Spring Planting 2021 Plans
There is a bit of a story below. If you don’t have time for all that, just skip down to PLANS:
BACKGROUND:
I’ve been fortunate in being brought up in a gardening family. My paternal grandfather had me working the soil when I was two years old. So I’ve always planted and grown a lot, both indoors and outdoors. I fully realize that Cannabis is a unique plant and some previous experience in other plant types may not translate to understanding those miraculous weeds.
In the early 80’s I grew inside a closet lined with aluminum foil with a Kmart grow lamp. The results were never impressive. Back then, I don’t think we even paid much attention to male or female.
We moved to Colorado, a wonderful grow area, earlier in 2020, barely making it to our new home before the C-19 started causing real problems. I bought a bag of “kush” pot soon after arrival. There were 21 seeds in that bag. Two of the seeds were split – down to 19. I germinated all of them in the larger plastic Dixie cups. I went a day too long on checking them (warm and in the dark) after they sprouted and several of them had super long stringy shoots with the two little pre-leaves at the very end of those long strands. Even propping up with toothpicks, I lost 4 more – Down to 15.
Those 15 did very well. But 7 of them were male, so I was down to 8 female plants. All of those did well, even though the only things I did for them were to water every 3 days. No fertilizers, no PH checks, no PPM checks, nothing. I netted 5 ounces of good smoke, although it was obviously several different species (some very Sativa, some much more Indicia).
After researching Cannabis growing for several hundred hours, the vast majority of it here on the ILGM forum, I’ve come up with the following plan. I would GREATLY appreciate it if you would take the time to review my plan and offer suggestions or corrections. I’m here for your knowledge, which I do appreciate.
GROW AREA:
I’ll be growing outside. Last year our home saw 312 days of sun. Since our home is at 9,000’ on the side of a 14,000’ mountain, the temperatures remain very constant from May to October. We only saw 2 days over 80 degrees, and nighttime temperatures stayed in the 50’s or above. We are in the second driest state, Colorado, and the humidity is always very low. I consider that a plus, although I know I have to slow down the drying and curing after harvest.
I would guess that as much as 80% of the population on this mountain grows pot. Everyone does, and that’s not an exaggeration.
PLANS:
After reading tons of good advice here, this is my plan. Please let me know cautions or changes I need to make.
PLANT TYPE – White Widow Feminized from ILGM. I considered auto’s but with the sun we get, I don’t think that would help anything. I will be starting with the maximum legal limit of 12 plants.
CONTAINER – 7 gallon fabric bags with handles. It can get really windy on the side of the mountain, so I love being able to move my girls into a protected area if that happens.
SOIL – I’ll be using 3 types in the seven gallon fabric pots I intend to use. Gravel on the bottom of the bag to help water flow. On top of the gravel I will add about 4 inches of lovely cured soil containing a fair amount of compost. On top of that FFOF EXCEPT where the transplant will go. In the center of the pot, down to about 7 inches, I’ll leave an area of “plain dirt” so the FFOF doesn’t burn my babies. That will be checked for PH, too.
GERMINATION – no fertilizers or amendments until after they reach 3-5 inches. I use the plastic Dixie cups. I cut the bottom out of one, and then cut the rest of that one in half. I put those halves inside another Dixie cup with a hole in the bottom. When it comes time to transplant I pull out the inside cup, with the dirt and the plant, place it into position in the bag, and remove those two halves. There is no chance of disturbing the dirt or the plant so as to avoid any shock.
TRANSPLANT – I will begin germination on March 15. It is still too cold out, especially at night, to leave them outside. I have a large window area with about 8 hours of sun. That’s where they will grow after sprouting. If the outside temperature remains at 55+ during the day, I will carry them outside for the sun. Once the nights are above 50 degrees then I’ll leave them out all the time. I’ve been advised that Mother’s Day is the date for being outside until harvest.
FERTILIZATION – I’ll be using the FF trio. I will follow their guidelines, although I will start out slowly because I know the FFOF itself already has a lot of “food”. I can catch any nitro burn pretty quick if I’m starting slow.
WATER – outside tank with no chlorine or any other added chemicals. I will check and correct PH, although I know I need for it to vary in the 6.3-6.8 range so all the different nutrients have a chance for uptake.
BUGS!!! – I’ m not too concerned about molds since the plants get plenty of wind but I am concerned about bugs, specifically APHIDS. I took my girls in at the beginning of the freeze season, although I took them out when it got sunny. Very near harvest I spotted Aphids. I cleaned the buds with a 10% solution of hydrogen peroxide, then rinsed in water. But I would have probably let my girls go another two weeks to thicken the buds if I hadn’t seen those little bastards. This is the MOST confusing part of the grow for me. I’ll be ordering Captain Jack’s Dead Bug since that is what is so often recommended here. But I am a little paranoid about bugs. Any other help is appreciated.
HARVEST – I have an entire room to hang the plants in and I know the cure is very important. I am following those guidelines listed here. It is very likely that I will need to use a HUMIDIFIER, rather than a DEHUMIDIFIER, for the drying process. As I said, it’s really dry here.
PURCHASE LIST – All prices include shipping if shipping is charged.
GERMINATION CUPS – 24 plastic = $0, already have
SEEDS – ILGM 20 White Widow Feminized = $119.00
PLANTERS – 12 7 gallon fabric bags with handles = $22.28
SOIL – 6 Bags FFOF 1.5 CF (40 pounds each) X $26.00 = $156.00
OTHER SOIL – Old soil ripened compost for bottom, very well stirred and PH tested = $0
PH / TDS / TEMP tester – Wiztech - $36.99
HYDROMETER - $11.99
FERTILIZER – NOT HYDRO FF Trio (Grow Big, Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom) Quart Sizes = $42.48
WATER – PH tested natural spring water = $0
LIGHT – FREE FREE FREE.
BUGS – Captain Jack’s Dead Bug – 16 ounce concentrate makes 8 gallons = $23.41
GLASS JARS – I have 36 right now, each to hold an ounce. That’s a 3 ounce per plant average.
RH – 6.2 Packets – already have 40.
TOTAL = $412.15
I wanted to stay at $400, but that’s close enough.
Cost $34.35 per plant assuming all goes well.