Outdoor A summertime adventure in the greenhouse

[Dr Who]

This year I decided that I wanted to try to simply things a bit. My greenhouse grow last year was troubled by rather too many reluctant flowering autos. I was also extensively struck by mould later in the season, it started around mid summer and just got worse and worse as time went on. Never the less I still managed a sufficiently respectable result that I thought I'd have another try this year, and I managed to save a few seeds from the crop that will hopefully produce this year's crop.
I thought I would try an organic approach, mixing the required nutrients into the soil, then just letting the plants get on with it. I just used garden soil, garden compost, worm casts, and whatever fertilisers I had around, chicken muck pellets, bone meal, and wood ash. I have experienced quite a few pest or disease issues using it though so I decided to return to using commercially produced compost mixes.
My efforts to try to get an early crop seem to have been thwarted by a combination of factors, although I suspect that a week spent outside in some pretty poor weather just as they were getting into flower was probably the main factor, although poor genetics could also be an important factor. Certainly none of the plants looked as nice as their mother, although that one grew later in the year, so maybe that is the difference.
Those which were started a bit later have been doing pretty well, and have given me a variety of quite different looking plants, so I am also hoping for some nice variety in the smoke from them too. The first one was harvested today when I noticed what looked like watery droplets forming on the undersides of some of the dying leaves. I had absolutely no idea what it was, but concerned that it might not lead to good things I decided to cut my losses and harvest the plant as it was. It can't have been far from finishing anyway because quite a few of the leaves around the buds were dying off. Last year I found it quite surprising how mould could really take hold of a plant overnight, and we look set for some poorer weather for a while now so I'm glad to have it harvested.

 

[Dr Who]

Well, the poor weather has turned up so I have been keeping an eye on the potential mould situation. So far all seems to be OK. I'm growing quite a bit further north than any breeders I have found have recommended seeds as being suitable for. Those that say anything seem to say that they expect them to do OK up to about 45 degrees North or South, although most don't seem to say anything. I'm growing around 55 N, and I certainly do think that the plants would feel and perform rather better it if it was considerably hotter, drier, and sunnier. That said, the local climate is what it is, and there's bugger all I can do about it.

I'm expecting the first one to be the next to be harvested, it'll probably be the first to show any mould though. The second is its more sativa dominant sister, which is looking rather nice and will hopefully resist the mould better. It looks like it will take a while longer to finish so I hope it makes it. I've no real experience of sativa types, but presumably I should be expecting it to take longer to mature? The last one is of a "control" plant which is Dutch Passions Auto Mazar. It seems to be a pretty reliable strain so I thought it would provide a good benchmark. It really struggled with the cool weather early on and seemed to suffer from some kind of pest or disease issue, but it has grown through that now and is starting to pick up. It's about 3 months old at the moment, and I expect it will be a fair while before it's ready (if it avoids the mould).

 

[Root]

Hi Dr Who

Nice looking green house and nice looking plants.

We have had issues with mold also...baking soda and water spray helps.

:gthumb:

 

[Eekman]

Your cooler temps have seemed to delay your harvest time.

These are all auto's I presume.

at three months you Should be close to finishing, but you are not really that close yet.

you still have white hairs and such so I am assuming you know that you need to go longer on them?

what you should do, is find the strains that are mould resistant, and adapt well to cooler temperatures. The ruderalis gene originally was a cold temperature trait. At least in most opinions, so some of the earlier strains might be better suited.

Just a few tips, hope you don't mind.

Keep up the good work


Eek

 

[Dr Who]

Thanks Root, I think that the only mould so far was caused when they all went outside (for the sake of discretion) and one must have been damaged a bit, or held a bit too much rain. Anyway, there was a bit of rot in the cola which I tried to cut out. After a few days there still seemed to be a bit of mould around the area, so I lopped the cola right off, dissected the mouldy bits out, dried what was left, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So far there has been no more found, but it was pretty devastating come August last year. This year my strategy has been more of a cultural one, which is essentially based on cleaner conditions and better airflow. It's far too early to say whether or not it will work, but I'm planning on not getting the buds wet if I can help it at the moment. That said, your tip will most likely be considered more seriously in a few weeks time. Thanks.

Hi Eek, thanks for stopping by. The first thing I learnt about autos (yes they all are) was that counting days is a complete waste of time here. They will grow when conditions are suitable, they won't do much when conditions aren't suitable. At least these will form flowers once they get around to it, and a little under-ripe bud will be a damn sight better than a slap in the face. I did seriously consider some "super autos", but finally decided that the season might not be long enough for them to be worth bothering with. Most of the ones this year are seeds from those plants which did better (and were seeded) last year. Those that do well will hopefully set a few seeds for next year, and I'll also include some commercial ones too, but there's never any certainty as to how they will perform under these conditions. Perhaps in a decade or so I'll have something that can perform reliably in these conditions, perhaps not. If not at least I'll have a better idea of which commercial strains are likely to do better by then.

As far as finishing is concerned, I think the indica type one will be first, as the leaves are yellowing now although it hasn't been doing much obvious bud growth in the last few weeks. I have high hopes for the more sativa one, as the general consensus seems to be that these types of buds are more mould resistant as they are less dense, so should have better airflow. That said, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and it needs to be harvested and smoked before I can decide whether or not it's any good. At least for the time being I'm enjoying it aesthetically though.

The only recommendations I've seen for mould resistant strains are probably for Frisian Dew from Dutch Passion, although I'm not sure that I've seen how the auto version performs yet, and some Canadian ones which seem to be really difficult to source (might they be High Rise?). I'm all open for recommendations though if you have them.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the suggestions, they are all most welcome.

 

[Dr Who]

Time for an update on progress. The Indica type plant which I thought was nearing harvest showed a premature male flower, and was chopped. The buds look fairly small, although I've yet to try them. I'm sure I've read somewhere that hermaphrodite behaviour is more commonly expressed in Indica types, but I can't think where I might have seem it now. There was also a little bud rot hidden away in there, but certainly not enough to spoil the party.

I decided that the Mazar deserved it's own thread, I was looking for other outdoor grows of this strain, of which there are plenty for sunnier climates but I didn't find anything on growing it in less favourable conditions.

The last one is the Sativa type plant. I can never decide whether it is fattening up or not, so hopefully taking a picture every week or so will give me a better idea of it's progress towards harvest. I don't really have much experience of Sativa type strains, but I'm still thinking that it is probably a way off harvest yet. I did start to think that the fan leaves might be starting to yellow a little, but it's so slight that it's hard to tell at the moment. Something to reflect on once I've followed it's progress for a little longer I think. It certainly looks to me as though it has a few weeks left in it, opinions welcome.

 

[Dr Who]

Here we are again, and the leaves of the remaining plant are getting quite yellow now. There are hardly any visible pistils, although they were always pretty small. I'm really unsure now whether this plant might be ripe around about now or should be left for a little longer. It has been getting water only for probably about a week now. If you have any recommendations about when to harvest then please let me know.

 

[oldster]

Definitely looks like she is fattening up. Do you have anything to look at the trichs to see if they are going cloudy or amber?

 

[pop22]

Well, the poor weather has turned up so I have been keeping an eye on the potential mould situation. So far all seems to be OK. I'm growing quite a bit further north than any breeders I have found have recommended seeds as being suitable for. Those that say anything seem to say that they expect them to do OK up to about 45 degrees North or South, although most don't seem to say anything. I'm growing around 55 N, and I certainly do think that the plants would feel and perform rather better it if it was considerably hotter, drier, and sunnier. That said, the local climate is what it is, and there's bugger all I can do about it.

I'm expecting the first one to be the next to be harvested, it'll probably be the first to show any mould though. The second is its more sativa dominant sister, which is looking rather nice and will hopefully resist the mould better. It looks like it will take a while longer to finish so I hope it makes it. I've no real experience of sativa types, but presumably I should be expecting it to take longer to mature? The last one is of a "control" plant which is Dutch Passions Auto Mazar. It seems to be a pretty reliable strain so I thought it would provide a good benchmark. It really struggled with the cool weather early on and seemed to suffer from some kind of pest or disease issue, but it has grown through that now and is starting to pick up. It's about 3 months old at the moment, and I expect it will be a fair while before it's ready (if it avoids the mould).

Even with a greenhouse, you need good ventilation to prevent mold. Do you have power to, or near the greenhouse? If so, an oscillating fan can make a huge difference. When its hot out, I open the door on my greenhouse a couple times a day to get fresh air circulating and I leave the fan on 24/7. I'm at 43 N and I've had autos flowering in my greenhouse for the last 2 weeks.

Good luck and keep up the good work!

:Sharing One:

 

[Dr Who]

Hi Oldster, thanks for the prompt to check the trichomes. I'll have to admit that it's not an aspect of growing that I've ever delved into before, but it looks like there is no better time to start. I think I have a hand lens somewhere so I'll give them a look and see what I find. I'll doubtless be back with some more questions in due course.

Hi Pop, thanks for stopping by. I've been following your greenhouse grow (aren't we all eagerly awaiting an update?), and was reminded why folks 'round here call them blowaway's. The greenhouse has louvre vents at one end and on one wall, which have been open all the time and I have left the door open continuously for about the last six weeks. There are also vents in the roof, although they all have automatic openers so they are closed most of the time but do open if the sun comes out. Having the door open is not helping with the temperatures, but I think that I am probably seeing less bud rot than I did last year, although it is still a bit too early in the season to be sure if it is really working. I don't have any handy power, but might consider relocating any vulnerable specimens indoors overnight once it gets late in the season, provided that discretion permits.

Now where on earth might that hand lens be?