2019 New Zealand 30lb Backyard Attempt

pahut · Nov 3, 2019

Hey guys -

Brother and I have decided to have a crack at a backyard grow here in NZ

We started seeds back in August with intention of having them in the ground by November. We should be pulling late March/April from research - we're not 100% sure yet as it's our first outdoor grow.

Aiming for at least 30lb.

Using the cheapest potting mix and compost from the local hardware store for the holes and buckets. Mixed with some worm castings and pearlite.

For nutes, we are using Seasol throughout, plus Powerfeed.

Along the way we've picked up some named strains in clone from (GSC and the AKs), and bought an ounce of Jack Herer bud that was seeded so have started some of those seeds.

Everything else is bagseed. Few different types - some coming from outdoor maize grown harvests, some from seeded indoor ounces - should be interesting to see what we get

Some pics of seedings in the wardrobe with CFLs:

Clones from a really weird mother plant on right plus a lone AK clone on the left:

Seedings plus clones:

More pics to follow...

pahut · Nov 3, 2019

Rooted

New batch of seedings:

Weird white leaf seedling:

The cage to protect em til they're ready for holes/have soil ready:

All bagseed here:

pahut · Nov 3, 2019

Some holes:

Holes with cage in background. Big plant at the back is an AK clone.

Bug amongst the AK:

pahut · Nov 3, 2019

Any comments and suggestions are welcome guys - we are here to learn from the finest!

Will take some more pics tomorrow up close with some of the plants and show the indoor setup where we veg up before moving them outside.

Haere rā

Frosty Nuggets · Nov 3, 2019

Nice plants there mate, don't know if you will make 30lb though.

Try some Great White beneficial bacteria and fungi, growth will be phenominal.

Those seedlings are stretching way too much, you need your lights a lot closer.

PDX Dopesmoker · Nov 3, 2019

Frosty Nuggets said:
Nice plants there mate, don't know if you will make 30lb though.

Try some Great White beneficial bacteria and fungi, growth will be phenominal.

Those seedlings are stretching way too much, you need your lights a lot closer.

30 pounds is only like 50 dollars worth, they should be able to pull that pretty easy from a plot of land that big.

star crash · Nov 3, 2019

Good luck Kiwi I'm rooting for you from 1/2 the world away ...

Brother Nature · Nov 3, 2019

Looking good mate. Always nice to see another kiwi, wishing you luck man.

pahut · Nov 4, 2019

Frosty Nuggets said:
Nice plants there mate, don't know if you will make 30lb though.

Try some Great White beneficial bacteria and fungi, growth will be phenominal.

Those seedlings are stretching way too much, you need your lights a lot closer.

Yeah based off the plants that are out at the moment, 30lb might be a stretch, but there's another 30 or so plants that will be joining them over the next month - so we're hoping these early ones turn into monsters, and the late ones hopefully get a few oz each.

We are definitely looking to maximise the space we have, make it a sea of green haha.

And yes I must lower the lights, I've got a couple L.E.Ds in there so they should be able to grow nice and close to them.

Thanks for the well wishes lads

pahut · Nov 4, 2019

AK47 on the left, random sativa in foreground:

AK plus bucket bagseed:

pahut · Nov 4, 2019

Can anyone give me some advice on defoilation? Should I wait until the plants are a few feet taller before starting to prune out the lower branches?

We've been following a guy called 'Kaligrownbudz' on Youtube - he pulled 30lb off 13 plants in a very similar grow space to ours. Instead of 13 monsters, we're planning on 5 monsters and heeapps of smaller lower yeilding plants dotted around.

Check out him almost at harvest here (skip through to see all the gorgeous ladies) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKkRioh2M6Q

Brother Nature · Nov 4, 2019

As you're looking for monsters and growing outdoors I'd skip the defoliation and concentrate on training and maximizing the availability of light to all parts of the plants. Have you checked out the Australia/NZ section here? There is a lot of great information on outdoor grows there. Not a lot of kiwi specific information, but as we're close enough to Ozzie most of it is pretty transferable and the Ozzie guys are very friendly, helpful, and can grow some killer dope.

That guys grow is impressive, 30lb's is a pretty lofty pull, even for 13 plants. You'd have to be netting at least a kilo per plant and that'd still leave you 1/3 short of your goal. How many little plants were you thinking of putting out to make the difference up? Not knocking you, but 30 is a very ambitious number for that space, hope you do it though. Just thinking about trimming that much makes my hands sore lol.

pahut · Nov 4, 2019

Brother Nature said:
As you're looking for monsters and growing outdoors I'd skip the defoliation and concentrate on training and maximizing the availability of light to all parts of the plants. Have you checked out the Australia/NZ section here? There is a lot of great information on outdoor grows there. Not a lot of kiwi specific information, but as we're close enough to Ozzie most of it is pretty transferable and the Ozzie guys are very friendly, helpful, and can grow some killer dope.

That guys grow is impressive, 30lb's is a pretty lofty pull, even for 13 plants. You'd have to be netting at least a kilo per plant and that'd still leave you 1/3 short of your goal. How many little plants were you thinking of putting out to make the difference up? Not knocking you, but 30 is a very ambitious number for that space, hope you do it though. Just thinking about trimming that much makes my hands sore lol.

Wicked thanks for advice Brother, will get started on training tomorrow. Haven't had a good browse through au/nz forum yet - am hoping to find someone running a plot similar in size/plants so can estimate yield better. Might sign-up on that OzStoners forum too.

There will be 50+ smaller plants. Perhaps 50% clones and 50% from seed, if that makes any difference on final size? Have attached some pics of the veg room with the next lot to go out - although some will be kept inside for the next indoor grow.

So looking at roughly 60 plants outside... although that's not set in stone. Could go down to 30 plants or up to 80+ plants depending on how things transpire.

We may possibly erect a shade cloth as the metal birds always give me the shits, so would imagine that would decrease yield too?

Haha and yeah trimming doesn't sound fun, might look at getting one of those spinny trimmer things off amazon and just hand trim my personal.

Left Side Veg Room:

Middle

Right Side

pahut · Nov 5, 2019

Brother Nature or anyone else who may be able to help!! We need some advice on why alot of leaves are turning yellow.
Could it be water PH or iron deficiency? Or the fact that it's been a scorcher of a week and perhaps too hot for the plants? I'm not sure :/

MedFaced · Nov 6, 2019

Nice garden! Looks like a ph issue but I’m not the best cannabis doc around here.

Brother Nature · Nov 6, 2019

Hi mate,

I'm no expert, but my thoughts would be likely a ph issue causing iron lockout. Plus, given the heatwave we've just had they may also be a little shocked from coming outside into the big bad sun. The more established plants don't look as bad are the soil mixes and fertilization rates the same?

As you also said you're running bore water, I'd check the PH and hardness of the water before mixing any nutes and after and see if it's in the appropriate range.

ozzieAI · Nov 6, 2019

Using the cheapest potting mix and compost from the local hardware store for the holes and buckets.

this could be the cause of your issue, you are better off spending a few more dollars on soil and getting healthy plants rather than dealing with problems as your plants mature...

i have found adding broad spectrum trace elements helps correct nutrient issues...also flushing with a weak powerfeed/seasol mix can be beneficial

i have been vegging indoors and flowering outdoors for many years and i never check ph....i do have a good, clean water source though...if you are using bore water then definitely get it checked...pool shops can be a good source of analysis...

good luck...

bushed · Nov 6, 2019

Youve got huge balls doing this out in the open, dont know where in the country you are but the spotter planes will still be out as they are sub contracted. I would wait till next year after the referendem personally. Good luck!

pahut · Nov 6, 2019

Thanks for the advice everyone -- it certainly seems like a PH iron lockout issue.

Seems that this first outdoor grow for us is going to be A LOT of learning and mistakes - but that'll just mean next years will be better!

Our mix for soil was 1x bag cheap compost and 1x bag potting mix. 40litres each so 80 litres per hole. Will have to try the more expensive stuff next time... but holy cow its expensive! $20 a bag instead of $4 - ouch. Might look into getting a truck load of good stuff delivered.

And yeah it's a bit YOLO doing the grow how we're doing it... we'll be ordering greenhouse film this weekend and putting it up - have some old alkathene pipes lying around so will attempt to make a tunnel greenhouse.

Also pulled a male today - was a bloody vigorous plant so was sad to see it go - if circumstances were different would be nice to grow it out for the pollen.

Would Cal-Mag help in our situation with the yellow leaves?

gatts · Nov 6, 2019

Awesome effort Pahut!

Be on the lookout for hermies and males.

Agree with bushed, you got massive balls! Can you afford a greenhouse? Tomatoes, banana and paw paw have always been my favorites to intercrop with.

Generally growing with vegetables in ordered rows has helped me previously too, so maybe think about diversifying!

You can get some test strips for ph at the hardware store, check your bore water mate.

Looking forward to seeing how you go, could be some gems in there.

2019 New Zealand 30lb Backyard Attempt

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