Second Season Outdoor Multi-Strain Grow

[Delta9Haze420]

Last season turned out quite nice with a first grow using a single strain - Kali Mist. The yield was decent and the quality was outstanding. The grow began with four plants, two surviving to harvest.

This year, the grow consists of multiple strains, and will be completely outdoor. The strains are as follows:

• Durban Poison - 4 seedlings
• Northern Lights - 4 seedlings
• Big Bud - 4 seedlings
• Mexican Brick - 4 seedlings

These have all germinated and been placed in their respective grow sites. Most have spread their cotyledons and the first node leaves are starting to provide some photosynthetic support to the plant. The rest are expected to follow suit shortly. The time is 6 days post germination, 3 days post soil placement. They have risen up quicker than expected, and the Mexican strain seems to be taking a little longer (what would be normally expected; ~1 week).

Due to the larger grow and outside placement, some techniques to mask the presence of the plants are being employed. With a background in biochemistry, organic chemistry, and botony, the masking techniques are rather specific for this purpose and scientifically the most effective against most detection techniques. More information and images to follow once everything is well established.

Delta9Haze420 Reviewed by Delta9Haze420 on 04-16-2008. Second Season Outdoor Multi-Strain Grow Last season turned out quite nice with a first grow using a single strain - Kali Mist. The yield was decent and the quality was outstanding. The grow began with four plants, two surviving to harvest. This year, the grow consists of multiple strains, and will be completely outdoor. The strains are as follows: Durban Poison - 4 seedlings Northern Lights - 4 seedlings Big Bud - 4 seedlings Mexican Brick - 4 seedlings Rating: 5

[Cede2Weed]

looking forward to it

[stinkyattic]

Due to the larger grow and outside placement, some techniques to mask the presence of the plants are being employed. With a background in biochemistry, organic chemistry, and botony, the masking techniques are rather specific for this purpose and scientifically the most effective against most detection techniques. More information and images to follow once everything is well established.

THIS I can't wait to see. Welcome back! This is a nice surprise!

[Delta9Haze420]

Thanks for the comments. Lol --> stinky. I'm sure you would love to see this cloaking strategy . I am debating on whether or not revealing the entire plan is a good idea, but some things should be easy enough to explain without losing integrity in grow security.

As a teaser - As everything is outdoor, a UV/Vis stealth technique was suggested to mask the reflectivity of the plants, and there are several species of plants that, when combined, completely mask the reflective signature of the grow. Whether or not these plants will be deleterious to the grow is yet to be determined however. The chances of being overflown by UV/Vis equipment are not terribly high, but this is near an airport where interdiction flights originate, so better safe than sorry. The visible shading is probably more beneficial than the reflectivity, as it looks to be impossible to tell with a naked eye further than 6 feet away that anything is there but local or floral plants.

As for imaging, there are a couple of week 1 pics that I thought I would share. These are ~9 days post germination - strain is NL. They are representative of the whole grow, as almost all the other seedlings are at the same stage and health. These were chosen due to the accessibility of the setup, and the best images were of the NL.

More to come soon, and as the grow continues I will update with images and more info on the cloaking... Hope you enjoy :jointsmile:

[Delta9Haze420]

Following are some images from ~14 days post germination. Several of the plants have their 3rd node (or 4'th), while some of them (notably Durban Poison) are still at their first and second. It seems that DP is a slightly slower strain than the NL in an outdoor environment, although DP is widely known for hardiness in extreme conditions (so say fans of DP anyway). Though they have had a slow start, the DP has had less sun and a comparatively harsher environment than the NL (not by much though). Still, all are healthy and seem happy, regardless of maturity. Once they get a bit bigger, I plan to LST them just a little. A few were hit by pests recently, and have some scars, but that problem has been dealt with. Pics... NL, NL, DP, DP.

[Delta9Haze420]

OK so there have been some pretty big problems in the last few weeks. Here is a short overview, and I would like some input and advice as best anyone can offer. I am pretty sure the plants expereinced Mg deficiency, due to chlorosis and vein banding. Mg was added (Epsom salts) and this corrected the symptoms that had been associated with Mg problems (as mentioned above). However, the plants seem to have stunted growth, and are not elongating much between nodes (it is as if they are rosetting). I know some nute problems can cause this but I thought I'd ask around as see what you all think. For the last few weeks the plants have only grown about 1 inch in height while producing 2-3 nodes. The newer leaves are healthy and are not suffering from any obvious Mg problems as earlier, however they are stunted in growth (very very slow vertical growth).

***IMPORTANT*** For some reason the plants began to preflower and flower, and now all of the males are cut, leaving only females. The flowers are about 2 weeks into fowering though, and I am worried that the veg growth has been permanantly stunted by early flowering. These were all grown outdoors and I can't figure out why the early flowering appeared unless due to shade of nearby folliage. Any ideas as to why these plants would flower so early outdoors? Strains Northern Lights, Big Bud, Durban Poison. These are all supposed to be good outdoor strains and hearty.

Following are some pictures (sorry, image quality not as good as usual, these were taken with a BlackBerry as opposed to usual camera).

What would cause this rosetting (stunted growth), how can I increase verticle growth and more bud sites, how can I prevent the early flowering from having too much deleterious effect on the grow, etc? I considered Chleated Manganese, however I don't have access to any at present (besides possibly a lab, I'm not sure if they would have it). If there are any chemicals needed, please let me know what they are and where readily available sources are (I have some access to a University Lab if that helps). I also considered the possibility that the pH is too high. These are all in soil, and I am wondering what would be the best agent to lower pH, if infact pH is causing rosetting (which I suspect). Would the flowering also cause stunted growth vertically? The only chemical compound from the lab I have right now is CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate) - however this is usually used to raise pH and won't help me (this is left over from a previous grow in which the soil was too acidic).

All help appreciated! Thanks!!!
Stinky, if you can weigh in, I'll love you forever!

[stinkyattic]

You already do
Was the Mg applied as a foliar or watered-in, and what was the app rate?
I gotta run for a min; brb

[Delta9Haze420]

You already do
Was the Mg applied as a foliar or watered-in, and what was the app rate?
I gotta run for a min; brb

Lol, true, true :jointsmile:.

Mg was titrated to 15% solution in DiH2O; initially foliar fed then watered in. The plants rebounded nicely from the low Mg symptoms. Now I'm worried mainly about high pH and a possible Manganese problem... I don't wanna just go grab one of those bottles of 12 molar HCL and pour it in, ya know? :thumbsup:

[stinkyattic]

You don't have to titrate it to get a %w/w number. 150g/L is a 15% solution w/w. That's quite high. MY carpool is here; back to you later.

[Delta9Haze420]

Here are a few pics - as you may be able to tell they are short and have some flowering activity. Attempting to lengthen photoperiod by moving plants. Crossing my fingers that I can correct for verticle growth. I dont want them filling up at only 1.5 feet. Some of the newer leaves have reverted to 3 leaflets as opposed to 5, especially near the top. Most of the middle leaves are still either 5-7.