"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Here we are, the end of my 2019 outdoor season. It's been a good season. Learned from some mistakes last year, tried some new things this year, some worked and some didn't but it's all good. I think all in all I came out with better quality bud than last year. Blue Shark was of course a rock star. I love this strain not only for it's effects but also it's easy to grow. When other strains showed deficiencies she always had great color. She does have some issues with mold but that doesn't thwart me. I had 30.69 oz of wet bud out of Gen 2 and 35.54 out of Rogue One. Now this is interesting because if you've followed along you'll know that Rogue One germinated in my pea bed after I recycled the soil she didn't germinate in. So she was behind. And then of course I didn't even figure out she was in there until July and by then she was being suffocated by the peas. She was showing deficiencies but wasn't too bad off. Fast forward to August when I removed the peas and gave her a cage. Then she exploded! She went from her lime green to a dark forest in hardly no time and I did no training with her whatsoever. Now, since she was out in the elements she did have a considerable amount of mold at the end. I'm going to say I had to remove at least 4oz. Yet with hardly any help from me and with the mold from not being under the tomato roof she still gave me more than Gen 2. Maybe I should just stop topping... Rogue One had beautiful purpling on her calyxes while Gen 2 had purple on the underside of her leaves on the veins. Both had that signature jasmine scent which is how I was able to identify Rogue One. Gen 2 was harvested on October 2 and Rogue One on October 9. Gen 2 was actually a little overripe whereas Rogue One was a little under. Go figure. I washed as always with 1/4 cup each of baking soda and lemon juice in 5 gallons of warm water and then rinsed in 5 gallons of plain cold water. It's always worth it to me given how much stuff come out in the wash because I know I don't want to smoke that! Currently hanging in the upstairs of the barn with an oscillating fan. But despite Rogue One's lead in the wet bud category, the mold damage continued. I only ended up with 4.61 oz of dry bud from Rogue One, whereas Gen 2 gave me 5.62 oz of finished product. The Blue Shark I grew last year gave me 4.97 oz, so at 5.26 oz per plant we've gained a little. So what have we learned from this diary? 1. The tomato roof definitely helps, being in a climate with cold and wet fall weather. 2. Topping doesn't necessarily give you larger yields. 3. These plants are more resilient than we're lead to believe. 4. You don't need to spend a ton of money on a complicated nutrient regimen to get good quality bud. I think this really needs to be said because with people waking up to weed they understand that it can help so many of their symptoms better than pills, but when it comes to growing it can become confusing quickly with so many different complicated nutrient regimens. Take for example: I have a friend with Multiple Sclerosis who got her Medical card. She's been using CBD oil but has to use a lot to get relief, and she's sensitive to THC. She told me she went into a dispensary and told them this, so they gave her a sativa claiming it wouldn't have any adverse effects. Not the case😱 So I gave her some of Gen 2 to try. And guess what? She loves it! She says it melts her muscle spasms in her back and she has to paranoia with it. So, yet another person finding relief with this 1:1 strain. I really wish more dispensaries would carry 1:1's. There are 3 dispensaries near me and it's all either high THC or CBD hemp, which is a shame. So, since dispensaries are not carrying 1:1's, she asked me if I would grow for her. But the thing is I'm not a licensed caregiver, and I really have no desire to draw attention to myself, especially with my husband being tolerant but not using (He's a D.A.R.E. child, but I'll turn him around in the end). She claims she has a black thumb but I'm not sure if I believe that. Last year was my first year growing and I think I got a little too rigid following the Fox Farm schedule and administering 8 different products, because I was so worried I would do something wrong and it would cause a domino effect and everything would be lost (there's my generalized anxiety disorder....). But they're plants! I feel like with so many nutrient manufacturers promoting all these different products to go with all these schedules it's making it less appealing for patients to grow their own medicine. First you have to do the nutrients part A on this day and part B on this day and then part C and then you have to flush out the mineral salts on this day with this product and then you have to use this product to put good bacteria into the roots that the mineral salts killed in the first place that you washed out with the salts, and it just starts over again. With that being said, hydro grows and related setups I can understand need more nutrient management but outdoor can be so much easier (when it comes to nutes, bugs and the weather are a whole different topic😅). So in summation: Get out there and grow your own weed!