2007 Oregon Guerrilla Outdoor, with BACKCOUNTRY

[BACKCOUNTRY]

HM#3 update

HM#3 update

I got out to water, fertilise, and check HM#3 today, this is my largest plot.
I gave each a teaspoon of Tripple Super Phosphate(TSP, 0-45-0), I will also sidedress with 3-10-4 Guano a few times through the blooming season to boost the Phosphorus.

Here is a view from a old stump above the plot, on the north side looking downhill into the plot-

And here is a picture showing what my girls look at all day, a nice view due south across the wooded valley to the next ridgeline. You can see the top of my largest plant on the bottom, near the left side.

The dark colored conifer trees on the next ridge are fairly old Douglas fir trees, many are 100-200' tall, and some have trunks as wide as 5', walking amoung them is alot like visiting the Redwoods.
Most of the broadleaf trees on the left side of the picture are Pacific Madrone, a very common evergreen specie in this region, most of the trees on the right are a fast growing type of Willow tree. The trees in the middle are for me to smoke!!


I'm checking the totals for July, and it is looking like this was a text book July in my area for precipitation and temperature, still not enough to sustain plants alone, but it sure makes it easier than some summers with very hot Julys.

 

[pakalolo420]

Love the view from that spot BC. Looks notably drier than up here. I'm a bit surprised to see madronas so far from the saltwater, up here they mostly grow near the seashore and on the edges of low elevation lakes. Their bark is really cool. I've found hillside spots to often be among the drier, except of course those with a little seepage or artesian springs. Those ones can be keepers in a marginally dry area, and those are the ones you'll see showing green in late August.

Take care and good luck.

 

[guest5703]

Damn you ladies got a nice view BC. I would love to see your plots man, are they really hard to get to or are they just a long ass hike? Keep up the good work bro, I really can't wait to see those buds they are gonna be massive!

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Love the view from that spot BC. Looks notably drier than up here. I'm a bit surprised to see madronas so far from the saltwater, up here they mostly grow near the seashore and on the edges of low elevation lakes.....

They grow from sea level to about 5000' here, they are one of the hardiest trees in this region, and are often found on both the north side and south sides of hills, next to creeks or on high dry ridgelines. They seem to be the survivor tree in these parts.
There is one on the family ranch here that is 5' in diameter, and I have seen many in the area in excess of 150' tall.

I'll be looking for the good spring seeps soon, August is the driest it gets here, a good time to look for green spots.

caligreen- HM#3 is about .7 miles from the nearest parking spot, it is a moderately brushy area, with some decent trails, and extremely low Human trafic.

 

[Tirs]

Its always impressive that you can grow in such a dry climate. I'd have to say I think you are on course towards beating some personal records right?

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

My climate is very similar to that of the famous Humbolt and Mendocino counties of California, its a great place to grow, provided you can get water on your plants.
Yes, most of my plants this year will yield more than my average in previous years, with a half dozen or more of them yielding 20-60% more than average for me.

 

[ashspop]

what is your average dry# per plant

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

ashspop-My outdoor averages for most years are about 2.5-3 Oz per plant, this year it looks like most of my plants will be well over 3oz with the biggest 6 or so hitting 5oz.

There was a point there where I thought I might have even had a 1/2 pounder with the rate all the plants were growing. I believe I could grow one that big next year with what I know from this year, but I think I will go back to growing more smaller plants next year.
Big plants are cool, but all I really care about is variety, quanity and quality.

I won't start so many plants as early next year, my goal is to avoid ever having plants at home, growing or drying, so I'll wait until it is warm enough for me to start them all in a little greenhouse outdoors.

Since I don't use clones anymore(you have to keep plants at home to do that), my strategy now is to use as many different plants as possible to create my bud supply, this gives me variety of taste, smell, high, and the hardiness of the plants themselves.

I'm more and more a fan of the idea of using more smaller plants to acheive the smae goals.....

 

[pakalolo420]

From memory BC, this year looks to be your most impressive yet!

 

[Guest]

BC, I guess I am Not going to New Orleans, I failed a drug test, stupid me, but maybe best overall.
Your grow is awesome, you are a true herbsman.
I have a question, mostly out of curiousity as I doubt that I could ever do what you are doing. When you harvest to you just take the buds down or the whole plant? I know that sounds crazy, but I doubt that I would ever want to pack all that non-bud back. There is the risk of high quantities of marijuana if you get caught, and there is just the shear hassle of carrying it all back too. If you just take buds do you have a way of carrying them were you dont crush the buds?

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Thanks guys!

pakalolo420- I do believe you are correct, I have a feeling my harvest this year will be my best since I last grew in a large greenhouse. Its been awhile since I've talked about pounds....I guess we will see how the season plays out.

newRandude- I always take as much of the plant as I can, I also tend to camoflauge the plot whether I will use it again or not, I just don't want anyone getting wise to anything.......sometimes I will even pull the root stock.
If its only a small amount, I will generally bring everything back home, and hang the whole plant. If it is a very large quanity, then I will quickly cut as much stem off the bud containing parts of the plant, and dump the remains far away.

All this talk of harvesting and drying and getting caught reminds me of something that has been on my mind for a while.....
My mission has always been to work out a system of growing outdoors that involves having no growing plants at home, and no large quantities of bud(dry or not), less than a oz is a $500 fine in Oregon, and is not considered serious at all, so my goal is to never have more than a Oz at home, and never have a growing plant here, not even at the begining of the season.

That means I need ways of starting plants, and drying harvest out in hills, in a secretive guerrilla manner.
This year I will use a coldframe hidden in the hills to start all my plants, as soon as the sun is warm enough, the plants will never be in my home.

That leaves drying, how to do it in the bush?
In some places simply hanging the plants in a tree is sufficent for drying, but in my cool, rainy harvest season I need something more positive and fast acting(to prevent loss to mold after harvest).

I've racked my brain trying to figure this one out, I mean starting plants in the woods isn't too hard, but after going to the trouble of growing several pounds of bud in the wilderness, what advantage is it to me to bring it all home while it drys? I need a good, reliable way to dry my Buds in the field.

I considered using a heated tent, but I feel nervous about leaving open flames unattended, even in the moist woods.
I was always intrigued by the idea of using a dessicating chemical to dry the buds, but I was never sure what would be the best way to accomplish it. Finally I found someone who had figured it out! Check out this link-

tasteOrganic's Trash can with dessicant drying method ​

I'm going to modify this idea for my use, I'll test it on a small batch of buds early on, if I like it I'll be drying my whole harvest this way this year.

 

[hamstring]

BC
I have the same concerns. I have said many times harvesting is the most stressful time for me. I hate drying in my residence but I hate mold just as much.

It would be great if you tried the salt in the trashcan method. I read the thread before also. I am just wondering how much one trashcan will dry . Can you put a LB in there probably not but it would be nice. In my area five or six garbage cans full of salt and bud would be very noticeable.

Good luck and glad you are having a good year so far.

PEACE

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Thankyou!

You could do this in many different shapes, you could use big rough totes burried in the ground for example.
Thats one thing I don't agree with on the design in that thread, why is the bottom open? Why isn't it sealed tight? You would be drawing moisture from inside and out of the trash can. I see no reason why you couldn't seal the container.

Yeah, I'll check er' all out, see what I can do.

 

[Guest]

I have an idea too. Let someone you know dry it for you for a percentage of the bud. I happen to know someone that would do that for you too!

 

[pakalolo420]

There's a way to dry bud successfully in the field using dessicant, I've no doubt. Working out the best methodolgy just needs to be done and shared.

Starts can be done from seed outdoors in nursery beds protected by floating row covers, though I haven't got the methodology down to my own satisfaction yet. The row cover the local nursery stocks is really too heavy and impermeable. In a ten by five foot nursery bed one can start 200 starts with 6" spacing (4 per sq. ft.)

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

I have an idea too. Let someone you know dry it for you for a percentage of the bud. I happen to know someone that would do that for you too!

My philosophy is to involve as few other people(none) as possible, thats why I like this dessicant drying method, also I just wouldn't want to have to drive far to deliver a pile of stinky Ganja.
Simply driving or walking to another nearby secret location without getting on main roads or driving through a town is the idea here.

There's a way to dry bud successfully in the field using dessicant, I've no doubt. Working out the best methodolgy just needs to be done and shared.

Here is the design I'm thinking about....

Starts can be done from seed outdoors in nursery beds protected by floating row covers......

I'll probably try using a cold frame like the one I used this year for moving my month old seedlings outdoors. Next year I'll just wait to start seeds when it is warm enough outdoors to start them in the cold frame, rather than starting them indoors in Febuary, I'll wait until at least late March and start them in the cold frame. They should be large enough for my personal preferences by early May, and then they would be placed into their individual plots. I'd probably build a 2nd cold frame to handle the numbers I will need, and do 2 generations in each.

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

HM#4 update

HM#4 update

I made it out to plot HM#3 yesterday, I found some major good news, some minor bad news, and made some observations.

First...say hello to my little freind!-

This is my Rapidtest moisture meter, people use it to detect moisture levels deeper in the soil. You basicly push the probe into the soil in several places around the plant, and it rates moisture levels on a scale from 1-4.
This is by no means a scientific tool, but it does give me more of a clue what is going on in the soil under the plant.

OR94a-


She has a fair ammount of moisture, not bad retention after more than a week between waterings.
Here is the good news, this plant has finally showed definate female. I had been wondering if this was going to turn out to be a sneaky male.

C99x OR95-


This plant had a very good retention!

OR95b-


This plant did not hold water so good, she is not in really bad shape, but she obviously needs more water than she is getting.

These plant are all right next to each other, one wilting and the others moist shows how different the soil can be even so close together.
I've also noticed more slender, slower growth in this plot compared to my others, who seem to bush out further. This plot has much more clay in the soil than the other plots, I believe this is why the plants are smaller, but is also the reason the soil is holding moisture better for the most part.

And staying in theme, a picture of what these plants look at all day, here is a picture taken looking due south, sitting next to OR95a-

Red dots are on Douglas fir trees, two young one close by and a pure stand on the oposite north facing hill.
Blue dots are on White oak trees, a common site on south facing hills here.
The Purple dot is on a young Pacific Madrone.
The yellow dot shows a west facing hillside with a mixed stand of Douglas fir, White and Black oak, Pacific Madrone, and Big leaf maple trees.
The green dot shows a very sun exposed and dry south facing forest, mostly Pacific Madrone, White Oak, and Manzinita bushes grow here, provided the soil was well conditioned and plenty of water was provided, this would be a classic location for growing large dense buds in my area.

 

[guest5703]

Wow BC you really know your plants, I'm more of a palm tree guy myself but right on. Looking south you say? I'm waving I have the same kind of moisture checker, except mine is supposed to also check for light availability and something else I forgot, it has two prongs coming out of it. I'd snap a shot but my cam is out right now. Peace

BTW I love the dog shots haha

 

[Guest]

Hello there!
I made a lil review of this thread n im kinda impressed!
Definitely love your outdoor grow, yu putin a lot of hard work and love in this game!
Anyway i didnt know that Golden Retriever? or its Labladore? smoke joints? heheh!
Wish i could had that kinda friend helping me in my backyard work!

Greetz from Central Europe! BLESS!

 

[EasyBakeIndica]

That scenery looks beautiful. I'm sure you're water is as clean as it gets. I think quality of water can have a huge impact of taste and overall yield. The springs around there carry an awesome load of micronutrients with it.

PS: I always thought that avatar war a bear. wow.

Cool dog, man.

(The cartoon eyes really give it the brown bear facial structure ;-) )