Out There in the Garden...

MountainHigh Since this diary starts pretty late in the grow, here's some catch-up info: I'm in Colorado on the 40th parallel at about 6500 feet. This is my 4th outdoor grow, and my 10th overall-- the 6 indoor grows have all been auto's under LED's. I skipped doing an outdoor grow last year because of the grasshoppers-- we had plagues of Biblical proportions here in '18 and '19. Growers at lower elevations just a few miles from me were wiped out... That's why the plastic greenhouse is still up-- I intend to cover the frame with bug netting soon. Insecticides are pointless when there are literally hundreds of thousands of the little fuckers in an acre; adult grasshoppers are very hard to kill, too. (From now on, I'll call 'em the LF's...) It looks like they might not be so bad this year. The second deterrent to growing outside up here is the short season-- the first frost can come before the equinox-- another reason the greenhouse skin will remain, ready to be added to when the temps drop in September. That's also why I topped the 3 Critical Widows (CW's from here on)-- trying to keep them under the 6-foot frame of the greenhouse. And, also-- the law here says you have to do an outdoor grow in a greenhouse... Site preparation for the garden involved a report from CSU on the soil quality (decent pH, but not a lot in the way of nutrients), adding a couple of bags of earthworms 2 years ago, two bags of peat to lower pH some, an inch or so per year of horse/goat manure worked into the soil in the fall, plus half a box of Bio-Live by Down-To-Earth. BTW, two supplements I LOVE are Bio-Live and ReCharge. They make a huge difference in the soil and availability of nutrients.

MountainHigh Things haven't changed much here-- except the number of adult grasshoppers. Plants have grown, of course-- the tallest of the CW's is now 40", and the BK is 20"... The BK's not much higher than last time, but a bit wider and thicker; they aren't supposed to be tall. The CW's are worrying me, though-- if they do a serious flowering stretch, I don't know how I'll cover them come fall-- they'll obviously require a little LST soon. Still feeding with FF Grow Big and Big Bloom plus CalMag and ReCharge at standard solutions. Watering 2x a week-- when I feed. I'd guess each plant gets something over a gallon each time, including the nute solution. It's rained a total of 1.3" in the last couple of weeks, too, which makes the total hard to estimate. Started spraying for insects right after the last post. The LF's had started jumping into the greenhouse, so I put the netting over it three days ago. Sprayed with House and Garden Insecticide for two sessions, then with Neem Oil last night. It only takes one LF to really wreak havoc on the plants (see the last two photos). Almost no insecticide affects the adults, however... The coverings on the greenhouse-- both the skin and the netting-- are held in place by a bunch of 3/4"-1" plastic clamps that just happened to fit over the tubular frame. (You can find them on Amazon and at Harbor Freight for less than a buck apiece.) The netting and the clamps have withstood wind, hail, and heavy rain-- they just look like a half-finished hair job... The black tape is a high-end (more expensive) variety of Gorilla Tape.

MountainHigh "Iss HOT! iss REEEEL hot! iss CROTCH-pot-cookin' hot!!" --Robin Williams in "Good Morning Viet Nam!" Highs have been in the 90's since last week's diary entry-- until yesterday; one day was at least 98-- 'way hot for this altitude. Been watering every other evening and soaking the area beneath the plants. Since the "Weed Patch" is on a slope, there's little worry about over-watering. Also, I'm cutting down feeding to once a week-- plants get stressed when fed much in very hot weather. We finally got two cool days-- highs of 77. No grasshoppers in Chop-Top Manor for awhile-- until today. I've been spraying the plants alternately (and lightly) with neem oil and House and Garden Insecticide daily for the whole week, plus spraying around the base of the plants and the perimeter of the greenhouse with Prevasyn, a combination of hot pepper and garlic. It burns a little when it gets on your skin; I smell just like the Weed Patch now-- not bad, but weird... Powerful wind gusts-- some over 50 mph-- front the T-storms up here. Yesterday evening one tore the plastic skin loose from the zipper on the greenhouse door. I taped it up with Gorilla tape, which held through the night-- when another storm came through. Still holding... I've tried all kinds of tape, but nothing will stick to the bug netting. Tomorrow I'll replace the netting "window" (which is flapping in the breeze) on the south end of the greenhouse with a piece of the skin I cut off of it earlier this year-- the tape sticks to that. I'll probably build a real greenhouse for next year because of the constant repair necessary with this cowboy setup, not to mention the fact that it's utt-bugly. It would be nice to have one that's insulated, with power, HVAC, storage and room to work inside. There were three of the LF's in there today. Sprayed 'em with Safer Brand Insecticide Soap and watched 'em drop... Good stuff, and using it is almost as satisfying as squishing 'em. Bought a pack of 25 six-foot bamboo stakes at my local grow store for $17. Due to Covid, you drive up and park, tell them what you want and they bring it out to you. Works pretty well, since it's not the kind of place you'd browse in too much, anyway. The Blueberry Kush had a growth spurt over the last couple of days-- she's up to 33". My largest Critical Widow is 42" tall now-- tied her 2 main stalks down to the bamboo. The plant furthest down the slope in the greenhouse is always the largest-- it's happened for three years now. I guess all the good stuff washes down there.

MountainHigh It's kinda hard to figure growth with the stalks tied down, but the tallest (on CW #3) was 64" when I untied it and held it up; the BB Kush is 44". It's going to be interesting trying to get around inside the GH as I keep adding stakes... I have to remove the roof netting to add a stake, since they're longer than the height of the GH frame. It's pretty easy to do, since plastic clamps are all that holds the netting on. Finally replaced the netting "window" on the south end with a piece of plastic sheeting left over from cutting the top off the GH earlier this spring. There is no tape I've been able to find that will stick to nylon netting, and the LF's were getting in there. High-end Gorilla Tape (type 3880) sticks very well to the plastic sheeting, even holding it in the wind. The netting over the roof on the south end was very long-- hanging down to the ground-- and the LF's were apparently attracted by it, climbing up inside to crawl in through the window and other small openings. I cut it off so just a few inches are left outside and sealed the window with sheeting as described and photographed above; the LF's will have a much harder time getting in now... Sprayed the plants from the bottom up last night with Pyrethrin by Southern Ag. I'm alternating between Neem oil, Safer Soaps, Prevasyn (garlic and pepper oils) and Pyrethrin to prevent infestations. I had a serious problem with aphids two years back (after the grasshoppers), and I don't want to give them another opportunity... Real sunlight and fresh air make big healthy buds, but it's a battle with the bugs and the elements. Started feeding with Flower Fuel last night since the girls are just starting to open up. Flower Fuel doesn't dissolve easily, so I put it in a jar with a cup of water and shake it for awhile before adding it to the soup. (ReCharge and CalMag are added the same way; the two Fox Farm nutes dissolve easily.)

MountainHigh Haven't been posting because not much of interest has been going on... After the first few weeks, the grasshoppers turned out to be a non-issue-- we let the chickens out and they cleared the area of most of the LF's, and the heat and drought took care of the rest. A few managed to get into the greenhouse and cause some leaf damage, but nothing serious. Various predictions about the height of finished Critical Widow that I read in the Spring turned out to be conservative. I've been battling to keep the main colas tied down to a manageable height-- the greenhouse top is just short of 6 feet above grade, and they just keep growing! My single Blueberry Kush is remaining fairly short (under 5 feet) As a rule, I'll err on the side of too little nutes, but that hasn't worked out too well this time-- I was giving them almost nothing... The photos of leaves above are examples of what I've picked off the lower levels of each plant every week for the last month. (The grasshopper damage happened weeks before.) The pH is fine (between 6.5 and 7), and it looks like a nitrogen deficiency, which is understandable since I didn't add any (FF GrowBig) to the watering-can soup. I started adding some again (2tsp/gal) for a couple of weeks until the girls were blooming in earnest. I just started adding Tiger Bloom this week. I'd held off using it since The Rev thinks it's the devil, but I don't have anything to replace it with. Better the devil you know... I use 1/2 or less of the recommended strength with all nutes, mixing them as directed by the mfgr., but then watering with a hose after application to the root zone. Each plant gets about a half-gallon of nute mix before I water. I feed every other day now, watering almost every day. The heat and really low humidity require it. The number of necrotic leaves seems to be going down... So far, the BK bush seems to be putting out only flowering tops, but all 3 CW's are showing the beginnings of some serious colas. I can hardly wait for the weather to cool down. Daytime temps have been in the 90's constantly with forest fires all around...

MountainHigh These leaves aren't quite to the point of needing to be plucked, but would be in a few days... (Problems are easier to see at this stage...) I'll pull maybe 4 to 6 necrotic leaves off each plant every week; not enough leaves are being affected to make me worry about the plants' overall health, but I'd like to know what's going on. This has been a continuing issue for maybe five weeks-- since about the time that flowering first began and I stopped using FoxFarm Grow Big. The pH is between 6.5 and 7, and it doesn't look like a nitrogen deficiency, but I could be wrong... that's why I'm asking. Grasshoppers were a problem earlier in the summer, and I think the bite holes are leftovers from them, but might be continuing from some other cause. Without marking the leaves that have them, it's hard to tell how recent they are... Other than the bite marks, there's no evidence I can see of any bugs/worms on the leaves, either on top, underneath, or in the dirt. I sprayed all the plants with Pyrethrin two weeks ago, but the slow leaf death continues. It used to occur only on the lower leaves, but now seems to be moving up-- these photos are of leaves taken about halfway up the plants. The strain is Critical Widow. There's a Blueberry Kush plant next to the three CW's that is not showing these problems, so I'm guessing it's a nutritional deficiency peculiar to Critical Widow. I've hesitated to add any nitrogen to the nute mix since the plants are so far into flower, but is it possible that's what they need? Is there another obvious nute deficiency that I'm missing?