La nina growing conditions?

[budsnblunts]

Hey everyone. I'm in nz and we are expecting la nina to play a large part over summer. I have been looking but the search function doesn't want to work for me. Didn't find much on Google either. How are la nina weather conditions for growing marijuana? Will the wet weather mean a longer spring type climate? Should plants veg alot more this year? Plants have been going into flower then veg and repeat. Hoping everything's going to balance back out.

 

[therevverend]

I'm in Western Washington in the USA, we have a similar climate to NZ. Some years can be very wet. The biggest problem is botrytis, grey mold. I've talked about it with NZ growers and they always say it's a problem. Most plants do well in Veg, lots of good vigorous growth, but then in mid to late flower the buds turn to sludge. Especially with clones and indoor strains. They get around this by strain, technique, and building green or hoophouses with good air circulation and/or light dep.

Plants have been going into flower then veg and repeat.

It's still spring, I'm thinking your days are just now getting longer. If you're growing clones and the skies are cloudy they're getting mixed signals. The dark weather cuts the daylight hours shorter and tricks the plants into thinking it's autumn. You want to put clones out a couple weeks later in a La Nina year or else you'll have problems like you're having with them wanting to flower early. The problem should solve itself, the days should be long enough from now until the solstice to send them back into Veg permanently.

 

[40degsouth]

Hey everyone l really hope you’re all well and December will be kind to us all. Great to see you Therevverand I’ve missed your grow show this year.
It’s been an interesting start to the year here and although l wouldn’t say it’s been overly wet, the overnight temperatures have been unusually cold, this happened last year as well but last year was wet in conjunction with the cool temperatures, to the point where l only needed to water a few times towards the end of January.
For me the cooler temperatures are worse than the wet, at my latitude, but the further north you go, as the temperature increases, the fungal pathogens will also increase with humidity. We’ve had some some unseasonaly cool overnight temperatures here which slows growth, to a near halt because the soil temperatures remain low. For example l had some Ancient Og f5s and Projects that we’re growing an inch a day in a heated greenhouse, that went into hibernation mode when they went outside and have only just started growing again the last few days. They did purple up and consolidate their stems during this time.
I’m hardening off the clone starts at the moment and they will be going out on the 1st of December (the opposite of the northern hemisphere’s 1st of June) Recent years I’ve had trouble with clones flipping on me so it’s a lot easier to put them out now rather than push my luck just to get something planted.
Timing is everything when you’re planting clones and there’s been many discussions over the years on here. The very best coming from therevverand himself, in my opinion, which was to plant on the 1st of June to avoid plants needing to re-veg. Obviously supplemental lighting comes into play but I’ll leave that be for now. In my opinion nothing beats experience with a clone and if you don’t have the space with backups to experiment with planting dates, then December 1st for the win.
So l guess, in summary, to answer your question for a La Nina year, expect a wetter and cooler overnight temperatures than usual which will probably bring their own unique challenges at your latitude and micro climate but as always l wish you all the very best and good luck for the season to come.
Cheers,
40.
P.S. l’ve included a photo of my beloved Blackdog clones enjoying a bit of outdoor sun. They handle these years and conditions like a boss and have never let me down.

 

[budsnblunts]

Thanks for the replies fullas. I will keep planting up until January and keep the thread posted. Beautiful plants 40,degrees. Here's a couple from this year so far

 

[40degsouth]

Very nice of you to say so budsnblunts, I’m extremely happy with the starts this year, besides a little bit of magnesium deficiency probably caused by the led’s. They are the culmination of three months of hard work and I’m looking forward to getting them out to take the pressure off.
Well you showed me your’s so here’s an Ancient OG Project and a Purple Sprite, the funny thing is that the Ancient OG’s purple and the Sprite isn’t.
If you zoom in on the Sprite you might be able to see the third set of laterals poking out of the soil, this is because of a deep planting technique l use on monster genetics for a few different reasons, one being to drop the height by a foot or two; so these plants would be approaching a meter in height if planted at the original soil level.
The first two sets of laterals are cut off, this prevents the plant from rejecting them during stretch as you may have experienced before, then l make a paste of cloning gell and cloning powder and rub it over the stem after l lightly score it with a serrated steak knife. I then dig a deep hole and plant the plant and eventually backfill over the third set of laterals as they grow.
A really vigorous plant that exhibits explosive root development, in my experience, will eventually grow roots out of these subterranean parts of the plant and really help anchor it into the soil. This can however backfire if you’ve got fusarium or other such soil borne fungal pathogens or excessive moisture. Some genetics are more predisposed to this technique than others, such as my beautiful Blackdogs, so I’m taking a bit of a risk with untested genetics doing this but if you’re not living on the edge and all that.
Cheers,
40.

 

[St. Phatty]

Outdoors in NZ sounds great.

So far the winter in Oregon may be a little warmer than normal.

 

[crazyhorse73]

I’m hardening off the clone starts at the moment and they will be going out on the 1st of December (the opposite of the northern hemisphere’s 1st of June) Recent years I’ve had trouble with clones flipping on me so it’s a lot easier to put them out now rather than push my luck just to get something planted.
Timing is everything when you’re planting clones and there’s been many discussions over the years on here. The very best coming from therevverand himself, in my opinion, which was to plant on the 1st of June to avoid plants needing to re-veg. .

40 degrees South or North it is safe to plant outside after November 1st
If the plants are currently vegging they will stay that way as the daylight length outside is above 14 hours. That is how you also get bigger plants.

 

[budsnblunts]

40 degrees South or North it is safe to plant outside after November 1st
If the plants are currently vegging they will stay that way as the daylight length outside is above 14 hours. That is how you also get bigger plants.

It isn't that strait forward sadly. A bad week where I'm from is more then enough to turn plants to flower, even planting after the first of nov. Even had some go strait to flower planting after December..

 

[crazyhorse73]

Stick with what works for you I guess. My experience is based around 37 degrees south.
A famous horserace is an indicator here for when you can put your tomatoes outside.
The last frost has passed and the day length is above 14 hours which is the point where most strains trigger flowering give or take 10-15 minutes on either side.
As long as you are not growing autos or had them under a 12-hour light regime for sexing then they should not start flowering.
One month earlier and they would try to start flowering, for sure.
As far as I know the weather really makes no difference to when a plant flowers.
The plant reads the hours of darkness or light and hormones build-up that cause flowering to begin when the strains threshold is passed.
If you are further south than me then yes you should add an additional week or two to your outdoor planting times.
So upon reflection, there is only two weeks difference between our times.
Sometimes it's better to wait until a few weeks into December anyway if plants getting too big is a concern.

 

[40degsouth]

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all well.
I’m with budsnblunts, things aren’t that straight forward here either. I’ve put certain strains out at the end of October, early November and had them power on straight out of the cloner, particularly old landrace strains. On the other hand I’ve also had strains flower, which were put out in the last week of November but veged perfectly when put out on the 1st of December.
Of course seed starts are different to clones and the earliest l dare start seed plants are around the last week in September or even they can flower on me.
We need to remember that after only two to three days of a flowering light schedule, plants will flip and rapidly build up flowering hormones which, outdoors, is extremely difficult to reverse and doesn’t show for quite a few weeks even as the daylight hours are increasing. This is the very reason why l start changing my feeds, for the plants, mid way though stretch.
l actually use this to my advantage in a breeding sense by putting out seed and mother plants early, for selection and alow them to seed up. This in turn means l can do another test and/or selection from the end of January through to the end of the season and check for individuals that are extremely hardy and resistant.
Summer has finally turned up here and yesterday’s maximum was 32 deg C and the minimum overnight temperature was 14. Plants are starting to grow and the Blackdog’s are on track to double their height by the end of the month from 600mm at the end of December, which was double from the 1st of December at planting. Some of the better starts should be 1.5m or five feet.
I’ve been giving weekly root drench feedings and weekly foliar feedings, with a tank mix of neem oil, to try to combat this soul destroying leaf spot virus l get here. This has also been an attempt to push the EC up, for continued plant growth during this La Nina phase of high humidity and rainfall which of course, translates into very little sun due to cloud cover. I also haven’t watered at all this year because when l scratch down an inch or two there’s visible moisture.
I’ve attached a photo of one of the bigger girls who is 1.4m tall.
There’s also a photo of the Ancient OG f5 which is now the biggest plant in the garden and has hit the 8 foot mark. Remember l used a deep planting technique, so she would actually be closer to ten if planted at the original soil level. She looks like a big stretchy Goji Egg pheno, which some of you may be familiar with and has long internode spacing. Athough being very pliable she’s got a bit of a problem shedding her laterals and branches and l actually lost one of the lowers in a storm and a couple of others let go. I should of used a tighter cage initially for better training and support. No such problem with the Project. I’m going to have to really get my A game on to support this one though stretch and flowering.
Finally a photo of my horse radish mulch growing in heavy clay ground. It’s never been watered and the biggest leaves are about two feet long and one foot wide. It is a bit of a haven for gastropods though.
So, my La Nina year is still on track and as always, I’m wishing you all, all the very best and hoping for a dry March and April.
Cheers,
40.

 

[budsnblunts]

Nice looking plants 40 degrees.

 

[40degsouth]

Thanks Budsnblunts.
Some of yours look like they’re pushing through re-veg. Have you cleaned up the inside of these plants yet??
40.

 

[budsnblunts]

Majority of these stayed vegging somehow. I have removed a small amount of lower branches of the big do si dos but the rest are just being left to their own demise.

 

[budsnblunts]

The years going well. Flowering has jist starter here. Also our first decent rain, here's hoping the end of the season will be good.

 

[Creeperpark]

It's nice to see the veg to pre-flowering time somewhere in the world. I had my best years during El Nino's and my hardest during La Nina but I always got weed with hard work. I can tell by your photos you have been doing a lot of hard work. Thanks for sharing

 

[40degsouth]

Hey everyone, I hope you’re all well, the photos have ended up back to front.
I’m still feeding stretch here but that’s not going to last long now with the last full moon of summer tonight. Only one plant has gone into flower and that’s the Jagerschnitzel x AOG f4 and this one looks like it will be the earliest in the garden. The Jagerschnitzel was originally bred by Bradley Danks and his plants finish in inclement weather at 45 degrees north.
The AOGF5 is now the biggest plant in the garden and is 10feet tall and still stretching. This one’s really filling out nicely and I’m about to put up a secondary trellis.
The Project has particularly columar growth due to the internal cage that should of had a smaller diameter but as l said to Mr ‘n Mrs Schrews, l do like to alow new genetics to express their natural growth pattern in order to get a better feel for the plant.
Ive had a smack on the bottom from the Purple Sprites because the one l thought was a male is a female and the one l thought was a female is a male. The worst thing is that I picked them early on correctly and then changed my mind. The floral clusters on the male are quite nice though and the smell early on was very citrus but has now changed profile to the Oil Can.
Black Dogs are doing their thing and getting ready for flower. I’m cleaning up the inside of the plants for the last time before harvest.
I remember the last La Nina ended in a very Indian summer and I’m hoping for this again. Daytime temperatures are still very high and I’m about to do my first watering for the year as things are starting to dry out, even although the plants have not gone to point of wilt yet.
Cheers,
40.

 

[40degsouth]

Here’s the result of the deep planting of the Purple Sprite that turned out to be a male.
it looks like the plant has used the below ground stem as a tap root but has quite successfully formed a strong root zone off the laterals and stem down to a depth of about 300mm or one foot.
Cheers,
40.

 

[budsnblunts]

Everything's looking really good over there 40. Some beast of plants. The extra roots of the deep planting look good to. Everything has tipped up nice here and seen a white widow has gone purple.
Cheers for the input man.

 

[40degsouth]

My pleasure Budsnblunts, l hope someone’s getting something out of it.
Things are beginning to purple up here too only seven weeks left. Ancient OGf5 stretching through 11 feet and l can’t remember seeing petioles bigger than these.
40.

 

[budsnblunts]

My pleasure Budsnblunts, l hope someone’s getting something out of it.
Things are beginning to purple up here too only seven weeks left. Ancient OGf5 stretching through 11 feet and l can’t remember seeing petioles bigger than these.
40.

That picture with the ladder really is amazing, some good context to just how big that plant is. I've just finished treating everything with liquid copper, hoping it helps with mold in the next month.. But the flowering is happening nicely, just made the last cage quite abit bigger to.