Drought-resistant strains suitable for Oz?

[WantDaChronic]

I saw a special on the discovery channel about a week ago, had some pom that went to india to study the rain they have during the monsoon season and no shit the place in india he went to had over half of england's annual rain fall in a single night the guy almost fell over because of how much had fallen overnight and said that india really deserves it's title of the wettest spot on the planet so if that guy was wrong, im sorry for relaying false information

 

i like the idea of the 100% water crystals, should make for an interesting experiment to say the least

[Frazz]

Yea your right WDC my bad, ... i should have said Indian sub-continent

 

cant wait to see these water-babies dave

 

[Dave The Nefarious]

yep India is quite unique in that it experiences the extremes of both drought and monsoon, and for example while the monsoon hits some parts of India other parts remain in drought

 

Anyway the experiment has started: a Lowryder x Master Kush seed has been sitting in water for a couple hours and will soon be put into a small piece of rockwool to give it something physical to bind to until the first true leaves appear in approx 1 week, at which time it'll be put into the 100% crystal solution - the rockwool should also help it stay upright. The water used to hydrate the crystals will be pH-adjusted and nutrient-enriched (with regular hydroponic liquid veg-phase chemicals) before adding to the crystals. The crystals themselves are pH-neutral to begin with.

 

Like I said though I don't expect this experiment to succeed - if I had to put money on it I'd say it's going to drown from overwatering, or succumb to root rot. It's not like the plant is sitting in 100% water, but it's the next closest thing. But also like I said - we've got nothing to lose by simply trying - initial results of whether or not it can handle the 100% crystal mix should be realised within a month, and science experiments are fun and should be encouraged!

[MongyMan]

A mix of crystals and perlite might help get a bit of air around the roots. just another idea.....

 

I have had alot of success with Durban Poison and Acapulco Gold outdoors. where I live it is semi-desert. I have bred both into some of my strains to make them hardier. I don't know if u can get AG seed anywhere anymore but u should be able to find DP.

 

[Dave The Nefarious]

A mix of crystals and perlite might help get a bit of air around the roots. just another idea...

Yep we are considering doing other tests with different % levels of water crystals, but because we're such extremists we thought we'd start at 100% - we're that hardcore

 

I have had alot of success with Durban Poison and Acapulco Gold outdoors. where I live it is semi-desert.

Hmm very interesting, thanks - we do have Durban Poison x Skunk #1 (by Sam The Skunkman), so that's looking like a likely go'er for our run

[pipeman]

I predict when you give it its first water the crystals will expand and pop the plant out of the ground.

 

if you can get a battery operated solenoid that would be the way to go. take out a main tank and hook up the solenoid to the tank setting it to water every 2nd or 3rd day depending...

 

or you can sit the res next to the plant wrap a large towel or some other material around hte base of the plant and sit the other end in the res, as the ground dries out water will wick to the plant via the material..

 

the other way is to plant in a big container or drum and drill your drainage holes 200mm up from the bottom. the idea is that the upper soil drains somewhat and as it dries out wicks up water from the "sludge" at the bottom.

 

 

but really, these systems are for grows that you can only get to once a week or at a pinch a couple of weeks. Don't expect to have much success if you can only visit once a month.

[Dave The Nefarious]

I predict when you give it its first water the crystals will expand and pop the plant out of the ground.

That's a fair prediction for the 100% crystal experiment - approx 1/2 a cup of crystals turns into about 2L of jelly, which takes about 2 hours. I guess the key to preventing rapid expansion is to regularly top it up with small amounts rather than just topping the whole thing up once a month - something we'll have to keep in mind with our outdoor grow also, but we'll be using a mostly-compost mix for the outdoor grow. I guess that's why they recommend you only use 1tsp per 5L of compost.

 

if you can get a battery operated solenoid that would be the way to go

We were considering setting up a drum full of water and having a tap off it slowly drip into the plant, but that still requires lugging heaps of water up every few weeks - not fun, and not easy!

 

the other way is to plant in a big container or drum and drill your drainage holes 200mm up from the bottom. the idea is that the upper soil drains somewhat and as it dries out wicks up water from the "sludge" at the bottom.

Interesting idea - I had actually considered putting some sort of plate down the bottom with holes in it to help trap some of the water for longer

 

Don't expect to have much success if you can only visit once a month.

Ah, but that is the challenge. At the end of the day if we need to go up every 2 weeks during flowering then that'd be ok, but obviously the less maintenance the better

Edited September 13, 2006 by NotDave

[cerebro]

I've grown a few varieties outdoors that required less tlc than most strains.

Durban Poison

Rosetta Stone

African Sativa (cant remember which one, Swazi Safari from memory)

and Afghan #1

I found Skunk #1 to throw pretty dense buds....had a few mould issues for me.....hybrid may be fine tho.

pipe - all good options^