Countryfarmer's outdoor grow

Countryfarmer said:

Bought myself a decent soil tester today. Tests for ph, moisture level, light level and fert level. All of my pots' soil ph'd out at between 6.5 and 6.8, with one outlier hitting 7.0. Moisture level was very low, so I watered, but with the temps we get here each day that doesn't surprise me. Light was fine (they get excellent light on my back deck). And fert levels were actually low. I had thought that my original mistake might have had the ph and fert levels screwed up, but I guess the flush I did four weeks back did the job.

While I was at the store I picked up some guano/wormcast tea the store had just made as well and added that to my water when I gave them their drink.

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Excellent,

I decided to try topping one. The remainder I plan on LST'ing. They definitely appear to love the tea I gave them yesterday.

I thought I would put in some pics of my tomatoes just for grins and giggles.



^^^ This is one of my Better Boys. All of them are fruiting now.



^^^ Some more shots of my Better Boys. I have seven of them fruiting right now and all are about the same size.



^^^ This is a dark shot (sorry for that) of my grape tomato in early blossom.



^^^ Really bad shot of my cherry tomato in early blossom.



^^^ And a shot of my Roma in blossom.

Ok folks. Did a lot of work today on my site and am totally wiped out. I did take along my camera and have a few shots to share with you all.



As you can see the site gets a lot of direct sunlight (10 hours). I have no overhead canopy to deal with. The cleared area originally looked just like everything around it. Basically I cleared out the middle of an old growth blackberry site to use as my planting site.



I slogged in a one-man auger to help me dig the holes that my plants will eventually go in. I had already brought in a small powered tiller and knew it wouldn't be enough, so I got the auger from a buddy of mine and carried that beast to the site. I also went ahead and hauled in all of the mushroom compost, peat moss, manure and soil that I will be using. All told I carried in slightly over a combined half-ton of equipment, gas, water (for me), and planting materials.

Then I got to actually start digging, lol.



The holes are much smaller than I had originally planned. For starters I was going to go for a square hole. I was going to use the auger to remove/loosen material and then use a shovel to dig it out.

Unfortunately, even though I had tested the auger before I carried it out to the site, the damn thing didn't want to cooperate with me. I could only keep it running for about a minute at a time and then it would either bog out or simply cut off. I'm pretty sure there is a fuel flow problem somewhere, but I couldn't find it ..... sooooo .... I used the auger to get the depth I wanted and then would set it to the side and go at the hole the old fashioned way ... with my shovel.

Damn am I tired!

Anyway, the holes are all 2 feet or more in depth, are round, and have a diameter of about 18". I didn't finish digging today (just finally ran out of steam and got too overheated), so maybe tomorrow I will have better luck with the auger.



Just a few pictures of the "soil" we have here in Georgia. As you can see, there is a good reason for the auger bogging down. The soil is compact clay, which actually can be used as long as you treat the clay to keep it broken up.

And now to some pot porn. This guy has a little bit of nut-burn from a mistake I made earlier in their growth. He is the only one I have topped, and I did so just two days ago. As you can see the new growths are coming in nice and fast.



This girl was scalped by a grasshopper and hasn't grown any new leaves since that happened (about 3 weeks ago). The only reason I still have her around is that she developed a really good root system. Since I think she is a lost cause, I am experimenting on her with some acidic water and nitrogen.



And we will finish up with some shots of some of the other girls.



Earlier in this thread I mistakenly said all of the girls were seeds in my hand on May 20th. They were actually seeds in my hand on May 22nd and were planted late that afternoon. So today is actually the one month anniversary of this grow.

Peace to all!

Well, this morning I got a real early start to beat the heat. I also managed to figure out what was wrong with the auger. So, now I have all my holes dug and site organized and ready to plant.

The holes are much smaller than what I had originally planned. My original plan called for them to be square and for me to displace 18 cu ft of earth from each hole. Well maybe that was a bit of an overzealous goal, lol. Anyway, lots of work later and each hole can now hold between 5 and 6 cu ft of soil. With 18 holes holding approx 5.5 cu ft of earth each that comes to almost 100 cu ft total.

On site I have a total of about 75 cu ft of soil, manure, peat moss and compost, and each plant will come with about 1 cu ft of its own soil in the pot for a grand total of about 90 cu ft, give or take, of material that I will have carried in. To fill in the remainder I will use native soil.

Anyway, I'm going to go smoke a bowl now. I ripped open a blister lugging that damn auger back out of the site and my hand is killin' me.

Take care all, and happy growing!

Man, I used one of those before, killed my lower back, kept sucking me down into the ground with it, but I kept using my lower back to prevent this from happening really stained my back. Eventually I figured out how to keep my back straight, and not to go to fast, but even than it took its toll. Looks like your doing a great job, keep up the good work, and the best of luck to ya.

roundplanet said:

Man, I used one of those before, killed my lower back, kept sucking me down into the ground with it, but I kept using my lower back to prevent this from happening really stained my back. Eventually I figured out how to keep my back straight, and not to go to fast, but even than it took its toll. Looks like your doing a great job, keep up the good work, and the best of luck to ya.

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Well, if you used one of those monsters, you know what I am talking about when I say I am friggin' sore! I hurt in places I didn't think I could hurt, lol.

I mean I am a decent sized guy. Not that tall, but I am stocky and pretty damn strong too, and I hurt like I have had Billy Blanks kicking my ass for a week. Top that off with bruises on my legs where I was using them to help guide that auger and ... well, if you have used one of these things you know what I am talking about. And then to top it all off, after digging most of the holes this morning I had to lug that bastard back out of the brush again. After that I had to come home and take a nap, lol.

Anyway, thanks for the comment roundplanet, and take care. Happy growing to ya'.

Forgot to take my camera with me, so no pics, but I carted 18 plants to the site today and placed them in their final home. Lot of work and really tired, but I wanted to update the thread with some of the things I have learned so far:

(1) Go easy on fertilizer. Read what the manufacturer says, and then initially use 1/4 of that. Slowly build up to full strength.

(2) Carry a tarp with you. You can find all sorts of uses for one. I use mine to help me camouflage items at the site.

(3) If you use liquid fence, don't get that crap on you. I have taken a bath and a shower since I got home and I can still smell that stuff. Literally made me want to puke. If the rabbits and deer can stomach that smell, they can have my plants.

(4) If you are going to plant inside a thicket, do yourself the favor of buying some sort of leather arm and leg covering. Even though I am careful, I still look like I lost a fight with a feral pack of aggressive cats.

(5) ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have some sort of story to tell as to why you are where you are. Don't try to wing it. Think it through and then carry along stuff to help you support that story. If your story is fishing, well you better have at least a cane pole and some worms with you.

(6) Go slow when you are coming up to your site. If you don't take along a canine friend who will warn you, then stop and listen to the birds and other wildlife. If it is too quiet, you need to leave.

(7) Do not leave anything at the site, or on the way to the site unless you plan on using it shortly, and have it camouflaged. Anything you do not need, any empty packages, any water, soda or beer cans .... anything at all .... take it with you. For one, you help keep mother nature clean, and more importantly you are not leaving anything that could potentially be used to identify you.

(8 ) If you managed to get to your site and back out without leaving a trail, then great! If not, then you need to camouflage the trail with surrounding plant life.

(9) Carry a decent knife. A knife is a great tool and can be used for many things.

(10) If you are working outdoors during the summer heat you need to take breaks and drink lots of water. If you start to feel sick to your stomach or start getting muscle cramps, you are experiencing heat exhaustion and must cool down asap or possibly face heat stroke.

Just some thoughts I had that I wanted to write down. And believe it or not I really wasn't trying to get to ten, just worked out that way.

Peace.

Well, today was the last of four consecutive days that I had to go to the grow site. Today I finished installing my watering system. It is a basic gravity system with the addition of a small pump powered by two truck batteries. The reason for the additional water pressure is I wanted to go with water sprinklers set in tandem, and I wanted the pressure to be high enough to give a spray. After installing the system, and burying/camouflaging the piping, pump and batteries I ran a system check, and with just a few minor adjustments everything worked just fine. I now have three small sprinkler heads on site that will water my plants perfectly. No more crawling through the briars for me for a couple of weeks.

I'll head back to the site sometime the first week of August to respray my liquid fence and spray for any pests. My worm/guano tea can be fed through the piping at the watering point.

I like that "10 things"-type list you've thought up there man. #9 seems like a MUST. Can't tell you how many times a good knife has saved me while out and about. I've never grown guerilla but always thought about it. Seems like you got it down! Good luck man hope all goes well and you have a bomb summer.

PS Nice tomatoes! My better boys are not at big as yours but they're fruiting now too

STZ said:

I like that "10 things"-type list you've thought up there man. #9 seems like a MUST. Can't tell you how many times a good knife has saved me while out and about. I've never grown guerilla but always thought about it. Seems like you got it down! Good luck man hope all goes well and you have a bomb summer.

PS Nice tomatoes! My better boys are not at big as yours but they're fruiting now too

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Yeh, pretty happy about how my tomatoes are coming along. I should be having a tomato sandwich made with tomatoes from my garden in just a few days now.

Countryfarmer said:

Yeh, pretty happy about how my tomatoes are coming along. I should be having a tomato sandwich made with tomatoes from my garden in just a few days now.

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Damn you, I didn't plant any tomatos this year! I love tomato sandwiches!

Things are looking great.

Peace
doublejj

Good ole tomatoes. I've got an heirloom tomato plant, called a Mr. Stripey, and those are some meaty tomatoes! Dice those bad boys, add olive oil, and chopped basil and you've got yourself something amazing-- makes a great brushchetta recipe. Your grow looks great! Good luck, cheers.

Well, I have a question. I went out to my site and noticed that the plants were doing well with the stalks nicely thickening up, but they are stretching. With the exception of the very top of the plant, the lower nodes are now a full 4+ inches apart from one another.

Normal?

stretching can be caused if they dont have enough light or if the fertilizer isnt balanced for stocky growth..it probably isnt a big deal as nodes become more spaced as the plant grows. Everything looks really dank and i completely agree with that liquid fence stuff(got some on my hands and have worn rubber gloves ever since when using it). I know there was a giant water discussion going on and one thing i read that seems to work really well is water the plants really thoroughly and then count the number of days it takes for the leaves to start drooping. If it took 7 dry days for the leaves to droop water every 6. Ever since I followed that rule things have worked out pretty well. Also look into neem oil, its an organic insecticide made from the oil of some tree and i hear you can use it during budding as well with no ill effects.

Damn storm came through here and absolutely trashed three of my tomato plants. Had one wind gust that had to have hit at least 50 miles an hour that literally twisted my plants. My nicest looking tomato plant was split down the middle as if someone had taken an axe to it. I tried to tie/tape the sections together on it, but I think it is a goner. The other two plants might survive, even though they were pretty severely damaged.

Trudged out to the site of my pot plants and it looks as if the surrounding vegetation sheltered them pretty well. None showed any sign of stress or damage.

Still pissed about my tomato plants though.

well i know its a bit late for this but i know you said your new to this but heres a few things ive learned that maybe you can try next year. when you are using pots to get your plants started what i do is i put some gravel in the bottom but not too much just enough to cover the bottom and to let water flow alot easier. to know when to water just look at the top of the soil when it seems dry. your right about the stalk thing but i dont take any leaves off unless there are some that are far away from all the others. but usually just bury all the way up to the leaves. also try taking string and opening up your plant so sunlight can get to the inside of your plants. like to open it up. something that you can also do but is risky as hell is when transplanting your plant you can drop it. but idk. it can shock your plant too much but at times it can be good and make it alot stronger. its something that i havent tried myself but my friends do. so up to you. also idk if you have heard of bud pinching? but what it is. is how the buds come to a point what your suppose to do is make a fist kinda and put the bud on the side of your pointer finger and thumb and pinch an 1/8 of the bud smashing the buds point and putting stress on it making the buds swell and then it will start to point out again and you can repeat it. but before harvest dont do for like 3 weeks. then harvest..also you can take the longer put still small needles and push it threw the stalk of your plant which will make your buds swell and just leave it in for 2 or 3 days and take it out...also you can bend the stalk then use a stick to hold it up and a knot will form when it heals making your plant alot stronger....also talking to your plants....in nature when an animal dies off another animal will produce the notes that the original animal made. and it is believed that plants can sense the sounds vibrations. but i believe in breathing on you plants..not just talking to them.

thats just a few things i feel. idk how you guys feel and idk if i should be telling you most of that stuff. but i dont care. i think if im trying to learn everything there is about growing i need to share my ideas. knowledge is power and i hope this helps anyone in anyway. and hopfully you return the favor. but who knows maybe im a cooc.

I feel your pain! We recently had a massive storm come through and it snapped my heirloom tomato plants main stalk! It's now half the size, and looking rather deflated. Tough plants, but I doubt it'll put much effort into producing fruit any time soon. I also had a number of hibiscus plants, that were a few days from flowering, that had all their buds stripped off. I had some choice words with mother nature that day. Cheers.

Budds Love, I think many would agree that shared knowledge is a good thing. These forums are peoples ideas, insights and experiences designed to share perspectives. People can then create their own ideas, whether they agree or not. As long as you're not spreading ill will, no harm no foul. Cheers Budd.