Sphnx's Norcal Outdoor Season

So.. I can't use the hose anymore, the pH of the water is WAY too high, 8.0. So I have to resort to a 55gal res, pH balance that water, then 5gal buckets to the plants. I have plans to set up a 1000gal res with gravity fed hoses, that way I can water the fruit trees and keep them growing rather than just keep them alive.

Here's a couple pics from the yard, the ones that are looking the best (others are a little droopy and still feeding from yesterday. The chlorophyll darkened up overnight after getting water pH balanced to 6.5.)

High-tech waterfall watering system ;)
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Blue Dream x Triple OG
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Jedi Northern Lights x Triple OG
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I'm hurrying trying to get everything ready, so far just the 6 are in their permanent homes. But there's only so much I can do in the heat lol
 
Wow nice view bro... you on a mtn top looks like!

You have rain gutters?? Set up a rain barrel or 4 can catch a lot of water that way and will be perfect for plants.. I know you have a dry season guessing its the summer time?

We have 2 rain barrels.. but we get rain like in Oregon... not every day but close. It really helps with outdoor garden watering. Locate the barrels near where the gardens are and can put the barrels on a platform and use a hose and gravity. Takes the ARM out of watering.

I'd try and find a filter that can help the PH... not RO but something similar should work??


I use RO filters (PH 6.5) in the house and rain water outdoors from the barrels and an RV filter attached to the hose.. not sure if the RV filter corrects PH tho.

Plants going to get pissed with PH 8.0 ...

You will get it dialed in ... it takes time, work and a little planning, but you will figure it out.

Your place looks freaking awesome... good luck with the new home and getting the water thing dialed in.

It's always sumpt'in... the challenge is how we handle it. Think about all the love your plants will give you when you treat them right!
 
We have do have some rain gutters, but the house is built into the mountain so they're a foot or so off the ground. I'm sure I can figure out some sort of collection system! As it is, I'm pH balancing the res to 6.5 until the soil isn't so hot (after a few waterings).. then it'll be around 6.2. There's definitely a learning curve coming from hydro to soil/coco mix, as crazy as that sounds... The pH, trying to balance the soils pH and water to hit that perfect number, it's kind of a challenge. As far as a filtration system goes, we already have a lot on the battery bank, I don't know if it could handle another load.. that might have to happen next year.

What can I use to amend the soil to make it more acidic? Organically.. wood ash? Bone meal? I'm wondering if I should just throw something on top and water it down. Same for the fruit trees..
 
Update!!!

6 went into the rock beds. 4 Jedi Northern Lights x Triple OG and 2 Blue Dream x Triple OG. Each have roughly 2 yards of soil to grow in.

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They're getting 5ml of roots excellerator in pH balanced water.
 
Subbed! They're gonna be monsters! So glad you got real estate and can grow out under the sun. :slide: Life is sweet, eh?

Somewhere around here I have a recipe for a safe and useful coating that protects the wood used in raised beds. We used it one year on a strawberry bed built like a pyramid. Such a cool structure, and it grew the best strawberries ever. If I come across it I'll post it for you.

With BB's help you'll end up with the lushest soil in the district. :laughtwo:
 
SweetSue said:
Subbed! They're gonna be monsters! So glad you got real estate and can grow out under the sun. :slide: Life is sweet, eh?

Somewhere around here I have a recipe for a safe and useful coating that protects the wood used in raised beds. We used it one year on a strawberry bed built like a pyramid. Such a cool structure, and it grew the best strawberries ever. If I come across it I'll post it for you.

With BB's help you'll end up with the lushest soil in the district. :laughtwo:
Click to expand...

Thanks for stopping by! Life is a dream that I don't want to wake up from. I'm more than excited to be growing out in the sun... it's already hot as hell here, but everything is getting done, just slowly. Still have 7 boxes to fill, and more to build! I'd appreciate the tips on coating, these were a cheap and easy alternative to digging up rocks and building more rock beds. Doing as much as I can each day, little by little. With my back and hips the way they are, it really is little bits of work at a time. Another week and everything should be out of the pots and in their permanent homes :) ;)

Wish me luck.. I haven't grown in soil since 2004 lol
 
Like walking through the field of dreams mate ;) pics got better and better as I read down. By chance are you growing your own food too?

Will put your grow in the bud prayers tonight. I've read through your other journals and know what some of the experiences feel like. You're one of the good guys. Your plants know that too. I'm sticking around for this one mate, I've seen some of the other posters and know I can learn a thing or two as well!!
 
I couldn't find my mother's recipe, but I did stumble upon this article that has a recipe and instructions for the same protective coating. It's #1 on the list, and we made ours with mineral oil. The recipe in this article is stellar, and there are four other good choices to pick from as well.

This coating works best if applied before you build, obviously, but you can still treat the exterior surface and buy yourself a couple more years or more.


Safe Wood Sealers for Raised Bed and Container Gardens
 
JoetheChro said:
Like walking through the field of dreams mate ;) pics got better and better as I read down. By chance are you growing your own food too?

Will put your grow in the bud prayers tonight. I've read through your other journals and know what some of the experiences feel like. You're one of the good guys. Your plants know that too. I'm sticking around for this one mate, I've seen some of the other posters and know I can learn a thing or two as well!!
Click to expand...

Thanks brotha, I appreciate the kind words. We are growing some vegetables and we do have 33 fruit trees and a few kiwi vines. We're starting on a fenced in 70'x110' vegetable and fruit tree garden out in one of the meadows, that I'm very excited about. One of my dreams is to grow organic food and sell it at farmers markets for extremely cheap prices. No one should have to pay out the ass for organic food, this country has things so out of whack... so I'm going to do what I can to change that, even if it's just in this county. I seem to have a gift with getting vegetables and other plants to go feral, I'm excited to see what that garden will look like in couple years. We'll be getting 40-50 more fruit trees to border the inside of the fence ;)
 
Sphnx said:
Thanks brotha, I appreciate the kind words. We are growing some vegetables and we do have 33 fruit trees and a few kiwi vines. We're starting on a fenced in 70'x110' vegetable and fruit tree garden out in one of the meadows, that I'm very excited about. One of my dreams is to grow organic food and sell it at farmers markets for extremely cheap prices. No one should have to pay out the ass for organic food, this country has things so out of whack... so I'm going to do what I can to change that, even if it's just in this county. I seem to have a gift with getting vegetables and other plants to go feral, I'm excited to see what that garden will look like in couple years. We'll be getting 40-50 more fruit trees to border the inside of the fence ;)
Click to expand...

That sounds beautiful. And growing is growing. Vegetables are as fun as bud...got a bit carried away there didn't I?

I hope it all goes well for you. Will stick around to see what happens :)
 
SweetSue said:
I couldn't find my mother's recipe, but I did stumble upon this article that has a recipe and instructions for the same protective coating. It's #1 on the list, and we made ours with mineral oil. The recipe in this article is stellar, and there are four other good choices to pick from as well.

This coating works best if applied before you build, obviously, but you can still treat the exterior surface and buy yourself a couple more years or more.


Safe Wood Sealers for Raised Bed and Container Gardens
Click to expand...

Thank you :) the ones I build for the vegetable garden will be treated, for sure... those need to last a while. These were less than $20 a piece, which was nice compared to the 100+ per for the 600 gal smart pots I wanted.
 
Walking out to turn off the pressure pump this evening, I found a big toad hopping around. Pretty cool, took a couple videos. Switched the flashlight back on and proceeded up to the pressure pump. I got roughly 20 feet away when the light hit a big fuckin mountain lion on the other side of the gate, walking by the passenger side of the truck.. right next to the pressure pump switch. He stopped and his yellow eyes lit up as he looked directly at me. My first thought, "fuck, that's a big cat and I don't have my knife." I fucking bolted. Noped that situation real quick. Never did turn off the pressure pump. Lol
 
1 Blue Dream and 1 Jedi Northern Lights were transplanted today. It heated up quick today, by 8am it was 90f in the sun. Later today I'm hoping to get a few more in.
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Yesterday evening a black fed helicopter buzzed the property well under the minimum of 500 feet, (that's how I know it was the feds, county sheriff's were just sued in a class action lawsuit for flying too low and spying on people). They went in a straight line over the grow areas, right over to the neighbors grow area and hovered for a FEW MINUTES! I haven't seen what they're doing over there, but it must be big if the feds are taking notice like that. Hopefully code enforcement doesn't show up today, Im not in the mood to argue with law enforcement.
 
Update:

No more pH shock, the ladies are back in veg no longer stress flowering! Very grateful for that.. got one more box filled and a Purple Kush transplanted. Still have 6 more boxes to fill and the tractor decided to die this morning. Tune up it is! Today be in the low to mid 80s, so it shouldnt be too bad working out in the sun. I draw the line at 95f + lol hopefully everything will be filled and transplanted in the next day or two.

Jedi Northern Lights x Triple OG

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Blue Dream x Triple OG

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Purple Kush

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The others that need to be transplanted soon. Purple Kush, LA Confidential, Kryptonite. The indicas will be getting their own reservoir due to the different needs, different pH, added humic acid, more cal/mag, etc..

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I hope you all have a wonderful day! Much love :)
 
Some shots of the happy ladies. I've been feeding them from a 55gal reservoir, lugging it around from area to area. It's made things a lot easier.. it's hard coming from growing a lot of indoor and having my rooms set up perfectly, to my design.. just having to piece together giant, expensive things is putting a strain on all of us, but its worth it. We're getting a 1000 gal res to gravity feed water to smaller 300gal res's at the grow areas so I can pre mix the water in bulk, in the next couple days... along with 7 more yards of soil to get the rest in. The goal is to get them semi established in the boxes before solstice. It's going to be a hot one this year. Deep roots and cold water should work out beautifully ;)

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Much love and respect.
Sphnx
 
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