Outdoor Grow 2020. Blue Dream + Gorilla Glue + Vanilla Frosting

7.13

The GG and VF are in definite budding mode; plant size growth has slowed, some of the fan hands are starting to look yellowed and as if their work is done. And while I last week claimed that one of the two BD’s was in bud, I’m less sure of that now. It is showing quite a number of hairs at the growth tips and branch nodes, they haven’t progressed much in size/maturation since first beginning to appear on 7.3. And, plant growth on the two BD’s continues to be strong.

The GG gives me a bit of concern, and I posted for advise on it last week on the Outdoor Forum. It started getting rusty spots, and some browned tips. As it occurred shortly after a first application of bat guano, several opined that it was probably nute burn. My friend JVS said it doesn’t look too bad to him and not to worry. But I do a bit, as the plant seems to be having most of its big fan hands yellowing now. Not rusty like the initial issue, but yellowing.

Earth bloom has now been applied (7.5), and guano once (7.3). Link to my post about the situation: Identification help appreciated: Pest, rot, burn?.

Today’s photos show height of the four plants, and a closeup of the early stage budding on the VF.

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7.20

Overall, a slowish week in the garden. Temps dropped so growth didn’t seem as abundant. And, with budding begun, evident growth already seems slower .So overall, seems like a slow quiet week. Couple of issues or things for my records:

-Got our first really heavy fog night, and the roof paid off in spades. I woke in the morning to hearing a dripping noise. Went out to find the decks soaked, the grow roof dripping, and the girls completely protected. Nice.

-Found cabbage moth signs on the VF. Reminded me that it was time for a DT application (been 15 days), so I did it. 2 teaspoons to 2 quarts for 4 plants.

-If there’s any concern, it’s that the GG looks a bit…weakish? As noted earlier, she got those strange burn marks on her leaves round the 4th of July. Opinion seemed to be nute burn. While those haven’t persisted, there has been a fairly rapid deterioration in the color/quality of the big fan leaves. Ever since budding began, they’ve rather quickly begun to look older ,tired, more yellowish. I’m slowly trimming them out; both as a result of this look and to open up sunlight to the flowers. While I remember this as happening with last years grow, the rapidity and intensity of the fade in this plant seems a bit too much. Will keep fingers crossed an and eye on it.

-The VF’s lowermost branch is sort of sagging ,and seems almost loose at the point where it attaches to the stem. Will be putting a support on it to brace it, but this reminds me that I previously lost another branch off this plant after what seemed an incidental brush-up against it. A delicate plant it seems.

Picture is of the GG with her yellowing shade leaves and developing buds.

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7.23

Woke up on the 21st. to find a major sized lower branch removed from the GG. At first I thought it had just failed. This plant has been a bit fragile. I also noted that it was a branch that grew out almost perpendicular from the stem, rather than angling upwards; this means the attachment point is bearing more strain than an upward tilting ranch. Then I noticed some wet dirt on a few leaves. I think a raccoon got in there!

So I did two part triage: First, I put a barrier of gopher wire around the enclosure, to stop raccoons if that was what tore it off. Secondly, I began adding supports to the branches. I thought I had plenty of time still to do that, as the bud weight is just starting to increase. But noting that many of the lower branches are coming off the stem at right angles instead of upward leaning, I fear that they are more susceptible to breaking. So, never too early to begin supports!

Attached are pictures of my support system process, and then a couple of the plant with its supports. It’s a simple system and very space efficient. I take a 3’ bamboo stick (If I need taller, I use duct tape and join two segments to make it 5.5’, using 6" of overlap and tape to join the two.). To ensure that the green gardening tape doesn’t slide up and down the bamboo pole, I came up with a system:

First, I measure how tall of a stick I need (Where do I want it to attach on the branch?..then add 12" to account for what gets driven into the soil. I then make a notch in the stick at that location…

I now have every branch on GG and VF supported.

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Measure and notch the stick.

Tie the gardening tape and use the notch for a purchase point.

Duct tape the gardener’s tape to the stick to further insure it won’t slide up and down the stick.

Works really well. The stake then gets driven into the soil (straight up and down so no extra space is taken up in the garden…I don’t want sticks angling outwards).

Here’s a closeup of the attachment from stick to branch using the gardening tape that’s been secured with duct tape to the stick.

Here’s G with all of her branches supported. It’s unobtrusive, but there are actually 12 support sticks in her now…yet her perimeter size is no wider. Very space efficient support system.

8.2

Had a break from the girls for 5 days (Lake P.) and came back to good continuing progression. The two BD’s are showing more substantive bud development now; no questions about whether they are or aren’t. The VF, after having that distressing branch fail a couple of weeks ago, appears in good shape with no further signs of weak limbs, and her buds are filling in nicely. Here’s a closeup of her top bud:

The GG also shows good bud development, but I remain concerned and unsure as to why all of her shade hands yellowed and are deteriorating so steadily. Maybe its no big deal, but its unique in comparison to the other 3 plants or the two I grew last year. Hopefully, her vitality lasts long enough to bring the buds to maturity. Here she is with her yellowing leaves and her thickening buds:

I now have VF and GG fully braced with support sticks, and the taller BD is 3/4 done. With her 7’ height, it’s taking some duct tape and double-length sticks to support the higher branches. Nice problem to have. Here they are:

8.5

VF and GG buds continuing to thicken, and are now getting aromatic and showing the first signs of sticky/tacky/resin when I touch the bud. The BD’s are a couple of weeks behind but progressing well.

All plants are now well staked. (Not all branches, but those that appeared to need it due to their angle or the amount of weight they’re carrying. Some of the more vertical ones appear fine on their own; at least for now.

Pest issues though:
-BDs were showing some marks (shown)


and then I spotted the suspected culprit. Leafhoppers.

And in a first, the VF was showing some powder mildew. I couldn’t figure out how at first. Then I saw some water on a few of its leaves. This was strange, because I water at dirt/ground level, not from above…and it’s under a roof…and it’s the only plant that showed water. Pondered it for a day or so…even checked the roof to see if there was a seam that might be leaking on it. Then I figured it out: VF is closest to the main garden, and has been taking incidental hits when the wife waters the main garden. I asked her to be mindful in future and hopefully that resolves it.

So on 8.5, VF got plucked of all visible affected leaves, and then got a 1-to-8 ratio skim milk spray. The other three got DT sprays. More yellowing leaves were removed from GG, who continues to see her shade hands fading fast, while the rest of the plant looks pretty robust.

8.11

I found a small bit of bud rot on the VF today, so cut that off. Looked around closely but saw no signs of insect damage. I also took strange comfort today in hearing that my friend DL’s VF plant is also having powder mildew issues. (Though I’ve seen no further sign of that since the milk bath. But between the mildew and the bud rot and the water on the leaves I saw last week, I decided it was time for a major defoliation to increase VF’s airflow. Took off many fan hands today. I also thinned out both of the BD’s, as they’re pretty densely leafed. Here’s the VF after thinning. May still need more to get the air flow moving, she’s a bushy one.

And here’s GG’s buds, shot from above. Looking good on the flowers but the plant itself a bit yellowed…hence the feeding they got today.

Also decided it was time to do a suplementing. Partly due to GG’s yellowed hands. Partly as I’m starting to see yellowing at the bottom part of the taller BD. (I think nitrogen deficiency.) Partly because it’s been a while since I gave them anything but water. Here’s the tall BD with the lower section looking a bit yellower.

So, today all got 1 Tb. of Earth Juice Rainbow Mix Pro Bloom per ft. of height. (So 4 for VF, 5 for GG and topped BD, 7 for tall BD.). Then I laid another 2 inches of fresh Fox Farms soil on top of that, and then an extra watering of 2 gallons per pot. I’ve also begun steeping 4 T of bat guano in 5 gallons of water for their next watering.

For the next 2-3 waterings, I’m going to increase their supply; both to flush the new nutrients into them and in deference to their bigger size and the warm week were having. Maybe I’ve been underwatering at their current size, by giving them only 2 gal. per plant every other day. Gonna up that ration a bit and see how they react.

8.18

Had a busy week with lots of issues.

-First, mites. Found em on the tall BD, and if one has em, they’re all gonna have em…or have em soon. So I bought the Lost Coast Plant Therapy w/ spinoside and treated them. Per the guru at the grow shops recommendation, did a 5 day regime: Spray-Dry-Spray-Dry-Blow with blower or strong fan (to knock off remaining ones…and eggs?). Did it, and so far not finding any fresh mites.

-Second, heatwave. It went over 100 and as high as 108 for 4 days. To combat, I put a sheet on the afternoon sun-facing side of the grow to prevent scorching, and increased watering significantly. As much as 3 gallons one day, and water every day for those 4 days.

-Third, VF continues to be a problem child. She showed another bud with rot, which I removed. This one just seems to be a weak sister. She’s had branch snapping issues, powder mold, two buds have rotted. Today, even after the heatwave, I found water pooled on a couple of her leaves. Seemed impossible. So pondered and looked close, and I have a theory: Her leaves are deeply cupped and that makes them gather moisture, which then runs into the bud. It’s like each leaf is a deep “v” shape, and like little rain gutters, they gather water and then it runs into the bud. Compared her leaves to the other plants, and all the rest are convex and drain moisture. IF another bud rots, I may go and trim off almost all of her leaves. Sort of drastic, but she’s limping to the finish line and I’d rather try that than watch her slowly develop more bud rot.

Okay, on the brighter side, new pictures of good progress!

VF’s top bud. If she stop’s rotting, I’ll get some sticky bud off this one.

GG’s canopy of buds, getting thicker by the week. The sun hands continue to wither, but the rest looks rejuvenated by the recent fertilizing.

Topped BD’s colas are maturing.

Tall BD is rangy, and the least mature of the bunch. She’s gonna need thru October is my guess.

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8.29

Brutal, brutal 2 weeks. A perfect storm of weather challenges and probable human error.

The aforementioned record heat wave produced a heat lightening storm. The mountains behind us erupted in fires. Heavy smoke blanketed us for 8-10 days, and ash rained from the skies for a week. Being under canopy, my plants were protected from some of the ash fall. They were lightly dusted as opposed to my friends completely outside plants, which were almost completely gray. Worried about the ash, I tried misting the plants one warm afternoon (Hoping to get some of the ash off, thinking that the warm day would dry the plants.). Worked a bit, but by the next morning, more ash had fallen.

With the forecast for more to come, I read up on the effects of ash and smoke. Not liking the reports, I decided to try and mitigate the quantity of at least ash by putting some clear plastic sheeting around the plants. In effect, creating a green house to contain them as they already had a roof and two walls. I simply enclosed the other 2 walls. I also took VF and put her outside the enclosure. As I had to go up to OR to visit a family member in need, I didn’t want to risk her continuing more bud rod and spreading it to the other plants.Then I headed up to OR.

When I returned 4 days later, I was met by disaster. VF, outside the tent, had another 7-8 branches showing bud rot. I decided to cut my losses and harvested her entirely. Albeit slightly immature, I figure some is better than none. I doubt I’ll get more than an oz. or so off of her, whereas she was looking like a quarter pound had she made it to full maturity without rot issues. (I’ll weigh her dry buds and update this report for my records.)

Worse still, GG had rot, and lots of it. Like every top cola. I gloved up and got plastic bags to minimize spore spread as I began cutting and culling. I ended up cutting down about 2/3d’s of her and leaving just the small bottom buds that don’t appear to show any rot yet. Gave her (and VF) hydrogen peroxide rinses, then clear water rinses. Then cut out all rot areas, liberally. The remaining buds then got their leaves trimmed off (to help them dry without being too wet from the rinse). Then I fan dried them at medium speed overnight, then moved into a closet to continue drying. The loss of GG really hurts. She had such big, corn dog sized beautiful colas. My guess is I would have gotten at least a half lb. to 10 oz. off of her (based on what I was seeing and compared to last year’s harvest for scale). I now doubt that I’ll get more than 2 oz, and that slightly immature. Though she had 57 days in bud, she still looked to want another couple of weeks.

Gulped, did a shot of tequila, and continued the inspection. Sure enough, the topped BD had rot in most of its upper buds as well. More culling, rinsing, trimming. More immature bud drying at a fraction of what might have been in terms of weight and quality.

So what’s left? A dozen or so smaller lower buds on GG. None of VF. A good portion of the topped BD, and all of the tall BD…for now. But the way rot goes?

In hindsite, I should have put fans in the enclosure when I put up the plastic siding. I think that coupled with the sudden increase of water produced humidity. I also think though, that Ma Nature played a role. The crazy heat spikes followed by smoke and ash didn’t help the girls. I almost think the ash and smoke sort of impaired their respiration.

Brutal year, but such is life. I’ll cross my fingers that the remaining BD’s can make it to maturity without continuing the rot. I’ve torn down the siding, and put fans on the plants to try and reduce the moisture levels.

Carnage pictures. Here’s VF’s rot. It was insidious and just kept slowly progressing, branch by branch, over the past few weeks. It was tobacco brown, and very obviously visible when it occurred.

The rot on GG was sneakier and less obvious. At first I saw just one tiny yellow/browned leaf…but then I pulled on it, and it came away with no resistance, revealing the brown rot behind it. The inspection of that plant was heartbreaking, because every time I’d think “Okay, there was just those few”…I’d find another…and another.

In the majority of cases, big buds like the one shown in my gloved hand were complete losses.