Maine Outdoor 2020 (first timer)

NewEnglandFarmer said:

It snowed today and windy as hell...after breaking 60 yesterday. Don't think it will frost tonight but it well could. Seedlings spent most of the day inside the boat (makeshift greenhouse!) under LED but when I checked this afternoon it was 37 degrees in there, so brought them all back in as a precaution. I've seen some cold springs here in Maine but this one takes the cake!

Just finished week three, they're only a few days from transplanting, so not taking chances. Here's a picture of the whole gang:

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Everything looks healthy except one Orange Blossom Special is showing some weird crinkling/shriveling on the leaves. What do you make of this?

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Hopefully this cold snap ends quick and I can get everyone back outside where they belong!

How's everyone else doing this spring?

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30 degree here got plants in a green house don't dare to look till the sun comes up.

In the final days of week 4 now--plants have just enjoyed three straight days off full dawn-to-dusk sun, with today breaking 70 degrees. Finally! Been bringing them in nights because it's been getting down into the thirties, but tonight should be warmer (forties) so they're sleeping out in the cold frame.

Developing third and fourth sets of leaves now. Just noticed some little "nodes" growing on some of them where a leaf stem meets the main stalk. Is this a node where a new leaf is going to emerge, or are these preflowers?

Chinook Haze:


Tomahawk:


Apologize for my total inexperience here, first time ever growing cannabis. Hoping to ID sex before putting them in the earth in 2-3 weeks.

Just finished week 4. Plants are now outdoors 24/7 in a cold frame--I keep the lid open during the day. Eager to ID the males ASAP!

When do I think about topping them? After 5-6 nodes develop? Maybe I should wait until they're in the ground, which hopefully will be in another 2 weeks or so.

Any and all advice appreciated.

With that last late-sprouting seed, it looks like 23 out of 24 germinated--better than I expected. Kudos to Greenpoint on that (plus I guess I must've been doing something right not to screw it up).

I topped my plants at the 6th node...

I'm going to start feeding a little fertilizer--picked up some Coast of Maine Stonington Organic Plant Food. Specifically for veg.

Directions say to water thoroughly first, then work a little into the soil with compost. But this is a dry fertilizer--shouldn't I water it AFTER I add the fert.? They worried about root burn or something? Seems odd with an organic fertilizer.

Also, I saw a video where a woman from CoM says you can make a tea with the stuff and that actually works better with smaller containers. Now I'm all confused...what's the best way to apply this stuff?

I'm not sure because this is my first time but I think maybe these plants should be growing a lot more--it's week 5 and they're just starting their 4th or 5th nodes. Should they be further along? I'm also not able to ID sex at all yet, would really like to do that soon.

Plus I notice that the Stonington Blend soil says that the nutrient charge "expires" after a certain time, depending on the size of the container. I may have already used mine up so I'm thinking maybe these plants need a little snack to boost their growth.

On the other hand they look fine (except for that one Orange Blossom Special that has the crinkled leaves--see photo earlier in thread. Not sure what's going on there).

Another question--today I saw what looked like a root visible in the bottom drain hole. Does that mean these are outgrowing the container? Should I trim the root or just leave it be? They've only been in these 3 quart containers for about 2 weeks and the leaves are just getting to the edges of the container.

Thanks for any and all advice/reassurance. Can't wait to identify the ones I'm keeping and get them in the ground!

They won’t show sex until week 6-8. I’d wait until they are a bit larger before topping. They generally look healthy and are a bit small for 5 weeks but don’t sweat it. Once the weather gets a bit warmer and you figure out a good feeding program, they’ll pick up. Can’t help you on the fertilizer, no experience with what you’re using. Personally, I avoid granular/slow release nutes. They can be hard to regulate. I prefer water soluble but to each their own. Whatever you go with, make sure you get some advise from others who have used the same fertilizer on weed....will make it much easier for you. Bad things can happen if you over-fertilize. Getting your fertilizer routine nailed down won’t be as hard if these are going in the ground, especially if you are amending the soil. Do not cut any roots off that stick out the drainage holes. Your plants are going to shoot roots down to the bottom of your pots and then start to circle. You’ve got some time before they get root bound in those pots. Don’t overwater them. The soil looks saturated.

Hope this helps...

Seawood said:

They won’t show sex until week 6-8.

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OK, I'll be patient. If I have to wait until June to get them in the ground I suppose that's fine.

Seawood said:

I’d wait until they are a bit larger before topping.

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Wonder if I should just wait until after I transplant them, after they recover from the procedure (the first transplant from seedling tray to these pots they didn't seem to miss a beat).

Seawood said:

They generally look healthy and are a bit small for 5 weeks but don’t sweat it. Once the weather gets a bit warmer and you figure out a good feeding program, they’ll pick up..

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Thanks for the reassurance. They definitely got off to a slow start and it's still going down below 50 at night, which must slow things down. Plus they're not under lights getting 18 hours per day).

Seawood said:

Can’t help you on the fertilizer, no experience with what you’re using. Personally, I avoid granular/slow release nutes. They can be hard to regulate. I prefer water soluble but to each their own.

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I could make a tea out of it--woman in the video who actually designed the Stonington Blend soil product recommended that for a smaller pot like what I've got.

Seawood said:

Whatever you go with, make sure you get some advise from others who have used the same fertilizer on weed....will make it much easier for you. Bad things can happen if you over-fertilize.

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Will take it real easy--basically it's just a teaspoon and a half for each container and it's a slow-release organic so I don't think I have to worry too much, as long as I don't go overboard with it. Maybe once a week?

Seawood said:

Getting your fertilizer routine nailed down won’t be as hard if these are going in the ground, especially if you are amending the soil. Do not cut any roots off that stick out the drainage holes. Your plants are going to shoot roots down to the bottom of your pots and then start to circle. You’ve got some time before they get root bound in those pots. Don’t overwater them. The soil looks saturated.

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Okay, will leave the roots be. I'm thinking I've got another 2 weeks maybe before things get rootbound. Hopefully then I can sex them and transplant to ground.

The Stonington blend soil is very rich and dark. I don't think I'm overwatering--soil gets quite dry in the top inch or so. Expecially lately, with them sitting out in the intense late-May sun with breeze and humidty's been down in the thirties this week. If anything I may be underwatering a tad, but I think I have it about right. Who knows, this is all a big learning experience. Am trying to listen carefully to the plants and let them tell me what they need.[/QUOTE]

TheShortAnswer said:

Hope this helps...

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Thanks, I looked at that pretty carefully and did the math for my size container.

Noticed a brown spot on one leaf today, anybody know what this might be?


Seems to be an isolated case. They've been getting a good 8-9 hours of direct sunlight for days on end now, very low humidities, and this afternoon it got as hot as 88 in the shade (I know, crazy for this early in Maine). They were last watered three days ago, planning to drench them in compost tea in the morning. Sun or watering issue?

Other than that spot everything looks reasonably healthy. Except for this funny-looking Orange Blossom Special that's looked like this ever since it grew its second set of leaves. What's going on here?



Here's the whole lot:

They look good. I'm in Maine too. The plant with the odd look is probably just hardening and adjusting, some do weird stuff like that for awhile. edit: if it's been like that from birth it will either settle into normal growth or not within the next few nodes.

I'm posting because I wanted to second that slow growth is normal outside here right now. Once they're in the ground and next month you'll see explosive growth.

I wouldn't count on them showing sex tbh, you may have to take clones from the tops and force flower them, but they're not nearly big enough yet.

You could also light deprive them for a few hours each morning or evening for the next few weeks to get them to preflower. This would ultimately delay their vegetative stage a bit but you'd know which are male.

Every plant I’ve grown from seed has shown sex between week 6-8. I wouldn’t try to trigger flowering to sex your plants but to each his own. It’s an unnecessary delay, IMO. I’d sooner plant them and have to pull the males later than do that.

Yeah I agree strongly now that you mention it. We have a short enough veg season as is, shouldn’t shorten it.

If you must know, clone and flower those, that’s what I’m doing.

I guess it varies, how much resources you’re willing to put into a potential male. I’ve had some go pretty far into a season without showing.

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Noticed a brown spot on one leaf today, anybody know what this might be?
View attachment 4574112

Seems to be an isolated case. They've been getting a good 8-9 hours of direct sunlight for days on end now, very low humidities, and this afternoon it got as hot as 88 in the shade (I know, crazy for this early in Maine). They were last watered three days ago, planning to drench them in compost tea in the morning. Sun or watering issue?

Other than that spot everything looks reasonably healthy. Except for this funny-looking Orange Blossom Special that's looked like this ever since it grew its second set of leaves. What's going on here?

View attachment 4574113

Here's the whole lot:
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Looks like a good time to pinch those tops off.

I'm in week 6 now and I only see one plant showing preflowers. Not sure if it's male or female, will have to get a magnifying glass to see if I can see a pistil. By the shape I'm guessing it's male but they're awfully small.

These have been in the 1 gallon pots for 3 weeks and I thought they might be getting rootbound so I up-potted to 2 gallon pots. Kind of a pain and not what I was planning on, but I figured it would be best to keep those roots healthy before they go in the ground. Everything looked good, roots were definitely starting to circle the pot but looked bright white.

Getting to 5-6 nodes now. Still seems awful slow going but then again we still had some nights in the 40s earlier this week. Days have been warm, though, and lately nights have stayed in the 60s.

This does take patience, doesn't it?

Help me identify sex here, please. These are the first real preflowers I'm seeing. Took a few pics.

What do you think? At first I thought boy for sure but now I'm not sure if I'm seeing a pair of pistils showing in the image of just one preflower.

Today I noticed what looks to me like pistils coming out of some other preflowers on this same plant. Correct? She's a keeper?

Yep, that’s a bitch.

My first girl...

I'll be following your cherry popping grow farmer.
I grow GPS outside as well here in Maine.
Copper Chem is my favorite lemon cleaner, sativa dominant high.
Eagle Scouts turned out great! I got a strong girl scout leaner!
Night Rider was fantastic and led me to get the Tomahawk which I have sexing now.
Sundae Stallion I ended up with several phenos and one was strong grape.
I am sprouting some Bison Breath also. I'm a big Chemdog fan.
I sex mine inside in April and May and the healthy females are saved and revegged.
They will grow very slowly until the groud in above,around 50* So mine will go out by the farmers almanac.
After the first full moon in June.