I’ve grown a few times indoors but wanted to try a few outdoors this summer. I have a few autos and regular seeds to try out. I have a few concerns. I can control humidity indoors so mold isn’t as much as a concern but outdoors I’m not sure what is too much humidity for outdoors in the hot summer. Most of the seeds I got say they are moderate hardy when it comes to mold resistance. Any of you guys that grow in Texas, Ark, Oklahoma have any advise for this topic? I was planning on starting them in Jun so 90F is about here with 30-40% humidity. Generally the summer gets hotter and drier up to sep. Second, I’m rural now and we have deer …lots of deer. Any advise on how to keep them from eating my buds, I plan on putting up some chicken wire around them. Any other tips for rural grows you guys have regarding animals, bugs, pest?
Another concern is I’m on a fairly wooded lot so there’s lots of birds, do you guys wash your buds at the end of the grow in case it has any nastiness from the outdoors in it? I hear some say just spray them down with a hose…but my question is doesn’t that wash all the oils off and ruin the product?
Hey man, good luck with your garden. I just want to say that I am old and we never used to wash our plants. We used to smoke everything. Bird shit , bug shit, the dirt that was in the bottom of the bag. None of that stuff will hurt you. In France those things are called “terroir” .
You should PM ONE OF T-H-E Best Growers in OK (or elsewhere), @JohnnyPotseed. I’m sure he would be willing to impart a small portion of his vast wisdom to assist you toward a successful outdoor grow. If he is, listen well, “Grasshopper”!! SS/BW…mister
Looks like I read the data wrong, east Oklahoma might be between 40-60% in summer. I guess there’s a difference in comfort level and actual humidity. I’m still looking for reliable historical data for this.
Have any of you guys grown in hempy buckets outside in summer?
As far as other animal problems I wouldn’t recommend any fish carcasses or anything fishy in the ground as coons possums etc will dig the shit out of them. Stay vigilant on the white flys bud worms etc.
Root fungus are a real deal here, so I’d start early on trying to keep that at bay. Don’t overwater, hill up well drained soil to plant in. I’ll probably catch some flak for saying this but I treat soil before planting and through the grow with a combo of howler and serenade fungicide, both are omri listed organic.
I was going to use Jacks. I was wanting to try a in ground one and one in a hempy bucket. Thoughts?
Also, forgot to mention we have armadillos but I don’t think they will be a issue. What will be is the dam golfers and moles; the only thing I can think of is to bury chicken wire so they can’t burrow under. I also want to have a nice garden, non raised so if any of you have ways to be successful with the dam golfers let me know otherwise I’ll have to try and bury wire mesh.
As far as the bud worms and other bugs…what do you guys recommend, when to start and how often to reapply?
Yeah those friggin’ gophers. Probably the best thing you can do is dig a hole about 3’ deep the width of a stovepipe. Put 3/8" rat wire in one end of the stovepipe and drop it in the hole. Dump in your soil and plant.
I have never planted cannabis in ground because I’m sure gophers would eat the roots. But they’ll wait until you’re a month in flower before they do. Just like they did to my chiles.
I have cannabis in a part of my yard with too much solid sandstone for the gophers to get to. It’s just 6-8" below the surface. I’m seeing how that’ll do this year.
I’ve successfully trapped and poisoned moles and gophers in the past. If I was only going to do one or two plants outdoor I’d probably entertain the idea of putting up some netting around one or even a few plants to try to keep the white flies off. Bt seems to be about one of the strongest pesticides that anyone would recommend I believe. There are many that will work better, just not any that would be real safe to consume.
In the fall when the rains return potassium bicarbonate is a good option for pm, mold.
I really like jacks works good and good value when buying the 25lb bags. I use it in the vegetable garden as well so the 25# makes sense to me it’d take me a long time to use that much on the marijuana.
I wash my buds in 3 empty protein tubs for cattle. I use the recipe for a vegetable wash using lemon juice and baking soda water (there is a video online of someone washing buds with a similar recipe as well I’m sure) in the first tub and the other two are for rinsing. I then hang them on 2”x4” wire fashioned in a circle like a tomato cage or square with oscillating fans on them for a bit till dry. I’ve yet to see any negative effects from washing them other than quite a few pistils will be left in the tubs.
I’m debating just getting a 4x4 or 4x8 etc raised bed and putting mesh on the bottom. I’ve had moles in Texas but these golfers are a whole other deal. I was digging one of their holes out to put a trap in and the tunnel was over 2ft deep…shit.
See OK outdoor HERE. Not so rural, but definitely applicable to your weather conditions.
Regarding mold… big, full, tight, dense colas are susceptible to mold/rot if we have high humidity/precip in the latter half of flower. Sometimes it happens and sometimes not.
You must use something for pests. You can see my list on the garden thread.
I don’t deal with deer.
Photo harvest times for me have ranged from last week September to first week November. Average in 2nd to 3rd week October.
Yeah, that’s the stuff I call rat wire. 4" is probably way more than you need, no way in hell they’re getting to your roots.
Edit: I’ve never gone with half inch though. I’d be a little worried they can get their teeth in there and start snapping wires. I think 3/8" would be better but 1/2" will probably work too - just never tried it.
I just want to say that I am old and we never used to wash our plants. We used to smoke everything. Bird shit , bug shit, the dirt that was in the bottom of the bag. 
None of that stuff will hurt you. In France those things are called “terroir” . 
