I have 5 plants out on a deck that have survived our crappy weather here in SE Alaska, which is classified as a rain forest. We have had some good sunny weather for the past month or more but now the pea soup has returned. Rain and fog, 97% RH and no letup in sight. I have small fans running, the plants are close, but no brown trichomes showing yet. My concern is now mold and I don’t have a way to keep the moisture out. I built a roof structure that is attached to the house, but that only keeps the majority of water off the plants. The leaves are still damp. The trichomes are turning cloudy, and the buds are massive and I would hate to lose these 5 plants now after they have battled the weather this far. The plants are Mazar Autoflower and White Widow AF. This is my first time growing so thanks for any advice!
Got a room big enough to fit them plus a dehumidifier and some fans?
I have a detached shop I could fit them in. No real light source set up in there but I do have (2) 100 watt LED square panels that really throw out the light. I also have a couple dehumidifiers. Maybe it is time to move them indoors but there is no grow tent to reflect the light back to the plant.
I feel for you. I have never been able to grow outdoors so no real advice…like the idea of moving indoors…maybe outside during day and inside at night? Good luck! Keep us posted
I’m going to have to go with the outdoors during the day indoors at night in a dehumidified room. Your light source won’t be enough so you’ll have to keep them outside for that.
I would keep humidity 60% or less with fans on for air movement indoors. If you can do 50% that would be even better.
Hopefully the sun will keep them dry enough during the day
Well I started growing both indoors and out this spring, the outdoor was on a small second floor south facing deck, and the indoor down in a small utility room under the house. I wasn’t expecting much from the outside plants because of the sub-optimal weather here
but they surprised me, and budded out quite well. My indoor grow was staggered by 3 weeks with 2 plants. The first one is in a drying room now, and the other plant is budding with white hairs. but still a few weeks off.
So I managed to get 4 of the 5 plants indoors where the RH is kept at 60. I set up a table in front of the grow tent (not really a tent, just something I rigged up). I put an additional 2x4’ light on its side to give them more light. As for the sun here, it is completely gone, feels half dark out! I suspect 20,000 feet of cloud, and fog right down to the deck is blocking out a LOT of sun. Supposed to be this way for the rest of the week.
Here is what it looks like now. Crowded but still quite a bit of light…
You do have a lot going on…I love it
These plants do keep me busy! Learning a ton of stuff that I had no idea about before. Now my biggest challenge is when I go away for 2 weeks the latter half of august. I am hoping that I can get them dry enough to put them into glass jars for the curing phase as I have a neighbor who could burp them for me while I’m gone. Unfortunately the timing of this trip is such that I can’t change it.
We all have to rely on someone during vacations, that’s the tough part. For me, luckily it’s my mom haha. I will be planning my grows from here on out around my vacations, as much as I can, to make sure that I’m not actively doing something. We only go away 2 weeks out of the years so that shouldn’t be hard.
That is how I plan my trips…I am retired. I finished a grow in Late January…went to Florida then Mexico. Started another Grow at the end of March and it is drying now, will be going to Colorado for my 60th birthday in 2 weeks…right about when I get them in a stable cure.
I’m retired too, 68yo. I think this will be my first and last summer grow as summertime is the busy season for us Alaskans and these plants are pretty hands on for most of their grow and harvest cycle… I think 2 AF plants growing in the winter under artificial light will serve my purposes well and I won’t have to over plan when I am going to be gone. If I do run out we have 2 dispensaries in town to get me through! I mostly stay put throughout the winter, feeding my woodstove and my weed bowl too so this will be a good wintertime hobby!
I’m a little envious. AK has always been on my bucket list and what you’re describing sounds like freaking heaven to me!
You should come up! The north country is pretty magical in the summer and early fall.
I might humbly suggest doing a defoliation on the one outside still. What I mean is the sun leaves. As you aptly described, the sun leaves will often look damp from just the humidity in the air. Removing the sun leaves allows that humidity to exit, or at least doesn’t give it a surface to condensate and drip off of. Since you are just ripening now and less filling out.
I have grown many strains that I could not keep the mold off before harvest. But a good defoliation allows me to get it to closer to finished. Sweet island skunk is the best example I have of this. It would always mold up with botrytis if I did not pluck the sun leaves. after we get our 20,000 feet of clouds here in seattle in the fall. I would not defoliate a plant that I knew could take the wet. But I always do those ones on the bubble. (Grow log a must if you plant to grow again).
The ones inside now are used to the outside light. I would humbly also suggest removing the lowers ( 1/3-1/4) branches because those are essentially getting none of that led light. Those lowers are just going to be sucking (like parasites) energy that will make those tops ripe enough to be worth the effort. Don’t waste the trims, cook with them and make edibles or ETOH extract.
Honestly, I may even suggest taking the next less filled out plant back out (after defoliating) so the ones inside get a little more of that led light thru the plants. Less of a crowd so to speak. Maybe one of each strain so you can compare them to the finished indoor ones. Compare and contrast them for your own grower knowledge in case this comes up again.
I have done the outside in the daytime inside at night. Some of the best weed I ever grew as I remember. She was a late bloomer and didn’t finish until mid-november. I wasn’t dealing with the intense humidity that you are though. It was a Colombian marijuana strain that we called salt and pepper. It was a long long long time ago. Utilize any sunshine you get for the goodness of your girls. The buds will thank you. Good luck, happy growing. God bless everybody.
Not only do I want to experience the “nice” times of year, I would love to see what a real Alaskan winter is like in one of those remote cabins. I used to run maintenance for nursing homes so dealing with operational issues during shitty weather is my specialty! Lol
Wife and I will be planning some trips eventually
Alaska is a magical place. I did the Nome, Anchorage, Denali, and Seward for birdwatching as soon as the pandemic subsided. I was great with wilderness everywhere. Lots of birds added to my life list. The dispensaries were great too! I found this oil you put under your tongue there…great way to use discreetly. It was still light out at midnight…hard to go to bed with so much to see and do. Good luck with your hobby!
Sounds like it was tincture that you were using. People on this forum have ways to process bud into it. I believe it is grain (alcohol) based.
This was not tincture…it was very sticky a resinous. It came in a pen and each click (partial turn) dispensed a 50 mg little ball of “tar” that you put under your tongue. We were with a bunch of “old people that did not smoke” so it was the only way I stayed sane.
I got it at AM Delight in Anchorage
That’s wild. Haven’t heard of that. 50mg would put me in a coma haha.