OK, update time: basically, the terrible weather continued for most of the 6 weeks after my last post. Lots of pics happened, some of which are potentially lost forever due to a hard drive crash, more exist but I'll have to spend some time digging them out of my computer. Maybe tomorrow i will have time.
We started pulling the tarp August 3rd. By this point all the autos were well on their way, and everything else was crowning nicely by a week later. We did get ahold of the wiring needed to run a dehumidifier while the tarp was on- it obviously did fuck all to run it during the day since a huge greenhouse outside is nothing remotely like a closed system.
To deal with falling temps, we built a small building (6'x8'x6.5' tall) next to one end of the greenhouse, put in a barrel stove, and pumped in hot air via an insulated pipe at soil level, using a large fan to distribute the heat under the canopy.
Sadly, we lost several ounces off the autos due to grey mold. A couple of them got cut down right before we started pulling the tarp to make room for plants in 3 gallon pots with the bottoms cut off, just to test other strains. Some of the autos did fantastic, some were basically just shit. All told we got around 2.5# off the remaining autos. We harvested them around September 20th.
The other half of the plants got cut down... October 9th iirc? Many of these did perfectly well for themselves, some started out trash and ended trash- somebody else had done the cloning and then basically took shit care of them, and we weren't around to make sure they weren't getting all fucked up. So there were probably 10 or so that basically contributed a couple decent colas each. Final weight off the non autos was close to 3#.
All told, we got a bit under 6# total, and made 4oz oil and wax from the trimmings.
Weight was low in the end despite how good everything looked on most of the plants. Why? Density, density, density. So much of what we trimmed in the end just got mulched up and made into wax or smoked, it was kind of sickening.
What did we learn? Mother nature is a fickle bitch up around the 61st parallel, and while last year would have been an absolutely stellar year, this year was crap. If i do it again next year, I'll build a structure that runs East/West, the North wall will be insulated, the South will be angled and made of glass, there will be electricity inside to run fans and a dehumidifier, and there will be a wood stove. It will be sealed from the elements, and I'll have supplemental lighting for longer periods of clouds, I'll plant everything from good clones the second or third week of May, and I'll start pulling the tarp July first.
Part of the problem was also that the plants got a lot bigger than i expected- the intensity of the Alaska sun in June is no joke- and so the distance between the soil and the net was too long; there was lots and lots of bare stem on the plants, up to 30% more than i anticipated, despite the net only being 4" higher than I'm used to working with.
But fuck it, it was mostly fun, and it was still satisfying to try something so ridiculous and still get a harvest to show for it. Here's a few nugs of my favorite flavors.
