Hi all,
For what its worth here is some of my garden on the morning of their 70th day since germinsation. This years grow has been difficult, Ive made a few mistakes where I should have known better, but doing my best with limited mobility.
This is a selection of WW, WC & JH autos + 1 fem’ NL all from ILGM. In my outdoor experience in ‘soil mixes’ in 3-5 gal grow bags the white widow AF’s get tall while the Jack Herer are shorter and more compact. There is a Wedding Cake AF in there also. For the first time in my 6 summers of growing Im using some plastic pots to compare to the grow bags I am used to using. Because I have to move my plants around Ive found the stability of a plastic pot supports the plants early root ball growth opposed to a grow bag with a loose medium. Just have to be careful when handling seedlings in grow bags in the first few weeks of growth.
The JHAF growing out of the garden bed is the most surprising to me this season. While its growth is approx 3 weeks or so behind its faster finishing sisters(10 wks), it will be the largest by far. I applied some LST(first time) to keep the overall height as low and discreet as possible. It has about 12 bud sites and is becoming a large bush.
I am used to growing outdoors in soil AFs in 3-5-7 gal grow bags, I know what to expect mostly. But this JH just keeps growing. This might sound stupid, but I had no idea AF’s can get so large. Is this a good thing or not?
I know of other outdoor AFs growing in prepared soil that are surprisingly large. These large plants will take 15 to 16 weeks to finish(my guess right now) because at 10 wks they just appeared to begin flowering. Im not sure you could call the plant an auto-flower anymore, as these large examples will take another 3-4 weeks to finish. Time in the extra weeks needed to finish is the trade off But it is very interesting experiment to observe.
Wanted to share the birthday pic’s. Some of the AFs will be ready in the next week or so.
Great looking crop you’ve got going there!! Is that bamboo in the background in that first pic? Fantastic cover plant (here in Az oleander plants give a similar effect).
I read a post recently in which the poster said “autoflowers automatically mature when they mature.” Haha, it seems that the seedbanks grow timeline descriptions need an asterisk - your results may vary depending upon grow conditions "
Yeah mate, they each do their own thing depending on the outdoor conditions. Simply, in my experience if the conditions outdoors are unpredictable well I can expect the same behaviour from my AF’s.
Had a couple of summers in the past with blazing hot sun daily and no cold snaps that produced AF’s heavy with flower and picked at the 12 week mark, outdoors.
But if, when cold and rain kicks in, especially within the first 4 weeks post germination I found anything can happen with AF. Often light airy and fluffy bud formation is the result when AF are exposed to crazy weather conditions.
The bamboo works a treat, creates privacy and protection from high winds etc…
But, make sure if you are using bamboo in pots as a screen to have them well anchored and supported cause they blow over easily… and can damage the plants they are protecting… Good luck
Sorry to go off topic, but I have a bamboo question. Will the bamboo stay in the planter or do you run risk of it growing in your yard?
@stickynicky I’ll let Brandy respond as well - but the answer is YES, bamboo (and oleander), are trying to take over the world! The spread through rizomes underground, and are extremely adaptive and tough. It’s almost impossible to eradicate them - I’d guess chemical warfare is the only way, cuz you’ll never find every rizome in the ground.
If you use ‘running bamboo’ in the ground you have to make sure to dig in rhizome barriers, which can be a big job. Running bamboo is often illegal because of the fact that if it does get away from you, look out.
Clumping bamboo is the safer and much easier option IMO, as it grows without the troublesome runners.
That said, all my bamboo is the running variety and grown in pots. If left in the one spot for a long time the rhizomes/roots can take off into the ground, but I have never had that issue because I mainly keep them on the move.
Running bamboo will also fill a large pot completely within 1.5 - 2 yrs, they get heavy fast. then its get out the chainsaw and divide up again.
Great shields, but alot of work.