DIY Outdoors

[Cerebro]

Let's start a thread about outdoor grow considerations, I know it's probably all covered in FAQ's, but it's heaps more fun finding out for yourself...with help from those around you. So, please contribute and join in this conversation.
I've been growing outdoors for about 5 years, I've been doing it well for about two years only, so if my experiences, and yours, can help others waste less time that would be cool.

I few things I'm interested in figuring out for myself include

- Pots vs In ground
In ground provides limitless access to nutrients, but are there any to access?
At least with pots you control the medium.

- Soil Prep vs Ongoing Fertilising
One involves less devotion, and is less dependable? Can we prepare soil well enough to provide the correct nutes at the correct time?

- Site Prep
Self explanatory, the more work you put in at the start, the better. Really a brainstorming season.

- Two Harvests Annually
Who has had successes? How many effective light hours are required to successfully start a seedling? How much light is required to finish flowering. Answering these questions should enable us to have a fair go at predicting which latitudes get enough day hours to grow out twice in a season.

There are a lot of things I know little of, so please post away with comments, and suggestions.

[thcbuz]

peep this idea for outdoors.I live at 32degrees north so I've got a great outdoor season and I usually succeed.this year I'm even gonna cut out my loss for male ratio by using feminized sativa seed strains.I've used feminized indoors with no fluctuation;males or other possible problems.so why not make sure every seed i sow will be a yielding venture in all probability.why waste time,labor and just being in the vicinity of a big unsexed male that will get you busted???and if any of ya'll have experience with the labor involved in outdoor successes,focusing all of your efforts into all female growspots helps making the effort just a little easier.

[Cerebro]

I'll be doing the same. I'm at 33'S so we can kinda shake hands thru the equator. Pretty stoned, so if that comment makes no sense please excuse.
I was going to try out two seasons next year, but will just go for one long season using an early, and a late variety. Any ideas on strains, I change my mind almost every day.

[thcbuz]

I don't know if you've tried this cerebro;but i've put out clones at the same time I put out my seed plants,with the intention of them growing large and then flowering.only it don't ever happen that way.the clones flower immediately.in the spring.I'm not sure why.pure U.V. light.fewer hours of light.less intense.I'm not sure.but I sorta like it").I'm gonna put out several large clones this spring,so in 60 days I'll be harvesting some buddage.just a thought.but it always works.

[Doc_Flox]

Water water everywhere, but fuck my plants need a drink.

How do you do it? How do you provide water to your larger plots reliably, successfully and stealthily?

I use my hand driven drill rig, as pictured, to drill to the water table, then I insert a pump hole lining and one of these pumps I build attached to a solar panel charged battery with timer.

A picture of one of this years pumps will follow. This first picture is my drill rig, 18 inches or so down each time it can be a long drill to the water table sometimes.

[Doc_Flox]

The pump.

(about $120 all up, plus timer & solar panel)

[Dandaweedman]

you don't screw about do ya doc?

[Doc_Flox]

Originally Posted by Dandaweedman

you don't screw about do ya doc?

I don't collect every patch every year either. I set a lot of this type of set up fully expecting to lose some to bonus-hunters and / or police choppers.

They found five of my plots last year, (leaving me some), saw the busts described on the news as extremely high tech. One of the plots was reported as being found at the preparation stage, all the gear carted out there and left to sit for a year.

It took a great many years to reach this stage, but I will share advice and technical specs if you have your own money to spend on huge outdoor cropping techniques.

Water is essential to the healthy development of huge buds, as is a place other people don't visit. It doesn't have to involve a gps, topographical maps, and many hours of bush-walking, but more power to you if it does, (probably more yield too).

Leave a set-up in the bush for a year. If it is still there a year later, plug it in and grow some buds. Don't think of the equipment you will lose as a loss, think more in terms of site security cost.

Best I've had from one patch was around 57 pounds, trimmed, dried. Best I've had is four out of ten patches come in successfully.

[Dandaweedman]

Impressive... and intelligent.
No wonder you have had good successes

[Cerebro]

Doc - Thanks for stopping by. How long does it take you to get to the water table? How many times do you visit the plots during the season?
thc - I'm positive it's the reduced hours. Some strains are more photo-sensitive than others, these ones are more suseptible...other strains need fewer effective daylight hours to complete, these ones tend to flower, then reveg (sometimes herm). I used to do the same thing...and loved it....you can grow all year here in OZ doing just that. I dont believe indoor cultivation to be a practice beneficial to my family if ya get my drift. So I stick with outdoors only, and enjoy the challenge.

[thcbuz]

Doc-I'm with you in some respects.leaving gear(equipment,amend ments)at a spot for mor than one season unseen is a good sign to grow yer ass off there.I've never ever lost a spot;but there's tons more square miles of land in texas to lose yourself and your gardens at.but your equipment is just a little high tech for my reasoning.not dissing it at all.I locate within close proximity to surface water(ponds & lakes generally)
cerebro-nice to see others who've come up with the same reasoning with clones outdoors in our respective springtimes.and used those findings to their advantages thanks for the revegging idea;I'll surely try and do that to a few of my clones next spring.
here's another idea I'm gonna try and implement this next outdoor season so as to try and eliminate wasting grow spots by ending up with males:feminized seeds.I've used dutch passion skunk#1 feminized indoors with 100% success so as to be able to skip the sexxing stage and jump straight into cloning.saves time and space.I'm gonna get purple power,easy sativa and northern lights from female seeds through seedbay after the new year.by using feminized strains I eliminate the male/female loss ratio for the most part and also eliminate those spots that i tended for weeks and months only to find I've grown(for the most part)a useless male.by growing the gambling way(standard seeds)you waste time on a male,but also you put yourself in jeapardy(sp?)of being busted for those males.which would so suck I admit,you can get just as busted for female plants,but if I'm able to chose how I spend my energy and time,I'm going feminized(for the most part)I would like some male pollen to create some seedstock for next season and friends.

[Doc_Flox]

I can reach the water table in a few hours of hard work, longest it ever took was about five hours. One of this years pumps will do around 14 plants in onsite constructed grow boxes. I carry ferts in, and a shit load of compressed coco-peat, (2 x 60 litres per walk in at least).

I use good old Osmocote and flowering spikes mainly, the lightest and most reliable method I have found.

Of course as I get older the grows are moving closer to the coast where the soil is sandier and a lot easier to drill through.

I don't use seed, I use sexed plants sprouted in my nursery and also carried out to the site, (the most dangerous part of my "missions").

I dont visit regularly, I sometimes don't make it back to plots at all until harvest, I see somebody on the way in that shouldn't be there, so I waste a day on a nice little bushwalk. Discretion and patience is the reason I've not been caught producing tonnage over the years.

This is an interesting discussion.

[Cerebro]

120L on your back, fuck mate you cant be too old.
I carry a couple of loads of 90-100L, but my site is less than a hour from my car (I'm assuming yours is further), and that does me for a few days.
thcbuz - Do you get any frosts, I do, but the last place I lived didnt. I used to put high qual cold resistant varieties out to flower in winter....literally all year.

[Cerebro]

Originally Posted by thcbuz

I'm gonna get purple power,easy sativa and northern lights from female seeds through seedbay after the new year.

Sounds good, I'm also heading towards femaleseeds atm. Have you seen their limited release X line? http://www.drchronic.com/products.as...ale+Seeds%2Enl Grapefruit x NH.. 5x fem seeds for a couple of bucks each.

[Peace seeker]

i wanna try femaleseeds myself this year. They seem to have good genetics, at a low price and 5-seed packs.

This way you can try more strains with less $ invested.



Doc, you seem to know your shit man. Respect

Ho do you move 57 pounds from a spot man ?

[generic_hippie]

57 pounds? Dude, fuck me.

Biggest outdoor plant I've ever seen came in at about 7 pounds harvested.

Rainbow Dreaming it was called, Cannabis cup 2005 winner in Nimbin Australia, absolutely beautiful.

How many plants in such a prodigous patch?

How large an area does it cover?

Fuck that, if I cant do it outside my backdoor I'm not playing.

[Peace seeker]

Originally Posted by generic_hippie

Fuck that, if I cant do it outside my backdoor I'm not playing.

same here.

i get stressed enough having 2-3 plants every year, i couldnt imagine myself with such a project on my back.

i dont have the stomach to do it (and in a way i m glad). Keeps me out of trouble

[Cerebro]

Hey Generic, did you plant any of those Rainbow Dreaming beans in your backyard?

[slunt]

How did it all turn out.

[greenbuda]

i was wondering how long it takes from when the buds form from the little hairs to actual buds i have a white rhino plant been flowering it from last week in july 12/12 .it's just the last week the buds on top of the flowers have started to look like bud &not just the little hairs.do the buds grow&form alot more in the last 3 weeks of flowering ,as the seeds paket said 8to9 week flowering ??? can any one advise oh its bye the way its been growing outdoors in the uk.its potted in miracle gro compost & the leaves have been covered in crystals for over four weeks .its just started getting dense up all the secondry stems with smaller leaves coverd in crystals in bunches from bottom to top bud.so does most of the developing happen in the last few weeks ???????any advise on how long its got to go would be helpful......cheers