Outdoor From seed to weed, guerilla-style... With some help from AFN!

[KenBacon]

Hello good folks of AFN, I hope you are passing a lovely time, where ever you are on this big 'ol lump of growing medium!

I have a question regarding some seeds I'm currently growing.
I am new to growing my own, and try to read as much as possible on here, and I'm learning all the time thanks to all the truly helpful people here.
Now, where I live the season is slowly starting for growing outdoors, and as it is my first time and I want to learn as quickly as possible, my reasoning is to grow 5 to 10 plants guerilla-style out in a clearing in the forest where the ground is not too dry in summer and a lot of reeds and ferns grow. I'm going to dig some holes and add a mixture of used soil, potting soil and chickenshit pellets (thanks @fryge ) . I will plant my seedlings in there on a nice and sunny patch, when they are big enough. I consider these my test-plants to gain experience and also to test the spot a little.
I will also be planting 2 or 3 Dutch Passion plants in my own garden among the tomato-plants and herbs I will do this season. I consider these my main plants which I can monitor everyday.

My question is regarding the guerilla plants. I was given some weed a friend of mine grow himself as his first grow. The weed is autoflower Northern Lights plants germinated from seed bought on Zamnesia by him. Now, the weed I got contained about 10 seeds (see picture) which look good to me. My first question is this: does a female autoflower always produce seeds? Or is this because of stress? I know she yielded about 20 to 30 gr of dry bud... Or did she turn hermaphrodite and produce seeds? She was grown outside in a pot in the garden with 1 other plant which was definitely not male.
This leads me to my next question. I have taken 3 seeds and successfully germinated all 3 in regular potting soil ( I know, but they germinated!) mixed with perlite in small decomposable containers especially for seedlings. I have attached pictures.
We are now almost a week since they sprouted from the soil, and I plan on transplanting them to a bigger pot, then hardening them by putting them outside once the weather turns a little warmer. Then my plan is to take them out to the forest and planting them in the holes and leave them be. If they don't get eaten by deer/rodents/etc.. or grow sick (basically, if everything turns out OK), will I yield something, or will these plants be shitty because they come from a possible Herman plant? Also, will they be autoflowers?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, good folks!

 

[fryge]

personally, I wouldn't use those seeds from the buds.
they could end up ok, but the problem is you just don't know what it is.
there are 3 options:
-the plant was a hermi, in which case the seeds are more likely to be hermi too.
-someone around where the plant was growing had a male. in this case hermi-risk is less, but the father could be anything. if the father was a photo, the seeds won't be autflower. could even be the father was fiberhemp, in which case the weed's not going to be as good.
-similar to the previous option, it was pollen from someone else, but it was a hermi, not a male. in this case you have higher hermi-risk, and risk for non-auto, and no guarantee what will come out.

so conclusion, a lot of uncertaintity, and high risk for plants that aren't that have issues.

IMO in our climate strainchoice matters a lot(for example, my first grow I didn't have any budrot, since I chose a really early danish strain, that was finished in the beginning of september before the budrotseason started).
imo, better to look beyond the big seedbanks. you can find strains that do well outdoor here(for example, I've seen some growreports with shaman from dutch passion, in denmark, that went well), but often those big seedbanks are more focussed on indoor, and they just have a few outdoorstrains that may not be guaranteed(there are often a lot of promises by seedsellers, like when the seeds will finish, that you have to take with a grain of salt. for example a lot of dutch seedbanks don't make their seeds in the netherlands, but instead they make them somewhere further south, like spain or switzerland, where the plants finish a few weeks earlier as here)

I'm not sure what the rules here are for naming sites that are not sponsors(I know a certain other forum that's notoriously strict in that), so without mentioning links, I would advice to look at growreports from a similar lattitude, and look for breeders that focus on outdoor.
from the breeders on here, I think LBH is interesting, never grew anything from him, but his auto-hazes do look really nice, and he seems to do plenty of growing and breeding outdoors.

personally I've had good results with hfh. I also know a belgian guy who has a site selling seeds, he gave me some seeds that I'll be trying out this year.
and there are some guys from the UK who launched a seedcompany last year that looks interesting, also focussed on outdoor(although they have more indica strains since they mostly use guerilla gold to get an earlier finish, and I'm more a sativa-guy)

besides specific breeders, there are some really early strains from canada and from denmark. I'm more into the danish strains since the danes have some nice early outdoorsativas, but the canadian strains are better for commercial/bag appeal. I think we may also see some interesting stuff coming out of canada in the following years, now that thy have legalised.

there are also other outdoorstrains besides the canadian and danish wandering around, but a lot are nowhere for sale, you just have to know someone who has it. like nieuwe dame blanche for example(the strain made by that guy I mentioned to you in the chickenshit-discussion), I grew that one one year(6-7 years ago), wasn't satisfied enough with it too grow it again the next year, but I did make seeds to keep around, but no idea where those seeds are now. kind of wish I didn't lose them, since it's still an interestng strain with a nice story, although I have better now(the NDB was too much indica for me, but one plant did have a really good taste).

 

[KenBacon]

I have 3 germinated and growing in mini greenhouse on my windowsill right now, and I'm germinating 4 more seeds as we speak. I'm planting them anyway, as I think I will learn quicker when I have more plants. Besides, I'm planting them out in the woods and letting them be, so if they don't yield, than so be it. It's also a test to see if I can grow in those places I have in mind, because if it succeeds, than I will plant more and much better strains next year.

I totally get what you mean by big commercial seedbanks. As in everything else, there are bound to be big players in cannabis too. I too like to avoid those in general, as I think they rarely have quality on the top of their mind when it comes to their products. I can't speak for the quality of the seeds I bought, as I haven't grown them, so I don't know. But I do know dutch passion have specific outdoor strains like auto frisian dew, which I bought. They advertise to be finished in 10 to 12 weeks, so if they run a little longer, I don't mind. I plan to be over and done at the end of august. If all goes to plan and the weather here plays along a bit, I can also be finished at the end of july.
Are those HFH autoflowers too? They look interesting.
PLease PM me the name of that belgian guy too, if you don't mind.

 

[G.Leave]

I'm not sure what the rules here are for naming sites that are not sponsors(I know a certain other forum that's notoriously strict in that), so without mentioning links, I would advice to look at growreports from a similar lattitude, and look for breeders that focus on outdoor.

Naming sites and non sponsor breeders is fine

 

[KenBacon]

a little update for anyone interested!

I have some more info on the bagseed I planted, and which is doing fine, but more on that later. My friend told me he planted his 2 feminised autoflowers in May, but only harvested in september due to bad weather. He said the trichomes where, in his opinion, not matured enough.. This would make those plants around 18 weeks old when harvested. Isn't that too old for an autoflower? After googling some, I read somewhere that this could also be the cause of one plant producing some seeds. It is like a survival mechanism when you are past harvest time that the plant produces some seeds. I don't know if this is true, so please chime if you know, dear reader.
Also, is there a 50/50 chance of them being male/female in this case?

On to the good news then: the ladies are doing fine on the windowsill, and another 4 have germinated. You can see pictures attached.
The biggest one is a picture of one of the first 3 that germinated and is now 2 weeks and 3 days old. I just transplanted those 3 to a bigger container. I'm going to let them enjoy the good weather that's coming up behind the windowsill and try to train them to the outside during the day. I aim to plant them to their definite spot in full soil somewhere next week, when they are 3 weeks old of more.
The others are plants that just germinated between 2 and 4 days ago. I think these actually stand a better chance of producing something, as I think the older ones where germinated a bit too early and will grow out smaller because they have not been getting too much direct sunlight. Does this sound plausible?

All in all I know have 7 test plants germinated. All seeds I tried germinating, did in fact germinate. Some quicker than others.
For learning purposes of other beginning growers, I'd like to add the methods of germination.
I tried germinating 3 seeds in toilet paper (ran clean out of paper towels at the time, and I really wanted to start germinating). I placed toilet paper on a plate, made it moist with a plant sprayer, and put another plate on top and stored in dark, yet room temperature place. This worked well.
I also tried placing this set-up on top of my wifi-router. Although the plates get hotter than normal room temperature, I found that because of the extra temperature, the paper towels dry out faster. I wetted them in the morning before work, and they would usually be dry when I checked them again in the evening. This caused the germination to be slower, I think. Still, well within 7 days.
For the last 2 seeds, I experimented and recalled a method my teacher taught us a long looooong time ago when in school you learn about plants. I put 2 seeds in between 2 pieces of cottonwool, moistened them and put this on paper towels in between 2 plates, stored in a dark place at room temperature. 2 days later, the seeds were germinated.

Anyway, I will report back when I have given some their final growing place in the sun when the weather heats up here. Any comments or tips would be much appreciated!

 

[KenBacon]

So, in the mean time, we are 3 weeks and 4 days since 3 of the bag seeds germinated.
They are planted in a mix of potting soil, full soil from the garden, perlite. I enriched my soil with chicken shit. I give them a little water every other day, and have not seen the leaves droop,so I believe they are comfortable. The big question now is: will it be Mary Janes? I took some pictures yesterday, and maybe it's a day or 2 early, so if anyone can see, please let me know in the comments. It would save me some time to know, since I plan on planting them outside, guerilla style, in about a week or so, when I find the time.sorry for the blur in the pictures, but my phone has some difficulty focusing on the right spot.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Savage Garden]

Top tip

taking a dump by a stealth grow helps keep rabbits away, a few mouldy socks can help too apparently.

Remember......there is DNA in poo and socks so find a willing friend for " donations"

 

[Exotic Flower]

a little update for anyone interested!

Hey @KenBacon !

Also, is there a 50/50 chance of them being male/female in this case?

I think so.

On to the good news then: the ladies are doing fine on the windowsill, and another 4 have germinated. You can see pictures attached.
The biggest one is a picture of one of the first 3 that germinated and is now 2 weeks and 3 days old. I just transplanted those 3 to a bigger container. I'm going to let them enjoy the good weather that's coming up behind the windowsill and try to train them to the outside during the day. I aim to plant them to their definite spot in full soil somewhere next week, when they are 3 weeks old of more.
The others are plants that just germinated between 2 and 4 days ago. I think these actually stand a better chance of producing something, as I think the older ones where germinated a bit too early and will grow out smaller because they have not been getting too much direct sunlight. Does this sound plausible?

Sounds plausible. Seedling phase is very important.
Plants started when it's a bit warmer, with better weather, will do well.

All in all I know have 7 test plants germinated. All seeds I tried germinating, did in fact germinate. Some quicker than others.
For learning purposes of other beginning growers, I'd like to add the methods of germination.
I tried germinating 3 seeds in toilet paper (ran clean out of paper towels at the time, and I really wanted to start germinating). I placed toilet paper on a plate, made it moist with a plant sprayer, and put another plate on top and stored in dark, yet room temperature place. This worked well.
I also tried placing this set-up on top of my wifi-router. Although the plates get hotter than normal room temperature, I found that because of the extra temperature, the paper towels dry out faster. I wetted them in the morning before work, and they would usually be dry when I checked them again in the evening. This caused the germination to be slower, I think. Still, well within 7 days.
For the last 2 seeds, I experimented and recalled a method my teacher taught us a long looooong time ago when in school you learn about plants. I put 2 seeds in between 2 pieces of cottonwool, moistened them and put this on paper towels in between 2 plates, stored in a dark place at room temperature. 2 days later, the seeds were germinated.

Good work!

Anyway, I will report back when I have given some their final growing place in the sun when the weather heats up here. Any comments or tips would be much appreciated!

I usually let mine get to maybe their 4 set of true leaves (hopefully 7 blades per leaf) before putting them outside.
Maybe about 10-20cm tall or so.

 

[Exotic Flower]

I have 3 germinated and growing in mini greenhouse on my windowsill right now, and I'm germinating 4 more seeds as we speak. I'm planting them anyway, as I think I will learn quicker when I have more plants. Besides, I'm planting them out in the woods and letting them be, so if they don't yield, than so be it. It's also a test to see if I can grow in those places I have in mind, because if it succeeds, than I will plant more and much better strains next year.

Good idea. Test sites with a few expendible plants first.

I totally get what you mean by big commercial seedbanks. As in everything else, there are bound to be big players in cannabis too. I too like to avoid those in general, as I think they rarely have quality on the top of their mind when it comes to their products. I can't speak for the quality of the seeds I bought, as I haven't grown them, so I don't know. But I do know dutch passion have specific outdoor strains like auto frisian dew, which I bought. They advertise to be finished in 10 to 12 weeks, so if they run a little longer, I don't mind. I plan to be over and done at the end of august. If all goes to plan and the weather here plays along a bit, I can also be finished at the end of july.
Are those HFH autoflowers too? They look interesting.
PLease PM me the name of that belgian guy too, if you don't mind.

Disagree about the big seedbanks. They got to be big by producing quality product.
Most, if not all, are started by people who really love their marijuana.
Because they're big, they can breed with huge numbers of samples,
thus finding very rare and beautiful specimens to breed with.
Plus they have serious expertise. Can't do that so well with a few plants here and there.

 

[Exotic Flower]

So, in the mean time, we are 3 weeks and 4 days since 3 of the bag seeds germinated.
They are planted in a mix of potting soil, full soil from the garden, perlite. I enriched my soil with chicken shit. I give them a little water every other day, and have not seen the leaves droop,so I believe they are comfortable. The big question now is: will it be Mary Janes? I took some pictures yesterday, and maybe it's a day or 2 early, so if anyone can see, please let me know in the comments. It would save me some time to know, since I plan on planting them outside, guerilla style, in about a week or so, when I find the time.sorry for the blur in the pictures, but my phone has some difficulty focusing on the right spot.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

These have been growing by the window?
They are fairly small compared to plants that age with a lot of good sun or indoor lights.
They're prob okay to go outside, but would benefit from gradual acclimatization to the outdoor elements.
Such as direct bright sunlight, winds, and temp changes.