Two Heads in the swamp 2017

[two heads]

It's nice to see so many legal outdoor grows in this forum. I'm still guerilla growing though. I hope that changes as of Canada Day 2018 but for now, Two Heads is still in the swamp. It's just one head now though. My long time growing buddy moved out west in 2013. I haven't posted much since then but I've been growing in our swamp all along.

This year I went with 10 gallon Root Pouchs as the Rubbermaid totes at the site were really breaking down after so many years of service. I planted two Critical + 2.0 and three Sweet Tooth, all feminized, on June 9.

Here's a Sweet Tooth before the chicken wire goes on. The mesh around the plant is copper, for slugs.

Here's a Critical after the chicken wire wrap.

I just returned to see how they are doing and they look great. I'll post pics next.

 

[two heads]

July 27

July 27

This is my first visit back to the swamp and all five plants are doing really well. They are all just showing pistils as well, which should mean a late September harvest. Here's the garden as I enter the site:

Three Sweet Tooth at the front:

Two Criticals at the back:

The Criticals are very sativa-structured:

All in all, a beautiful evening in the swamp. I probably won't be back till harvest.

 

[CannaFunk]

Beautiful growth and scenery... Big ups!

 

[pumpkinpie eyes]

We grow like that near a creek bed....youz look gr8 in the swamp

 

[OvergrowDaWorld]

Looks like a very wet, humid place. Have you grown here before successfully?

 

[Swamp Thang]

Fantastic grows looming with intent, above that glorious marsh, under the skilled hand of TwoHeads' remaining team member. Those puny little plants that looked almost emaciated at the start, went on to frigging EXPLODE while the gardener was away, having left the crop on auto-pilot.

Keep the swamp flag flying, brother TwoHeads. Steady as she goes. Looking real good. Swamp Thang reporting for taste-test duties per schedule, when the Big Chop occurs.

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

I bet swamp water is something akin to some sort of compost tea, those are nice healthy looking plants.

 

[two heads]

Thanks for tuning in everyone. Cheers Swamp Thang, it's been a while.

I've been growing in this swamp for at least 15 years and, somehow, it seems to get more productive, with less work, each year. As I mentioned, the Rubbermaid totes finally broke down after all the years of UV light exposure but it looks like the Root Pouches will do as well or better. The soil is years-old Pro Mix which is supplemented every year with 200 grams of Osmocote, a handful of dolomitic lime and a handful of mycorrhizae.

It finally has become a 'set it and forget it' garden. This year, I made one visit to plant, one visit to check for flowering (July 27, everything looks like its on schedule) and I'll probably make two visits in September to judge ripeness and harvest. I think it will take two visits because I (hopefully!) won't be able to carry it all out in one. Each visit I cut away swamp growth around the base of the plants and spread Eco-Sense slug bait. Feminized plants have removed the need for several mid-summer visits and resulted in bigger yields as each container only needs to support one plant. Barring any mishaps (tipping over, a mold outbreak, slugs, deer in a very dry year like last year), the plants seem to yield 5-10 oz each in the swamp. PDX Dopesmoker, you're right, I used to have a 'dry land' site in a cedar grove till it was discovered. That site always got the same containers, soil and amendments but yielded about half because the swamp provides a great nutrient tea the cedars site didn't get. The cedars site was susceptible to drought and had to visited much more often as a result. (Maybe why it was discovered after 12 years.) I usually went in the night and hauled water from a nearby river, quite a pain.

 

[gorilla ganja]

Good to see you posting two heads or should I say one head.
Plants look like they are doing great. I used similar grow bags last year. I found larger ones about 20 gallons worked best.

Best of luck with the rest of your season and may all your Buds be huge.

Peace GG

 

[OvergrowDaWorld]

So you dont trellis up the plants to hold the buds up or keep them from snapping during a windy rainstorm?

 

[CannaFunk]

Winds aren't generally too bad in the swamps because of the density of vegetation.

Swamps have so many beneficial insects its insane, I have a swampy area near me I may be able to grow out soon, going to prep it this season for next.

When you have a good Ebb and Flow of water in the swamp and your roots delve down into the organic layer it becomes organic hydroponics

As for the the water being like compost tea, id have to agree, the water Is crawling with every type of organism you can imagine, algae, minerals, etc.

Definitely watching this harvest

 

[OvergrowDaWorld]

I always stake and trellis my outdoor plants. I got a big GG#4 that was leaning bad and almost blown over by the wind and rainstorm we had yesterday. Theres not a single bud on it yet either. If it had buds on it, it would have been a goner. They were leaning over wicked bad.
The Glues are stretching now so I went and got green metel garden stakes and paracord to hold them steady till I get the trellis today.

AFTER STAKING AND ROPE ~

 

[two heads]

You can't see it in the pictures but there are a few stakes around the outside of the Root Pouch to keep it from tipping and a few small stakes at the main stem to help prevent leaning of the plant itself. The plant stakes are flexible wrapped wire and the container stakes are whatever sturdy sticks I can find in the swamp. Not as many options in the swamp as in a more accessible grow and I have lost plants to tipping in the past. This year I'm also hoping the tall chicken wire 'fence' helps hold the lower branches higher which will prevent mold and slugs from creeping in from the bottom as well as holding the plant more upright. (I used to do the chicken wire as a non-supportive 'dome').

Swamp grows have their own set of challenges for sure but after more than twenty years with only two total losses (once to rippers at a previous swamp site and once to severe flooding), I like the security and low-visit strategy they allow.

 

[two heads]

The weight of the moist soil probably also helps keep it in place, along with the fact that inevitably a few inches of the container are embedded in mucky soil. Here's a pic from 2014 of two Blue Velvets that yielded 10 oz dry each. They stood upright all season in spite of their size, though I did lose half a plant to a tipover that year too.

 

[bestothebest]

I have to agree the swamp water does amazing things

 

[Dday391]

Those colors are fantastic! That looks awesome man. I'm gonna have to find a swamp in my area and do some exploring haha

 

[two heads]

We had some strong winds over the last few days so I went out to check on the plants and I'm glad I did. As OvergrowDaWorld guessed, one had tipped over and another was leaning. Here's one of the Sweet Tooths with its tipped over sister:

No damage though. I set it back up and added more stakes around the root pouch. Here are the three Sweet Tooths after, taken from the same vantage point as in July:

Although its pot was upright, one Critical + 2.0 had leaned heavily into the other. I added some stakes within the pot to straighten it up. I can see that some string trellising would be a good idea as they fill out. I'll go back in a week or two to run some strings. Thanks OvergrowDaWorld!

 

[two heads]

The plants are still early in flowering. Here are the buds of each strain, as of August 24.

Sweet Tooth:

Critical + 2.0:

It will be late September, maybe early October for these I think.

 

[Scrappy-doo]

Good to see you posting again Two Heads! I loved your threads from years ago, they motivated me to try the swamp out myself. Set and forget, the swamp never fails!

 

[OvergrowDaWorld]

We had some strong winds over the last few days so I went out to check on the plants and I'm glad I did. As OvergrowDaWorld guessed, one had tipped over and another was leaning.
I can see that some string trellising would be a good idea as they fill out. I'll go back in a week or two to run some strings. Thanks OvergrowDaWorld!