Indoor-Outdoor Desert Grow

[mojavemama]

4U2Sm0ke, Thanks so much for the ladybug link! Ladybugs are fantastic, and I don't think I ever appreciated them more than I do right now.

And I LOVE the idea of rolling totes for collecting water run off! YESSS! That will make it much easier for me in the powerchair.

As for continuing to take the plants inside and out each day, once they are repotted in 3 gallon pots and getting 3 feet high--I WOULD do it, and I may do it for a short while, and it's not the work that bothers me. It's whether I can keep the plants cooled down enough in our summer sun. The intensity of it is brutal. Only in the spring and late fall can anything with semi-broad leaves tolerate it outside.

I'm an avid gardener, and have many plants that can't thrive here in the sun, out on my back patio. But they are under shade cloth, and there is a mister running. And I have to double pot them--meaning, put a second pot around the first pot, with wet Spagnum moss in between the pots to keep the soil cool enough that the roots don't cook.

It would be SO much easier to keep them indoors once they start flowering, and when they get well into flowering, they will be strung up and I won't be able to move them. But maybe for a month or so I can pull it off--we'll see!

This is an experiment, after all. I shouldn't even be growing since I can't yet afford good enough lights. I just thought I MIGHT be able to pull it off with a bit of hard work, since I have the help of the sun, the mighty Mojave sun.

 

[4u2sm0ke]

and you have us here to help best we can..I like the idea of a misting shaded room as you speak of..I remember Grandma haveing a patio with shade roof and plants everywhere with fans and misters on and off..she lived in Arizona. But it was not MJ..lol..you are in a tough area in the world to grow..but it can be done..and dont worry about not enough lights on this grow..its you first..we are learning. heck i started with 1000MH that made so much noise.plus i didnt know i had to have flower seperate..lol..didnt even know there was a female and Male...weed was weed I thought..its an enjoyment to grow..Let me ask you is the desert a medical mj area? and how about some GREEN for the page? we wanna see how those babbies are doing..until next time Take care and be safe:bolt::bong:

 

[mojavemama]

Must be Karma. I was absolutely certain I would never be able to even get these seeds to go past early seedling stage, so I went hog wild germinating.
They all made it.

Then I thought, "noooo problem, half of them will be boys. And half of the ones left probably won't make it." They all made it, and they all are girls.

21 girls. Hot summer is coming. Gotta make a tough decision on which of my girls to kill, so I'll have enough light for those I can manage to get under flowering lights. I can't believe I'm contemplating killing healthy, bushy, gorgeous females, of which at least 5 are purples.

Anyone else ever found themselves in this dilemma? If I can't find anyone nearby to adopt some of them, I'll have no choice. But how to choose when they all look so good, and there are no 'problem' plants?

 

[mojavemama]

Smoke, thanks so much again for your encouragement and help! Yep, your grandma had the right idea. Keep the moisture up, keep the sun shaded in afternoon, and watch the plants thrive!

I hear you loud and clear about mistakes we newbies make! But it's awfully nice of you to share you experience to make me feel better. <G>

>>Let me ask you is the desert a medical mj area? <,

Not sure what you are asking--do you mean is it legal here to grow MM? If so, yes. It's Nevada. But not a lot of MM users can even afford the cost of the license. It's the highest in the country, and few doctors will give a referral. Those that do charge a lot for that service. It would cost me close to $750 for a 1 year license. And then, there are NO medical dispensaries in the state, so still no legal way to buy clones, seeds. It's only legal to grow 7 plants for MM users. But the catch 22 is that it's still illegal to get anything, so how much does the license really help anyone, other than if you get caught and face arrest? Even with a Nevada MM license, we can't buy clones or seeds or weed or anything else in California, because there is no reciprocity between states. So in essence, those with MM licenses are allowed to grow, but can't buy the seeds or clones. So it's all a stupid, useless catch 22, and in the meantime, those who need it the most cannot afford to get the license, cannot legally get the seeds or starts, so even legal means one has to do the illegal before getting to the legal stage. Stupid or what?

 

[UKgirl420]

Not sure what you are asking--do you mean is it legal here to grow MM? If so, yes. It's Nevada. But not a lot of MM users can even afford the cost of the license. It's the highest in the country, and few doctors will give a referral. Those that do charge a lot for that service. It would cost me close to $750 for a 1 year license. And then, there are NO medical dispensaries in the state, so still no legal way to buy clones, seeds. It's only legal to grow 7 plants for MM users. But the catch 22 is that it's still illegal to get anything, so how much does the license really help anyone, other than if you get caught and face arrest? Even with a Nevada MM license, we can't buy clones or seeds or weed or anything else in California, because there is no reciprocity between states. So in essence, those with MM licenses are allowed to grow, but can't buy the seeds or clones. So it's all a stupid, useless catch 22, and in the meantime, those who need it the most cannot afford to get the license, cannot legally get the seeds or starts, so even legal means one has to do the illegal before getting to the legal stage. Stupid or what?

__________________
wow lol
great news on the all females:yay: shame you have to kill some :fid:

 

[mojavemama]

Curious. Today I topped my plants, and two of them ooze purple liquid. The stems are green, it's just the liquid inside that's purple. The plants are showing no signs of stress, look very healthy, growing rapidly.

Anyone ever have purple juice in their strain's stems?

 

[cannabis037]

hi mojavemama, just finished reading your thread. first i'd like to say nice job on those vegging plants! they look really happy under real light. about the purple ooze, i believe it is natural. when i topped my plants the topped section of the plant turned purple and left my razor blade blackish purple. first i thought it was the alcohol that changed the color, but nothing happened to my plants. you shouldnt worry too much about the ooze.

 

[Locked]

Lookin real good Mojave...I wish I had your problem of having to many females...

 

[mojavemama]

Thanks, Hamster! It means a lot from this noobie to get your thumbs up!
I've really enjoyed reading your GJ. You inspire me!

 

[mojavemama]

Hey, Cannabis037, thanks so much for your input! I'm glad to hear you have had some plants bleed purple too. BTW, your grow journal is outstanding. I was mesmerized reading it. Lots of ups and downs, but wow, all you learned is fantastic. And the WW buds--delicious! How are those clones doing? Thanks so much for stopping by. I learned so much from reading your journal.

 

[cannabis037]

haha, its no problem. i enjoy looking at your garden grow! my clones are finally growing and they are growing pretty quickly. i'm anticipating for some nice buddage on your plants beecause mojave has "alot" of sun. i know this because i use to live in california city! lol.

 

[mojavemama]

Thought I had everything set up beautifully for my hubby to take care of all my vegging plants during my week-long vacation in CA.

Unfortunately, he didn't quite understand the details. I have river rock in the bottom of my carts, upon which the plant pots sit. I keep an inch of water in the bottom--well below the bottom of the pots, just for humidity.

Hubby put a gallon of water in the bottom each day, and for a week, all the pots swam in putrid, stinky water.
Worse--it was the TAP water, with the uber-high Ph that I only use for humidity, never for watering the plants.

Got home after a 12 hour drive only to find the plants were at last gasp, so I had to spend 6 hours repotting, trimming rotton roots, and putting them in 3 gallon containers full of DRY organic soil.

It's been two days, and there are no more leaves falling off, burning at the tips or turning bright yellow. Still, the rootballs are moist, some still wet, and no need to give additional water yet.

I repotted all the plants with layers of newspapers around the inside for insulation, and I put the 10 worst plants outside, under the shade canopy. I'm not really expecting them to make it, as it's very hot in the desert already. But, you never know. One is a Sativa, so it may hang in there and enjoy the heat. I hated to put the healthy Sativa outside, as this is mainly a medicinal grow, and Sativa isn't exactly couchlock pain control pot. But if I can only have 11 girls inside to flower, then the "fun" Sativa is relegated to doing its best in the backyard.

Now that I'm down to 11 plants, it makes getting the grow room ready much easier.

Oh, and NO, I did NOT holler or complain at poor hubby, who got up at 4 am every morning to take care of all my plants. He tried SO hard, and it was just a mistake. I just bit a hole in my tongue.

Here's some pics of the now outside plants, the ones that were the worst. You can see the Sativa is still holding its own, though!

 

[cannabis037]

looking very green there! plants look very happy; almost looks as if they're raising their leaves in joy). also stem looks strong! hopefully = more yield

 

[swiftgt]

sorry to hear your plants have had such a hard time,
ther ones in the pics look good though,they should pull through!

 

[thedonofchronic]

23/23 thats more than impressive!
you could be a great indoor grower if you
invested in some HPS/MH action. even still
looking great.

thedonofchronic

 

[Locked]

Lookin sweet...even with the slip up...

 

[mojavemama]

DonofCronic, you are SO right that I sure need some better lighting, but I was hoping that being able to augment the indoor lights with the outdoor sun might get me over the hump, so to speak. Compared to most journals I've been following, my plants are quite small. Not much I can do at this point, as $500 a month vet bills for my aging service dogs pretty much are eating up my disposable income this year. Still, a girl can dream!

Took all the plants left from "the swampy flood" outside today, for the first time in 3 days. Covered pots with shade cloth and layers of wet newspapers, and put them out for morning sun only. It's already pretty hot here, with temps hitting 100 daily.

Yesterday, the 10 plants I culled--the ones that looked the most damaged from the flood--were put outside permanently. Figured that since I have way too many plants (all girls, too! 21 of them), and have to kill half of them, might as well use the culled ones to see how they handle the desert sun full-time. I'll still take them under the shade canopy in the afternoons, spritzing them to keep some humidity going, but otherwise, they are going to live outdoors in their pots. At least, until they get too big, too smelly, or die from heat prostration.

At midnight, I watered the plants and gave them a foliar feeding.

Since this whole grow is an experiment (in frustration!) in desert indoor-outdoor growing, trying to maximize natural light since I only have fluoros indoors, what the heck?

I spent a couple hours this morning looking at all my plants with my jeweler's loupe, to see if any of the plants under such stress were going hermie. So far, no signs of any balls or nanners, but I still expect it to happen at some point.

Here is a picture of one of the plants I think will make it. Those I kept all look this good.

 

[swiftgt]

so how many hours daylight are you getting now?
do you know what relative humidity is outside?
what is your water sourse like, are you using a well, or just normal tap water?
you might be able to get a pump set up with a timer to spray a fine mist of water on your outside plants like every 5 mins, should keep the temp down abit during the day,

 

[Locked]

Looks nice and green Mojave... if they all look as good as that one you shld be sittin pretty...

 

[4u2sm0ke]

:ciao: Looks like Hubby didnt too bad. :giggle: next time be sure to leave writen instructions for step by step..I know how we Males are..are intentions are good..but sometimes need some direction..they look nice..KEEP M GREEN:bolt::bong: