Hey, @Noddykitty! No pollen to chuck, all female plants!
My next update will feature my bonsai moms, once I get back home from a few days down on Cape Cod.
Are you guessing my bag of commercial garden soil is a banana plant???
Mid-July report.
The bonsai moms are all coming along as expected. Keeping them trimmed and tiny until I can grab some clones to plant outside next spring.
Speaking of which, I have 8 clones, 4 per pot, which I am trying to keep going until next spring. They were cut 4 days ago, and all seem to be alive.
The ten outdoor plants are all doing well. I gave them their last haircut before flowering starts next month, to keep them short and to clear out lower branches for improved airflow.
I’ve got 9 plants that I forced to flower young, three of them clones:
A Blueberry autoflower is done, cut and drying in the basement, right next to the dehumidifier:
Finally, I started 4 White Widow CBD Autoflowers, low THC, high CBD. If anyone wants some of these seeds, PM me and we can work something out.
Lots of fun in the house!
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How do you plan on protecting your outdoor photo periods from the cool fall weather?. typically MA doesn’t switch to 12/12 until late august.
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12/12 is an indoor growing convention. Cannabis flowers when it detects that the days are getting shorter. The easy way for indoor growers is to flip from 18/6 to 12/12. My plants start to flower in August. I am seeing preflowers now, lower leaves are yellowing and the smell is starting. It’ll stay above freezing until November. My harvests are typically in October.
I am curious about some of my African strains which come from near the equator where it is 12/12 every day all year long. I got good weed in Uganda right on the equator, I don’t know how their plants have adapted.
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@Bushdoc true equatorial sativas have evolved to detect even the slightest change in light intensity and duration. A change even in milliseconds (just a flash of bright light) or even just a change of intensity greater than 10 nmol (up or down) can be detected. Many have also evolved to detect wet/dry seasons to know when to flower. This, along with their ability to continue vegetative growth as they flower, and their continued evolution toward being perennial like, makes flowering an equatorial sativa very strain specific outside of basic photoperiod. Some won’t flower unless it’s wet, some won’t flower unless it’s dry, and some have developed autoflower like traits or genes (I say autoflower like because it is still photoperiod dependent and they won’t flower under 18/6 but will under 12/12) that only activate after sexual maturity but it doesn’t stop vegetative growth. Equatorial sativas are pretty amazing with how versatile their genes are. My favorite ones are the ones that adapted to creep like vines to access more food and keep from washing away in monsoon floods.
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@MDBuds Very interesting, thanks. My bonsai Malawi Gold is showing preflowers, despite the 5am to 8:30pm lights she has been under (corresponds to June 21 here). During the day, I put them outside if it’s not too hot, but back in before sunset. I trimmed off those shoots and increased the lights by an hour.
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That makes me feel better. I’m growing in Boston abd feel like I might have started a little too late. End of May. They aren’t flowering yet but i have a couple of Auto Flowers that are! Do you have a grow room indoor that you use as well?
On the other side of things I haven’t sprayed with any pest prevention yet. But the August humidity is making me think I should start. I think it was 89% RH yesterday. I’m going on a roof deck so there isn’t much worry for bugs.
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I was traveling, so I didn’t start my seeds until early May. I have started them as late as June. They still flowered when autumn came.
I have a makeshift space indoors that I use, but my primary growing is outdoors.
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Hey, Kyle, I’m in Marlborough, about 1/2 hour west of Boston. Are you right in Boston?
When harvest time comes, I’d be very happy to swap some buds with you. I have 9 big plants outside, which will produce way more than I need. Should be ready in late October, though I have some sativas that will likely go into November.
I can also give you some clones if you’re interested in raising them.
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This is all great info! Haha I hope I make it to harvest. But with everybody’s help from
this forum I’m sure I will.
Yeah I live in South Boston. This is my first grow. Hopefully I will be moving soon, braintree/canton area, so I will have more space to grow!
That would be awesome! I wish, But I don’t have any indoor space for clones.
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@Bushdoc must be the change in light intensity/duration outdoor. Once some feel the light changing it triggers flower. Usually a few weeks after the summer aphelion which was July 4th this year. So it makes sense that it would have began to flower late July early August. Haven’t grown Malawi Gold myself but it makes sense if the aphelion triggered flower like it does for many equatorial sativas.
My personal outdoor grow in my green house has just started showing preflowers within the passed week. Have a few in there with strong sativa traits still stretching during flower. Gotta love those sativa genes. Lol
My 30 gallon tester tubs started flowering early though because I had them next to a stall that blocks most of the morning sun.
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Thanks, I never heard of the aphelion, I just looked it up.
When I put these gals outside, I’d leave them in partial shade, thinking they are bonsai, I don’t want them to grow too much. That could be it.
Late August Report
Outdoors, I now have two Malawi Gold plants, they keep stretching, it’s been tough to keep them short. Both are over 6 feet. They are not yet showing signs of flower, Malawi is pretty close to the equator, so the days here in the north are not short enough. They are long flowering anyway, so I foresee a race against frost in November.
Two Afghans and 3 Durban Poisons, both from higher latitudes, have plenty of white pistils popping, on target for October harvest.
Three late-starting White Widow CBD autos are well into flower.
I have yanked three plants which inexplicably went limp. They were in a patch with 7 other plants, so I executed them to prevent their problem from spreading.
Indoors, my bonsai plants have fought off spider mites and are doing well. I increased the light by an hour to stop flowering. Three pots of clones are thriving.
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Did you make it to harvest on your outdoor grow yet?
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Not yet, too early. Besides, I am traveling for a month. So they are on their own. When I left a week ago, a few had not even started flowering yet.
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Me as well. In ireland for 10 days. Set up a blumat system. Hopefully they are okay! they were in week 3-4 of flower! My sister watered one day but they have been reliant on the blumat for about a week at this point.
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Well good luck to us!
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I just got back. They look
great. only a couple of slightly yellow leaves.
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Welcome back! I still have until October 7 before I return. Well see how mother nature takes care of my plants. Yellow leaves in flower are no big deal as the plant gives all its energy to the flowers.
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How do your girls look?