Hey there folks
Well I am stepping away from my normal keep it to myself habits and posting some links etc of my LITFA guerrilla grow experiment . I haven’t grown at all in like 20 years because i put family and career above what I loved … but its time to get my grow on and see how much I remember , I am big on organics ( probably because that was all we had back then lol ) so everything is organic certified or home made by me
you have to excuse the use of chemical control for slugs/snails- I cant deal with them on a day to day basis so needed a fix for the long term
So I have begun the LITFA Guerrilla grow experiment .
The area you see cleared in the photos was supposed to be fully dug out and super soiled, I just couldn’t get it done with everything else going on with the family - the missus Father passed away
But - Such is life as Ned Kelly once said
this was set up quickly on the 11th September
4 x 4 hole fenced for the moment with chicken wire - keep the bloody rabbits and kangaroos out of it , they can smell pot a mile off and go crazy for it . I have had a 5 ft plant stripped to the main stem over night by Kangaroos in the past
My super soil mix - plus I buried 8 whole fish at the bottom of the hole with water crystals - ground water level sits about 5 feet down give or take as a clay layer comes closer to the surface in this area , soil seems to always be damp ish most of the year
2 x 20 ltr drums with blumat drippers ( runs approx 128mils per day as soil dries out so the manufacturer claims )
2 x Gelato x OG ( Seedman )
2 x Jack Herer ( ILGM )
1 x Agent Orange ( ILGM )
1 x Franco’s lemon cheese Dutch passion - maybe… I cant remember
and a white widow auto from ILGM I had spare from another trial auto flower plot in my front yard - hope the missus doesn’t spot them lol
the blue and green stuff ya see is snail and slug pellets - as the seedlings get hammered by the pricks of things .
these plants where supposed to go into a larger area which is why they are a little cramped and no doubt I will lose a couple for various reasons
the below shots ( if they worked ) were take on the 11th Sept 2019 ,just after planting
I have a couple of short videos on youtube about how these plants looked around the 8th November ( @livingthedream ) if the links below dont work out ,sorry I’m old ( ish ) and busy working right now lol
the last 2 links are of the original Patch and a new setup I did after seeing the results of the first trial as I left them on the 19th November
the second patch is a different soil mix I have been brewing for a few months
I’m testing out which gets the best results …At the moment Soil test 1 is coming up trumps , but I wont know more about the comparisons between soil mixes until January when I finally get to see the girls again
anyway I hope you like it ,after reading threads on this site for the past 5 days and seeing what you guys are doing . I have much to learn from you all
Thanks folks …
Pull up a chair - this will be a slow thread as it will be updated every 7 to 8 weeks , I look forward to sharing both my successes and failures with you guys .
I am excited to see how they perform , Also I am itching to get home to see them, going to be a very long 7 weeks at work
Love it, the excitement when you get back in the bush not knowing if they are still there or alive etc until you actually see them. When they are there and thriving it’s a fantastic feeling.
With the water table so high you probably won’t need to rely on the blumats when the girls roots dig in.
hahaha , just watched these videos again myself , had to get a fix
I must apologize to you all ,these videos were initially just for me to record results etc and I hadn’t realized the amount of colorful language included in them , Now that I am committed to sharing my progress with the good folk of OG ,I will pledge to be less colorful in future videos if I post them
lucky I took out the vid where I bump into a huge tiger snake on the trail in … it was to put it politely R rated in the extreme
@allotment
well next time I bump into one ( which is guaranteed ) I will be sure to save the video for you so you can hear me ask it nicely to move out of my way and please live elsewhere lol
Hi guys … I just realized I didn’t post the last video I had mentioned of the second patch I put in
So here it is … this patch is in a very different area of bush , ground water seems to keep this area fairly damp soil wise .After seeing the results of patch 1 - well you know the feeling ,how could I not double down . i have been wanting to grow Shiskaberry for a long time and …now I am
I wont be getting back to check the ladies until January …and its killing me lol
I keep checking the weather for my area everyday and I see the temps are getting above 30 degrees on average ,here’s praying those little Blumats don’t let me down because its going to only get hotter from here on out
Hi mate , I live in Oz … but currently away working overseas
If those Blumats don’t let me down … I’ll be ordering more myself … be damned on price lol
Expensive - but if they keep my girls alive after nearly 2 months in that heat unsupervised… I reckon I’ll buy shares
I can see the advantages over a timed watering system, especially when plants get bigger and the weather gets warmer.
I know they’re supposed to be a little finicky to set up, but they’ve been used really successfully on fairly large operations. Are you using the maxi, or the regular Tropf-Blumat? Or are those the ones that siphon - classic? If you used the classic, that may be more of a slow release attempt at survival I’m thinking… Oh man, you have piqued my curiosity big time.
And yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ll be ordering a setup for next year’s outdoor grow, but thanks for running such a bold field test for us
I hope they don’t run out of water, or it won’t matter how good they are
the Blumat’s I have running in
Patch 1 are the 128mil a day Classic XL
Patch 2 are the regular Classic Blumat’s 48 mils a day - this second patch has better ground water levels so i went with the smaller cone .
I found them really easy to setup and prime and really liked how they went over the spring time , only used half a drum each over an 8 week period
I think a few contributing factors helped out …such as
: lower Spring temps
: higher than usual rain fall over the period
of course the soil has additional water retention additives such as Bio char / Water crystals and Coco
I have been watching the local weather very closely ( they are my babies after all ) . I see that the rain is still coming but less often maybe once a week currently , but that will stop now as we enter the full on summer period over December/January .
It will be a true test of the product for sure , and like I said its all a big experiment for me to get a system that works for my lifestyle . I will keep you all up to date on my progress .
I am already thinking of going with the full Tropf setup - Just need to work out the logistics of getting larger water storage into the site with out getting seen
fingers crossed it works out - be the first (real ) plants I have grow in nearly 20 years - Super excited !!! lol
