Elevator in the Forest

[Elevator Man]

Sorry - been away a few days. Yeah, I did think about the cages, but with it being public land not too far from town, I was a little worried they might get discovered - it's not exactly 'remote'. And the weird thing is the plants in the other patch (up to last week) haven't been touched. That would be really depressing, as many are not as big, or as woody as the ones that got attacked.

I've still got plenty going on indoors though - just chopped my main JLo plant, and the Cocoa Kush today, with plenty more to replace them tomorrow. My Highland Oaxacan Gold is swelling like crazy - an awesome-looking plant now at nine weeks.

 

[daggaboy1]

Hi Elevator Man. You could use your experience with the rabbits for future grows. Pick up some of that green coated chicken mesh and stick it around the base of each of the survivors. Not really that obtrusive. Go on, we are all living vicariously through your outdoor experiences. The harvest will be worth it.

 

[Elevator Man]

Yeah, I probably will to be honest - now I can see the grow developing, there's not much chance of it being discovered once the bracken's up, so maybe we'll go for fewer numbers and better protected. Still, hopefully the growth that's left is high enough for the rabbits not to be able to reach anymore. I'll pop out in a few days and see what's happening...

 

[blackone]

I just found your thread now, and I'm dreaming about that place already
There's just something very magical about bracken - almost eerie.
Good luck with your surviving plants - I hope they'll stay unharmed from those furry fellas.
Me - I wouldn't go visit the patch without a slingshot - I know I would probably never hit a rabbit no matter how hard I tried but it would feel good just to see that rock hammering into the bushes, scaring the flock.

Sorry was just rambling here ... just vaped a piece of freshmade gumby in a testtube.

 

[Elevator Man]

Never even seen one out there, that's what's so weird - it's not really rabbit country, being a wooded, overgrown valley, on the edge of peat moor. All the grazing pastures are on the other side, a couple of miles away, and that's where I've seen the rabbits. It's strange, but not much I can do. I'll be able to get out this week sometime, and will report back.

 

[blackone]

Next time you go there check for slugs - they can do exactly the kind of damage you describe - If you've had recent rainfalls and the damages happened in connection with those then I'll almost bet you've found the culprit.

 

[Elevator Man]

Do they eat the branches as well? There's not just leaf missing, but the whole bottom of the plant. We did prevent slugs early on, and when the plants got larger they didn't seem to have problems - it's rained a lot here, so they've had plenty of exposure to slugs already. Also the stems had some bark gnawed, which suggested large incisors to me...

 

[blackone]

They can eat soft branches and strip the bark from everything else. I've seen them chew through a soft stem more than 5mm thick years ago.
They won't eat woody branches so if that's what you see then it's probably something else.
Also if you didn't experience problems earlier on during rainfalls I don't think it's slugs either.
PS: What did you do to prevent slugs when they were small?

 

[esbe]

slugs dont eat steems and they leave the leafs with their scellets on.

if you have many slugs then try the beer can method. keeps away most slugs and is almost free of charge, just have to drink some beer, hehe

 

[Guest]

Hey El' sad to read all this stuff???

Offtopic here but just letting you know about those thai..
My 6 clones are in the ground guerrilla style at 5 to 7 feet!!
Sometime when they have buds maybe at 12 feet or more,
i may do a thread to show them for you ok!

Watch the animals they love weed like us.....

 

[Elevator Man]

I used some non-toxic (to animals and humans) slug pellets when the plants went in, and for the first month - after that, they didn't seem a problem. I'm convinced it's rabbits. I might try and get out tomorrow aftrenoon, but it's pissing it down, which means the bracken could be soaked tomorrow - as in, I'll get soaked!

Lou - good to hear you're persevering with those Thais - I've been smoking plenty of fresh sticks lately, and some are mind-bendingly good - they have to produce some quality smoke! My fat little Oaxacan Gold lady is finishing off nicely in my cabinet at just over two feet tall, so there's definitely hope for indoor sativa growing! This is a week ago, but most pistils are turning now:

 

[Elevator Man]

Good news and bad news...

Good news and bad news...

OK, I'm assuming folks will want the bad news first? Same here...

Patch 2 is defunct. Whatever had munched away the lower parts of the plants two weeks ago, clearly told their taller friends in the animal kingdom, as there is now nothing left except bare, brown stems. Either that or they were discovered. So there's not much left to discuss on that, and for security reasons, probably best that I don't...

So - on with the show. Patch 1 is untouched, and in most cases, thriving. The plants we pulled and replanted after removing most of the polymer crystals have recovered, in some examples, are growing fast. Only the Leb 27 is flowering yet, and it's a weird, almost auto-flowering pheno, so not sure if it'll grow any more than it has.

Other oddities are the fluoro Mikado, which is clearly that color whatever the conditions - so bright green I'm sure it could attract 'eyes from the air'. I pinched all the tips on the tall plants to try and keep them around 3-4 feet at the finish, but some are pushing 3 feet now, and getting very bushy.

Not much else to tell, so here's some pics of some of the plants:

Grape Krush and Hashberry:


Abusive OG Kush:


Early Special, Mandala #1:


Fluoro Mikado (2 pics), and Flo (green pheno):


Cheese X Purple Afghan, and Leb 27 (2 pics):


Cocoa Kush, and Mystery Strain (2 pics):

 

[hamstring]

Might want to consider ground hogs as the culprit. They feed much like rabbits especially on new growth. The thing that pushes me towards them is they stay relatively close to their den. Just a thought as I had the same happen to me and thought it was rabbits for sure until one early morning I saw the little bugger scampering towards his/her den.

A fence was my only savior as he ate every seedling but it was early enough in the season to replant and use a fence.

 

[Elevator Man]

We don't get groundhogs over here luckily - most of the rodents out there will be rabbits, mice and a few rats down by the streams I guess. It could always be hares - I never thought of that, but they're a lot taller than rabbits, and do like heathland, which isn't that far away. I just never thought they'd like bracken that much, but then I had cleared it out around the plants.

Of course, the deer love bracken environments, so they're probably the main culprit, but it doesn't explain why they never eat the ones in the other patch, which they use as a sleeping-spot occasionally. This is the main conundrum - why only the one spot? But it's a moot point now, as there's nothing left, and I don't really want to discuss 'couldashoulda' points, especially if it was human rodents involved...

 

[Paddi]

Sorry to hear about patch 2.
Patch 1 looks nice though E. Man

Best luck and stay safe :smile:
Paddi

 

[Elevator Man]

Paddi - thanks pal. I'm learning to control my emotions these days as far as plant-loss is concerned - no point crying over spilt milk! And we did plant more than we needed for this very reason, so I just hope the rest survive intact - they certainly look healthy enough right now.

 

[Elevator Man]

Just one more bit of interesting news - I tried flowering another clone of the Leb 27 pheno under lights - it began flowering under 16/8 in the veg cabinet, so I put it under 12/12, and after two weeks had barely moved, except slightly more pistil growth. I put that down to much too bright light, and too short a photoperiod - I think this pheno is practically auto-flowering.

So I abandoned that, and gave it to my friend to put in his garden for the remainder of the season. He's going to repot it into a large bucket and put it in his sunniest spot, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully the stress of changing photoperiods won't be too drastic, and it'll get settled in and develop further - should have another six weeks at least.
Interestingly, indoors there's also no coloration of any note, but outdoors, it develops purple calyxes and pink pistils, so it will be fun to see if it changes, and how quickly...

I'll try and get out to the outdoor patch in a couple of days and see what's happening.

 

[Elevator Man]

I popped out to the grow today - I didn't bother with patch 2 anymore, so it was a whole lot quicker! And all the plants in patch 1 are fine, and getting bigger all the time - average size about three feet with many tops, as I've been pinching them out every few weeks. That's it though - two plants have begun flowering, and a few more look like they're almost ready, so I'll leave them to it now.

The next potential threat is collapsing bracken as it dies back - and deer knocking it over onto the plants. So far so good though, and there's a good 3-metre circle cleared around each plant. Just got to pray for some warm, dry weather now...

 

[justagrower]

sorry EM , what was it i said about the weather back in spring fingers crossed it stays dry from now on . been the wettest summer on record up 'ere and doubt anything would properly finish if i tried outdoor . i m always tempted to give it a try though, by the thought of bubblebags and whole plants !!
all the best mate

 

[esbe]

good to hear stuff are fine elevator bro!