is a couple hundred acres of foliage surrounding my grow plot (or both).

I think the best I'll be able to do is just keep knocking down their population every chance I get, even knowing more will move in right away.

 

[HorseBadoritz]

Yes, that was a stock photo from Google Images. I posted it since I couldn't take a picture through my pocket microscope. Mostly just wanted to have it there in case someone comes across my thread and hasn't seen one before. I know my first encounter with thrips I found conflicting information when trying to match the symptoms to the insect.

Speaking of pests... less than 4 hours after spraying with alcohol, found alive and well thrips and mites on both plants... either the spray didn't work or I'm doomed by the fact that there is a couple hundred acres of foliage surrounding my grow plot (or both).

I think the best I'll be able to do is just keep knocking down their population every chance I get, even knowing more will move in right away.

High John,

I've never tried it outside, but AzaMax works inside. You can spray or water with it. Good luck!

 

[JohnGalt]

HorseBadortiz,

I've been considering AzaMax, but I'm still researching the effects of watering with it. It looks like I'm harvesting soon (whether I like it or not), and from what I've read so far I'm not yet convinced it's safe to use so close to harvest. Once I start my indoor grow I plan to use AzaMax, possibly in conjuction with predatory mites. I live in a dusty rural farm area, so there are just tons of bugs and dust in abundance, so even with an indoor grow I know pests will be my #1 problem.

 

[JohnGalt]

9/28/10 - Decided to flush the unhealthy plant to prepare for harvest. I'm about 90% certain now the issue is heat related. I can't move my plants to a less sunny spot without hugely increasing my risk of being discovered, so I plan to chop it soon.

9/29/10 - Soil on unhealthy plant is still moist, but healthy plant needed a good watering. Gave it 2 gallons pH'd water with superthrive (no nutes). Noted 3 leaves on the healthy plant are starting to show the first signs of necrosis. Hopefully the double water will help. Was over 100F yesterday and hit 99F today.

Unhealthy plant didn't seem much worse, but not any better. Most of the necrotic leaves are so dried out they crumble between my fingers. Took the top cola, since it was looking the worst on the plant. Trichomes are about 25% milky with some patches of amber, but all are underdeveloped - about 80% sessile (no stalks, just orbs sitting on plant surface).

Well folks, here's what your top cola should NOT look like:

next to a deck of poker size playing cards for size reference

close up before trimming

closeup about 1/4 through trimming

after trimming had a bunch of small buds I accidentally trimmed off the stem, plus some leafy stuff

cola looks a lot better after being trimmed

Lent my scale to a friend and forgot to get it back, so no wet weight on this one. Thought about quick drying and curing, but I figure it will be harsh enough as it is... so give me a couple weeks for the smoke report.

My hope is that the rest of the plant can survive another couple weeks. Been 100F or higher the past couple days, but supposed to cool off over the rest of the week. Sunday night might see lower than 40F. Also going to be seeing higher humidity... so a week from now I'm sure I'll be bitching about something new and exciting...

 

[JohnGalt]

Just wanted to add... it took me about 45 minutes to trim this one cola... first time though. Hopefully I did a good job. Hopefully when I have more than one cola to trim I'll be able to do it faster/better.

 

[JohnGalt]

10/1/10 - Haven't given the unhealthy plant water for several days, yet the soil is still very wet... which tells me the plant isn't even trying to suck up any of that water. Still no improvement at all, and all the necrotic leaves are now completely dry.

So, I chopped it. Very dry upper half of the plant; lower half was noticeably more moist (and more difficult to trim).

Also, still learning the whole trimming thing. I was at it for most of the day, and am now regretting not doing more research first. I scalped them pretty bad. Oh well, lesson learned. And I still have all my trimmings, and I like edibles anyhow so more budder is fine with me.

I think I might have an ounce or so of buds and a couple ounces of shake. And judging by the trichomes I'll probably have to smoke twice as much of this stuff as usual, so i'm really only getting about 1.5 ounces off this one.

Still not sure how I killed it... might be something I did, or maybe just bad luck with the heat wave.
Before and after pics: