Flames UK GG 2024

[flameninja]

Been a while since I did a diary
I just grow a few for personal use which saves me a bit of cash Plus I like the process of growing these wonderful plants out in the wild!
Gets me out into the fresh air,gives me plenty of exercise and makes me feel like a kid again, sneaking around making dens and stuff
First bit of plot preparation started..

First seedlings patiently waiting for planting out within the next couple of weeks

These are just a mix of hybrids that did well for me last year as well as some testers I got last year from HFH
Here’s hoping we all have a bumper season

 

[flameninja]

Thought I’d better be a bit more specific about what Hybrids I’m growing.
It will help me remember what I’ve planted and why because my memory is

“Lockdown Loco” are some beans I harvested in 2020/21
I never had much joy with them in 2022 for whatever reason (Probably Pests!!)
But last year they took me by surprise and produced some stout looking Hazey plants
Unfortunately I only got to sample a couple of them because I lost the others to mold!
But they did have a strong resemblance to Polar Haze which is a hybrid I made years ago.
I’ll have to remember to keep a closer eye on these this year and make sure they get plenty of airflow
“Grapefruit Early” This will be the 1st time I’ve grown these
I got the seeds from one of the super early plants last year which were testers from HFH
I look forward to seeing how these perform and if they are as early as last year and also if the Grapefruity smell and taste has carried through
“Esben 23” These were testers I was gifted in 2023 which were quite early finishers and almost “Autos”. GF Early came from this batch

“23 Mix” Is a mix of fat beans I found in some of the late finishers i had last season which were “22 mix”.
Some of these plants grew unruly and over 6ft tall! With a very varied mix of Sativa dominant and Indica dominant plants

 

[flameninja]

First plants out this season

I always plant several seedlings in one hole because it’s inevitable I’ll loose some to pests
Plus they are Regs and once I pull any males they won’t be as close together

I’ll continue to keep popping the same beans in between plant outs so I can replace any losses throughout the coming months
Hopefully there won’t be too many losses but that’s all part of the game

 

[Dequilo]

Very nice thanks for sharing your outside 2024 grow with us, I will be following along for sure

I love nothing better than growing outside and in the wild can be fun

I am in New York State they let us grow up to six plants so I am a backyard grower now

when I started I would put out hundreds in the state park

all the best and a great season

Dequilo

 

[flameninja]

Very nice thanks for sharing your outside 2024 grow with us, I will be following along for sure

I love nothing better than growing outside and in the wild can be fun

I am in New York State they let us grow up to six plants so I am a backyard grower now

when I started I would put out hundreds in the state park

all the best and a great season

Dequilo

Thanks for following
Wish we could grow 6 plants legally here
It would save me crawling about through thick bramble and stinging nettles acting like a ninja
My knees are killing me I’ve got nettle stings and scratches all over
Every year I say “I’m getting too old for this shit”
Sending good vibes your way for the season ahead

 

[Dequilo]

Every year I say “I’m getting too old for this shit”

I would more than likely have kept doing it I stopped back in 1995 and started back to growing

inside 2001

stop outside as I had a pest problem and was going to cure it with Dynamite

all the best and grow well

Dequilo

 

[flameninja]

2 weeks since first early plant out

The next batch of seedlings eagerly awaiting their turn tomorrow

It’s been very mixed weather these last 2 weeks with very low temps on a night
No frosts though and some nice sunny afternoons so hopefully there will be a few survivors when I visit next.

 

[flameninja]

Second plant out this morning

It’s rather exciting walking through a busy urban area with a bag full of seedlings!
Time to see if I have any survivors…

I was surprised to find the majority had survived the early plant out
They do look a bit bedraggled but that’s only to be expected when you plant out early. That’s the risk you take

I topped up both the LL and the GF holes with fresh seedlings
And planted some 23mix in a new hole
The only ones I didn’t top up were the Esben 23.
I will pop the few Esben seeds I have left and plant out next visit

 

[Porky82]

Love Gorilla growing!! I'll follow along.
Good luck with it mate.

 

[flameninja]

Love Gorilla growing!! I'll follow along.
Good luck with it mate.

Cool
Welcome aboard

 

[flameninja]

No rest for the wicked!
Just put these beans to soak 🫘

As I was searching through my dwindling seed collection I was reminded that…..
Lockdown Loco is “Polar Dane X Guerilla Gold”
And Polar Dane is “Polar Haze” X “Royal Dane”

It’s easy to loose track of what’s what when you have been making random outdoor hybrids for the past 10 years

 

[flameninja]

Well it’s been just over 2wk since last plant out so I headed back to my plot today to check on the ones already planted and to top up any losses
Was blown away by how much the area has grown these past 2wk

I am never sure what to expect when visiting in these early days
Considering I plant out early and don’t use any cages or fences for protection there’s always a chance I could arrive to find everything dead or eaten by pests!

Thankfully this wasn’t the case and I was delighted to see almost all the plants were still alive and growing nicely

I had to deal with a lot of bindweed that had started to creap everywhere and pull a load of Himilayan Balsam and nettles that had sprouted out of nowhere

But all things considered I’m more than happy with their progress so far

There was no real need to top up but seen as I already had the seedlings with me I planted them anyway
I also planted out some Polar Dane f2’s in the last remaining hole
I will continue to keep popping beans right up until the end of May just in case I need any replacements on my next visit but I think we are past the most vulnerable stage now (Fingers Crossed)
Thanks for looking in

 

[Porky82]

Looking good. They are planted very close together.
Do you normally plant them this close together?

 

[flameninja]

Looking good. They are planted very close together.
Do you normally plant them this close together?

Thanks for looking in
Yes I plant close together to maximise on space
If I planted one plant per hole I’d need a massive plot.
Inevitably I will loose a few due to pests etc and
they are regulars so there will be plenty of males to pull out which will leave more space for the girls
Any girls that are too close together will get tied up and trained (LST).
Out of the 50+ seedlings that I’ve planted out I’ll probably only end up with 15-20 plants by the time they are in flower

 

[shiva82]

looking good. lots of hemlock in that field too

 

[flameninja]

It’s that time again, 2 weeks have passed since last visit
We’ve had a mix of sunshine and showers since then which is great for young plants
My biggest fear was slugs & snails
I arrived soaking wet through after a hard slog battling my way through the thick wet grass and wildflowers
But it was worth the effort once I saw the plot bursting into life

I had to cut back the surrounding cover a bit and pull a few small weeds from within the beds
But other than that I was very happy to see almost all the plants still alive and well

Although they are all doing well some are looking better than others
The 23 Mix are by far the healthiest with very little damage. Probably Hybrid Vigour because they are new hybrids.
The Early Grapefruits are the smallest on the plot but I suspect that’s because they are pretty much Autos.
The Lockdown Loco are the biggest so far but they have a bit of insect damage (Frog hoppers + Capsid bugs ) but it’s nothing to worry about

I thoroughly checked through all the plants and removed 4-5 that were obvious early males!

It’s a real bummer that the early males are usually the biggest and healthiest looking plants
But it has to be done

Sometimes if I find a particularly handsome looking stud I will pull it up or cut it down at the stem and take it home to place in a vase
They recover very quickly if you keep changing the water and you should be able to collect some pollen for future seed making
But that’s about it for this update
I’ll be back in another 2 weeks to check for more males and have another tidy up
Here’s a pic of the healthiest plants to finish off

 

[Porky82]

Looking good mate!
Keen to watch it progress!

 

[Ca++]

Good show and a very early start. They will get big.
Give your cold frame? a clean with some Jeyes (other cleaners exist) as it's age will mean it's carrying a few problems. I think we saw PM on the first run, though the plants are not showing any in the field. It's what we can't see though. Some wilt causing bacteria can be carried out to a plot, and ruin it for years to come. Plants constantly pick up problems, that we race against. You are not keeping mums, but even a short season plant will benefit from less environmental pressure.

 

[flameninja]

Looking good mate!
Keen to watch it progress!

Thanks for stopping by

 

[flameninja]

Good show and a very early start. They will get big.
Give your cold frame? a clean with some Jeyes (other cleaners exist) as it's age will mean it's carrying a few problems. I think we saw PM on the first run, though the plants are not showing any in the field. It's what we can't see though. Some wilt causing bacteria can be carried out to a plot, and ruin it for years to come. Plants constantly pick up problems, that we race against. You are not keeping mums, but even a short season plant will benefit from less environmental pressure.

Thanks for the advice
I don’t really know why the compost turned white on those first seedlings? It looked like the compost was a bit “hot” but I used the same compost for all the seedlings
Fingers crossed it won’t effect them now