Stonecrusher's Backyard Bonanza - Bringing Out The Big Pots!

Stonecrusher

Well-Known Member
Hi Friends,
Just finished up my winter indoor grow with 3 nice autos hanging in the drying tent. In case you missed it check out Stonecrusher's Garage. Ill continue to update as cure and trimming occur.
Time to get on with the breezy days of summer and "full spectrum" growing without the light! This will be my third summer growing outdoors in northern Colorado. My first summer I grew 3 Afghan Kush plants and had serious beginners luck. Last summer I got the fever and ended up with 9 plants all in different size pots. It was a heck of a learning experience and here are the takeaways that I plan to apply to this summer's venture.
1. Keep it simple.
2. Same size pots make watering much easier and predictable.
3. Too many strains are hard to keep track of.
4. Too many plants can turn into a chore.
5. Bribe your neighbors.
There were more lessons learned but I won't list them all. Just refer to item 1.
This year I plan to have 3 outdoor plants, each in 30 gallon pots full of organic soil. Im using my own version of @OGpapa 's Canabalized Soil. Meaning Ill just re-ammend last years soil I dumped in a pile after fall harvest. I started out with some very nice Build A Soil 3.0 so it shouldn't be too complicated to add back some Build A Soil Craft Blend (fertilizer and minerals), locally made Worm Castings, and a bit of compost and perlite to round it off. I haven't done my soil mixing yet so that will deff be part of the journal. I didn't dump out the 30 gal pot last fall so my big experiment is to see if I can top dress for success. Stay tuned.

If you were reading my first grow journal you know I sprouted seeds a few weeks ago so this will be an accelerated seedling show. Ive just been too lazy/busy to get this new journal up so lets post some pics and catch you up!

Here are the official details:
Strain/s: Feminized seeds from Seed Supreme
Afghan Kush x Super Skunk - Indica dominant
Alien OG - 50/50 hybrid
Harlequin - 5-10% THC, 7% CBD hybrid
AK-47 65% - Sativa, 35% Indica

Genetic Makeup:
Pot/Bucket Size: 30 Gallon plastic pots
Grow Space: My back yard
How Many Plants: 3
Environment: Outdoor
Stage: Seedling
Medium: Recycled organic soil
Lights: The Sun
Nutrients: Build A Soil Craft Blend, Earth Worm Castings, Organic Compost, Straw Mulch
Temperature: 55* to 105*
Relative Humidity: Average summer humidity is 52%
Media/Res PH: Who cares?
Pests: Maybe a few aphids in October, lets hope not!
Watering: As needed

So if you are sharp and detailed enough to see I have 4 strains and only 3 pots I will explain. I plan to grow the Harlequin, Afghan, and Alien OG. I didn't mention that I share my seedlings with 3 more friends who each take 2 plants so this could get complicated if I throw in a few updates on my "satelite grow sites". So far it's been a great arrangement.

Without further adoo here are some pictures for your pleasure.




 
That was a basic orientation for the summer grow project. So many things I haven't included!! On March 30 I sewed seeds into peat pucks soaked in Ph'd tap water and Rootwise. I kept them together with my tomato and pepper starts in a dome until the popped. Once they were established I transplanted the peat pucks to 1 Gal bags full of local organic potting soil with no additions.

Ill just do a fast forward time lapse photo dump to get us caught up.

Transplant to 1 Gal bags at 1 week above soil


In the closet Week 2.
Back to the garage for week 3
Early veg day 29 above soil
 
There are lots of things I haven't gone into here so Ill just use this post to vent. I bought some auto seeds from @FastBuds. Im kind of a sucker for a deal and purchased their "Mixed Bag" of 5 seeds for $25, which seemed even better since they were on BOGO 4/20 sale. I sewed 2 of them at the same time as the others and one failed, the ogher germinated slowly, in fact I had to go digging when it didn't show its head after 4 days and it just hasn't kept up, so sadly, I just pulled the plug on it. I hope this isnt what I get from the rest of my Fast Buds Auto mixed pack.

Finally there is the matter of the seeds my buddy gave me from a plant he had a couple of years ago. He is my satelite grow buddy and had these from several years ago when he got a male in the mix. He asked me to sprout a few so we will be growing them out to sex them and see if we can't get a female. Just for fun and to learn how this works. Ive not grown from standard seeds before.

Iv'e already forgotten my rule #1... Keep it simple.

Planted at the same time as those in the back. Keep or compost?


It is time...

I swear I changed my mind 4 times before I pulled the runts.
 
Good morning all
Here is the nursery with plants waiting to go outdoors. Yesterday I did something. I handed off two of the 3x3 girls to a friend for his summer outdoor grow. I made a deal earlier, kind of like @Grand Daddy Black, to have a friend take two to his house since he has a really nice spot in his back yard to go into the ground. Last summer he took one and it was a super success! Make no mistake though, it was tough picking the plants out and handing them over. He decided on a Afghan Super Skunk and the Alien OG. Godspeed my babies!! Do your Crusher proud!

The Afghan Super Skunk in front is the strongest pheno and seems happy no matter what I do. Front left is Harlequin, front right is AK-47.
Glamour shot.



The plants in back are experiements for me. I have 4 regs from bag seed and 2 randoms that I was going to chop because they were slow starters,,,but-I-just-couldn't-do-it.


Here are some shots of my prize pheno Afghan Super Skunk. This plant must be spiritual, @JiggiLotus, (you seem like someone who appreciates such), because its always praying!


 
One last post this morning before I have to cave in and go to work. Harlequin is showing some white edges on a few of the leaves. Not yellow or brown, but more white. Does the hive have any idea what this could be?

 
One last post this morning before I have to cave in and go to work. Harlequin is showing some white edges on a few of the leaves. Not yellow or brown, but more white. Does the hive have any idea what this could be?

It's from the pH fluctuating
 
Saturday was good. Mostly sunny and no wind meant I got to spend some time getting the yard prepped for summer. There were thickish weeds in the section reserved for my "special plants". So I was out with the weed wacker about to knock em back when something caught my eye!
Holly Shit a baby pot plant! I immediately froze and looked around to see what else might be popping up. I had noticed a seed or two in some of the smoke from last summer but lost track which plant I was smoking. One of my plants from last year managed to drop a few seeds! I cant be sure whether it was a hermaphrodite or somehow got a whiff of pollen on the breeze. Anyway these things want to live!!
On further inspection I found another plant. I decided not to use the weed wacker so I wouldn't risk whacking the weed:) Spent the better part of the afternoon pulling weeds by hand and found it kind of relaxing after a couple of bong hits of the Banana Purple Punch. Tried it out today after 3 weeks dry and cure and it is outstanding! Head rush right of the top and great sativa effects to keep the day moving. Exhale had the taste of fruit and gas.. Mmmm.
It would have been easy to overlook these babies. I think Ill have to call one Waldo.
I took some time to clean up the weeds and later I stuck a couple of tomato cages over them so I don't mash em when Im stomping around the garden.
So I want to take a survey. If you got this far into this post I trust you have an opinion.
What should I do with the plants? Im not sure the dirt in my garden is good, it is pretty heavy, but the seedlings seem ok so far with NO assistance.

SURVEY: What should Stonecrusher do with the volunteers?
A)
Cut them down? You already have starts in the tent.
B) Dig em up and transplant them? They are in a spot where most visitors will see.
C) Leave them? Let these brave babies have a chance?
D) Make a suggestion
 
Well the survey results are back! And with an overwhelming response :) I have decided to go with C! Keep them where they are and design and entire garden around them.
Im not so sure about the soil in my garden. It is high in clay content and doesn't drain much so I worked in some leaf mold/compost and worm castings around them a little. Im not doing much since they already are doing their own thing.
 
So I want to take a survey. If you got this far into this post I trust you have an opinion.
What should I do with the plants? Im not sure the dirt in my garden is good, it is pretty heavy, but the seedlings seem ok so far with NO assistance.

SURVEY: What should Stonecrusher do with the volunteers?
A)
Cut them down? You already have starts in the tent.
B) Dig em up and transplant them? They are in a spot where most visitors will see.
C) Leave them? Let these brave babies have a chance?
D) Make a suggestion
I saw this msg thread the other day and started reading it today.

If the survey was still going I would be voting for "transplanting" two of the plants so that they are spread out. Would not want their roots competing with each other for soil nutrients and water. And as they get bigger each of them will be shading the others so they would also be competing for sunlight.
 
Hi SW
Thanks for the vote. I must be pretty bad at getting attention with my posts so I'm glad you found your way here.
I still have them in the ground but I could change my mind for a number if reasons. You have a good point about them being too close together. I'll post here as things develop. Thanks for stopping by! SC
 
Here is a photo dump. It may be a bit redundant but Im really enjoying each day right now. All these plants are headed outside at some point.
The volunteers that likely came from a Chem4 plant in my outdoor grow last summer are looking healthy too. As of today they are still in the ground. Mrs. Crusher seems to like the little volunteers so they probably won't be going anywhere soon. Ive never grown in the home soil but the grass seems happy so why not a cannabis plant or two.

If they don't take off maybe ill dig em up and pot them.

Now for a look in the 3x3. I have all the starts ready to go now. I think ill start hardening them off this week. I can stick them out behind the garage and let them take it in. I bet they will love it!
Here is the Afghan Super Skunk from above
The Harlequin has some side branching taking off. I need a better pic though.
The AK-47 seems to be more finnicky and droops unless she has just the right soil saturation.
The Mystery Fast Buds auto that Im trying to kick into gear. Transplanted yesterday, topped above node 3. Ill be blasting light starting tomorrow to see how she takes it.

I totally LOVE the Afghan Super Skunk front left. It is my keeper of the bunch and Ill be donating the rest of the photoperiods here to other grower friends. My plan was to take the best of the bunch and i pick the one with hot A.S.S.! She's getting a 30 gallon trunk for her junk!

Did I mention the Blue Dream? I don't think we've been introduced! She was one of the two slow starters. She should be the size of the A.S.S. on her left since they were seedlings together. I tried leaving her on the neighbors doorstep but just couldn't give away the baby.
 
I thought I was done for the night and went to take one last look in the 3x3. Do I see pistils on the Harlequin photoperiod plant? I'm pretty sure this was a bonus seed, now I'm thinking it's an auto. I was cool with one mystery seed in this batch, but now I've got 2! I think I'm letting this auto grow au natural and I won't trim her at all. She already has a nice tall shape.
Maybe I'll SIP it! I have an itch to build one.








 
Am I the only one here who ever mixes up their seedlings? I used cocoa pellets to sprout seeds, labeled them carefully using popsickle sticks to keep things tight, and transplanted to identical 1 gal bags which I immediately labelled. Foolproof!
Then I turn my back and the labels re-arrange themselves. The plants play chess, or the stakes fall out and I put them back wrong. So my Harlequin photo is now either another Fast Buds Mystery auto, or a Blue Dream auto. There were also in coco pellets but I thought hadn't sprouted. There still may be a chance the Harlequin is an auto as it was a freebee knocking around my stash.
Im going to call this plant Fake Harlequin. Which kind of plant will she be? Only the puff test will tell.

To celebrate my new plant I built a SIP and transplanted in week 6. Not exactly standard, but then why not? I figure this is OK since it is similar to flip. Am I nuts?
My SIP is a 5 gal, with a coil of 4" perforated drainpipe and a drain hole at 3".
Filled with recycled Build A Soil, amended with local compost, worm castings, coarse pearlite, and BAS Craft Blend.

Watered in with 24oz filtered hose water, and filled 1/2 gallon into reservoir.
And I did my best to keep the well aerated soil fluffy!!
Almost forgot, the root ball got a good salting of Mykos.

New home for fake Harlequin
Nice fit, huh
The runt plant Im trying to push is the one in the cloth pot behind Fake Harlequin. They were planted same day.
Looking a little out of place in the 3x3.

 
I'm here for the SIP. :laughtwo:

JK. I'll stick around for the others, too.

Looking good. Off to a great start!

I'm a bit late so here are some thoughts from earlier posts:

He asked me to sprout a few so we will be growing them out to sex them and see if we can't get a female. Just for fun and to learn how this works. Ive not grown from standard seeds before.
Try putting them under 12/12 lighting for the first 10 days above ground and then change the lights back to 18/6 or whatever you usually use.

You'll see sex at right around 30 days that way as opposed to the more typical 60ish.

Harlequin is showing some white edges on a few of the leaves. Not yellow or brown, but more white. Does the hive have any idea what this could be?
Early potassium issue. I get it about 3 weeks after flipping and am trying to work through it. But, like Jiggy said, could be a pH issue so start there before throwing lot's of "fixes" at your plant.
 
Slow Blue Dream is a boy. I believe I've figured out where the Harlequin reg went, it switched places with the Blue Dream Auto. Here is the Harlequin. It turned out male and I'm not planning to keep it for breeding. I don't quite feel at that level yet, and Harlequin is a CBD strain. I imagine it would have funky offspring. Its not in the bin yet, but not in the tent either.


 
I'm here for the SIP. :laughtwo:

JK. I'll stick around for the others, too.

Looking good. Off to a great start!

I'm a bit late so here are some thoughts from earlier posts:


Try putting them under 12/12 lighting for the first 10 days above ground and then change the lights back to 18/6 or whatever you usually use.

You'll see sex at right around 30 days that way as opposed to the more typical 60ish.


Early potassium issue. I get it about 3 weeks after flipping and am trying to work through it. But, like Jiggy said, could be a pH issue so start there before throwing lot's of "fixes" at your plant.
Hi @Azimuth thanks for stopping by. Ive been following your sip grows and was planning on asking your advice as this develops. I have 2 more 10 gallon SIPs ready for transplant outdoors whenever I decide the weather is right. For now I think ill keep the 5 gal in the tent.

If you dont mind I have a couple of questions already!
1) What do you think about mulch in a sip? Would it be useful to keep the top layer of soil moist rather than let it dry out?
2) Could I use the 10 gallon SIP like an Earth Box? With a barrier over the top. Are ther plusses and minuses you have observed?



Update on sexing: My plants are at 6 weeks now and so Im watching every day. Today the Harleqin showed male parts. I have 4 more regs in the tent that Im checking daily.

White leaf fringes: @JiggiLotus thought PH and you say potassium, but the plant only got it on the 5th node and then hasn't developed any more. I think it must have been something environmental, a pest or too much light. But it seems to have resolved. It is the one I put in the sip in fact! It turns out it is the Blue Dream Autoflower, but im still calling it Fake Harlequin.
 
1) What do you think about mulch in a sip? Would it be useful to keep the top layer of soil moist rather than let it dry out?
I mulch mine with a layer of compost. If the top is kept moist the fine feeder roots will flourish up there. :thumb:

2) Could I use the 10 gallon SIP like an Earth Box? With a barrier over the top. Are ther plusses and minuses you have observed?
The Eath Box is the original SIP. They recommend a plastic cover in place of the organic mulch, but same effect, though being outdoors the plastic will help keep the rain out of the medium which was the original intent. The Earth Box was invented by a Florida USA tomato farmer whose grows were getting washed out by the torrential rains they often get in their climate.

@StoneOtter runs an Earth Box and uses the pkastic cover and I think he's pleased enough with it to continue using it on subsequent grows. The recommendation is to mound the mulchbup higher then the rim which helps shed excess rain because of the slope of the cover.
 
Im still in the 3x3 but the weather is really improving in my neighborhood. I am anticipating the move outdoors may happen as early as this weekend.

Before I get into the sillyness of my new seed starts (I just can't help it). I want to see what @Justin Goody thinks of my work on the runty auto FB Mystery.

I have to admit I have a weakness form making things. Im not really good at it but I find making the SIPs and the cool little car hook stakes has been satisfying.

These pics are from this morning, by the time of this journal entry the plant has visibly grown and the staked out limbs are reaching for the light. This may be the SHOCK that gets things going. Stay tuned.



 
I like to supercrop the stems before training them. Right now you're pulling them out against the main stem which puts a lot of tension on them. Then, as they grow bigger and stronger, they can pull so hard they snap at the main trunk.

By supercropping them first you move the stress point out a bit and, more importantly, are not pulling them and creating a stress point.
 
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