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Hamstrings Alpha to Omega- Guerilla 2023/2010

strongbox18

Member
Hey hamstring great to see ya back on the forums it has been forever! Hope all is well, thanks for all the useful info you've helped provide us with!
 

Team Microbe

Active member
Veteran
Dude you dug up an old one. First off all credit to starting seeds in the bush goes to WallY Duck of Ducks foot. He had a sticky and I stole everything I could.

The grow went fine once the seedlings went into the ground they straightened out. I will say I never buried a container again too much rain in the spring not worth the chance of the cold frame getting flooded. I also like the larger containers much better. They are more robust. Once when the water level in the swamp went up, my containers have no holes in them, and the smaller one was top heavy and flipped on its side filling with water. The larger ones floated and moved but were fine.

I dont recommend building your own cold frame pack. For around $130 - $150 you can buy a backpack with a frame. I will have to look up the manufacture for you. The backpack is removable and your left with just the frame which has shelf that folds down. I can carry the whole cold frame including the soil.

If your interested in hardening off clones I would use some of your own experience might be some changes that need to made to fit the application.:tiphat:

Yeah that makes sense, I did the same thing with my first swamp grow. I had no idea the water level difference so I lost some patches one year. I'll try hunting down that backpack, it sounds so much easier! I need to up my cloning game asap, it's my weakest point in my game. Thanks for the help brother!
 

J.V

Active member
ICMag Donor
I have bare rooted plants but only once. I have to say it worked fine and i think more work needs to be done in this technique.

I dont grow indoors but it still has merits for all guerillas. The nice thing about swamps and marshes is they always have native veg even in early spring to hide a cold frame. So its nice to be able to start your seeds in the swamp and then possibly bare root them for transport to the finial destination.

They way I heard it was done was to take a pail of water with some transplant ferts in it. Slowly move your plants root ball back and forth in the bucket until all the soil is gone. Then pack a few bare root plants in wet newspaper and repeat. Supposedly you can carry 50 seedlings easy in a small pack.

Yes...I do agree...The pail of water would be the better way to go.
 

hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
Hey guys thanks for the interest in the old thread. Many ways to skin a cat. Moondawg is an old guerrilla who grows using a completely different approach and does very well. Many of my strain selections have come from him.

We both came from the skool of hard knocks. i am learning much from the younger generation Team Microbe and boobs have taught me much about organic growing.
 

hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
Yeah that makes sense, I did the same thing with my first swamp grow. I had no idea the water level difference so I lost some patches one year. I'll try hunting down that backpack, it sounds so much easier! I need to up my cloning game asap, it's my weakest point in my game. Thanks for the help brother!

Hey brother the pack is a Kelty cache hauler. You can get just the frame for $130 frog skins. Worth its weight in gold.

For my other general packs I recommend badlands packs. They went corporate a little awhile ago ( I hated that)and can be found in the big box hunting stores now. They make good shit.
 

hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
I started this thread back in 2010 and I was working on this method for a couple of years before that. Thought I would bring it back to celebrate 30 yrs of guerrilla growing.

First I want to mention that I stood on the shoulders of the great Wally Duck, I know he’s still on IC Mag with a different handle, but not sure if he wants everyone to know what it is. So in Forest Gump voice, “Thats all I have to say about that”

Wally had a thread called "Striking seeds in the Bush”. He was in the outback so I had to take his ideas and mold them for a midwestern US enviroment. Basically nothing has changed in the 15 years ,well except for Fem seeds , I have been doing this the same way for many years.

Here is what I am running outdoors this year, Green Mountain Grape from our own Vermontman, Bangi Haze from Ace seeds and MAFF from Gorilla Seeds.

I got 12 regular seeds in the 10 pack from Vermontman, 6 fems in the 5 pack from Ace and 6 fems in the 5 pack of fems from Gorilla seeds. Thats 24 seeds in all. I had 23/24 germ rate. How the hell can you beat that for throwing them outdoors for three weeks . So thanks guys for the great gear.


I have grown MAF before back in the UDG days. I am also digging going back in time with the regular seeds from Vermontman. I am very excited to grow the Bangi Haze and hope to get some potent bud.

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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
First things first to explain what my methodology. I dig all my holes about 14”x14". The shovel blade is 12” so you can see the size. All the soil goes on the tarp and i break it all up by hand. I am adding a 1/3 of a cup of Ozmocote in each hole. Mixed in thoroughly. I normally use 1/2 cup but I don’t care about size anymore i am hoping to see some fade at the end of the season. When I was a younger man I could dig and prepare 20 holes in 3hrs. If I tried to match that now the only thing I would be digging is my grave.

I always dig my holes a month in advance because critters, mostly raccoons , will dig in the fresh soil looking for food. You can see that here in the last three pics. Almost every hole has been dug into by critters including deer. You have to dig your holes ahead of time or you will find all your plants dug up. Once the coons figure out theres nothing tasty in there they will move on and leave it alone.

I use the old dead native vegetation as mulch. It helps blend everything in. One thing that I have kept a secret for all these years is the stakes you see marking each hole. I didn’t want to leave my signature online. As I have said many times I only grow in lowlands and the grass, stinging nettles and some wild flowers all get over 6ft tall. You’re kidding yourself if you think your going to come back in June and find all the holes you dug. Been there done that. You have to mark them.

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Two weeks later showing critter digging.




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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
So after a couple of weeks I come back with my cold frame. I like to use a hard top because I don’t want to worry about rain gathering on a soft top and then collapsing. Been there done that. I use a layer of door screen, the metal type, and then a layer of plastic. I want to control my enviroment instead of letting mother nature control it.The cover will hold in the heat and moisture but doesn’t allow rain to flood the cold frame. It also keeps the bugs and snails out. I pick a black tote because I can start my seeds as early as May 1st while we still have frosts. The black soaks up the heat to help germinate the seeds. This tote holds 2 cu/ft of potting soil. I number all the parts so they go to together easily out in the bush. I can easily attach it to my game pack. A good guerrilla has to have several packs and this Kelty game pack is a must. I can carry in my cold frame and carry out my bud. It holds a bale of promix perfectly, well with a little persuasion. Great for swamp grows.

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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
So I pack in the cold framed and set it all up. Mix my soil very wet and even pour some water in the bottom of the tote. Pack the soil very tight around each cup. Do not leave any air spaces. You want this to become one large heat sink. This takes some time to do it right.

Set up the top and you are done for the day, well unless you have several cold frames to set up.

One last thing that I have never shared before online, you have to have a “Tell” on your cold frame. There is no way that if someone finds this they are not going to lift off the top to see whats inside. You need a way to tell if that has happened. Its a 100% must.

See if you can spot my “Tell".


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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
So now when I show up to sow the seeds all I am carrying in is a zip lock bag full of seeds that have been soaking in paper towels for 24hrs. I check the “Tell” on the cold frame, all good! I take the time to wet the soil in each cup after putting the seeds in the cups. Two per cup for the Green Mountain Grape regular seeds. Ok, that took a few hours now lets get the hell out of here!

I can leave my seeds in the cold frame for three weeks without setting foot back in the grow site. Its a wonderful thing. These pics are a week later, and as I mentioned I had 23/24 seeds germinate. As long as the seeds are good I always have over a 90% germ rate. Thanks again Ace, Vermontman and Gorilla seeds for the great gear.

So you notice not once have I brought anything MJ related into the grow site. Not even anything to smoke. I am sober for every trip in. The most I can get caught for is trespassing.

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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
I was back a week later because I have a second grow site with a couple of my Star Killer moms. Just wanted to see if they would finish in my area. Otherwise I don’t come back for two - three weeks.

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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
Here we are back and they have been in the cold frame for 18 days. They are only about 6 inches tall and need a little longer . The weather has been unseasonably warm (in the 90’s) and I am worried about the sativa's stretching to much or over heating. I could have just pulled the plastic off to get rid of the heat but thats a Bozo no no. A guerrilla never makes a trip to grow site for something so trivial. I am going to transplant all of these now. The size of the seedlings is really only a problem due to bugs and heavy rain. Its a gamble but for me its a safety first thing. Too many trips to the grow site is another Bozo no no.


I like to lay out all my bamboo stakes and cages at each hole before starting the transplant.


You can see when I pull away the mulch the soil is still damp around the holes even though we haven’t had rain in at least couple of weeks . Each cup has holes in the bottom allowing the roots to seek moisture inside the tote.


Normally my seedlings are bumping their head on the top of the cold frame before I transplant. The roots have left the cups and went deep into the tote.


Looks Like I forgot to take the pics of all the seedlings in their new crib. It took about 3.5 hrs to make all this happen including watering them for their first and only time. Lowlands remain moist most of the year. I also spray with Seven to protect the little seedlings from insects. I will come back in a couple of weeks to see how the girls are doing in their new crib.

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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
Happy Fathers Day.

Its been two weeks since these plants went in the ground. I was honestly a little worried about their size. They were only 6 inches tall with a couple set of full leaves. They really needed another two weeks in the cold frame. I was worried that they wouldn't be able to put on enough new growth to compete with the leaves being eaten by insects.

I threw a couple before and after pics in there and in general they were all still alive. Mind you some of the MAFF and Green Mountain Grape has two and even three plants in a plot. I just counted any cage with something still alive and that was 100%.
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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
Saw some leaf hopper damage. I think the dry weather we were having helped with pest populations. I’m telling you we have had the driest spring that I can remember. It’s been hit or miss here in the midwest but very dry in general.

For the first time in, got be 15yrs, I have ever carried water to plants after the initial transplant. I’m not sure I would have if I was running several plots.

Those days are gone and honestly it feels like a hundred years ago. Everything changed quickly in 2019 with recreational becoming legal in IL. Hell it was dying off way before that because we had medical in 2013. Demand for outdoor mids just kind of disappeared, and quickly. Nobody wanted it and to be honest neither did I. I had my med license .

You had the guys that smoke one hitters and they were more than willing to pay the inflated prices on legal weed. The real smokers went underground but are only looking for the %5ers. Aren’t we all.

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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
Had an Animal Tree mom I didn’t have room for and I put her in the same plot. Feel bad putting a nasty clone with all my little guerrilla plants. In the end the seedling will win. Tap root for the gold!
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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
I headed off to see what the two Star Killer clones were looking like. The were actually the fist two plants to go in the ground. Its been three weeks since i saw them. I had planted these in a much higher location. It had to be 50ft difference in altitude.

My best guess on the Star Killer was 2-3rd week of October and I was worried about bud rot in the lowlands. Grown indoors it can have some nice tight buds. I also wanted to hedge my bets with a couple of plants in a dryer location with no flooding to worry about.

This also happens to be a bad spot for hunting. So not much concern about it being discovered later in the season.
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hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
Well here is what I saw when I showed up.


I was worried about it being so dry but thats not the problem here. Either someone found them, a insect or pest problem. After taking a look at the plants up close I could see the tell tell markings of mice chewing on the stems. My growing partner , paranoia, says , you didn’t have any mice problems last time you grew here. You had 13 plants and not single one got chewed up by mice. if someone did find it they will continue to look until they find your large plot.

I tell myself , the data doesn’t support your concern. Its on film it was obviously mice. It doesn’t matter my grow partner, paranoia, always wins these battles.

In reality, I will do what I have always done. Wait, watch and be careful. Thats all you can do. I have heard of guys moving a bunch of large plants to another location because fear of being discovered. Dude the amount work and risk doing that doesn’t outweigh the reward. Especially pulling up a fully rooted plant out of the ground.

If you loose them you loose them. Thats always been my motto. I not happy, far from it, but they found my weed, they didn’t find me. Thats a big win in my book.

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pipeline

Cannabotanist
ICMag Donor
Veteran
May have been rabbits, liquid fence is specifically for rabbits and deer, but works with all animals. I also use a granular pepper based repellent called Critter Ridder that lasts for a month.

Glad I found the thread, will have to look back. Hope you have backups! Where's your dog? :smoke:
 

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