(Outdoor, 1st ever grow) Northernberry

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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Unless NB7 was found in an unbelievably short time in a very secluded part of the woods, I'm probably the first one on RIU to actually misplace one of my plants.

Next sunny day I'm going out there at 4PM and searching every light spot in the area, since it was about that time when I put it in the light. Being down to 3 plants for now, I'm afraid to put any more outside.

I may just settle for trying to grow them inside in a very very small area on a small budget... but I don't feel I can meet their lighting needs when they flower.
 
BigGuyTok'n

BigGuyTok'n

Well-Known Member
oGipRotRe said:
Unless NB7 was found in an unbelievably short time in a very secluded part of the woods, I'm probably the first one on RIU to actually misplace one of my plants.

Next sunny day I'm going out there at 4PM and searching every light spot in the area, since it was about that time when I put it in the light. Being down to 3 plants for now, I'm afraid to put any more outside.

I may just settle for trying to grow them inside in a very very small area on a small budget... but I don't feel I can meet their lighting needs when they flower.
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Well we are stoners and we can't forget to be proud of our firsts, whether good bad or embarrassing, at least you were the first to do it.:hump:
Good luck Sherlock as you search for her whereabouts and/or clues thereof to her disappearance. I hope you get to the bottom of this mystery.
OK, I'm stoned and have a strange sense of humor.:roll::peace:
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
A stoners sense of humor is a good thing in my books, and I wish I could show you how great the indoor girls are doing. NB8 has definitely taken the lead with 4 leaves (first 2 sets) each about 1¾" long, with a total span of about 3½"

Maybe NB7 will grow to a size easier to find if I give her some time... LOL

Regardless, if I don't fuck up with the other 3 it's no big deal. shit happens, life goes on. I'm excited for the 3 I've got beside me.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
oh and the new growth on NB6 is a little lighter in color, does this indicate anything important?

It's not going yellow or anything, just light green instead of dark green. I don't think it's anything to worry about but I'm no good at leaf reading so I thought I'd mention it.
 
BigGuyTok'n

BigGuyTok'n

Well-Known Member
oGipRotRe said:
oh and the new growth on NB6 is a little lighter in color, does this indicate anything important?

It's not going yellow or anything, just light green instead of dark green. I don't think it's anything to worry about but I'm no good at leaf reading so I thought I'd mention it.
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I don't think that the lighter color on new growth is anything to be concerned about, mine seem to do the same thing.:peace:
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
well today I was out in the woods again, and found a tunnel through those blackberry bushes to an area of the woods where the easiest way out of the area that I can find is back through that tunnel, which requires me to crawl or crouch through it. There's a nice open area with lots of sunlight on the other side of the thorned blackberry bushes, beyond which there is a very steep hill with shrubs so dense you can't tell where the ground is (certainly nothing I would expect any hikers or hunters to navigate by choice).

I've seen this kind of bush-tunnel before, and I guess animals (coyotes? black bears?) would be a likely reason... I wonder how they can stand plowing through 10-15ft of thorny bushes though. Anyway it looks like a great spot because it's very hidden, not a pleasant place to get in or out of, and has lots of light.

a concern is that the blackberry bushes can grow vigorously and it could cause a problem if they crowded my entry path... but I can get in NOW and if I can still get in 2 weeks from now then it should be alright... and if I do put my plants out there and the blackberries become too invasive, I can always chop my way through them if worse comes to worst. I'm not in a big hurry to get my plants outside, so I'll give it some time and keep looking for other spots while I think about it.

Anyway, as for the girls:
NB6 - No significant vertical growth lately, just bushing out her foliage. Her 2nd leaf sets leafset has totally evened out in size except for one leaflet which is barely bigger than the pointy end of a toothpick... Her 3rd leaf set appears right now to be another 3-pronged set like the 2nd. Her 1st leafsets leaves are about 1.5-1.75" long

NB8 - tends to lean over when I mist her then stay like that for about a day. Her 2nd leaf set is actually bigger than her 1st now, with each leaf being about 2" long and the secondary leaflets really growing in quickly, and the 3rd leaf set still kind of small but 3 nicely distinguished leaflets coming out a little farther with every day. Very nice shade of green, and very well-defined veins on the leaves. She looks as though she were being LST'd with invisible string, forming a bit of an S shape and also slouching to half her full standing height - I like it though because even her cotyledons are getting lit whereas the other girls' lower leaves are shaded by the top ones.

NB9 - Coming along nicely, always leans heavily in the direction of the light and I always turn her away from it so she grows evenly. First leafset is nice and broad, and 2nd is finally showing some signs of secondary leaflets on the sides. Still no sign of a 3rd leafset but her 1st is growing quickly.

They all actually look really nice, not just as weed but as plants. If this were just a house-plant that never flowered into something I smoked, I'd probably still like to have it around! I've never had an interest in gardening but this project is getting me there.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
I've mixed a tea spoon of molasses into 2 liters of distilled water, which is what I used to water them today and will keep watering them with it for a while. I know most people don't touch the stuff until flowering, but I've heard that molasses promotes life-rich soil with beneficial microbes and stuff - as well as something about vitamin B (B6 is molasses, dunno if that's the right kind) promoting root growth and pest tolerance.

I don't know how much validity any of that has, but I do know that many people use it and I haven't heard of any detriment coming from it... I already had some so there was really nothing to lose.

This ugly mirky fluid sure does smell nice!
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
I'm about to go take NB8 outside. I will be putting NB9 & NB6 out within a week or two, but not to the same spot. I'm going to have 3 sites for 3 plants to improve my chances of making it to harvest.

I've scouted out where I want NB8, and I'm probably going on a hike tomorrow to find 2 more spots... then another hike a few days later to make sure I know my way... and so on until I feel comfortable. I already know the area where NB8 is going very well though, so since the cold wet weather is over I figure the sooner I get her under the sun the better. She's 12 days old, and the weather for the next 2 weeks is supposed to be sunny with very little rain, and temperatures averaging in the 50's, 60's and a few warmer periods - anyone think it's a bad idea?

Well, I'm on my way. I'll take her back in if I get a negative reaction from knowledgeable growers.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Well, I put NB8 out and I think I've done it right this time around...

First of all, it's farther out in the middle of nowhere, about 2-4 miles (bushwacking) off a very seldom used logging road, and through a ton of blackberries. Second, I took notes on the area and exactly where I planted her - and went out 3 more times after scouting it before bringing in a plant; so I know I won't misplace her!

The location can be kind of swampy/marshy after extended periods of heavy rain but I've got her on the highest ground so she'll be high & dry even if it were to flood.

Also, I was much more stealthy this time around. She's staying in a pot for now, but not sticking out like a sore thumb as NB7 was. I dug a hole nearly 2 times the pots height and lowered it into the hole; as a result the top of the plant is even lower than where the top of the pot would have been if just placed on the ground. I filled in the excess space up to ground level with soft clumps of dirt (held together by forest shrubs roots) that could easily be removed by hand without harming her when it's transplant time.

At this point I had a brown patch in the middle of endless green in all directions, with a little seedling (buried up to its lowest leaves) poking out in the middle. All the dirt & lack of vegetation made the spot stand out a little so I covered the entire area up with natural mulch and now it just blends right in to all the shades of green around it. Besides ferns, raspberry bushes, and huckleberry bushes there are 3-4 plant species in the area immediately surrounding it that have similar shaped leaves to maple leafs & weed. Right now it doesn't look the slightest bit out of place, and when it gets bigger I'll be tieing it down to keep a low profile... but it may stand out when flowering!! Shouldn't be a problem though because I don't expect anyone

...oh and this is FAR away from where I had NB7. When I went back looking for her again, I checked under bushes near where I found the pots I didn't bring in - and I found a hidden garbage bag with a trowel, some MG potting soil, and some unopened bone meal. That pretty much sold me on the idea someone else had been guerrilla growing very near by, and if they discovered NB7 or any other evidence I'd been there, I'm sure they got a little edgy. Even though I lost a plant, I don't want to make enemies or be perceived as a threat by anyone so I left all that grow stuff exactly as I found it and won't go back anywhere near there again. It's pretty clear that anyone partaking in such activities in such places want space and privacy so I'll give them just that, and hope I get the same @ my new site.

After looking at NB8 from all sides, close up and from afar, I think someone bushwhacking out there for whatever reason would be more likely to step on her than to acknowledge anything to be out of place. Overall this time I have much more light (6+ hours direct sunlight, much of it in the early morning), farther away from where people go, and actually hidden.

Only downside is that on my way in and out I saw lots of slugs & snails (none close to my grow spot though). I'm hoping molasses water discourages them from coming close to NB8, but I'll get dolomite lime too if I have any problems.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Someone knows the area and watches the area much better than I do. It's just been a couple days, and I went for my first outdoor checkup on NB8 only to find a hole and an empty pot.

The remote & ruggedness of the spot gave me the idea that it probably hadn't been touched by man in years. So quiet and peaceful, with the constant sound of birds singing and the sights and smells only present in an old growth rain forest. I went into this accepting the possibility that some day my plants may eventually be found, but this was beyond my wildest imagination. 2 plants at 2 different times on nearly opposite sides of the same mountain, a good drive out of town and a ways off the logging road via bushwacking in an area where there aren't any trails for a long ways - and both go missing, each in under a week. Absolutely unbelievable.

I noticed what appeared to be branchy-gates around the area... crossing branches that looked as if they were snapped off a tree and propped up across the easiest path through the bush, as if to indicate to whoever put them there that someone (ie. me) had passed through the area. I don't think law enforcement had anything to do with this because firstly they don't wonder around the woods aimlessly 24/7 and second there are barely any police in my town anyway. Whoever did find it would have had to recognized a young cannabis plant (without the classical large leaves with 5/7 leaflets)
because its pot wasn't showing above ground and it was in the midst of a large bunch of other things, so unless a lightbulb turns on in the head saying "hey that's weed" why would someone dig it up

I just wrote a friendly note on white cardboard with a sharpie and tomorrow I will go leave it where NB8 was dug up. Perhaps who ever is keeping such a close watch on the place will be compassionate if I reach out to them, perhaps I'm just getting myself into trouble.

I am obviously not suited for guerrilla growing, and NEED to keep these last 2 inside if I see them through until the end. If anyone could turn me on to the absolute cheapest or most cost-effective method of growing indoors, please enlighten me. Keep in mind both my remaining plants are in soil, so hydro would be tough to switch to and if I did it would be something like a hempy bucket for the sake of simplicity and low cost - but sticking with soil is probably what I'll do. Just wondering about a cheap method of lighting, that would work throughout flowering (yield not important)
 
BigGuyTok'n

BigGuyTok'n

Well-Known Member
Yep, sounds like you're on someone else's turf.
If you have to keep them inside, the cheapest (and I've seen a lot of success this way too) way will be flouro's and cfl's. Just get the biggest and as many cfl's as you can afford and go for it. Keep a fan on them and for odor maybe some Ona block.
Good luck, you seem quite resourceful, I'm sure you'll figure something out.:peace:
 
mared juwan

mared juwan

Well-Known Member
I want to hear if you get a reply to the note. That's terrible luck to put your plants in the wilderness and have someone patrolling it like that. I'd make sure someone's not watching you because it's very difficult for one or even several people to search that amount of ground each day.
 
whoreable

whoreable

Well-Known Member
oGipRotRe said:
Someone knows the area and watches the area much better than I do. It's just been a couple days, and I went for my first outdoor checkup on NB8 only to find a hole and an empty pot.

The remote & ruggedness of the spot gave me the idea that it probably hadn't been touched by man in years. So quiet and peaceful, with the constant sound of birds singing and the sights and smells only present in an old growth rain forest. I went into this accepting the possibility that some day my plants may eventually be found, but this was beyond my wildest imagination. 2 plants at 2 different times on nearly opposite sides of the same mountain, a good drive out of town and a ways off the logging road via bushwacking in an area where there aren't any trails for a long ways - and both go missing, each in under a week. Absolutely unbelievable.

I noticed what appeared to be branchy-gates around the area... crossing branches that looked as if they were snapped off a tree and propped up across the easiest path through the bush, as if to indicate to whoever put them there that someone (ie. me) had passed through the area. I don't think law enforcement had anything to do with this because firstly they don't wonder around the woods aimlessly 24/7 and second there are barely any police in my town anyway. Whoever did find it would have had to recognized a young cannabis plant (without the classical large leaves with 5/7 leaflets)
because its pot wasn't showing above ground and it was in the midst of a large bunch of other things, so unless a lightbulb turns on in the head saying "hey that's weed" why would someone dig it up

I just wrote a friendly note on white cardboard with a sharpie and tomorrow I will go leave it where NB8 was dug up. Perhaps who ever is keeping such a close watch on the place will be compassionate if I reach out to them, perhaps I'm just getting myself into trouble.

I am obviously not suited for guerrilla growing, and NEED to keep these last 2 inside if I see them through until the end. If anyone could turn me on to the absolute cheapest or most cost-effective method of growing indoors, please enlighten me. Keep in mind both my remaining plants are in soil, so hydro would be tough to switch to and if I did it would be something like a hempy bucket for the sake of simplicity and low cost - but sticking with soil is probably what I'll do. Just wondering about a cheap method of lighting, that would work throughout flowering (yield not important)
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As bad as this sounds, its a great story, you have me heavily interested, sitting on the edge of my seat, its like a Steven King book!

Go ahead and leave the note, lol, nobody would expect that and if was LEO than he will be like wtf, hahah.

I would take them inside and do an inside grow if you dont want them to be taken, plus, you only have two now, its possible that both may be males outside, you would be able to spot them earlier inside.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
yeah given the distance between the 2 spots I doubt it's even the same people, and there's still a possibility the first one was misplaced... but I was astonished when I went out to see NB8 this morning, I mean if someone TOLD me where to turn off the logging road and what general direction to head through the bush in, and that there was a plant there, I probably wouldn't have been able to find it - but not only did someone, but they found it very quickly. I never saw or heard a sign of anyone near or on the way to or from the spot, but I imagine if they heard me plowing through bushes and snapping branches they'd have laid low and not made noise if they were out there doing what I was doing. I did notice some raspberries had been picked but I figured birds or other animals could have done so. I could have been watched.

Anyway thanks for the tips, I checked out that ona block stuff and it looks like a good product and I'll definitely pick some up. Wish I had a private yard besides the "common green space" that comes along with my townhouse but indoors will have to do. The guerrilla method isn't for me, at least not around here and without a car. Can't be bike riding up and down logging road hills and getting scraped up in bushes if it's just gunna disappear a day later. If there was a place this couldn't have happened I'd have thought I was in it, but now I have no idea what to expect from any place so everywhere is high risk by my standards.

Everyone always whines about using CFLs for flower so I wasn't sure what the result would be, but if I could just get a quarter ounce or something I'd be more than happy... having just 2 plants remaining I'd be more than happy with anything at all.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Well I've put the note out now, and being high at the time my artistic (or just plain wierdo) side got the best of me. In the spot where NB8 had been dug up (right on the hole that's still there in fact) I've placed 5 fern branches facing outwards from 1 point, forming a half circle of outward facing branches (that narrow into points on the outside of the half-circle and fat towards the center) in an obvious artistic rendition of a pot leaf, complete with a nice long leafless green vine for its stem. The ferns are even arranged by size so the largest 1 is centered while the 2 to its left and 2 to its right are progressively smaller to the outside. Beside it, lower on the mound, I placed 2 round leaves of some other plant above a short curved vine, making what looks like a classic smiley face :)

The note is under some nearby bushes in a spot you'd only see if you practically stood right @ the exact location NB8 was and where the hole is now. Since whoever's out there pays such good attention to the place they can find my plant in a matter of days, I'm sure the smiley face and pot leaf crafted from forest scraps will get their attention so the note is found!

The "leaf" formation of ferns is probably about 3.5 ft across, the description above doesn't really do it justice. A camera would have been crazy cool to have at the time.
...yeah, I guess I kinda had some fun with it. is that a bad thing? LOL
 
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BigGuyTok'n

BigGuyTok'n

Well-Known Member
Sounds cool, I can't wait to see how this turns out.
Hey I just had a thought for a new episode of weeds (I've never actually seen the show) about this guy who keeps having someone take his plants and then he leaves this creative note and well you're still working on the ending...:peace:
 
whoreable

whoreable

Well-Known Member
oGipRotRe said:
yeah given the distance between the 2 spots I doubt it's even the same people, and there's still a possibility the first one was misplaced... but I was astonished when I went out to see NB8 this morning, I mean if someone TOLD me where to turn off the logging road and what general direction to head through the bush in, and that there was a plant there, I probably wouldn't have been able to find it - but not only did someone, but they found it very quickly. I never saw or heard a sign of anyone near or on the way to or from the spot, but I imagine if they heard me plowing through bushes and snapping branches they'd have laid low and not made noise if they were out there doing what I was doing. I did notice some raspberries had been picked but I figured birds or other animals could have done so. I could have been watched.

Anyway thanks for the tips, I checked out that ona block stuff and it looks like a good product and I'll definitely pick some up. Wish I had a private yard besides the "common green space" that comes along with my townhouse but indoors will have to do. The guerrilla method isn't for me, at least not around here and without a car. Can't be bike riding up and down logging road hills and getting scraped up in bushes if it's just gunna disappear a day later. If there was a place this couldn't have happened I'd have thought I was in it, but now I have no idea what to expect from any place so everywhere is high risk by my standards.

Everyone always whines about using CFLs for flower so I wasn't sure what the result would be, but if I could just get a quarter ounce or something I'd be more than happy... having just 2 plants remaining I'd be more than happy with anything at all.
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People under-estimate the CLF's power. Check out my grow log, Ive got a beasty plant under 3clfs and 1 Flour T12.

I think if you flowered a plant with atleast 6 CFL's you can get almost an ounce, depends on stain though.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
BigGuyTok'n said:
Sounds cool, I can't wait to see how this turns out.
Hey I just had a thought for a new episode of weeds (I've never actually seen the show) about this guy who keeps having someone take his plants and then he leaves this creative note and well you're still working on the ending...:peace:
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LOL well I'll give it a few days and go back out there and see if there's an interesting ending!

whoreable said:
People under-estimate the CLF's power. Check out my grow log, Ive got a beasty plant under 3clfs and 1 Flour T12.

I think if you flowered a plant with atleast 6 CFL's you can get almost an ounce, depends on stain though.
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awesome! there's hope after all
 
mared juwan

mared juwan

Well-Known Member
So what did you write in the note? I'm just curious because I was thinking about what I would write if I were in that situation and there's several ways you could handle it. And nice touch with the branches. If the person who jacked your plant can't appreciate the humor then you're not getting it back anyway.

CFLs can make nice flowers but once you have more than one or two plants it just makes sense to get an HID system. The cost curve for CFLs rises much faster than that of HIDs as the number of plants increases. Sorry, my econ class coming through there:roll:. I mean as you increase the number of plants it becomes much more expensive with CFLs to provide the same amount of light to all plants that you did for just one. So you could adequately light one three foot plant with CFLs for $60(BALLPARK!!!). One 400 watt HPS system costs as little as $125. It can adequately light 6 three foot tall plants. To light these same 6 plants with the same intensity using CFLs would cost twice as much at least. So it depends on your budget, grow space, and goals. And for the record I am no CFL hater, I use them for veg. They're awesome if you don't want to deal with ventilating the massive heat put out by HIDs.

I think it's a good decision to move indoors. Outdoors has too many variables for me. Research as much as you can and choose carefully when it comes to lighting. Both methods have their pros and cons. Hope you liked my essay. Peace.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
started with a 'hello stranger, it appears you've found something I left out here' and basically says I was only out there looking for a place to do my own thing and don't mean any harm - and suggested that I'd be very appreciative if that which was mine found its way back to that spot, and that I'd only come back to see if the note had been read and I'd not keep coming back or bring any unwanted attention.

If when I go back the note is gone or the spot is otherwise changed, it will be my last trip out there... if it looks as if I left it I'll give it some time and go out once after that. I'll definitely bring something to smoke, just in case I bump into who ever it is who's out there... maybe they'll be compassionate if I share haha.

Anyway, thanks for the info but due to space and budget I think fluorescent will have to suffice... It looks like I'll only have 2 plants anyway, and they're not from FEM seeds either. If I do end up doing more plants for whatever reason, I'll definitely lean towards HPS
 
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