Organic Outdoor Grow #2 - Cinex, Alien Apparition & Custom Chem

[bluntley420]

Hey Guys,

I currently have 3 girls in Veg Week 7 (Cinex, Alien Apparition, and a custom Chem strain my neighbor cross bred). This is my 2nd outdoor grow, and I decided to go with an organic soil that I mixed myself with Alaskan peat moss, perlite, bat guano, worm castings, rice hulls, limestone & live active bacteria (LABS). I planted them in 45gal fabric pots with some companions, including sunflower & marigold, as well as a top cover soil. As for light & water cycles, unfortunately they only get 3 hours of direct southern sunlight (9am-12pm Pacific Northwest), but then they get 6-8 hours of indirect light. I give them 2gal of clean distilled water every 3-4 days with 4tbsp/1gal of FF Big Bloom every other watering as well as more bacteria in the same watering cycle.


Let me know what you guys think! All advice is appreciated!

Ben H.

 

[Scientific]

I like the fact that you have given your plants "companions."

I would avoid peat moss in the future. It's really acidic.

The elephant in the room, however, is the very limited amount of direct sunlight your plants are receiving. Cannabis will grow without a lot of light, but it won't grow well, and it won't produce much.

The coco grow in my sig file got Pacific Northwest sunshine from sunrise to 2 PM and produced a usable crop, but half the weight and half the potency of the same strain grown under 24-hour-a-day artificial light.

Yield is directly proportional to illumination. Cannabis needs bright, summer-sun-level (50,000 lumens to 90,000 lumens) of sunlight every day to thrive and produce well.

 

[bluntley420]

Good to know @Scientific !! Thanks for the advice.

I really thought they would get enough light. I planted them in the sunniest spot but we live in a pretty densely tree covered area unfortunately, so they only get 9am-12pm direct and the rest of the day indirect. They are definitely growing slowly but that can be due to the organic grow.

Any ideas on what to do if outdoor plants aren't receiving enough light? Other than moving inside....

 

[Scientific]

Any ideas on what to do if outdoor plants aren't receiving enough light? Other than moving inside....

Move them someplace sunnier (the best light being the hours of sunlight on either side of solar noon of course), cut away/move away anything that's blocking the light, reflectors of some sort, and auxilliary lighting. That's all I've been able to think of.

I feel your pain. My deck only gets light from sunrise till 2 PM.

The good news is that electricity is pretty cheap in the northwest (and growing indoors means less chance of pests) but I was still surprised how much my electric bill went up during just a 200-watt, 24/0 indoor grow. 5 kWh * 78 days = 390 kWh. Even at only 12 cents a kWh, that's still about fifty bucks worth of electricity!

 

[bluntley420]

I was expecting a $100 increase on power bill if I move inside and I accepted that because....well because I don't have another choice. I would move them but they are HEAVY!!! So, the reflector is probably the best idea. I'm gonna try it with a dull/matte white maybe plastic?


More pics:

 

[Scientific]

So, the reflector is probably the best idea. I'm gonna try it with a dull/matte white maybe plastic?

Reflectors are something that I've just daydreamed about. I have seem 10 for tall plants growing outside and it occurred to me that if they just had a big white plastic reflector wrap around the north side of the plant, they could probably increase the total light a lot. Just putting some reflective material under and around the ground surrounding the plant could help a lot too... But nothing beats on a full on noonday sunbath.

 

[Scientific]

I was still surprised how much my electric bill went up

Just for the record, I was also surprised how much one small plant could stink up the house. Full on activated charcoal filtering is not optional.

 

[bluntley420]

Yep, they're just fortunate enough to get that high noon sun but after that its 'lights out' lol. Great idea on the reflectors though!!