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Welcome to the outdoor grow of 2023! This season we will be growing outdoor plants for the first time. The two plants we will be growing out is a Blue Dream (ILGM) and a Fire Purps (Humboldt CSI). I'm super excited to get this going.
I will be starting the plants inside in my tent and will be hardening them off in about two weeks. They will then go into two 3x3x2 garden beds.
I've previously ran the Blue Dream from ILGM indoors before and it was killer. Big fat colas and dense nugs with a beautiful fruity/berry/floral taste and ethereal high. I'm really excited to grow it again and I'm even more excited to see what she does outside. The indoor Blue Dream was a big yielder so the outdoor might be a monster!
These outdoor diaries won't be as detailed as my indoor as I don't want to spend too much time on them, but there will be good pics and updates.
See you next week!
Transplanted her on day 16. Her root mass doesn't look as good as the fire purps. I sprinkled some great white myco on the roots and put her in the 5 gallon fabric pot. She took well to the transplant and has been growing well.
Her leaves are still pretty freaky. That little seedling you see next to her in these pics is another Blue Dream (ILGM) that failed to germinate with the paper towel method but germinated after I threw her in to the same cup as this Blue Dream. I'll be giving this one away.
I've started hardening her off. Both plants will be getting an extra hour of outdoors every day for a week or two. I want to transplant them into their final beds by may 14 but depending on the weather and how fast they harden off I may have to wait an extra week or two.
Nothing much to report other than I've topped her and given her a few hours of sunlight. They also took to the transplant into the 5 gallon pot nicely. Going to progressively give her more hours outside until the planned transplant outside. I've just finished digging the holes and making the beds. Hopefully I can get her outside by the 14th.
Put her outside on day 39 in a 4x4x2 raised bed and placed a cage around her to protect her as well as for training in the future. It seems that she has started flowering, which is real bummer. That being said, she took well to the transplant and has been growing despite the extremely cold nights we have been getting. Some nights it will go down to 41f!
Need to figure out what to do now that she is flowering. I don't plan on putting a light outside so hopefully she revegs soon.
It seems my Blue Dream has flowered prematurely after transplant outside. Cutting to the chase, what should I expect from this plant for the rest of the season? Will it reveg naturally and how long will it take to reveg? Should I be cutting off budsites? What do you think.
As Ez says. Your plant was triggered by lack of light. As transplant only really shocks autos into an early flip. (Not that you should, I'm just pointing out. Stress can cause early flip, but not with a fem) overcast or you're not getting enough light for 14hrs a day min is needed to keep a fem in veg. Say a few hrs she's blocked out by the sun for say 20m, (that won't be an Issue) as Photochrome takes 2hrs in a natural outdoor environment, as it does in a tent. That's the time it takes your plant to be fully out of umol to support a photosynthesis reaction.. so you're in the wrong time. Meaning you season was started to early?. Your outdoor lighting time as I said must be a constant 14+ hrs of good light. It might be a case of it revegging itself and finishing it as the natural pace. I see you've got it in a set bed. So, my guess. Is you are early. As its only coming into the long days where I live. Late April, for some is fine. Can be started, but you need to make sure by or coming into wk 3 that you are getting enough light. Or they'll flip.
Nothing much to report other than I think her pistils have stopped forming. Hopefully she is revegging. I guess we will know next week. Probably going to train her branches next week as well. Need mulch in her bed at some point as well.
Weather has gotten better and it seems like she likes it. See you next week!
It looks like she has revegged. She's got some strange looking leaves coming out of her tops and she has stopped producing pistils.
I haven't done much training to her. Probably just gunna let her do her thing. Sprayed her with some neem oil for pests. Hoping she continues to grow well.
See you next week!
Decent growth this week. She is bushy and leafy. I definitely need to give her a haircut at some point. She is more difficult to work with compared to the Fire Purps due to the accidental flower. Her stems are a bit stiff and she is starting to look a little funky. Not sure if she is going to be a great plant but we will see.
I'm not digging this plant at all. She's too bushy and she looks like a freak from the reveg. That being said, she is putting off a deep blueberry icey smell which is quite pleasant. Going to have to do some serious defoliation on this one.
Still chuggin along. I've taken off some leaves but still need to do much more. Next week I'll get a good haircut in. Trying to also take the leaves and branches off her bottom just to get some airflow in there. Sprayed neem oil on her will will probably do so every 1-2 weeks until flower starts.
Went ahead and cut out alot more from her bottom. Tried to get into the middle a little bit. She's better than she was before, but still a mess. I am regretting keeping her alive after the reveg. She is such a pain in the ass to deal with. We are continuing however. I'll probably do one last big prune when I notice she is in preflower.
She's coming along still. I cut a bit more out of her, but will need to do alot more work.
Making sure the spray the FUCK out of her as much as I can with neem. Not much pest damage at all, unlike the Fire Purps which is just starting to get some damage on the lower fan leaves.
Until next week!
Every week that goes by is another week of mounting regret. This plant is gunna be so fuckin' huge man. I'm gunna have to work my ass off.
That being said, shes still doing great. I've been spraying more aggressively recently, trying to get as many sprays in I can before flower. Early this week I fed with about 2 cups of craft blend. I'm definitely going to need more and will probably use some Down To Earth I have lying around as the Craft Blend is expensive. If the N deficiency starts getting really bad I may look at organic high N liquid fertilizers.
She's such a pain in the ass to work with. Her node spacing is super close together and there's just a tone of little shitty branches that will become a problem in late flower. I was really aggressive this week in taking off branches but still have so much more to go.
I really hope she flowers soon. Every day she gets in veg is another day of stress. Growing a giant plant like this is great, but definitely comes with some drawbacks.
I really hope we can make it to harvest. Crossing my fingers!
Fed another 4 cups of dry amendments. Will likely feed again in a week or so.
Plants are growing like crazy. THink they're about to enter preflower. There's not really a bug issue on this one, but i'll be getting some ladybugs soon.
Ladybugs should be coming in early next week. She doesn't have nearly the amount of bug damage as the Fire Purps which is nice. She's fuckin huge man. Not sure If i'm going to be able to make it to harvest. I've got a bad feeling that even if she turns out good, the weather is going to rip her up a bit considering the massive size of her.
Probably gunna feed again soon. I want to dump like 4 cups of DTE all purpose and maybe some of the 7-7-2 fish meal.
She's entered preflower. She is throwing off pistils here and there and I expect her to be in full flowering withing the next week or two.
Fed her two cups of down to earth Bio Fish this week. She's looking alot better than the FIre purps. Not displaying many signs of bug damage or nitrogen deficiency. Looking forward to seeing her chunk up. Her pistils are visible and she's starting to produce buds.
Fourth week into flower and she is doing well. So much better than the Fire Purps in fact. While she does have a little bit of bug damage, its almost nothing in compared to the Fire Purps. Her leaves are nice and green as well, with only a few yellow leaves here and there.
As you can see she is forming her colas. Very excited for this one despite her being a pain in the ass to manage. Looking forward to harvest!
She's chunking up beautifully. I'm quite spooked though as chunky buds invite bud rot. I've been blowing her with a leaf blower after every rain hoping to christ she doesn't get mold.
Her buds are sticky and greasy and putting on so much frost. I'm genuinely really excited for this plant and I have a feeling that she'll finish with flying colors granted the weather doesn't fuck me.
Holy shit she is packing on some serious weight. Even her middle/lower buds are getting pretty chunky. The colas on the top are genuinely fuckin' huge mate. Been battling high humidity and rain and doing my best to make sure none of the biggest buds gets budrot. I feel as if its an inevitability though for how chunky these nugs are.
As you can see, she's perfectly fine compared to the Fire Purps. So glad I decided to plant two plants. Its actually pretty funny considering the Fire Purps was my favorite and the Blue Dream my least favorite at the beginning of the season and now its the opposite. No broken branches, not as much pest damage etc etc.
Some of the pistils have started to turn so hopefully she finishes up within the next two weeks. Pray for me fellas!
Big yikes boys. A Nor'easter came through and wrecked havoc on the garden. The Fire Purps has been completely demolished, however the Blue Dream has fared much better. I put a trellis net over her and zip tied it to the cage. She got beat up a bit, but she still lives.
That being said she is getting really bad budrot. Not wanting to waste any of it, I went out during the storm to harvest her biggest tops. Shit sucked.
Took off a bunch of her top colas and almost cried. It kills me to take any off before her buds are fully mature, but what other option do I have? I chopped the colas off in the field and then performed a quick trim right there in the rain. Stuck the partially trimmed wet colas into a tote and brought them in to be trimmed further and bud washed.
The buds are chunky, but definitely not as mature as the Fire Purps buds. Took a look at the trichs under a microscope and I would say it was about 70% milky with the rest being clear. Alot of amber on the sugar leaves.
First time budwashing and it was strange as hell. Never before have I taken a fat cola and just dunked it right into water before. Did the three 5-gallon bucket method with the first bucket filled with 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Soaked those bitches and then threw them up on the line for drying.
The weather is supposed to be rainy for another two days. The plan is to go out everyday and chop branches that have rot, then hopefully harvest in another week or two. I have a feeling most of the plant will be unsalvageable. Wish me luck!
Finally! After like 25 weeks of growing she is finished. Had to do a staggered harvest due to the Nor'easter and the budrot. Literally had to throw out like 3/4 of the plant which is a huge bummer. That being said, the colas that made it out okay are pretty nice.
I had to harvest little by little, checking the colas every day for budrot. Ended up harvesting 3 separate times which was a pain in the ass. Spent an eon in trim jail trimming the colas on chop, then before budwash, then after dry. This grow definitely tested my patience as it was just consistent hours of work for little return.
That being said, I ended up with 300g of decent flower from this huge ass plant. Definitely a disappointing yield for such a huge girl.
I've learned alot from my first outdoor grow and hopefully I can also help you learn something as well if you're thinking about starting an outdoor grow.
Don't grow monster plants unless your environment is perfect, your genetics are on point, and your beds are big enough.
If your plants end up too big, they will likely get budrot in late flower if you get storms. If your plants grow too tall, they are susceptible to falling over (which happened to the Fire Purps). If your plants outgrow their beds, you'll get nutrient deficiencies.
My plants were definitely a bit too big, especially the Fire Purps. Next grow I'm probably going to just direct sow into the soil at the beginning of June. For reference, I started these plants in the grow tent like 6 weeks before transplant which was a mistake.
Despite all the issues and disappointing yield, the plant itself was vigorous and healthy (up until the nor'easter). I would totally recommend this plant for outdoor growing assuming you don't grow it too big and you don't live in a spot where you can get like 5 days of straight rain. It put off good frost and absolutely huge colas. The smell is also incredible.
Glad to put this grow behind me and excited to do better next year!
Gold1
