Where Smith may gain points for size and giant monster colas, ???. I foresee pests and weather being a potential pitfall. Or at the very least a PITA. ???
Either way though I wanna see this 17' beast I know
@SmithsJunk is capable of. ???
I challenge thee. Lmfao.
Veddy veddy astute of you master jesse. But master smith has battled many a nuisance and we've seen his capabilities.
I agree tho fack those bugs lol I can't wait until I can shutdown the garage just cuz of the lingering whiteflies here n there. Can't even imagine finding some crazy thing boring out the middle of the stem. Spider mites, budworms, whiteflies, fungus gnats are all bad enough but some of those crazy outdoor things, that's some hard work keeping those bastards at bay.
Both me n my GF shudder when we drive by fields of these:
View attachment 8322
looks all too similar to those webby POS
Outdoor growing is a constant battle. If you want to be successful at it do two things well, the 1st is obvious but the 2nd is only perceived through experience.
1st, outdoor growers must be observant and vigilant. Listen to your girls. They will tell you when they are happy or when something is wrong. You need to learn to read the leaves, the soil, understand the plants structural strengths/weaknesses, be aware of environmental conditions, and do regular PM/pest checks.
2nd, understand that you are not the sole owner of your garden. You share the space with organisms that have been adapting for survival since the dawn of time. You will ALWAYS have pests and it is impossible to eradicate all of them without making your plants too toxic for consumption.
...for example...
You need to understand how to identify your pests and the effect each will have on your girls. My 1st year of growing I found that I had a spider mite infestation. I went to war with them but no matter what method I used I couldn't get rid of them. When I harvested that year, despite the spider mites, I had a great crop. Even if I wiped them all out they were on all the surrounding plants and new ones would move in as soon as whatever I was using wore off. I realised if I just kept their numbers under control they did very little damage and didn't effect my harvest. The 2nd year I met a new, far more nefarious pest, the broad mite. They cannot be seen with the naked eye and don't just feed on your plants but also inject phytotoxins (russet and cyclomen mites do this as well). On top of their toxicity they are immune to many pesticides. If they are not eradicated they will kill all your plants. It is commonly thought that once you have broad mites it is impossible to get rid of them. This is untrue. Broad mites can be dealt with during the vegitative and early flower cycles using a very cheap and effective product, Triazicide. From what I understand it also works on russet and cyclomen mites. It can only be used on outdoor/greenhouse plants because sunlight is required to break it down. If your plants are further into the flowering stage, indoor, or organic, pyrethrin will also work to kill them, but with far more effort. If you are within a couple weeks of harvest then the only opton you have is prayer. FYI, due to the nature of the toxins any damage done is permanent. To be sure they are gone without using magnification the new growth must be carefully observed to verify there are no continuing malformations. The toxins will continue to cause damage for some time after the mites are dead so it may take several days to a week or so before new growth is unaffected. The toxins may even kill some plants if the infestation isn't caught in time.
Broad mite damage can easily be confused with a number of different nutrient deficiencies. Identifying phytotoxicity is something that must generally be learned by experience. Pictures don't capture it well.
I think I've got this covered.
I have yet to grow 17' but I have hit 14'. That takes some serious training and support. I've learned that it's easier to go wide than tall due to the brittle nature of cannabis branch junctions. Weather in and of itself isn't a real problem with the proper support but if combined with cannabis aphids and botrytis it can be devestating. I'll be using copper and lime to mitigate that this year.
Im looking forward to this challenge. It's this type of friendly competition that pushes us to become more competent growers, I would even go so far as to say artists. We'll all have to watch out for you Jessie. Your great at engineering and skilled fabricator. Spyralout, you ain't no pushover either, I've seen those very very sexy girls of yours. Every person competing has got their work cut out for them. We're all rockstars in our own specialties. I'm just glad it's not another Solo cup challenge where I'd soundly get my a$$ whooped.
phenohunter.org
