Land of Lincoln....Outdoor 2010

[Freda Felcher]

Hello everyone! I'm running about a month behind getting this posted. Due to poor spring weather, i didn't break ground until june 20th. We had way too much rain and cold weather leading up until then. The two spots i chose are close to farm ground, but in prairie grass areas that do not get mowed. Due to the rich fertile native soil underneath, i didn't need to pack in soil bags. I looked up the area on a soils map at the farm bureau and saw that it was rich in muscatine soil, which is a very good type to grow in. I brought a 20 gallon bucket container to scoop soil into and separate out the prairie grass roots. I dug out approximately two foot by two foot. Then dug down to a foot and a half. I make sure all debris is out of the native soil in the container and then pour most of it back in, leaving some to put on top later after everything has been mixed in the hole. This helps keep the perlite I add in from coming up later. Along with the perlite I also add in Kelp Meal(2-0-5), Azomite, Liquid Seaweed(0-0-1) Rooter's Mycorrhizae, dolamite lime, worm castings and a tablespoon of mexican bat guano. Mix it all together then pour on the top layer of soil still in the container, water it down and plant my rooted clones.
My strains are Vortex(TGA), Rock-Lock(DNA) feminized and Cannadential(DNA). I have three different moms of vortex, two of the cannadential and the one feminized RL. At first I had 16 plants set out, 8 at each plot. But due to heavy rains and deer at one of the plots a few weeks back, I lost 4 of them. I now have 12 total with 8 at one plot and four on the other.
Here is a few pictures of my mom's and the clones....

 

[Freda Felcher]

Just a few pictures of the hole digging and soil conditioning process. I failed to mention how i cleared out my plots. One plot I used the machete and cleared a 15 by 15 foot area, the other plot i cut out individual spots for each plant.

 

[pot scott]

should yield good with all that sunlight

 

[Norcal14]

ya man extremely nice and sunny plus there that little farm creek thats a nice spot man i would fill that field up!

 

[Freda Felcher]

should yield good with all that sunlight

Yeah, one plot is set on a gentle slope with no trees around, the other has trees to the west, but it gets a great southeast exposure so it should work!

 

[pot scott]

the only downside is u will prolly need to train them to keep the height the same as the surrounding plants, but if ur not growin a whole lot, it's straight as hell

 

[Freda Felcher]

ya man extremely nice and sunny plus there that little farm creek thats a nice spot man i would fill that field up!

Ha Ha! I totally forgot to mention the water is within 50 feet at both plots....huge bonus if you ask me! Thanks for the reminder Norcal!

 

[Freda Felcher]

the only downside is u will prolly need to train them to keep the height the same as the surrounding plants, but if ur not growin a whole lot, it's straight as hell

The native grass and weeds are still well above the height of my plants. Next trip in, i'm going to use the machete to do some trimming around the bushes and let in some more light. i love the machete, use it any time i can...whack whack! For now, here is some up to date pics of my tree's....enjoy!

 

[Freda Felcher]

More pictures from preparing and planting the plot....

 

[Freda Felcher]

While preparing my second plot of eight, I had an encounter with one of the worst noxious weeds you can touch to your skin, wild parsnip. The plant actually has many medicinal uses and can be used in foods. But during the late spring, they begin to pollinate. This pollen is like acid to the skin. You feel it almost immediately with a red rash, then if exposed to the sun, it bubbles up on the surface of the skin and burns like hell when they pop. Then it leaves you with big scars. The shit sucks, avoid getting near your skin at all costs. I found out the hard way! If you go back and look at the before I trimmed out my spot picture, you will see it growing all over. Here is a few pictures of the plant, it has the little yellow flowers in a circular shape. Also i included some pics of the damage to my skin......shitty

 

[rolled1]

holy crap! thanks for posting photos of this enemy! and the damage done.
looks like it hurts like hell!

 

[Freda Felcher]

holy crap! thanks for posting photos of this enemy! and the damage done.
looks like it hurts like hell!

Thanks! It's healed up now. I'm using some special mineral ointment that is supposed to get rid of the scars. It burned like hell and itched some as well when the bubbles would pop. Look out for it when it's flowering, that is when the pollen is produced.

 

[Freda Felcher]

This is my first run at organic growing and brewing tea. In the strainer i have Mexican Bat Guano, Jamaican Bat Guano and worm castings. I also added molasses, liquid karma and sea kelp. The tea has now been brewing a day and will brew until the morning when apply it at my plots. I have a bubbler stone in the bucket and stir it every few hours. When i go to feed my plants in the morning I plan to bring an extra bucket so i can add 2 parts water to 1 part tea. After this feeding if they respond well, i will take it down to 1 part water to 1 part tea. feel free to comment or add a suggestion, Thanks FF!

 

[Freda Felcher]

So far all plants have responded really well to the first batch of guano tea. Some have exploded with growth, almost double in size within a week! Everything looks good and it has been raining at least once a week, which has cut down on watering trips. I pruned a bunch of lower growth and a few fan leaves to let more light in and get those lower nodes growing.

 

[Freda Felcher]

So it's been a few days since my last update. Both plots are growing fine but at one of them I have found some spots showing up on the leaves. I checked for insects all over the plant but came up with nothing. I'm guessing it's some type of nute deficiency or lockout? Let me know what you think, thanks!

 

[Freda Felcher]

Shit, forgot the pics!

 

[Freda Felcher]

Bump on this! I need Help because i'm heading back out there shortly and would like to know what i can do to stop it. Thanks for the Help!

 

[crackbaby]

Looks like a burn. Did you foliar feed?

 

[roundplanet]

Hey just ask veggiegardener, he will hook you right up with what you need for that problem. Good god that looks terrible, and I thought chigger's were bad, man! Good luck with the rest of the grow season, looks to me like you have a good start.

 

[Freda Felcher]

Looks like a burn. Did you foliar feed?

I fed them a tea i brewed almost two weeks ago. Check above for the ingredients i used. I have checked and waterd twice since then and they have ahad a rain as well. This problem just developed within the past few days...