Well, after many trials and mostly errors, I think I’ve cracked the code regarding growing outdoors in insufferable heat.
My 1st auto grow started in late March to June and was fairly successful. I tried starting more on several occasions after that. What I found was that my organic potting soil was turning into straw real quick. Now, we’re talking about 100+ degrees with 20-30% humidity. Definitely a sub-optimal situation. So out of desperation I mixed 1/3 Miracle Gro, 1/3 organic, and 1/3 garden soil, which is denser than potting soil and seems to be holding moisture really well.
The 2 larger seedlings are officially a week old today. They are already bigger than my last try at 1 month. The 2 on the lower right popped yesterday. The 2 on the lower left are hermi seeds I got from my first grow and have not yet made an appearance.
So the schedule now is full sun from 9-2, then they go under a shade tree for filtered light until 5 or 6pm, then back out. And I mist them several times a day just to get a little humidity.
So wish me luck. I’ll report back weekly (assuming of course, the success continues)…
I swear I must be cursed. After I wrote the original post, I went out to check on the girlettes. A bug of some kind had its way with one side…The stem was half chomped too and it was laying over. Currently propped up by a bunch of matches. Fingers crossed.
Good luck @straytrout.
I’m currently Growing my first outdoor plants. I actualy started mine indoors under a T5 light before I put them outside to let them get bigger, but with the crumby weather we have had they needed up staying indoors longer than I anticipated but was able to get them outdoors finally a month or so ago and they are getting some nice heavy buds now.
One of my experiments was starting them under my shop light (T8) in the shed. Not allowed in the house…
But I think the shed gets hotter than outside. I had fans and everything. One big fail.
@straytrout I too am not really “allowed in the house” and I’m relocating to my shed also. I guess it was fine for seedlings and such, but as they got bigger and smellier… She really just doesn’t want the kids know more than anything. That’s why there are tomato plants, green peppers and lettuce also in my grow journal. (They are all tomato plants! Lol) For winters there’s a boiler I installed myself in there. It’s another story why I had to install the boiler in the shed and not in the house.
Well, week #2 is complete for the upper left and lower right and everything is still alive!
The big pot is doing great. Really holding the moisture well. At least it looks happy.
This is the one that got chomped. It looks ok but I’m not sure what’s going on with the lower leaves. The new growth looks great.
These 2 are 1 week old.
The other one is a hermied seed from my last grow. With Harvey bearing down, they will go in the shed so there’s no beat down. To quote an old Bill Cosby routine, How long can you tread water?
Well here we are at week 3 for a couple and week 2 for a couple others. They spent 3 days in the shed under the T-8 shop light while Harvey had its way with the coast. We were lucky. Only 8" of rain and some pretty substantial wind. On the bright side, my drone fell out of the top of an oak where it was er,…parked for a couple weeks. But I digress…
I decided to put them in the ground late yesterday afternoon. That is mosquito netting in the background. 1 and 4 are 3 weeks. 2 and 3 are 2 weeks. The one on the right is a hermied seed from my last batch. It’s small. not holding out hope for that guy.
I plan to keep the mosquito netting on full time but my sister-in-law is visiting this weekend and that white just glows at the back of my property. It would definitely draw her attention…That would not be good.
@Tr33 Thanks. I’m struggling a bit with my lower fan leaves yellowing off and dying. Otherwise they’re going great. None of the bud sites have an issue tbough. Always something. I have 14 clones for the next cycle. That should fill up the tent!
Thanks @SmoknGranny! This summer has been a struggle. The netting also helps with filtering the sun as well as filtering the rain, which we’ve had a lot of the last couple days.
I’m thinking it will be a definite plus and easy enough to add to the greenhouse I picked up on sale with plans to modify. Guess I’ll add mosquito netting to my shopping list
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Congrats on the lovely ladies!