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Growin at 800 meters, not always easy!


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Hey Louise,  well I always try to get seeds in by August, they are always started in pots and stay under plastic till they go into the ground, which is usually mid October to mid November, weather dependent. By then they are usually up to around 25-30cm tall, about 2 weeks after going in the ground they start to get goin, by late December they will be over 1meter and usually get to 2meters by end of Febuary. 

My plants are Blue Hash Plant X Holland's Hope, they usually get to 2meters, but a couple have reached 3meters.

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Mountains in Vic would present some outdoor growing challenges for sure, but not insurmountable as you have shown.

 

If they're in the ground and watered sufficiently heatwaves aren't a big problem so long as they aren't fully in flower.

 

I'm with Lou on putting them out so early, I'd be starting indoors, or at least supplementing outdoors with a bit of indoor lighting for a while to help get them well established by the good time of year.

 

Would have also thought some sort of greenhouse might help later in the season as a way of keeping the frosts/dew off the buds maybe?  And the forced flowering for an earlier harvest is a good idea.  Was a guy on here from Tassie 2-3 years back did it with a big arse black plastic tent so he could get his in early enough, can't remember his user name though.

 

Would have to say that except for the high summer part you should have a nice long window for getting away with indoor growing down there.  But I also understand your passion for the good old outdoor bud.

 

Best of luck

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Hey MPB, Ok thanks for that info, fuck, I should have thort of that, been in these hills to long me thinks. So its basicly the same as what lights do, regulate the amount of sunlight to 12/12 to produce flowering. Thanks again, I will deffinatly give it a try this season,                              Last year I tried some Autos, did the same as with my other plants, started them in August under plastic in pots, I left the Autos in pots and under plastic the whole time, they were harvested mid Febuary, which was 2 months earlyer than the others, happy smokin. 

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Hey Sir Hashy,  thanks for that, I appreciate all the comments, I think I will have to look into some light set up eventualy. Would be a change not to be so weather dependent. But for the near future I will stick with it, this season looks promising, our forecast is for a dry, warmer spring/summer, more chance of fires but good for growin weed, ok happy smokin.

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 Hi Sd , basically its the method of photoperiod manipulation,

veg some plants out to a mangeable size, much  better if you use pre sexed cuttings,

keep in mind the amount of stretch once flowering is initiated, ie a foot tall plant may become a three foot tall plant when it has finished flowering

i usually do just a couple of smaller plants and use a light proof box/covering,( massive cardboard boxes are good ,think fridge size) which goes over the plant at 6pm

then is removed at 6am , ie a 12 hr trigger for flower initiation,

then

repeat every day until you are well into flower ( usually six weeks )for me )

and the last few weeks you can do away with the box on box off saga which should give you enough finishing time

without the plant reverting to leaf production...

 

 

Hey manbearpig,

Curious for a little more detail about your experience.  Whenever I've done this in the past I've continued the covering regime right up to harvest.  

It's a much more feasible option for me if I only need to do it for 6 weeks.  Can you please elaborate on what strains you've done this with?  or at least whether they were hybrid, indica or sativa.

Cheers.

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They looked like some beautiful plants, hope these seedlings turn out just as good :)

Sounds like you've had a fair amount of outdoor experience, I know who I'm coming to this season for outdoor advice Ahaha

Shit forgot to say so I'll just edit it, what I'm doing this season is doing my seed in my clone cupboard, so it's gets established and then I'm gonna put it outside, just some extra info for you

Hope all goes well sativa diva

Edited by ADLStickyIcky
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Hey Sticky, yes they are nice girls, I am abit late with the main lot of seeds, they will be goin into pots this week.

I started growin in 1976, love it, luckily, I have always been in situations where I could grow around the house, close, always visible, I dont like my girls being out of sight.

Good luck with your clone cupboard, and when you get outside, happy smokin. 

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Maybe experiment a little with your planting times... my plants finished as big as yours, but were started at least 2 months later into the spring. 

 

Especially where autos are concerned, warmth is a priority for good growth.

 

Look forward to seeing something of your grow over the coming season :D

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Hey manbearpig,

Curious for a little more detail about your experience.  Whenever I've done this in the past I've continued the covering regime right up to harvest.  

It's a much more feasible option for me if I only need to do it for 6 weeks.  Can you please elaborate on what strains you've done this with?  or at least whether they were hybrid, indica or sativa.

Cheers.

Hey crowsange,  I am more than happy to detail my experience further,

 

My idea re the 6 weeks box on box off deal is a trade off between a potential re-veg and the incidence of moulds from a reduced air flow around the plants with their overnight jaunt undercover,

a few times I have forgotten to check ambients temps and humidity and got whacked with wet mouldy buds

I reduced the watering and fertilization of the forced plants as a way of manipilating the overnight box environment, ie  to slow their growth and remove potential for condensation overnight

if you have a pure indica and the external photoperiod is waning 5 weeks is possible too , just a matter of watching how they react etc,

not good for stealth though, all those boxes lined up and of course wind, rain are a pain too so I use garbage bags/concretors plastic to cover the boxes with a few elastic straps secured by tent pegs if wind is an issue

 

re varieties, I have run top44, northern lights, white rhino, supersilverhaze, white widow, doublegum and so on, as you can see mostly quicker flowering varieties, sat /indy hybrids

 

another use for force flowering is for longer flowering sativa dominant varieties,

I select a good sativa and run it indoors for a few months in the winter, sex it out etc and take some cuts

this allows the chronological age of the plant to be at a point in maturity to produce  optimum potency and full expression in its flower period,

  keep in mind some sativas are tricky ie thai doms and are hard to keep in veg ie variety dependant so

some 5 month flowering sativas can be run in the lower latitudes this way and can be taken inmost cases when they are fully matured

size is obviously a factor with the sats so keep the finishing heights/widths in mind

light manipulation is key to this method so try to keep your inpendind transplants around the same photoperiod time that you intend to harden them off and put outdoors ie follow sunrise and sunsets and use that as a guide to reduce a check in their growth to either unwanted flower or veg

I hope I have relayed something helpful , it is all trial and error and subject to so many variables

 

I forgot to mention a positive aspect of the psychology of force flowering, ie : if you have a few earlier flowering light dep plants in your stash it helps you to leave your  main crop in as long as possible and let them go to full potential

nothing worse than an empty stash tin :bounce:

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Hey louise,  thanks for yer thorts, I have already got a few girls started, in pots in a small portable hothouse, another dozen to go, I will give your idea a shot, 6 seeds in this weekend and 6 in 2 months time. 

My idea for early planting comes from years ago, I met an old grower in NZ early 1970s, anyway he told me that the potency of the plant will depend on how long it grows; the longer the stronger. I have always tried to have them in ground for 8/9 months, these plants are fairly strong smoke, be interesting to see if it changes by planting 2 months later.

Pic is of young girl, still able to blush, happy smokin. 

 

post-56796-0-04701700-1439784695_thumb.jpg

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