Obsoul33t's outdoor tips n tricks

[OBSoul33t]

i keep getting asked different questions about outdoor growing and most of my tricks are scattered across many threads so i thought i would start this thread to help anyone new or experienced grow bigger outdoor

i dont know everything about growing outdoor and i learn new shit daily but i have picked up some great tid bits along the 20+ years growing .

i was asked today about outdoor security

i do a couple simple things to secure my gardens , first of all i never use bamboo fencing as it is like a beacon saying i am growing plants come rip me off , no fencing other than plastic deer fence . plants are best concealed right in the open blending in with natural landscaping .

next i use deer spotting cameras hidden , these are your best defense for rippers , how i use them is like this .
i check them weekly to see if there were any intruders . once intruder is caught on camera download and print a picture of this person and post it around the garden . i promiss you if or when that person comes back and see's his own picture he will leave with a quickness . make sure the cameras are very hidden or they will get smashed by rippers .
this method works extremely well in remote guerilla grow sites .

if your garden is near your home these deer spotting cameras work the same way and are just as effective if not even more so since your home is near
the use of baby monitors is also highly recomended near you where you sleep.
keep plenty of fresh batteries and change them frequently because it only takes one night not being monitored to be ripped .

driveway trip beams that are used to let you know when someone drives into your driveway are also excellent for detecting intruders .
they use a beam shined at a reflector and when the beam is broken an alarm goes off .

never use booby traps as that is asking for huge trouble

and of course loose lips sink ships cant be expressed enough.

that's all i feel like writing tonight but i will go into my site and soil prep for large gardens along with outdoor plant prep , harvesting , drying ect ect for large scale and small scale ops alike , pest cures , lactobacillus recipe for powdery mildew treatment and much more.

if you have specific questions regarding outdoor gardening feel free to ask .

hope someone gets use of this

Obs

planted on 15 foot centers

 

[OBSoul33t]

btw please feel free to add to this thread helpful info .

ok one more quickie before i go

never use twine or hemp string to tie up plants , they are breeding grounds for mites . always use the green plastic garden tape as it cannot harbor bad bugs and will stretch with plant growth!

peace

Obs

 

[Mr.Pyrex]

some nice bushes!

 

[OBSoul33t]

bury your plants deep

bury your plants deep

bigger root mass = bigger plants = bigger yield

start by vegging your plants indoor to around 3-4 feet tall

strip all lower branches up the main stalk , so you end up with about 2 feet of bare main stalk . scrape the stalk with a blade and then apply a lite coat of rooting hormone to the stalk . now bury the plant covering the stalk you just coated.

you will see a huge increase in root mass and plant growth

i have grown plants in greenhouse to 6 feet and stripped 4 feet of the stalk and buried it so only 2 feet are above ground . this was one of the largest plants i have grown and when i pulled the trunk at the end of the season the roots coming off the stalk were amazing .

do not over do the rooting hormone just lightly coat

yields increase with roots mass

Obs

 

[OBSoul33t]

companion planting

companion planting

one thing that ruins plants are worms eating their way through your buds , this happens even more if you have live oak trees near as moths lay eggs in the oak trees .
worms then spin silk and the wind carries them to your plants where they start eating.

one good way to combat this from happening is to encourage orchard bees and one of the best ways to bring more orchard bees around is planting globe amaranth and other like beneficial flowers that bees are attracted too .

bees will eat the worms while in the tree and also any on the outsides of the buds .

bees are good

Obs

 

[CC Rider]

wow thats some really great advise man....im deffinitly going to do that whole thing with the stalk in the ground thing! thanks for the info!
peace

 

[OBSoul33t]

tricks for irrigation

tricks for irrigation

through the years i have tried many different types of water delivery , soaker hose , building dams around each plant and running water to each plant ect ect

soaker hose is not the best choice as sun breaks down the hose and makes it brittle causing water to spray in unwanted places . a sure way to contract powder mildew is to have a soaker hose pissing on the under sides of the plants .. not good
also any kinks in the soaker will cause problems also

i recommend t-tape available at farm supplies or garden stores , it is very easy to work with and does not crack and cause water to spray upward . it provides very uniform water delivery and does not require high pressure to work properly on longer runs .
if your plants are in rows then simply run t-tape in straight lines on each side of the rows . on 10 lbs of pressure we can run about a 1000 feet of t-tape

not to mention it is very inexpensive.

now lots of people are in the habit of watering only around the plant meaning they put a hose near the base let it soak some and call it good , what about the roots going out away from the plants ?
you must water as big an area as possible as roots will go outward more than down into the soil .

roots are the plants anchor system and just like in a potted plants there is a drip line meaning the plant will only grow as wide or a little past the pot , same thing in the ground . if the plants are watered in a 5 foot circle then your roots will not go much further than that once they hit the dry soil, if your plant gets big , thats not a big enough anchor system of root to hold up a heavy plant .

i have seen root nearly an inch thick 15 feet away from the plant , this root is strung tight like a guitar string and this is the way a plant anchors it self to hold up it's mass against bud weight and wind .

a plant that is 10 feet in diameter will will have roots going out nearly 20 feet in diameter . water out away from the plants as far as possible

early in the season before powder mildew becomes an issue i like to use a lawn sprinkler and when watering the plants get soaked from above . this does a few things
keeps the plants clean , the entire plot gets watered and the water weighs down the branches to strengthen them up for the weight of the buds later season .

water early morning before the sun comes up so that it gives the water a chance to soak in with less evaporation and also gives the plants time to dry before the sun hits them . water on the plants when the sun is directly on them is bad .

how much and how often to water
you want to do few deep waterings instead of more shallow watering .
i like to water approx every 14 days this allows the root zones to dry and good aeration of the soil.

i run the irrigation for 24-36 hours then no water for up to 2 weeks
not only does it eliminate fungal issues and root rot problems it it forces the plants to grow a much larger root system , the roots will go out farther and down deeper with deep waterings ..

im sure im forgetting a few thing so i will add more about irrigation as i remember stuff

Obs

 

[WAMEN]

strip all lower branches up the main stalk , so you end up with about 2 feet of bare main stalk . scrape the stalk with a blade and then apply a lite coat of rooting hormone to the stalk . now bury the plant covering the stalk you just coated.

good advice .. this new post about watering is very interesting.. sure worth the time spent reading.. good job man.

 

[OBSoul33t]

Nice Thread OBS

I have been using the deer camera's for years. Caught a few neighbors in years past.

The hemp twine is also a no no as later near harvest, with fall rains, they facilitate botyritis on your buds from inability to dry out fast enough.

Cheers

ES

post their picture in and around the garden i promiss they wont be back lol

 

[OBSoul33t]

t-tape

t-tape

forgot to mention using t-tape allows the use of a fertilizer injector for ease of applying teas and such

Obs

 

[Hindu Killer]

Interesting thread.

 

[Guest]

great thread Obsoul33t

what kind of bee's do you use for the worms?
the t-tape looks like great stuff. do you bury it undergrown and if so how deep?

i have only been growing for a little while so im still learning but the advise that i always give is prevention, prevention, prevention. i spray all summer with compost tea, use the safers catapiller killer, and net all my plants. i havent had worms, pm, or mud buds from broken branches in a few years

 

[OBSoul33t]

sha the best bees are orchard or some call the mason bees

they are non aggressive toward people and munch down on worms

i dont bury the t-tape because it really should be replaced every 1-2 years

 

[Guest]

thanks for the advice....

like i was saying before, im fairly new to growing and every year i learn something new.
this year i battled gophers, voles, moles, rats, and rabbits. i was always aware that they could be a problem but never had a problem with them. this year i got lazy and didnt bury hardwear cloth in the holes that i dug for the girls, and what do ya know, i have just about every critter that eats roots living in my garden.....

another thing that i had learned very early is, if your going to add your own soil to your holes, make sure you add half of the natural soil back in the holes you have dug. this will allow the roots to grow bigger and penatrate the natural soil if its hard like clay...

 

[motaco]

Cool thread man. I always said my only b!tch with IC was that they have alot of grow diaries, and clubs like the 150w club or the c22 club or whatever and you can find help there, and its cool and there is alot to learn.

But there aren't that many threads just dedicated to specificially helping people. We need a few more like this. Its just like you said the help is spread all over in a hundred threads. If everyone took the time to group them it would cool as hell.

I figure this would be a good place to ask this. I talked to a mexican tourist one time who told me in mexican cities they have guys that walk around with some sorta battery, and and knob that adjusts the power. You pay this guy a dollar or something and hold onto these two handles as it shocks you and he increases the voltage. The longer you hold on and act like it doesn't hurt the more macho you are and people do it to impress their girls and stuff. ( I know that is the stupidest thing you've ever heard. Why pay? I'd kick them in the nuts for free if they'd ask)

But anyway to the point he told me they use the same thing and attach alligator clips to plants with bugs on them. Crank up the voltage and watch them all leap right the hell off. Anyone ever heard of this and what voltage to use? Or if it will hurt the plant?

I imagine it would be pretty easy to make something like a collodial silver generator but larger ya know? take it in the field with you and attach to plants. Just a battery with clips. But larger than a 9v battery obviously.

 

[OBSoul33t]

gopher moles and other root loving vermin

gopher moles and other root loving vermin

i feel for ya shabud , i have had my share of these lil bastids too

i dont use steel mesh or construction cloth in the ground , i have found it will rust after a year or two and i really dont like galvanized products in the ground with my organics.

besides pulling up old rusty mesh sucks

i use small windmill looking devices that are available at harbor freight , they are super cheap and you put them atop standard electrical conduit . these windmills create a thumping vibration into the ground and keep these pest away really well . i also use a couple ultrasonic spikes . they emit sounds that keep these pests away.

i dont like using chemical deterents and these work year after year.

if one does make it to the garden i will normally smoke them out with a road flare . works everytime

cheers

Obs

 

[OBSoul33t]

motaco , thanks for adding to the thread !

never heard of or tried electrifying plants to repel pests , i would be interested if anyone has tried this also .

i wonder if super low voltage would keep underground pest at bay also ..

 

[OBSoul33t]

btw mole dig and stay near the surface whereas gophers are deeper tunneling they also make different shape exit holes

mole trails are at the surface and look like a rope was buried then pulled up

you wont see gopher trails near the surface

mole do not eat roots but they disturb the root structure from tunneling .

gopher are the one you should worry about they will seek out the largest protion of the root mass right under the stalk .

if you have a plant that looks healthy but when you touch it it simply falls over that is gopher damage

again road flare work well

 

[Guest]

Nice tips! Growing in a patch is good, creates competition among the plants to help them be at their best. Also turning over the whole patch of earth. Small portable roto-tillers work wonders. If not a shovel and lots of elbow grease. Dig as deep as you have determination, remove all native roots. I find this much better than digging individual hole personally. Creates better water absorbtion for the whole root area, creates better aeration for the soil, makes it easier to feed all root areas, removes more of the competition especially those big roots from neighbouring trees. Plus if you use the same spot year after year, the work you do one year is not lost and you always add ammendments to make it better. You can grow big plants far appart in your patch or wee-little ones 6" appart.

 

[MostWantedGens]

nice thread OBSoul!