Oregon Rec. Grow

Humanrob said:

@WV: Jetson - I took your warning to heart, got out there this morning with my Streamlight Stinger and and got as good look at the buds as I could. Long story short, didn't find any bud rot... but did find bud worm!!!!

In one sense, I think its the lessor of those particular two evils in our climate. It's cool enough that I am thinking the worms will be eating slowly, and however many there are is what they are, and while they might move from one bud to the next, I think their destruction will be slower than the spread of bud rot? At least that's my guess. But hey, the seasons not over, I could still get bud rot too! LOL

So far I've only spotted the worms on one plant, and only found two of them. Not every problem is an "infestation", I might get lucky and there might only be a few? I'll need to go through the girls all top to bottom if the sun comes out, and get a better look. I never saw that one coming.

Edit: OK, I've got it all... PM, bud worm, and bud rot. Even found a worm on one of the plants I brought into the garage to finish. I thought I was looking at them closely, but obviously not close enough. I didn't get to spray much this year because it kept raining and washing it off. Bummer.

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That's a drag @Humanrob a real gut check. And my own theory of the moment is the worms facilitate the rot w/their shit. The early rounds of rot were all on colas that had worms. Once bud rot is there, it spreads on it's own: insidiously, deviously, under the cover of cola darkness. Next year (let's all sing along: next year) my plan is for horticultural fabric covers to stop them mf'in moths. I found a worm tonight on a trimmed, drying cola. I scan and I look and I check and I always seem to find one more. I was shaking a cola on Sunday evening and a worm fell off. Bastards...

WV: Jetson said:

That's a drag @Humanrob a real gut check. And my own theory of the moment is the worms facilitate the rot w/their shit. The early rounds of rot were all on colas that had worms. Once bud rot is there, it spreads on it's own: insidiously, deviously, under the cover of cola darkness. Next year (let's all sing along: next year) my plan is for horticultural fabric covers to stop them mf'in moths. I found a worm tonight on a trimmed, drying cola. I scan and I look and I check and I always seem to find one more. I was shaking a cola on Sunday evening and a worm fell off. Bastards...

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Yeah, I seem to have a tendency to over-focus on one thing. I got so caught up dealing with PM that every time I'd go out to check the plants, I was looking for PM instead of just looking at the plants. Didn't even notice everything else going on. Several things seem to have come on pretty quickly, just snuck up on me.

Seems like the wet weather has brought the shit! I found my first bud worm yesterday, rip little bastard. I'm sure there are more but so far they have evaded me...also found a small spot of bud rot. Another round of flying skull tomorrow. The stuff is expensive but it seems to help with the pm. Trying to hold off on chopping for two more weeks or so.

Sorry to hear about the issues you guys are having. The finish line is close but the forecast looks questionable. I imagine we'll all end up harvesting something.

Yeah, it would be nice if rain weren't forecast for today and tomorrow... Nice stretch after that, though

Looks like the rain may not happen.... at least South of Salem....

I have two that are totally exposed, one has PM on the lower half, the other I've cut two rotten buds off of. If we get 10+ rainless days after tomorrow's rain, I might be able to harvest something from them.

The ones I have under cover are almost all showing spots of PM. My patient says fuck it, she'll smoke it anyway, but we'll see. She also asked what the big deal is with smoking a few spider mites. She's not picky, but I am.

I finally got all mine undercover...now it's just dealing with humidity levels and keeping a lot of air flow goin.
I probably shouldn't be saying a thing (jinx)...I haven't found PM on any of the girls yet. I can only attribute this to being a regular neem user, spraying up until about the 3rd week of flower or so.
I'm hacking all of my squash today, been spraying the crap out of them to no avail. Won't really miss them I've had squash coming out my ears, all of the neighbors run when they see me comin.

Humanrob said:

I have two that are totally exposed, one has PM on the lower half, the other I've cut two rotten buds off of. If we get 10+ rainless days after tomorrow's rain, I might be able to harvest something from them.

The ones I have under cover are almost all showing spots of PM. My patient says fuck it, she'll smoke it anyway, but we'll see. She also asked what the big deal is with smoking a few spider mites. She's not picky, but I am.

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Hey Rob you should do a search about washing your weed. It has worked for me in the past when having to spray late for spider mites at least with neem oil. I don't use any of the lemon juice or bicarb or any of the other stuff you will find on this subject. I do a 4 bucket rinse it is the 2nd bucket of hot water that lifts the dirt and oils off of the plant. I try to get the water to about 110 to 115 for about a 30 second to a minute dunk and swish. Gotta have a clean dry warmer place to hang them with fans...which is my garage. It is a royal pain in the ass process to do but I wash/rinse all of my weed every year with zero issues....it works.

slow drawl said:

Hey Rob you should do a search about washing your weed. It has worked for me in the past when having to spray late for spider mites at least with neem oil. I don't use any of the lemon juice or bicarb or any of the other stuff you will find on this subject. I do a 4 bucket rinse it is the 2nd bucket of hot water that lifts the dirt and oils off of the plant. I try to get the water to about 110 to 115 for about a 30 second to a minute dunk and swish. Gotta have a clean dry warmer place to hang them with fans...which is my garage. It is a royal pain in the ass process to do but I wash/rinse all of my weed every year with zero issues....it works.

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Thanks for that SD, I was down that road once, at the beginning of my growing journey. On my first indoor grow, I did two small closet grows at opposite ends of the house. One went perfectly, the other got an epic infestation of both gnats an aphids. I ended out doing I think an H202 rinse, maybe lemon juice or bicarb? Then just water rinses. It feels like a very long time ago. It worked pretty well. Since we had the good closet to smoke, we used the washed stuff for butter, it did not smoke as well as I recall (I think it lost some taste/smell?).

I will keep post-harvest washes in mind as I choose my late season weapons in this battle. I've found that GreenCure works pretty well on PM, and I think it would wash away more easily than Neem, since its not oil-based.

Humanrob said:

I will keep post-harvest washes in mind as I choose my late season weapons in this battle. I've found that GreenCure works pretty well on PM, and I think it would wash away more easily than Neem, since its not oil-based.

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I totally agree.

Another tag line for your boutique herb: "I have the cleanest pot - it's hand washed!"

WV: Jetson said:

Another tag line for your boutique herb: "I have the cleanest pot - it's hand washed!"

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I like that.

Looks like rain Tuesday, so Monday evening I'll be taking down about 30-50% of (the top half of) this LSD. It's one of two that I have that are not covered at all, and the bottom half has been sprayed to stop the upward spread of PM (so far it seems to be working...), so we'll only harvest the top half. The weather report keeps changing, if when we get closer it looks like Monday is the last day of non-rainy weather we'll see for 3 or more days, I'll take the whole top off of it.

This is a pic of the Mystery that I'm guessing from what I've cut off already, that I'll lose about 20% of to worms. She'll be coming down in waves probably starting in a week or so.

Everything else is just creeping along, feels like time is slowing down.

Feel your guy's pain, first plant was infested. I did the lemon juice baking soda wash, amazing how much worm crap washes out. Best of luck to you.

I have 2 LSD plants and 2 Mystery plants, all put outside at the same time. In each case, one is growing out in the open, and the other is growing in the scrog under plastic. In both cases the ones under plastic are about 2 weeks behind the ones in direct sunlight. Training them for the scrog could have stressed them and slowed their development, but I don't recall one group initially maturing later or more slowly than the other.

The plastic went up around August 27th, and I think that's the difference. I've read that even plastic sheeting made for greenhouses can cut the sunlight by 20%. I'm using cheap 6mil Home Depot plastic, so I'm betting it cuts the light by at least that amount and probably more. I think that's what's making the difference. Anyone else notice this? Maybe its old news and I'm just discovering it.

The good news is that the ones out in the open are just about ready to be chopped, and before the next rain, they will be. The ones under plastic are a two edged sword: I've covered them which buys more time -- but in covering them, apparently I've made them require more time. This year that's more time for the worms to eat them and PM to spread... so we'll see what happens.

This harvest I'm going to master washing my crop. That'll be what saves a lot of it.

Edit:
Here are some pictures of what I'm talking about:
LSD and Mystery under the plastic:

And LSD and Mystery uncovered:


2nd Edit:
The "uncovered" buds look smaller -- that's because I'm comparing lower buds on those plants to top buds on the scrogged plants -- I'm too short to reach the top ones on the open plants and too lazy to get a ladder...

Humanrob said:

I have 2 LSD plants and 2 Mystery plants, all put outside at the same time. In each case, one is growing out in the open, and the other is growing in the scrog under plastic. In both cases the ones under plastic are about 2 weeks behind the ones in direct sunlight. Training them for the scrog could have stressed them and slowed their development, but I don't recall one group initially maturing later or more slowly than the other.

The plastic went up around August 27th, and I think that's the difference. I've read that even plastic sheeting made for greenhouses can cut the sunlight by 20%. I'm using cheap 6mil Home Depot plastic, so I'm betting it cuts the light by at least that amount and probably more. I think that's what's making the difference. Anyone else notice this? Maybe its old news and I'm just discovering it.

The good news is that the ones out in the open are just about ready to be chopped, and before the next rain, they will be. The ones under plastic are a two edged sword: I've covered them which buys more time -- but in covering them, apparently I've made them require more time. This year that's more time for the worms to eat them and PM to spread... so we'll see what happens.

This harvest I'm going to master washing my crop. That'll be what saves a lot of it.

Edit:
Here are some pictures of what I'm talking about:
LSD and Mystery under the plastic:
View attachment 3789454 View attachment 3789452
And LSD and Mystery uncovered:
View attachment 3789453 View attachment 3789451

2nd Edit:
The "uncovered" buds look smaller -- that's because I'm comparing lower buds on those plants to top buds on the scrogged plants -- I'm too short to reach the top ones on the open plants and too lazy to get a ladder...

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OH THE PROBLEMS!!!! LOL... I just put a step ladder in mine... too lazy to do it a week ago..... mmmmmm smelling good.
I bet the ones in the open do ripen faster. (a little). I was thinking that as our ground just naturally dries out even with watering and the nights getting cooler has sped the un covered up. In the greenhouse we still get moisture and it stays warmer.
PM on one plant but caught it fast... been a good year though.... got to love our states climate.

The forecast ain't looking so good from where I sit: once the rain rolls in on Friday, it's here for the next four days. At least: they only predict out 10 days. Most of the Bag Lady has been cut; CBC I'm gonna start chopping on after this mini heat wave is over on Mon./Tues. I've already snipped a few buds off her, a little bud rot here and there.

I would also wonder, HR, if the under cover plants are getting hotter and having that stress?

WV: Jetson said:

The forecast ain't looking so good from where I sit: once the rain rolls in on Friday, it's here for the next four days. At least: they only predict out 10 days. Most of the Bag Lady has been cut; CBC I'm gonna start chopping on after this mini heat wave is over on Mon./Tues. I've already snipped a few buds off her, a little bud rot here and there.

I would also wonder, HR, if the under cover plants are getting hotter and having that stress?

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Interesting idea about heat stress... it just hasn't been that hot the last few weeks. Also the cover is just over the top, they are otherwise open to breezes and I have a fan in there now. I'm really not sure. They look like they need a solid 2-3 weeks to be really ready, but I don't think they'll get that. I wish I could put lights out there. My wife and I have agreed on building a greenhouse in the spring, so now we're figuring out how big and exactly where to put it.

Today and tomorrow are awesome weather-wise. I hear you on the forecast, looks like Thursday will start to cool down and then its all rain after that. I'm thinking Thursday morning will be wet with dew because of the temp drop, so I might start my big harvest Wednesday.

Getting towards the end here. It's been a while since the last post on this thread. Been following this thread and many thanks to the contributors here.

All four are girls in my garden and getting smelly and sticky. They are about 8-10 feet high, 5-6 feet across and bushy. My camera sucks and so no close ups. Seeds were started 4/15, plants were moved into my organic raised garden bed on 5/15 with protection from cold in the form of a cold frame. Culled males mid June. Flowering started mid August, not sure of the date. Variety is Mastodon from Oregon Green seeds. Mastodon is 100% Indica and flowering time for my crop is now within the time frame for harvesting based on info from OGS website.

On checking flowers with 30x loupe, trichomes are mostly cloudy with no amber showing and lots of clear ones too. The stigma are not all brown, most of interior flowers are mostly white stima. The flowers have really started swelling noticeably every day. Every day flowers get a little more frosty, especially with the warm weather we've had lately.

So, here's some background before asking a question to you Oregon experienced growers. It's going to rain on Sunday (today is Wed, 9/28. I don't have a cover to protect the crop from the rain. I've been looking for PM and none present. A few of the tops of some (3 or 4) buds have turned brown. I suspect botyris and so picked the browned bits off. 98% of all buds look healthy, leaves are turning color, some fan leaves have yellowed and fallen off. I'm guessing maybe two more weeks before optimum harvest based on what I've read here. The crop sure looks frosty and smells great. So, my question is: what are you planning to do for your crop? Harvest yet? Right now, I'm taking a few branches for a canna-oil experiment and planning to hang in there until I see some amber trichs.

Do you think the benefit of frosty, better bud is worth the risk of waiting a couple of weeks and chancing mold? I'm a first year grower and just asking.

Your girls are looking good, Mr. Dog! Semi-experienced here, second year outdoor. Of my two plants, only Cindy's Blue Cheese (also from OGS) is still standing. I have been taking down the bag seed plant for a couple/three weeks now - mostly racing against bud rot & a caterpillar here and there. What I noticed on the last round of trimming was how much darker purple the buds are compared to the earlier buds. These were all second tier buds, left on the plant after the first round of big bud cuts were made. So, for that plant, I wish I could have gone longer. The only buds left are pollinated flowers. What worries me most about this round of rain is that it is not going to warm up again after the precipitation is over. I don't see above the high 60's for the next 10 days. My plan at the moment is to trim the big branches tonight, as much as I can. We are away for the weekend so I'll be picking up where I left off when we get back. Here's what she looked like earlier this week



Do I wish I could go longer? Sure. Would it be more potent? I would certainly assume so. I don't have a strong scope, so I haven't even looked at the trichomes. I've been finding small patches of rot here & there. I'm also not under cover. PM hasn't been an issue for me this year! I know I won't be able to get the whole plant down tonight, so I guess I'll be running my own experiment... Are you doing all the trimming FD, or have you wrangled a crew? You have a lot of snip-snipping ahead of you! At the moment I'm not regretting that I lost two plants earlier this season: I'm at six jars and counting on just the bag seed plant

Back to the original question: are these plants for you and friends? i.e. not for medicine or selling? I would cut two now, give #3 a week and push #4 a far as you dare. I would also be super vigilant re: watching for bud rot. It can spread fast... it would suck to lose a lot of flower chasing that proverbial two weeks. Good luck & let us know how it finishes for you!