Year 5 of growing in the California sunshine. I’ll try and keep it interesting but fair warning, this is mostly for my reference later
We got female autos, we got male autos, we got feminized photos, and regular photos. Add in some STS and Chrysal… a few hummingbirds buzzing your head… and it’s officially a happening.
There’s a few goals this year:
Grow out seeds that I made last summer outdoors, a cross of GG4 and Blue Dream, to select a male and female with the best traits to take to F2 seeds
Grow regular auto seeds to pollinate themselves and make more seeds, but also to capture pollen for further auto breeding
Grow a variety of clones I picked up from Bay Area dispensaries and S1 them too
Grow a small amount of select regular strains and hope for males and females to breed or collect pollen from
For the sake of clarity, I should explain that the cross I did of a male Blue Dream and a female Gorilla Glue #4 is what I’ll be referring to as “BluGlu” or “BlueGlue”.
It was these two plants that made ~3500 seeds in 2023. Well, the male did his thing and I got rid of him but his sister Blue Dream that he looked just like is in the pictures.
The GG4 (CSI Humboldt) is the shorter one, with notable nitrogen deficiency on the lower leaves. That lady finished first (but started first, as well). She had a bad case of the caterpillars in bloom. Manually inspected each day to salvage the seeds and keep her happy-ish.
The Blue Dream (Equilibrium Genetics) is the taller one. She got so top heavy that one of the main stalks collapsed in some wind and I had to get a stake and some twine to prop her up for another couple weeks to finish. No issues with heavy feeding and seemed immune to bugs… zero caterpillars.
6 BluGlu Seeds
I started the season off with popping six seeds from last year’s results. I figure I’ll let some get big by growing until first week of August, when they show sex and then select for breeding. I’m also planning on popping more every couple weeks so I get enough to see the variety of phenos. I’ll be thinning at will and it’s likely some will be duds. In fact one of the first six didn’t make above soil and into the 1 gallons.
So, seeing seeds come up and getting my hands in the dirt got me a bit excited. To the dispensary for clones!
I gotta say… so many people told me not to bring the clones outdoors. I get it… they get confused and can flip to flower…then stunted growth for weeks while they get reoriented. I don’t care. I have the time. I just give them natural light, tap water, and good soil… and observe.
And we got some progress on other things. I don’t like them but they are functional. Will improve next year if they help with the bugs. Trying to keep it low cost.
I didn’t like the looks of the roots on the True OG clone. The person serving at the store seemed to be having a proper Monday, so I just took her home and figured it would give me an excuse to go back and get more. And this is exactly what happened. I picked up a replacement, and the others I’d wanted originally.
Oh look… it’s the other clones doing just fine under the sun. I moved them farther onto the patio so they gradually adjusted to the sun. Minimal issues… some leaf funkiness as they figured out that they aren’t under a T5 fluorescent anymore. The Permanent Marker had the hardest time… basically had to grow new leaves to take the sun in because the initial leaves turned white …even with only a few hours of direct morning sun and the indirect in the shade.
About time to get some other local stuff to grow. I already had sunflowers and tomatoes going but decided to get some bell peppers and these tie-die tomatoes (cause it’s fun). Already have a lemon tree that helps ensure I get diabetes someday, but I wanted a Meyers lemon tree, and also a lime tree. Then I got to talking with a worker at the garden center and they tell me about this Australian lime tree that has prickers and red finger-like limes… sign AMunk up!
Seemed like a good time to up pot the BluGlu from 1 gallon to 5 gallon pots. #1 and #5 seemed to have the best structure and vitality but they were all doing good. #5 seems to be the only one that isn’t having the yellowing leaves at the bottom (the mother GG4 attribute). I did give the others blood meal and worm castings… but to no avail.
A bee was dead on top of my netting, so I brought it inside to see if there were signs of foul play, but other than the missing left antenna, it appears he went peacefully!
The table is getting full… but red solo cups are sunflowers …some to grow and some to offer to the local rabbit that hides in my bushes and eats greens it can reach. I found it particularly likes sunflowers. I put them in the ground and they are gone the next morning.
Let’s check in on the plants in the tent… doing well, but we can see that GG4 mother trait of yellow lower leaves coming thru. I hope it’s not associated with higher THC levels cause I’m looking to pick the ones without it! That means #1 would be the only one to stay. We will wait and see their gender in August.
I took the opportunity to manually top all these plants, while they were having a Glamour Shots session I sweet talked them with some fresh worm castings and bat guano.
Super Silver Haze trying to sprawl. This is the clone from the dispensary that “should not be put outdoors”. It wants the entire backyard to itself…almost the reverse of the cookies strains that are tight and straight… like an Italian Cypress, or something. SSH wants to reach out and touch you. I am very excited about this one… plus I’m growing another one (Equilibrium Genetics version = Super Silver Haze (Mr. Nice) ♀ x Super Silver Haze (Rebel Grown) ♂ ) from seed and want to compare the traits.
Things are starting to get going. This mostly means I spend more time watering. If I’m being honest, I skew light on nutrients. I like to see that they’ve used up what’s in the soil before I give much other feed. However, the occasional blood meal or worm castings works wonders. I’m going to experiment with Grow More Sea Bloom this September, but probably only for the small 1 gallon pots.
Yeah, speaking of 1 gallons… the Zkittles Grape Bubble auto is starting to bloom. And yeah, I put her next to the GG4 male auto that’s throwing pollen. And then, I collected pollen in a sifter and hit her with it again a week later for good measure. We are getting seeds folks… the question is, how many?
Then I started some early/auto flower plants we will be sure to check on later. Moroccan Lion = Lion’s Claw x Beldia Moroccan Hashplant Ice Pixie = Fire Girl x (Reindeer Syrup x Tangie)
We get free sun, but have to pay double for the water
I just found out that the $130 I’m paying every three months for my compost bin to be hauled away, entitles me to free compost for my garden! You just need to bring your own truck and a shovel. Wish I’d known that $300 of Fox Farm ago. Next year!
Gelato Purple Punch fem auto is starting bloom. Made room by the male GG4 auto that’s throwing pollen. Since she’ll need the energy for making seeds, I’ve given 1 cup of worm castings and a half cup of bat guano, and will be feeding weekly with 15ml/gal of Grow More Sea Bloom + 5ml/gal CalMag in tap water. There’s lots of limestone in the soil around here. So much that the nearby stream has a powdery haze to it. So much that a vineyard up the hillside doesn’t use their water lines (they have to have them for insurance reasons), as the winter rain is absorbed by the limestone and slowly released over the remainder of the year! Anyway, I assume the plants aren’t negatively effected by that, but you can see the white remnants on some of the 1 gallon pots in coasters.
Zkittles Grape Bubble fem auto still doing well. I gave her the same treatment (but double the worm castings) and she’s greening up (except for the lowest/oldest leaves). She starts to fill out nicely in the following weeks so this was the right move.
Ice Pixie reg autos and Moroccan Lion reg autos starting to hit their stride. One didn’t make it due to some creature (my guess, a crow) snapping it in half, but I just took it as a sign to reuse that 3 gallon container for a fem photo lady plant, Lemon G Bx = Lemon G x Lemon Lotus
Birthday Cake x Ruthless Runtz (Humboldt CSI freebie referred to as Shuntz on the package) @Kushies might have also grown these on Rollitup.com last year, if it’s the same person)
Had to put another BluGlu in the ground. It’s sacrificial and being offered to the local rabbit. If it’s still there in October, I’ll harvest it but it only gets water until then.
Romanian Peppers coming along. The wife grew up in a rough city on the east coast and is amazed by seeing flowers turn into things she’s been eating her whole life, but hadn’t been exposed to the life cycle of.
Flowers developing on the other tomato plants. These are either going to be Roma or Cherry, and I will only know once the fruits are developing, because the label fell off and I couldn’t remember which ones I planted where. The others never broke soil. Bummer.
I up potted the citrus plants into 7 gallon pots with coasters. They seem to like that. We’ve got flowers and fruit on both the Meyers and Lime plants… and flowers coming in on that Australian lime plant, with new purple growth.
…some to grow and some to offer to the local rabbit that hides in my bushes and eats greens it can reach. I found it particularly likes sunflowers. I put them in the ground and they are gone the next morning.
x Beldia Moroccan Hashplant 
