NoTillPhil's 2018 Backyard Tree Mission

too larry said:

It is the length of the dark period, not the light, that determines the flower trigger. Longer nights makes them flower, so when you break the night up into two shorter nights, it fools them into thinking it is summertime. Known as the Gas Lantern Routine. Folks in the tropics have been doing it forever.

LED lights on a string is what most people use. It doesn't take a lot of light for the plant to register it as daylight.

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too larry said:

The Gas Lantern Routine is used outdoors. You use the sun to veg, but add 2 hours of light at midnight to keep it in veg.

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Cold$moke said:

Subbed


Trying my hand outside first time so im tuning in


I actually.went with hydro though so we'll see how that works haha

I wanted to go with dirt but im just a dirt noob haha

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NoTillPhil said:

Had some winds right off the bat and still need proper caging. The smaller starts mostly put down roots over the first week, but stalks have fattened and I'm sure they will start to burst soon.

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NoTillPhil said:

Meh, my big girls are stalling hard right now. They hated the intense morning sun, so I 've been providing shade then. About 9-12.

I'm also a bit concerned that the soil I've worked all those months is locking out calcium. Have some lower leaves with rust spots showing and purple stems at the tips. No easy adjustment as far as the soil is concerned. I've been foliar feeding in the evenings hoping that once they set a good root system they will begin to pull what they need.

I've either got to much Phosphorus or a low PH. After reading a lot about our local soil and the alkalinity of it, I was led to believe I couldn't drag PH low enough to be out of range with just compost but I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I did. It should steadily be climbing as it further breaks down though. Point being, I'm trying to decide if I should wait it out or adjust my water ( something I never do ) to a higher PH to help it swing through range. I'll continue with foliar while I decide what's going on.

I'll throw up some pics and you guys can help me decide.

I should add that I'm not that worried yet and mostly have faith they will pull through it. Sooner or later their roots will hit pure native soil where calcium should be readily available. That's my story today anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

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too larry said:

Did you harden the plants off for a few days before going out? {excuse me if you have already said} Most love all the sun they can get once they are hardened off.

Until the roots fill out, they can stall a little. A trick is to water just outside of your rootball. It forces the roots to grow out to find the water. And to make sure the soil drys out good before adding water.

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NoTillPhil said:

Yeah, they were outside intermittently for most of their life and maybe a week in the shade before transplant. We are at almost 6000 ft elevation with dry hot weather, I'm guessing that is why. Also the current leaves from indoor growth are likely adapted to less usuable light. Back east there was also no limit to how much sun they could get. I see other growers here using shade cloth. I'm still learning the differences between NY and CO gardening.

First couple days I had to water at the base of plant but am increasing the distance. With the giant root ball from 10 gallon pots they needed to be replenished because they drink that ball dry daily. I could see the droop and return after a good watering. I had to do that the first three or four days. I know my biggest is still putting down roots because the stalk is swelling daily despite very little growth at the tips.

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NoTillPhil said:

Yeah, they were outside intermittently for most of their life and maybe a week in the shade before transplant. We are at almost 6000 ft elevation with dry hot weather, I'm guessing that is why. Also the current leaves from indoor growth are likely adapted to less usuable light. Back east there was also no limit to how much sun they could get. I see other growers here using shade cloth. I'm still learning the differences between NY and CO gardening.

First couple days I had to water at the base of plant but am increasing the distance. With the giant root ball from 10 gallon pots they needed to be replenished because they drink that ball dry daily. I could see the droop and return after a good watering. I had to do that the first three or four days. I know my biggest is still putting down roots because the stalk is swelling daily despite very little growth at the tips.

Click to expand...