The growing large plants, outdoors, thread...

[Lochinvar]

Cant wait for next season! Its closer than it seems!

So I remember pono saying his buddy in those monster plant pics starts beans in february and plants may 1st to get them that size. I also remember reading people saying that april 1st starts are going to be the same size regardless of say march 1st starts. Is there anyone with experience that can vouch for this theory and explain a little further? I understand that plant health is priority number one here... but i really cant see a 2ft seed start planted in june being the same size as a 6ft seed start planted in june at the end of the year- assuming there both grown right.

My plan as of now is to start my seeds indoors at the end of february or march 1st at latest and veg indoors until middle of april at earliest and may 1st at the latest (weather permitting)- and then get them to the greenhouse to veg for may with supp lighting. I would prefer to get my indoor starts to the land for middle of april in the greenhouse and than plant may 1st in full season pot's with supp lighting... But im at 3800ft elevation so frost or hail could possibly happen. I would build hoop houses over my rows for the month of may but still not sure how i would heat them all if it got cold.

If i dont decide to plant in big pots may 1st- I will have 2 24 x 36 ft greenhouses that i could continue to veg them in- that can be heated with pellet stove for month of May. A concern if this route is taken, is the root restriction's the plants will have. Im thinking ill just start them all with a pro mix style mix that is light peat based and feed organic plant soluble nutes instead of getting heavy dirt thats a pain to move around.

Decisions Decisions.

Hopefully in the future they will just do away with plant counts so growing monsters isn't necessary... But its a fun challenge none the less.

i have tried it all when it comes to starting outdoor plants. i found years ago that an end march- beginning april germination ( and final clonning), works best for me. im at about 3000' in norcal sierras. still gettin 10 plus yields in giant holes and pots with the right strains. this way i never have to put em in anything bigger than a 7 gl before final transplant. begin of may they go in the hoophouse with heating and light sup. end of may they go in their final home.

i have started in jan. and feb. in the past. they did not finish bigger or better than an april 1st start.

it can be a real disaster if they get put out any earlier than 3rd week of may where i am. it can still snow and freeze in may.

hope this helps and dont let em get rootbound before transplant

 

[jd123]

4th week of may transplant. I cut clones mid april, they go out in the greenhouse around may 1st and acclimate in there on 15.5 hours of light. They are in red cups for a week or so at first in the GH and then I pot them up to 2 gallon air-pots and thats where they stay until being plugged.

I hate big fucking starts. They have no benefits and they're a bitch to move around and transplant. If you have the $, buy air-pots.

 

[WoodFired Pizza]

I cut clones mid april, they go out in the greenhouse around april 1st

they?

 

[jd123]

Meant may. Thanks for catching that.

 

[OvergrowDaWorld]

The Tangie that's been disappointing outdoors

Just as disappointing indoors. This was the biggest upset of 2015 for me. Total waiste of time and $$$. to the Tangie.

 

[loblollydreams]

Glad I did not fire on any of those when they were giving bonus packs.

 

[50YardLine]

It's 2016............Finally! Ready for another season

 

[ponolove]

My friends plants get that big mainly because 1 he's a great farmer, passionate about plants, 2, those are all seed starts and 3, they're in the ground. Personally I would not go with seed starts or start that early. I saw monster 12+ plants get rained on and even snowed on because they didn't finish. A third or more of that garden. I'm not a breeder and not going to pretend to be, I ran 2 deps last year from seed and ended up with well grown random crap, instead of the guaranteed home run with proven winners. Never again for me. My strategy this year is pretty much the same except for digging holes and putting the girls in the ground. Taking the pvc hoops out of the back and doing one 60ft larger hoop with golden arms. Hope everyone had a great 2015 and crushes even harder this year.

 

[jd123]

Excited to see your plants in holes pono. I know we talked about it last season. That native you've got is top notch. I'm not a seed guy either. I hate having to mark every single plant off and having hundreds of separate labeled totes. I'm just rolling with 48 this year. 3 strains, 16 plants each. 2nd, 3rd and 4th week chops.

Only thing I'd recommend with you is giving up those trim-pros man. I used to trim-pro but the last few years I just cut and hang. Its a night and day difference in speed and stress. The weather never worries me and I only need 3 guys instead of 7-8. My trim comes out top notch still, I just have the guys schuck the branches good before starting.

 

[50YardLine]

My friends plants get that big mainly because 1 he's a great farmer, passionate about plants, 2, those are all seed starts and 3, they're in the ground. Personally I would not go with seed starts or start that early. I saw monster 12+ plants get rained on and even snowed on because they didn't finish. A third or more of that garden. I'm not a breeder and not going to pretend to be, I ran 2 deps last year from seed and ended up with well grown random crap, instead of the guaranteed home run with proven winners. Never again for me. My strategy this year is pretty much the same except for digging holes and putting the girls in the ground. Taking the pvc hoops out of the back and doing one 60ft larger hoop with golden arms. Hope everyone had a great 2015 and crushes even harder this year.

The only thing I worry about with elite cuts are the viruses plaguing the industry right now. If you have an infected cut, and you spread that virus around, every plant in your garden could be infected. Get two viruses and your season is screwed. I know viruses can be spread through seeds as well, but way less of a % than cuts.

This year is 99% seeds for me. I agree, the clones come out better and more uniform. However, I plan on running though over 200 seeds this year and finding a keeper that hasn't been spread around more than Charlie Shean. I also have my Hassan cut, that appears to be clean.

 

[ponolove]

If you saw how many different bins of subpar my friend is sitting on you might reconsider. Hundreds of pounds and trimmers squatting on his property waiting to get paid. There are no commercial orchards, vineyards or major farms that runs several different cultivars in their fields. It's a timing and harvest nightmare. I deal with patients only but I would think brokers want big packs, 100 or more, of the same packs.

 

[50YardLine]

If you saw how many different bins of subpar my friend is sitting on you might reconsider. Hundreds of pounds and trimmers squatting on his property waiting to get paid. There are no commercial orchards, vineyards or major farms that runs several different cultivars in their fields. It's a timing and harvest nightmare. I deal with patients only but I would think brokers want big packs, 100 or more, of the same packs.

I hear ya. I had mostly seed run gear this year, and the clone only gear went first. However, everything else is gone too. Very similar prices.

My top gear goes to clubs. Everything else I assume gets shipped out east. The stuff that gets shipped, is the same price. Doesn't matter if it's GSC or bammer.

Just what I personally am experiencing. I also don't hand trim a single nug, everything is trimmer status. Otherwise I would have to have 10 more people helping with the farm. I like running solo.

 

[theJointedOne]

Happy 2016 growers!

Just took a caretaking job for this year and while at first I was thinking seed, I eventually realized I wanted 4-5 clone onlys, with staggered harvests ect....easier spring, summer, fall ect. I won't get the pleasure of seed popping and finding gems, but maybe that's better for when I have my own spot and am not trying to go big mersh status lol

This year in a iffy county, too, so only about 40 ladies.

Soooo..

I was curious if maybe folks from norcal might be able to chime in with some info that might be helpful to me, being I've been out of the big plant game for a couple seasons;

Was hoping members here might be able to share which clone onlys did best and got biggest for growers... I mean we ARE in the big plants thread so..what did best and got biggest for you? Quality counts too, but size and finishing date are top qualities for my needs.

Thanks all

 

[ponolove]

I did ogre last year and will definately run it again. It's master kush x bubba kush, 10-12lbs in the ground would be easy I think. End product has the look and smell, and does great in the machine. It had the shortest machine time and barely needed touch up when it came out. Jager will always be in my garden. There's jager, and then there's well grown jager. That shit is bomb and even though it's everywhere where I live, most smokers outside the west coast have never heard of it.

 

[TheOutlawTree]

I wish I had access to them cuts pono, i heard Ogre is really nice. When does it finish? Also, whats the lineage on the Jager? I know I love me some jagermeister, i like the name!

I'm going to do half clones and half seeds next year i think. I want to run 20 or so of a strain called 'amber diesel' out of the santa cruz area. Its done sept. 5th and supposed to be dense chunky nugs that are a breeze to trim. I still haven't seen the bud, or got the cut yet, but im 90% sure i will grab it, along with some buds in the next month to sample. I want to capitalize on the drought donations, and have that early harvest to pay the trimmers.

Other than the amber diesel i'm just going to plant my 'double dream' cut... Its blue dream x stardawg. Its superior to the santa cruz BD that dark heart and everyone else runs. Slightly more yields, more vigor, more stretch, and less hazey more sweet. After running the regular blue dream clone i've found she doesnt like being rootbound, or having a slight lack of water- she can get stressed and nodes will tighten... The double dream doesnt care at all. Blue dream was the only plant in the garden that had NO pm at all last year in my un-balanced vermifire dirt. To me, blue dream is a very smart plant to farm- although many dont agree. Its so bulletproof, and yields with the best of them. Sure prices will be lower on her, but its more of that gurantee, and you always have the option of saving her flowers until next summer.

Not sure yet what seeds I'm going to run.. but the bodhi stuff seems to be doing great. I have a bunch of south fork seeds, and a canadian cross freezeland x c99 that i may run in place of some of that amber diesel, since its also really early.

 

[WoodFired Pizza]

make yourself the currency then it does not matter what you run. just becareful to not let them make you a currency because you need to be the one setting your own hours lol lol.

 

[Mrs.Babba]

Siskiyou county has banned all growing(indoor and outdoor) if you live out of city limits....these is a petition to sign if you live near by...

 

[Foreverfamily]

talk about disappointment with DNA...
i wouldnt run their holy grail or chocolate kush anymore, the quality has defintely dropped. im not sure if they lost their parents or what but its completely different than it was in 2013/14

 

[Rolling Stoner]

Siskiyou county has banned all growing(indoor and outdoor) if you live out of city limits....these is a petition to sign if you live near by...

Just read about that. Cant believe they would rather fight than regulate at this point in the game...

 

[loblollydreams]

Usually with DNA if you get a line right out the gate there's a chance of goodness, I was gonna jump on a few of their new F1s before they manage to lose the parents.