Stunger's Organic Balcony: Growing Daughters Of Mulanje: Watering Via Root Aeration Chambers

With my limited American understanding of geography, I can't get my brain around that backpacking trip. :surf: ?
Well you can wear a backpack on a boat...🤔🤔🎒🚢
 
With my limited American understanding of geography, I can't get my brain around that backpacking trip. :surf: ?
Well you can wear a backpack on a boat...🤔🤔🎒🚢
Initially upon leaving NZ as a 19 year old, I planned to stop in Australia for 6 weeks then on to the UK. But I fell in with a great crowd of backpackers from all over the world and liked Ozzie so much that I stayed there for a couple of years.

At 22 years old I took off to South East Asia on my way to the UK, for that I got a free flight taking race horses on a cargo flight to Singapore (the age of adventure and budget). And from there I backpacked thru Malaysia, Thailand. In North India/Ladahk/Zanskar I trekked on my own across 9 mountain passes, and then teamed up with another guy to hire a local Zanskari/Tibetan guy to guide us past the snow covered crevasses of the 10th and last pass. Just 1 year later, I think it was 12 Indian mountaineers who unfortunately died crossing that pass when they mistakenly crossed snow that was covering the crevasses, rotten luck. That whole walk was between 11,000 - 18,000ft, and about 360km and crossed the Himalayan Mountain range, I didn't even have gloves or boots, just tennis shoes and used socks on my hands in the snow. After that I went to Nepal and trekked some more, found a wonderfully powerful plant growing with potent buds on the return from trekking to Everest base camp. I returned to Australia after 7 months needing to work and save again.

A few years later I did it again and then went on to Europe/UK, and later USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nigaragua, Costa Rica when they had a 7.4 earthquake and I got rescued by the Navy and Airforce, before going back to Florida to start the yacht adventure. Yeah my 20's had lots of adventure!
 
Update - Post Cyclone - Post top dressing

Greetings 420 enthusiasts! It's been quite a hell of a couple of weeks of climate fury we've had. An unbelievable amount of rain 2 weeks ago, and then earlier this week we had the cyclone with more rain and wind. Some of the places on the news show that after the water retreated there remained 6 foot of mud almost reaching the eaves of the people's roofs. Houses and cars and mud and logs, all munted together.

Plants are looking fine

Of my 3 plants this year, I think any of them would be bigger than all that I have grown before. The Mulanje Sherbert looks great and is starting to stack buds. The other 2 are not yet showing budset, but both appear well, the biggest is the Mulanje ME, she is not just 4 and a half feet across in one direction but at least in pretty much all directions.

Some further LST and supercropping training will most likely be needed soon.

Post top dressing

Last Saturday I top dressed all 3 plants. It's now been 6 days, not really enough but from what I can see they have begun to respond as I hoped. There doesn't appear to be any new yellowing.

Some pics taken this morning before the direct sunshine was upon them




Some pics taken mid afternoon





Thanks for dropping by folks. Wishing you and your gardens all the very best! :ganjamon:
 
I'm hoping you write a book about all those adventures! Well I'm actually hoping they make a movie of your book about all those adventures. :)

Footloose and fancy free you were, and it sounds like you and @NickHardy have a lot in common with the travel bug.

Ahh, that helps me with the geography thing I was right about. Phewf!
Thanks Shed!
 
Wow they look wonderful @Stunger! Even more so after all they (and you) have been through!
Thanks Emeraldo! I think they managed well because they happened to be on the side of the house that was least attacked by the weather. Also too, it looks like they are benefiting from the top dressing given last weekend, and they have really enjoyed having 3 straight days of sunshine!

While the left most one is starting to bud stack, the middle and the rightmost ones still have some further stretching to go. It's at times like these that the thought arises that even 3 plants on the balcony is pushing it.
 
Looking beautiful Stunger, they really like the herbi stuff eh. I was giving mine 2 cups each every two weeks, give or take, and they still wanted more. I'll definitely be getting it again.
Thanks Joe! I think the Herbi gear is very good. Mind you, my soil has been given a fair amount of good inputs over several years and grows, so it was already more than the average Bunnings potting mix.

The Herbi directions are to top dress every 2-3 weeks which I was a bit cautious about, as its always a little nail biting in case one over does it, and then it messes up the grow.

The last few days have shown a lot of coverage on your area from the Cyclone, terrible thick mud deposits and damage. Shocking.
 
Plants are looking fine

Of my 3 plants this year, I think any of them would be bigger than all that I have grown before. The Mulanje Sherbert looks great and is starting to stack buds. The other 2 are not yet showing budset, but both appear well, the biggest is the Mulanje ME, she is not just 4 and a half feet across in one direction but at least in pretty much all directions.
Looking fab, @Stunger ! Glad the plants, and especially you and your family, made it through the weather unscathed.

Your Stunger Pots seem to be a hit with the ladies. :thumb:

It's at times like these that the thought arises that even 3 plants on the balcony is pushing it.
Any of the pot designs that get air to the roots seem to grow bigger and healthier plants, so that may allow for fewer plants with still a good harvest. It will be interesting to hear how your final weights compare to your previous years.
 
Thanks Joe! I think the Herbi gear is very good. Mind you, my soil has been given a fair amount of good inputs over several years and grows, so it was already more than the average Bunnings potting mix.

The Herbi directions are to top dress every 2-3 weeks which I was a bit cautious about, as its always a little nail biting in case one over does it, and then it messes up the grow.

The last few days have shown a lot of coverage on your area from the Cyclone, terrible thick mud deposits and damage. Shocking.
Well I was quite heavy handed when I was top feeding mine, up to 3 cups per plant, and they seemed to be doing really well with it. No burnt tips or nutrient problems. The only complaint would be the same thing you noticed, the few yellowing leaves at the base of the plant. I thought maybe not enough nitrogen when they were vegging hard, but I'm no expert so I couldn't say for sure.


Yeah you just have to google 'Eskdale floods' and it's right there in your face. Pretty shocking alright, especially when you're in amongst the worst of it. Life changing stuff brother.
The apple harvest was about to start too, another huge blow to the region. At least our economic status as a nation is relatively good. The ramifications of this will be felt for years, if not decades to come, across the whole country.
We've got a long road ahead of us, but one step at a time will get you around the world, eventually...
 
Looking fab, @Stunger ! Glad the plants, and especially you and your family, made it through the weather unscathed.

Your Stunger Pots seem to be a hit with the ladies. :thumb:

Any of the pot designs that get air to the roots seem to grow bigger and healthier plants, so that may allow for fewer plants with still a good harvest. It will be interesting to hear how your final weights compare to your previous years.
Thanks Azi! My previous grows have been mostly with feminised seeds, which due to short supply I haven't want to kick off extra in case I don't need them and my precious seeds get wasted, and when some do fail I then have to kick off more which eats into the available outdoor time.

As this grow uses home made regular seeds, I did extra and therefore were able hit the ground running. The plants of this grow have been started off earlier than most of the my grows. So it was unclear what to attribute their growth to, aeration chambers or just being started earlier. Their stretching could still last another 2 weeks, but their overall health and 'willingness' to still grow is suggesting to me that in the very least they like having an air chamber deep within their container soil, and we know that the roots want oxygen so to me it just makes sense.
Well I was quite heavy handed when I was top feeding mine, up to 3 cups per plant, and they seemed to be doing really well with it. No burnt tips or nutrient problems. The only complaint would be the same thing you noticed, the few yellowing leaves at the base of the plant. I thought maybe not enough nitrogen when they were vegging hard, but I'm no expert so I couldn't say for sure.
I think you're right there Joe, but a few yellow leaves don't trouble me much. I think one can just add a tablespoon or 2 or Blood n Bone if needed. The main thing for me is not to over do where it is too late to take back!
Yeah you just have to google 'Eskdale floods' and it's right there in your face. Pretty shocking alright, especially when you're in amongst the worst of it. Life changing stuff brother.
The apple harvest was about to start too, another huge blow to the region. At least our economic status as a nation is relatively good. The ramifications of this will be felt for years, if not decades to come, across the whole country.
We've got a long road ahead of us, but one step at a time will get you around the world, eventually...
Yeah it is now, at first no media got in and all the folk affected had no news either coming to them, quite a cluster f*ck for such big resulting damage.
 
Yeah my 20's had lots of adventure!
Mine too. But it was more brokearse, drop some acid and get chased by purple dragons kind of adventure.

I’d rather shit in my own hands and clap than relive my teens and 20’s.

Lollllll

Your life sounds golden!
 
Update - A pictorial for another round of training

Greetings 420 enthusiasts. My 3 plants survived the recent bad weather and were looking in need of another round of training to allow them to have a semblance of stealth.

The Mulanje ME and Mulanje HP are both showing developing pistils going up their stems but not yet like the Mulanje Sherbert which is already showing budset.

Pictures before training






Pictures after training




Thanks for swinging by! I hope you're all doing well and your gardens are great! :ganjamon:
 
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