Stunger's Last Stand: Banned To The Balcony!

Welcome to my new grow journal. Just in case the possibility eventuates, I'll say it now, that this may end up as a perpetual journal.

Outdoor balcony growing while attempting to keep it stealthy:
The balcony is my grow location and it is one where space is limited and stealth is a priority to keep my grows under the radar of neighbours and from unwanted attention. To keep my plants below the sightlines of neighbours I have to limit the height of my plants to about 2.5 feet because anything higher would potentially be on view.

Medium:
I am growing in LOS (living organic soil). It is soil that I reuse and reamend between grows or reamend as required during the grows.

The soil recipe that I started with was based on what I could source locally to match or approximate Subcool's Super Soil recipe, I had added fresh worm castings to it that soon had worms living in the soil, even with the harsh hot wet/dry cycles of the pots some worms always still survived post-harvest. Since last year's grow, I have added some ingredients from Clackamas Coot/Jim Bennet's soil recipe, like crustacean meal and malted barley. As well as more worm castings from my home worm farm and some home compost mixed in. I bought a 3 layer worm farm unit a couple of years ago as it's easy to feed them chopped up banana skin, fruit/veg waste and in return you get great worm castings and worm wee that the plants seem to like in their watering.

Emilya recently made a post that alerted me to Geoflora dry organic nutrients which are not locally available but they are one of our sponsors, they also sound very interesting.I am also intrigued too, by the results that the folk who use Mega Crop are getting, but for the time being I'll be sticking with my LOS as it tends to get better with age and also it is fulfilling to observe and learn and make 'tweaks' and additions and monitor the plant's responses, if it can be 'dialed in' well, then it should produce as nature intended.

Pots:
Currently either 30L (8 gallon) or 50L (13 gallon) plastic pots. I have drilled holes in them to convert them into homemade air pots and lined them with landscape fabric. If I was starting again I would go for fabric pots, although there may be benefits from the sturdiness of plastic pots for easier securing of training wire.

I don't do it, but having the potted plants sitting in 2nd outer pots to shield them from the fierce heat of the sun would be a good thing.

Training:
I will be using a combination of quadlining/LST and supercropping as necessary to keep them stealthy and allow maintainance of them in the restricted space of the balcony to be more manageable. Because I have started these girls off later than I did last year there will be less time for them to veg before flowering, so it is likely less training will be needed.

Last Year's balcony grow:
Here are a couple of pics of last year's 3 plant balcony grow, the bigger one (a White Widow x Gorgonzola reg cross), a couple of overheads (also showing a White Widow reg and Gorilla Glue auto) and the final jarred curing harvest. The 2 photo regs were quadlined, the auto was LST'd. The yield of 23oz was really pleasing. By harvest, the buds took up most of the balcony even though I Quadlined and LST'd as well as supercropped them to keep their height no more than 2.5 feet so they would remain below the sight line of the neighbours. The combined buds produced quite a dank smell, which wafting out into the neighbourhood air gave me a wee bit of concern at times.One of the plants had a diameter close to 4.5 feet, and because I didn't prune off larf/weak growth it probably contributed to the plants growing wider canopies than they needed to.


For this current grow:
I intend to prune off all weak growth to focus on quality bud only (if possible) to help keep the plant's canopies smaller and more manageable, and hopefully any dank odours produced will stay within "recommended stealth limits". Last year I wondered if my neighbours were aware of it, or maybe they were but they had no idea that the smell was cannabis. But either way, it is hard to believe that they wouldn't have smelt it. I'm hoping as a balcony that a lot of that dank air will just go straight up skywards to dissipate, hoping..


Aim for this year:
  • To grow a high CBD strain, I have read great things on the benefits and 'experience' of high CBD bud and I'm intrigued, so I want to see for myself what a high CBD can offer.
  • To grow 2 or 3 THC strains
  • At least one sativa dominant strain and one Indica dominant strain
  • an overall 'smaller' garden than last year for both manageability purposes and also to reduce the amount of dank smell that escapes into the neighbourhood which should, in turn, reduce my own stress about anyone with a knowledgeable nose picking it up.
  • I have not cloned cannabis before, but as the first Godfather seed failed to germinate, I have used the topping of the second plant to see if it will root and if it does then I will grow it out and make full use!
  • Similarly, the early sprouted auto has remained very small and will provide very little bud yield, which means if I like her then a small yield will last me no time at all. So I will try to reverse her, in an attempt to at least make use of her and get some selfed seeds if possible.
Germination:

This year I started germinating seeds 4 - 6 weeks later than last year in order to keep the plants to a more manageable and sensible size. I realise now that this doesn't sit well with me as I regret it already, as by this time last year my plants were already a good size which I miss. Now, I would have preferred to have started earlier and prune harder later, to keep the strongest growth which would still allow development of a big root base to ideally power stronger buds. And although this grow I started germination later, some seeds failed to initially germinate which caused further delay because I then gave them more time to sprout which further delaying kicking off replacements when they didn't.

Strains germinated (from L to R):
  • CBD Express auto- This is said to be up to 21% CBD and less than 1% THC.I found this strain germinates very strongly.It is from our 420 sponsor Weedseedsexpress who have been excellent to deal with, timely, really helpful, informative, they look after you, I will very happily use them again.
  • Mango Sherbert- I have my fellow countryman @syenite to thank for allowing me to share this order with him. This is Indica dominant, said to be uplifting, energetic without couchlock, great all day smoke. Sounds fantastic.
  • Godfather OG- from Weedseedsexpress. This looks a very interesting strain. High THC up to 30% and said to be good for strong night time medicine, OG Kush genetics, Indica dominant. I'm intrigued.
  • Strawberry Cough- from Weedseedsexpress. This strain has some folk rating it very highly, as being quite special. It is not massively high in THC so it must give a good/special entourage effect, I am really curious about it, Sativa dominant.

CBD Express auto

I initially germinated one of these seeds mid-October. It grew a tap root very strongly and once underway has grown strongly. I have only previously grown 1 auto which was the Gorilla Glue auto last year, that gave me just under 4oz and was grown at the peak of summer. This seed I sprouted quite early in the season (early/mid Spring) which was suggested in the growing notes but I am guessing this is the reason it has only grown to 30cm and altho she has thickening up now, it is still only a trunk without any branches shooting off. I probably started her too early or more likely the balcony didn't provide sufficient sunlight to stimulate further growth.

I sprouted my 1 remaining CBD Express auto seed to try and time this seed for the peak summer weather and see how this one grows compared to the first (same location). I am hoping she grows bigger by being in a hotter sunnier more favourable weather window. It will be interesting to see. After a scuff and soak followed by wet paper towels she sprouted and like her sister grew a long strong tap root very quickly, an erupting root tip overnight then about an inch long a day later.

From my limited experience of autos I am very impressed so far with how strongly they take off. The other observation of these CBD Express seeds is that they are very big seeds. The tap roots they have produced on germination have been long and strong.



And the CBD Express that sprouted just this week


Mango Sherbert

This plant started rather slowly but now seems to have picked up the pace a little. So far she's a bit of a leggy girl.


Godfather OG

The first seed I tried didn't germinate. I topped this plant above the 4th node. Previously, I have usually 'micro topped' where I only wait for the growth shoot to grow a couple of centimetres and then a 'wiggle waggle' back and forth and voila the shoot comes away and she's topped. However, this time I decided to wait for her to grow further so I couldattempt to grow out the topping as a clone. I have kept her stalk in a glass of water with some sugar and a humidity dome over her. It is not going to happen immediately so I will just change the water every few days and hope it is successful. After 2 weeks it is probably still too early to expect roots but we'll see in the next couple of weeks, So far, her leaves still appear in good condition.

I intended to Quadline this plant but because her 2nd node only grew one side I decided to leave this node on and nodes 3 and 4 too, so she will be a 5line/quinline. Unfortunately, when I was focusing on securing the end of one of the training wires, I accidentally applied unintended pressure elsewhere which snapped one of her 'arms', it was at least 80% if not 90% snapped thru but I managed to patch her up with some electrical tape and it looks like she will recover, thankfully. It's a reminder to keep one's wits about you as mishaps are always possible, it doesn't help that my once sharp eyesight is these days a blur of what it recently was.


Strawberry Cough

Like the Mango Sherbert I am waiting for her to start to motor. She is still in a bit of a slow phase and a bit light. Interestingly, she has the same number of nodes as the Mango Sherbert but instead of being leggy she is very low with very tight internodal distances.


Screwups:
I have only just started this grow and I already have made a long list of screwups, it's unbelievable.
  • Mistakenly, I planted in concentric planted pots thinking I could make it easy for myself with up potting. Where I could take out the plant out of the pot and place it's root mass into the hole left by it's own previous pot and so on. The trouble is, that when buried in the soil of a bigger pot it didn't make a meaningful root ball for uppotting, instead it grew a long deep tap root thru it's own pot and into the next which meant the Godfather got ripped when uppotting. God knows what I had been thinking/smoking when I did that.
  • I failed to see the shell case membrane throttling a newly emerged seed for 2 days and when I did notice it and freed it, it seemed too late because altho it's cotyledons opened it didn't grow any leaves or grow any bigger.
  • Another seed, a Mexican Sativa, first emerged from the soil with it's root and after replanting it emerged also throttled by it's own membrane and in my attempts to free it I caused the sprout presumably fatal movement where it then remained stunted from that point. It was the only one of 5 that germinated the chances are it would have grown fine had that not happened. My thanks and apologies to Emeraldo for failure to notice this in time.
  • In uppotting the Strawberry Cough, from my previously mentioned stupid concentric pot idea, as soon as I realised it was a bad idea I just wanted it out, but because the roots were insufficiently developed, it all fragmented and the whole plant got momentarily buried in soil during the move, thankfully without harm.
  • I mentioned above already where I snapped one of the Godfather's arms, thankfully it looks like it's healing fine. These plants can take a lot of punishment and still shine (if you're lucky), but still, all the same, fucking sausage fingers.
Anyway, it will be a bit slow until growth picks up. I'm always happy for any suggestions as I appreciate all the experience here, and it is great to see and read what folks are doing.
:hookah:
Great read love the outdoor growing in stealth , I have never been able to clone cannabis in just water without air stones or a fogger, how did it turn out?
I always tend to start extra seeds if I’m in a timeline also some may be runts and we aren’t interested in thoes anyway. But I love what your doing 26 oz last year on 3 plants very respectable , can’t wait to see how this one goes, in still a month or 2 until things go outside .
 
Great read love the outdoor growing in stealth , I have never been able to clone cannabis in just water without air stones or a fogger, how did it turn out?
I always tend to start extra seeds if I’m in a timeline also some may be runts and we aren’t interested in thoes anyway. But I love what your doing 26 oz last year on 3 plants very respectable , can’t wait to see how this one goes, in still a month or 2 until things go outside .
Thanks Dean! Cheers for dropping in. Stealth is forced on me, so I just have to adapt and thus I can only really let the plants grow 2 feet tall as a consequence. My attempt to clone the topping of the plant you mentioned unfortunately failed, next time I will try doing so in soil or maybe worm castings. Last year's 23oz for 3 plants was far more than I'd initially thought and a nice bonus. I germinated 6-8 weeks later this year and have been surprised at how vigorously these girls grew, I'm curious on what the result will be when all's dried and weighed. :smokin:
 
Today's bud porn update

Yesterday and today I have been using a rubber back roll tipped on it's end, to better stabilise my camera. It's still not great but it helps. It's tough in the light too, when the sun's out it overwhelms the camera, altho today it was before the sun hit the balcony so the colours are more intense when they are not washed out. There is a certain sweet spot and most of the time it isn't when I am taking pictures.

Mango Sherbert



Godfather OG




Strawberry Cough


Today's view from the side window

Be well everyone :ganjamon:
 
What an outstanding group! You've really maximized your balcony situation. :bravo:
Smile and stay stoneder.
 
Lovely pics, and they do show off the goods!
Thanks Shed, I am trying to show them off but the light can be challenging.
:goodjob: looks like a real treat !:ganjamon:
Cheers Nutty, I am certainly looking forward to them and will treat myself accordingly when all done!
Ummmm Im literally drooling lol..they look phenomenal Stunger! I really am gonna have to find me some Strawberry Cough seeds one day. Excited for ya friend..I miss having something to tend to every day, wont be long now though..my new seeds are popping faster than ever it seems.
As always, a beautiful balcony! Cheers mate.
Thanks AH, the Strawberry Cough came highly recommended as a personal favourite, so I'm curious about it too.
What an outstanding group! You've really maximized your balcony situation. :bravo:
Smile and stay stoneder.
Thanks Fred, the trouble is I have next to no manoeuvrability, if I had sliding doors then I could really pack 'em in.
Another beautiful day on the balcony :yummy:
Cheers DD, I just love looking at them, in a few weeks the balcony will be looking sad and empty.
Very Nice! That Godfather OG looks like a beast! Can't wait to get a smoke report on her :)
Cheers Tim, Yes she has grown quite beastly indeed, she is a vigorous plant.
Well it looks like I’ve arrived near the end of this show. But what a beautiful finale, those are some gorgeous plants you’ve got here Stunger. :bravo:
No worries HH, it always looks better near the end of the show. Glad you could drop by!
 
Sunday update

Weather ahead
. Over the last couple of days the wind has got up, and we have a few days of rain ahead of us, so I may not get an opportunity to get out on the balcony if it's pouring down outside over the next few days.

Spraying for caterpillars. Today I gave the 3 plants another BT spray, the 3rd in a week. I still notice a few caterpillars each day, altho they generally look quite sick, like they don't want to move and are often perched comatose on the end of a leaf so hopefully that is because they are feeling the effects of the recent spraying.

Pollination attempt. About 3 weeks ago I attempted pollination on 2 selected stems of each of the plants. The pollen was regular (White Widow XTRM x Gorgonzola) and while only 3 weeks old it had been stored with some moisture so its viability was uncertain. However on the Mango Sherbert and the Godfather OG it appears like there are some bracts that are really big, suggesting they may contain seeds, it doesn't look like many that are obviously enlarged but even some success will be great. The Strawberry Cough was much more immature than the other 2 plants so if it was pollinated I can't see any sign of enlarged bracts as they are probably buried under the subsequent bud growth, but I'm hoping I get some seeds off all 3 plants, I'd be chuffed about that.

Godfather OG - She has really grown the most vigorously and even though only 2 feet tall she looks a bit of a heavy beast, so here's a couple of pics of just her.


The full balcony lineup - Mango Sherbert, Godfather OG, Strawberry Cough

My apologies for giving such regular updates but very soon the balcony will be empty with nothing to show, so I might as well post while I have something to post! :laugh: Cheers for dropping in and wishing you and your gardens all the very best!:bong:
 
Looking great. Congratulations on the pollination. Was it the colloidal silver or pollen?
Thanks Stinker. A partial pollination isn't 100% certain as I don't want to waste any by opening them to verify. But from noticing a small number of especially large bracts I am guessing those are seeded, as I have only seen them on the stems I selected for 'finger dusting' with pollen. The Colloidal Silver attempt unfortunately failed.
 
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