getting a plant to harvest time

[nature_dood]

I tried growing around 20 plants this year out in the woods ( in clear areas where there is plenty of sun), and all of them got killed/died. Many of them were dug up; with the stem snipped off. I suspect rabbits. I was thinking of trying chicken wire fence, but that isn't easy to conceal when getting it to the grow area.

My question is, how do you get your plants to live untill harvest time outdoors without using a fence? And, if you do use a fence does it work well? Thanks!

 

[Fast Pine]

I plant in gardens ...20 or so plants in one tight area..With a strong tall chickenwire fence...


Its a MUST, if you are at all serious about harvesting yer plants..
There are quite afiew ways to repell deer, and other predators....In my opinion using a fence ia theonly way to be sure...

The fence needs to be tall. the large rolls are around 3 feet tall. You need 2 double that up...The fence should be 6 feet... Unlike white men...Deer can jump.

Use metal electrical conduit pipe or rebar, for the fence posts..Krylon makes military cammo spray paint...Paint the poles and wire fence flat black .
If you have alot of fencing....buy a gallon of flat black exterior paint, an a roller...Put the fence up as usual...Paint the shiny steel fence with the roller like it was a wall in yer house...The roller is much better than spraying the rolls of wire..An trust me on the flat black...It just melts into the forrest from 25 feet away..

 

[Reinhold]

well rabits dont eat bigger plants, so if possible next growing season start you rplants indoors and get them as big as you can before planting timeoutdoors, then this way you have an overall bigger plant in the end cause you were already veggin your plants x amount of weeks, anyways back on topic. Rabbits stay away from bigger plants for the most part so thats my advice to you.

Fast Pine I like the fence idea only thing is I wouldnt want anyone to stumble onto the fence and be like wtf and of course humans are curious and would eventually figure out whats in there after that....But yea good idea but i probably wouldnt need to use it here Deer arnt a problem here, elk occasionaly will bite off a top there careful not to step on the plants lol...yet...rabbits seeem to be the only problem at planting time theres not much green so theyll eat shit but if ya got a big plant they back away..then theres grasshopppers.....

Also its pretty easy to get chicken wire and bend it in half horizontally and you can bend the sides and form a cage to protect your plant for smaller cages(smaller plants) just cut a skinnyer strip of chicken wire.
Good luck with your grow(s) man.
I had something else to say but I forgot .

 

[jbaby]

One thing I do thats simple and works great is plant in 5 gallon buckets with the botom cut out and planted about a foot or so deep. This protects against most all small animals, slugs. this also works very well for watering as all water and ferts go only to the plant, as for deer I try to plant in well vegatated areas where deer have enough to eat without bothering my plants. Then Prey for that bitch mother nature to be nice!

 

[slyfoxberg]

i like that idea jbaby, kind like a raised bed on a small scale, the roots can go out of the container and do their own thing. nice.
i also have to agree with the above posts about starting indoors and also containers in general. it will help you get a jump start for sure. good luck.

 

[Fast Pine]

well rabits dont eat bigger plants, so if possible next growing season start you rplants indoors and get them as big as you can before planting timeoutdoors, then this way you have an overall bigger plant in the end cause you were already veggin your plants x amount of weeks, anyways back on topic. Rabbits stay away from bigger plants for the most part so thats my advice to you.

Fast Pine I like the fence idea only thing is I wouldnt want anyone to stumble onto the fence and be like wtf and of course humans are curious and would eventually figure out whats in there after that....But yea good idea but i probably wouldnt need to use it here Deer arnt a problem here, elk occasionaly will bite off a top there careful not to step on the plants lol...yet...rabbits seeem to be the only problem at planting time theres not much green so theyll eat shit but if ya got a big plant they back away..then theres grasshopppers.....

Also its pretty easy to get chicken wire and bend it in half horizontally and you can bend the sides and form a cage to protect your plant for smaller cages(smaller plants) just cut a skinnyer strip of chicken wire.
Good luck with your grow(s) man.
I had something else to say but I forgot .

You will see the plants way before you will see the wire..(especially if ya paint it flat black..)

If someone is standing close enough to see the fence...they will forsure see the girls.

Its not like yer building the fence 100 feet away from yer garden, I build my fence quite close to the holes...allowing just enough room for the plant to stretch horisontaly, with out hitting the wire fence..

 

[Reinhold]

hmm true I guess I was under the impression for some reason that the fence would be farther out, guess my mind is playin tricks on me. Its definatly a good idea and I would definatly do it if I lived in a more populated deer/elk area but good thing Im lucky for now and dont have to worry too much about em.

 

[Fast Pine]

say, thanks..

Yeah, deer are a huge problem for us south west growers...I never have not used a fence..

Hope you have a good year Reinhold..

 

[HeadyPete]

Hi nature_dood and others,

I too, had a few problems with pests and my 3 (formerly 4) outdoor sisters.

When they were out for about 3 weeks, we discovered that something had chewed the stems of two plants. One plant was chewed in four places, so I immediately trimmed it up and planted it back in the soil. Today, she is a cute little 1.5 footer at present. I placed a clear plastic grow dome over her (as I did for all when they were little) and since cut the top off the dome to allow her to grow through. This should keep ground pests away.

The other victim was chewed down and dragged off into the woods (or worse), never to be seen again. Hopefully, my only reparation paid for a good harvest. I suspect a rabbit, who ate the first one and got too stoned to eat the second. Only managed to chew it down. Then had to go somewhere to "come down a little"...

When this all happened, i took some old 1 1/4 black poly plastic pipe, which was conveniently split due to water freezing in it, and cut it to about a foot, spread it and carefully got the plant stem inside, then pushed it into the soil and mounded soil around the outside. I did this to the two untouched plants and so far, so good.

I really like the 5 gallon bucket idea for next year. Eliminates the need for all this stuff and works so much better. I will definitely be using the grow domes, still, with the buckets. And if the buckets are black or green or brown, easier to disguise in the woods. This year I used cut open bags of grow mix with added ammendments and drain holes poked in the bottoms. Good for isolating young plants from nature until they are big and grow through the bottom holes, and great for concentrating water and nutrients to the plants only. Not so great because they are white (had to cover with forest litter), and don't provide great support. The price was right, as far as a grow container is concerned....

Also, a closed loop of copper around your stems at soil level will keep the slugs away. Any bare copper wire will do, the thicker, the better. I used the thick braided wire meant for grounding electrical circuits. You can see what I mean in my gallery.

Next year I will start indoors much earlier than this year. I will also get some good genetics. I'm thinking a DJ Short Flo or a White Widow, don't know yet.

Good luck to you and all our fellow gardeners. I lent my cam to a friend who was having a baby, so when I get it back I should have some updated pics.

 

[nature_dood]

Thanks for the input, to you all! This is helping me out a lot.

Hey Pete, or anybody else, do you find that planting in areas of lush green growth reduces the chances of your plants being eaten by rabbits/deer/ slugs or other things that eat weed?

Or, do you think that the chances are the same, or more, where you plant? Because, maybe the green growth attracts them.

Thanks!

 

[Reinhold]

Definatly plant your plants in green lush areas your taking more of a risk not doing it, take for example the area I live in, very dry and sandy most parts but there are some green patches here and there, if you choose to plant in the areas with not much vegetation here comes Mr bunny hopping along and what does he see, your lone marijuana plants all by themselfs looks pretty good to him considering its the only thing he sees in the area worth eating so he eats em.

Now then lets say you plant them in an area with lots of vegetation real green and nice, here comes mr rabbit or deer whatever and what does he see, well lots of weeds bushs and other shrubs to snack on I dont think hes gonna mess with the mj plants with all this other food for him to eat. lol anyways enough story telling but yes plant them in a greener area the other weeds wont affect the plants just make sure their not outgrowing your plants. I've gone into my grows several times and seen rabbits literally right next to my plants but their not eating my plants their eating the grass and shit around them. good luck man. peace

 

[motaco]

I'm a huge organic fan but sad to say thats why they get drug off. racoons are usually the culprit. smell blood and bone and decide to dig it up. see why this plant smells like that.

then there is the vibrant green color around a usually more bland back ground. and when they're young they're tasty and soft. as they mentioned before I'd use spray painted or rusted chicken wire. just while they're young, hide it in some briars. when they get bigger the rabbits won't want them and you can put them in better spots. raised beds are helpful if you experience flooding.

here are some old schooler tips for you.

if you bring a battery and alligator clips with you in your back pack and attach them to your plants for a few seconds it will send a charge through the plant. touch it you get a lil zap, if your a bug on it you get a good zap and you want off that plant. make catepillars fall off, budworms crawl out, spiders get off. anything on the plant wants off. I can't remember the specific size battery to use but you can find out on google.

buy cheap dollar store cologne. oil based if possible. musk is a good one. strong funky ones. spray them down good on a rag and put it in a plastic bottle and punch some holes in it. make a few of them and throw it around your area.

rabbits are cocky fuckers though and they'll wait and see if your around. if you do the same plastic bottle trick but buy some urine from a hunting store or website they won't stick around to see if its really there or not. buy scary urine. wolf, mountain lion, cougar, etc. things that rabbits have nightmares about.

If you go to a barber shop in the evening and tell him you have a neighbor hunting on your land so you wanna go throw barbershop clippings around his deer stand he'll chuckle and give it to you. human hair also keeps them away, as well as ivory soap.

for slugs you can shape a copper wire like a corkscrew as a barrier around the stem and into the soil. copper wire burns slugs.

at least those are some of our remedies in the south.