Outdoor Grow Kenya Journal

Hi Guys

I am new to this group, but thought I would go ahead and and start a thread on my growth journal, for my planting. This is the first outside planting I have done, and the first growing i have done in nearly a decade (last time was indoor in UK).

Intro:

So being in Kenya I am pretty lucky with the weather, pretty warm all year round, temperatures range from lowest 10 degrees Celsius to about 34 degrees Celsius where I am (a place of elevated altitude) , with good levels of rain flow (although does come heavy during the two rainy seasons.

I have decided to break away from the usual Kenyan landracers, which are 100% Sativa, and have got seeds for the following:

1. Auto Moscow (From Seeds man) x 7
2. Wipeout Express (From Heavy weight seeds) x 7
3. Chemdog (from Green House Seeds) x 7
4. 24k, Kosher Tangie (From DNA Genetics) x 2 (they were a freebie)

I have spare seeds for all of these.

So what has happened so far:

The first thing i did was is to start germinating the seeds indoors using damp tissue paper and placing it in a seed germination station. This is a sealed plastic tower with trays with drainage and air vents (used for sprouting seeds for eating). I used it to keep it humid. I placed this tower under LED lights for 18hrs.

The result of this was partially opened seeds with taproot starting to appear,

After this i transplanted the seeds to seedling pots on trays. The soil i used was the Kenyan red soil (very good for growing, a sandy quality, yet very rich in volcanic and organic matter, taken from near the river. I added warthog manure and giraffe manure (I live in a nature sanctuary). I then added some very basic trace minerals of calcium and magnesium. I then initially placed these under lights for 18hrs a day for 2 days. After this i decided to put plastic open ziplock bags over the trays to make them very humid (but keepin an airgap), and placed them outside away from where birds or animals may get at them. At night I bring them in to have 4 hours under the LED lights.

That brings us to today (5 days into grow), where we now are starting to have some shoots, well apart from one Auto moscow and Wipeout express. I noticed they had not pushed through and thought maybe they were a dud seeds, so i removed a little of the soil and noticed that the seeds have both dropped really deep when the pots were moved. They both have good taproots on them. So I have raised the seeds in their pots and I am hoping that they are able to push up to the surface.

Worries:

Initially I did notice mold appear on the soil after the first 3 days. I realised that this was caused y over watering. So i reduced watering and cleared the mold carefully off. I then sprayed lightly with a water and vinegar mix. Which seems to have done the trick.

Another worry is insects. Due to the organic nature of the soil i am using there could be bugs within the soil. So tonight i will water with water and neem oil. The neem will settle into the soil and hopefully kill the bugs that may be there.

Thanks for reading and looking at the photos. PLease if you have any advice please comment as I am a bit of a newbie.

Thanks

Quick up date on day 9. A couple of mini dramas.

The wipeout express seed was a dud, and never grew. The Auto moscow seed has initially grown but does not look all that healthy.

Another drama: Last evening went to the cinema to watch Creed (great movie) but whilst in the cinema there was a major down pour of rain. When I got home and went to move the seedlings from out door to indoors (as I do in the evening once the sun goes down, I noticed one of the Wipeout express seedlings had a snapped stem. So I splint and tapped it, and buried it a little deeper in the soil hoping that the soil will help it repair, I don't think it will work, the leaves have already curled up, however I will leave it for a couple of days maybe even a week and see if there is any growth.

Another minor drama, whilst moving the seedlings this morning i accidentally knocked one off a table, sending all the soil out of te pot resulting with the stem and roots to be laying on the ground, I quickly re-potted it and hope that it will be just fine.

One of the Chem Dogs is not growing well but will wait and see if that makes it.

Outside temperature range is between 23-29 degrees Celsius, the rain has increased humidity. Although warm it is pretty overcast which is robably keeping the temps down a little.

Great presentation man! Would love to follow your journal! Excited for the update!

Hi Guys sorry, been so busy, with various work and travel commitments. will post an update tomorrow

Hi all.

Sorry slight delay. Super busy.

The plants are at 7 weeks since germination.

So this is what has been happening.

My plant never made it to my farm. They have remained at my house, although i have no major risk. I live in 100 acre sanctuary.

The weather has been too up and down foe me to feel happy about putting the plants in the soil. We had the dreaded El Nino rains and they were so heavy there would have been a chance of a washout.

So i have kept the plants here. Large buckets to grow in with holes drilled in them. You can't buy normal cheap plastic planters in Kenya.

Anyway i have remained organic. Fertilizer i have used is wa4thog and giraffe manure which is easy for me to source round the garden. I have also added aloe vera. Especially when rw-potting to prevent root shock.

I started off using organic aloe vera juice. Then i realised i have tonnes of the stuff growing here so started to pulp my own.

The plants on the whole have grown well from the original seeds i am left with:

5 × chemdog
5 x Auto moscow
5 x wipeout express
2 x 24k

As you see we have had 2 die from each main set.

I have had the odd issue with insects (primarily small caterpillers) but inspect plants twice a day and spray with a water and neem oil mix, seems to work well.

I have to keep thw plants up high on a platform to keep out of the warthogs way. However the other night i went outside to find a giraffe standing next to the platform (luckiky he left the plants alone) and now.on at night i move them all into the shed. The shed gets the initial morning lights so at 8am i move them all back into the sun, then into the shed at 11pm.

The grow is going well and hope you like the photos.

I have recently planted more seeds in 10 gallon buckets. Those seeds are:

3 x chemdog
3 x auto moscow
3 x wipeout express.

These i germinated then popped them.directly into the growing medium. Redsoil mixed with warthog and giraffe manure and aloe vera.

Thanks for reading.

Are you from Kenya originally? If so, is it different living there? Just had a look at the country as a whole and the human rights index isn't high, its real low (145th). I never been to an African country before. Sorry if this sounds ignorant.

Plants look great and the soil. Love that you use giraffe manure haha made me chuckle.

Thanks Bict

No moved here a few years ago. Yep human rights isnt greay but amazing life style. Lots of land and great beaches and Kenyans are great. Nairobi has great weather-never too hot and never too cold. Just pleasant all year. But does rain hard when it rains.

Kenyan red soil is amazing for growing anything. It is nice a lome a nice mix of sand and clay. And in abundence.

I think I would love some of this 100 percent sativa Kenyan landraces over here! Very cool and super organic, you could probably charge more here in Colorado if you told everyone it was grown with warthog and giraffe manure lol

I planted 9 seeds last week (4 days ago). On sunday i noticed one of the freshly sprouted seedlings had the head snapoed off.

Obviously i was annoyed. But decided to take the one leafed top and razor the tip and put in rooting powder, aloe vera and manuka honey. I then wrapped what was left of the stem (essentialy the tap root) in wet tissue paper and placed it in my germinator, to keep moist and humid.

I had a look today and it seems like it is still growing, so hopefully a couple more days and i can replant it.