I've been lazy for the last couple weeks, only getting out to check on my plants on the last day of the week, both weeks. I can't leave my bed most days, actually. It's hard for me to tend to my garden like I used to with some medical condition I have now, which is the whole reason I started trying to grow indoor 3 years ago. I hoped to be done with outdoor a couple years ago now. Not because of the work involved as much as the region I grow in, with a shorter warm period, lots of rain, and extreme humidity. It has always left me with a lot of pests and mold, despite treating with sulfur, organic pesticides/fungicides, and every other trick in the book. Every year, I plant a lot outdoors, in an attempt to harvest about 10-20% of it successfully. This year was a little different. I didn't really care if any plant survived, as I am more confident with my indoor growing ability now, having harvested enough to last me more than a year. So this year, I planted a fraction of what I normally do outside, and decided quite early on that I wasn't going to babysit them, and just let them grow as naturally as possible.
This plant was originally a mother plant of some cuttings I took for an indoor grow. She was grown indoor for the first 3-4 months of her life, and then moved outside to make room, without needing to care for her any longer. She was sick when she went outside, being old for her age and under sub-optimal light, but she recovered and grew a lot in the sun.
Except for about 3 weeks ago when a storm snapped off a few of her main branches, and she was pretty hurt. Then, the next week she started flowering. I don't think she liked that stress right before she was about to start to try reproducing, as this week, some of her leaves have started to turn a really pale yellow/white. I don't think it's much cause for alarm, and in fact, I still don't care if she makes it to the end. It would be nice for the sight and beauty of it all, but it's really no sweat off my back if she doesn't. That said, I am optimistic, as she has been resilient and bounced back from being sick a couple times already -- another one was from a slight case of powdery mildew, which I happily intervened to remedy about a month ago.
That said, I think the recent storm damage to her will affect her overall yield and strength going forward, as the timing was pretty awful, happening just a couple days before flowers started forming. But she has been with me the longest of any plant this year (actually, I started her in December of last year), and has made it this far. It would be nice if she kept up her streak. I hope this phenotype finishes rather quickly, as in my region, the nights start to get pretty cool, towards the middle of September, and by late September/early October, it's pretty cold in the daytime even. That has been the downfall of many gardens of mine, and why I usually stick to fast finishers outdoors.
We will just let nature run its course, and hope for the best.
Nice! I grew some grease monkey clones last year. Definitely pungent flowers. You will know. I'm growing seeds from those plants this year - not the same, but I am hopeful.
This diary is a living example that one must maintain hope until the end π. The recovery of the Monkey Grease has been amazing. Will we witness, through this diary, how our sweet "Monkey" becomes a "Monster"? Stay tuned for the next chapters πππ§‘
Hey did you have any problems with pests? I transplanted my young plants and all the leaves were eaten within 2 hours. Do you have any idea how to fight them off?