2021 BruceBannerFast and StrawberryCough Outdoor Grow

2021 Outdoor Growing Season…

HomeGrownDiaries…
UN: BlackIrishRedneck aka Renegade69…

Let’s get this journal started…

So yes, the flow of this monologue should look familiar. My chosen guru…lol.

First of all since my journal is unsponsored I will not give names of products used unless I have complete confidence in the product. I will go into detail about my choice of strain though.

This is my hobby. I have a 9-5 but pulling up close to retirement. I grow for fun. I don’t grow more than 4-6 plants at a time. I will germinate a few extra in case some seeds don’t pop. I don’t grow for profit. I gift most of my harvest to family and friends who need meds. Even now I still have meds from 3 seasons ago, so I have too much in the vault. I will empty the vault to make room for this harvest.

This is an outdoor garden journal even though I talk about the box’s after use. “What’s in the Box”…lol. It’s coming… If this journal is successful I may spin off a separate journal for the after use.

Let’s just assume I’m in a legal state to grow my own. I still take precautions to keep my garden out of wondering eyes. It sits on the property way back from the road and only I tend to it. Visitors to the house don’t know where it’s at unless I show them.

A few things different from previous seasons. First, I purchased a growing box. Name withheld plus I will have to changed the setup to suit my needs. Usually I use one of my smaller 2x4x48-72 tents. Full setup with controls. The same will apply on the box setup. I’ll use a Titan5 controller, timers for the lights, heater/seedling mat (initially), mister and internal fans for air movement. The box comes with carbon filter dual exhaust fans for venting. There is also intake vents on back of box for air intake. These vents also have carbon filters on them. Per website…ugh!

Box will be used to germinate and hold seedlings :seedling: till they transplant outside. Seeds will begin in the box with a final transplant to 25 gal pots outside. Weather permitting. Usually around Mother’s Day.

After plants are transplanted outside I’ll use the box for a short cycle strain. Short cycle or just flip them when I’m ready.

UPDATE ON BOX…
POS, not what was advertised will take some serious tweaking to get any kind of use out of it. If HGC allows product review I’ll create that journal. I feel used for purchasing the product. They did however accept my return for refund.

Back to using one of my tents…OK I got this!

Lighting…
I’ve used a P600 in the past so no reason to change that. Like all LED’s it does what they say they do. In other words a setting for veg and an additional setting for bloom. I came into the game when LED’s first hit the market so it’s all I’ve ever used.
Lights usually play around 12”-24”.

So the tent setup is as follows…
One of my P600’s. Titan5 controller, humidifier/mister, heating pad, exhaust fan, clip on fans for air movement.

Seeds…
This year it’s BruceBannerFast. Really looking forward to this strain. I’m also going to do a couple of StrawberryCough gurls for good measure. Gonna top those gurls till solstice.

The reason for my choice of seeds. This is an outdoor grow and I’m in a New England state which means I have a short season. I can get away with mid to late September before cold weather creeps in. We also seem to get a lot of rain late August into September so I’ve been fighting mold at the worse time…late bloom. One season I had some beautiful PurpleStar and MightyMite (BC Bud Depo) gurls going. 12-15” top colas as wide as my fist :facepunch:. Couldn’t keep up with mold control and was forced to harvest early. Probably threw out half because of frustration.

So because of this I’m always looking for short season strains. Lucky for me I’m a Indi guy…lol.

Germination…
I like Mr Kushman’s method so that’s what we are going to do for this year and last. I’ve tried just about every other way with various degrees of success. Over doing it most times because some took longer than expected. All pop’d with a small number of failures. So last season and this will be Kushman’s tips and tricks for germ, planting, watering and transplanting. Starting with Essence Liquid Seaweed and vita mix for germination and planting seeds.

Soil…
My soil will be Nectar #4. Another tried and true for me. I don’t have time to put my own together so Nectar gives me the chance to get the seedlings and early vegging plants something to feed off till I begin my nutrient schedule.

Nutrients…
Aurora’s Terp Tea Grow and Bloom line. Aurora claims Terp Tea is a stand alone organic blend so last years crop only got that and supplements for deficiencies and pest control. Quality was lacking so this year we’ll go all in with the full line of nutrients that support the Terp Tea. And will adhere to their feeding schedule.

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Details (short version…LOL) of grow…

Region: New England

Inside/Outside: Germinate in tent move outside by Mother’s Day. Weather permitting…

Strain: Bruce Banner Fast, Strawberry Cough

Germination: Kushman’s method of germination

Medium: Soil, Nectar #4. Once those get moved outside we’ll jump over to hydro for box grow.

Water :sweat_drops: is well water. My PH and PPM comes in at 7.0ph and 066ppm.

Nutrient: Root Organics Terp Tea

Supplements: Cal/Mag, SnowStorm Ultra

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the 2 strains you chose are highly resistant to mold. With all the additives on the market, there should be no reason to have mold. Kyle now sells mold, bug, soil treatment products that boast organic in nature…I do not personally know and have not tried them, I create my own. Ask @Jared , he had a 6 month mold issue and we got it under control in 1 spray and a second for missed spots. All organic, non-gmo. We all sell lour products around the same price…$30 a bottle…close to $1 a ml. There is no reason anymore to let mold be an issue. Even if you go the milk or baking p solutions
Good luck, from an ex NE…headed out west in the early 90’s after the crash of the CBOT, banking industry

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Mike,

Thanks for the input. Sounds like a sales pitch to me…lol. ALL plants are susceptible to mold. Especially in our New England. I fought that fight early on up here. Outdoor grow where I put up my outdoor tent/canopy where I used fans to keep the air moving. I will at least look into your recommendations for education purposes and add them to the arsenal.

Good luck out West. The heat just isn’t for me.

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Heat - stick your head in the oven after its cranked to 125°…summer in Las Vegas…but NO HUMIDITY…we do not sweat. Well, we actually do but it evaporates so fast no one can tell… :smile:
Not a sales pitch…really just a “so you know”. We help each other out here on the forum…If it were a real sales pitch, I would have talked down or not talked about Kyle’s amendments.
It really is to let you know there are successful organic products to help with mold

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Mike, you appear to be insulted by my statement. I took no offense to yours only a kind hearted jab, even saying I’d do my research and add it to my arsenal. This isn’t my first rodeo just my first time on these boards. Maybe I should stay on 420 where light hearted jabs aren’t taken so hard.

Nuff said…

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And moving on…

Started germination on the 14th so I will drop off the last week and half then we’ll be caught up. It gives all you SME’s plenty of time to tell me what I’m doing wrong…lol. Come at me with a kind heart and you’ll get the same in return.

And so no one is insulted by my journal, I repeat and quote often for MY benefit. At 60 I don’t remember stuff do repetition is my best friend.

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Start date: Wednesday, 14 Apr 21 (Mother’s day is May 09)

Thursday, 15 Apr 21…

OFFICIAL GERM DATE

First update, morning…

Set up tent. Began Monitoring temp and rh. Temp set to 80 day and 68 night. RH set to 80

Average Temp…

Day, 70-85

Night, above 60

Average RH…

Seedlings, 80-90

Veg, 60-70

Flower, 40-60

Drying, 50

Germination stage (5-10 days)

Evening update…

And so it begins…

Seeds: BruceBannerFast and StrawberryCough

Will pop 3 SC’s and 4 BBF’s. Extra in case some don’t pop.

So going with Kushman’s method of germination. Floating seeds in purified water, Essence liquified seaweed/kelp and peroxide. Stir well, drop seeds in and let sit for 24-48 hours. Last season I used Peroxide for floating seeds so thought I’d try both. Essence in one cup and peroxide in the other.

Peroxide has multiple uses and will be used though out the grow.

3 separate cups. 1 for BBF, 1 for SC old (SCO) (purchased a couple years ago and the last for SC new (SCN) (purchased the same time BBF was purchased). SCO is the cup with the peroxide.

Friday, 16 Apr 21…

Evening update…

24 hours and seeds are still floating no sign of popping.

Saturday, 17 Apr 21…

OFFICAL POP DATE…

Morning update. After 36 hours seeds look promising. Signs of a tap emerging from a few seeds. Will move on to the next stage. Paper towel method.

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I am too old to get insulted and didn’t take it as a jab…just letting you know we are here to help in any way we can…so an apology from me if it seems that way

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It did, accepted and back atcha. If I could make a suggestion, soften your verbiage a bit. It can be seen as aggressive and condescending.

Moving on…nuff said…

Evening update…
Moved seeds from glass to paper towel for another 12-24 hours. Wanting a tap at least 3/4 inch. 2 days of floating.

Sunday, 18 Apr 21…
END OF WEEK 1G/1… Took 3 days to germinate. From floating to paper towel.
Morning Update…
All seeds popped and have a nice taproot. SCO dropped both shell halves. Moved her along with the others. Moved seeds from paper towel to red solo cups. Cups filled with Nectar 4 soil. Watered down with a small amount of VitaMix Grow before planting seeds. Water soil before seeds to prevent seeds from floating to the top. Covered cups with plastic wrap. Poked a few holes.

Lights 6-12” away from cups.

24-48 hours for sprouts to appear…ugh.

Will run lights on a 24 hour schedule for about the first 2-3 weeks of seedlings.

For me that’s about 2-3 weeks in cups. Than to a 1 gallon cloth. They’ll stay there till I final pot up to the 25 gal cloth pots.

1st pot up at 3-4” tall, second or third set of leaves and again 2-3 weeks timeframe.

Temp in tent is mid 70’s, per the thermometers. Will try and push it up closer to 80 for the seedlings. RH is good till exhaust comes on then it sucks all the moisture out. Titan set to 85 so will move it up a bit.

Monday, 19 Apr 21…
Evening update…
Nothing from seeds. Temp still hanging in the low 70’s. Turned up the heater a bit and turned up the temperature controller on the Titan5.

Tuesday, 20 Apr 21…
Morning update…
Nothing from seeds. Temperature dropped below 70 hanging around 69. Turned up the heater a bit.

Afternoon update…
3 of the 7 have sprouted. 2 BBF’s and 1 SC. The SC is SCN. Will check them at bedtime to see if plastic can come off of these. The rest will remain till the weekend. Still hopeful. 2 days from germination.

Temp is as usual driving me crazy. Down well below 70 at 67. Turned heater up again. RH is above 70 so that’s good.

Now that we have sprouts will need to work harder on the temp.

Evening update…
Temp much better. Above 75. Humidity is holding above 65.

Still nothing out of other seeds. BBF #1 is hitting the plastic. Will leave on till morning.

Wednesday, 21 Apr 21…
Morning update…
Removed plastic from the 3 that sprouted. Still nothing on the others. The 3 look very good.

Thursday, 22 Apr 21…
Morning update…
Temp is finally respectable at 76. RH holding in the high 70’s. Turned the heater up just a bit more.

Early evening update…
Then turned it down…lol. Was at 85-90.

Update, missed SCN. Probably sprouted this morning.

Friday, 23 Apr 21…
End of WEEK 1S/2…
Missed morning update. Which is unfortunate because I would have caught another sprout.

So SCO has decided to joint the fray…lol. Found her pushing up to the plastic which means I missed her the last day or so.

I’m putting her at Thursday morning.

Checked the last 3 a little more closely, nothing…I think…LOL. Will leave them in the tent till Sunday then call it a wash.

Temps and RH are well within range. Temps coming in at 78…ish and RH is a respectable 70+.

So we have a garden. I’m extremely happy with the 4 because of what I can do with a plant. And very happy to see what I can get out of the StrawberryCough. It’s all about the manipulation…lol.

I have heard that most of my life…it comes from being raised in INNER CITY NEW YORK…it instills a kurt, crass, aggressive nature. Have tried most of my life to get rid of it so thanks for pointing it out. It is hard to see from the inside

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Dam. Did we just have a moment…lol. All good morning friend. Besides it’s your knowledge and wisdom we’re after. Been checking out a few other journals and see your input. Spot on…

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Ah What a wonderful moment. Lol hugs all around :hugs:

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Saturday, 24 April 21…
Morning update…
So we took a long hard look at the remaining 3. Absolutely nothing out of one. The other two did shed their shells but seem to have died off. Removed the plastic and gave everything a splash of water. Minimum runoff.

Moved LED to within 16”. Temps and RH are within range.

Will put small fan inside to get the air moving.

Sunday, 25 Apr 21…
Morning update…
Lights were out. Was using a WiFi plug. May go back to the timer.

Checked in on the gurls. Was about to remove the last 2 cups. Gently moved the soil from the seed and felt some give from the tap root. Her cotyledon is green with signs of a first leaf. And the second seed also has signs of life. So stay they will…LOL.

Evening update…
So we’ll call the 2 BFFL and SCNL…”L”…for late. Clearly sprouting up with first leaf visible.

So the last 2 took 1 week after planting.

Raised the light to 24” till the last 2 make up their minds. Then back down to about 12-18”.

Monday, 26 Apr 21…
Evening update…
All is well. First 4 are doing well. All are working on their second leaf set. Off green leaves with light green towards the center/stalk. The late gurls are coming along.

Tiny (BBFL) is lagging. With only the cotyledon showing and a teeny tiny first leaf visible. Stalk is firm and holding up the head just fine. Gently opened up the middle a bit to give that leaf some light. She’ll get the same treatment as the others till she says otherwise.

Soil is grayed a bit and cups feel light. Gave them all a splash and spritz of water. No runoff… Probably won’t water again till this weekend and that being the first introduction of nutrients.

Tuesday, 27 Apr 21…
Evening update…
And then there were 5. BBFL didn’t make it. Tiny (SCL, new Tiny) looks great. Nice dark green color and working on her first first set. All the other gurls are moving along nicely. Each working on their second set which should be the first 3 leaf :maple_leaf:

Put fan up. Temp and RH are within range at 78* and 70+ RH. Will check temps and RH in the morning.

Wednesday, 28 Apr 21…
Morning update…
Slightly droppy leafs on a couple so gave them a splash. If they pipe up I’ll water till runoff with PH’d water. Leaves are not swollen as in over watered.

Thursday, 29 Apr 21…
Morning update…
Leaves still droopy. Still green but a lighter green. Not water. Still has signs of growth with all but Tiny (SCL) working on their first 3 blade. Big Sister (SCO) is working on her 3rd set.

Tonight I will whip up a batch of nutrients at 1/4 strength. Nutrients will always be adjusted to 6.5+/- after brewing.

Evening update…
Fed nutrients. Adjusted to 6.5.

Friday, 30 Apr 21…
End of week 2S/2…
Morning update…
Not looking good. Shriveled first leaves everywhere. With only 24 hours after a diluted ph’d feeding they aren’t showing signs of recovery…yet!

Checking things off…Over watered…? Temp is on the 78-82 range. RH high 65-75. Soil was fresh out the bag. LED sits at about 16”. Turned RH down to 70ish. Ph’d water…?

So we’re in respond mode. Will change light cycle early to give them a chance to recover.

Evening update…
All is well in the garden. All the gurls will drop their droopy first leaves and are recovering well. Will know for sure on Sunday.

Curiosity…what was the FRESH SOIL? Was thee a buffer between the fresh soil and the seedling?

Freshly opened Nectar 4. No buffer… Something to think about though. Something in something that I did made them do what they did…lol. That’s why I checked things off. Same process every year and never this. I try to keep my utensils clean bu maybe there was some kind of residue left behind.

Observe, react (not over react), respond (not over respond…LOL). I’ve never panicked cause the plant will fix herself if corrected soon enough.

As always a good question and food for though…

@BlackIrishRedneck it might be the soil ph not the watering or feeding ph. Nectar for the Gods #4 has coco coir in it and is rinsed with rain water. It’s entirely possible that the ph in the batch you got is off.

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Give that guy a cookie…lol. Agree whole heartedly that it could be a PH issue. I always adjust but had to recalibrate several times yesterday. My PH meter may be bad. Gonna order another 1-2 in the meantime.

This mornings update is warranted because of last week’s update…

Monday, 03 May 21…
Morning update…
Gurls look good. Soil is dried. Will water this evening.

Evening update…
Watered all the gurls till runoff. Let them sit in runoff overnight so they could soak some back up.

Tuesday, 04 May 21…
Morning update…
The best feeling after watering is finding all your gurls perked up and reaching for the stars. Nice colors. Everyone working on the 2nd and 3rd set. They are responding nicely to the new light and feeding schedule.

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@BlackIrishRedneck did you do a slurry test on the soil? It gives you a fairly accurate measure of soil ph. If it’s high some neem meal or dry molasses will help bring it back down. If it’s low kelp meal or lime will help bring it back up.

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