Here we are at H+12, 12 weeks after harvest. A few more weeks to go, I guess.

Here's an update on my outdoor grow in the tropics, about 18 degrees north, always fully organic. I've been experimenting with light cycles at different times of year. In the past I germed in Aug-September and harvested around Christmas. Good buds, but I always felt that the veg time was too short and plants didn't reach their potential. [it was too much trouble to insert the photos in here with text, so all the photos are below, in order.] I germed an Eldorado from Nirvana in February, harvested June 14. The plant responded brilliantly to topping and LST, yielding a QP in dried and cured bud. I decided to leave the bottom third of growth to see if the popcorn buds would grow a bit more. I left a nearby fluorescent light on to encourage the veg. The entire plant regenerated, going back into veg. It's the wet season, and the plant just loves the constant rain. First came the single-finger leaves. Here she is 4 weeks after harvest (H+4) Then came three leaflets (H+6), I turned the light off, and let nature do its thing. And now (H+8 ), five leaflets throughout the plant, and back into flowering. More LST, and fingers crossed for a good second harvest. (I also took 5 clones, which are doing well so far). Nice thing about growing organic is that all the nutrients you need for the second grow are already in the soil. Stay tuned for a harvest report in a few weeks.

Time for an update. The good news is that all 5 plants are alive and flowering. However, I planted them too late in the season, so that they really didn't spend enough time vegging. In the natural 12/12 light, they started flowering only 4 weeks or so after breaking ground, so remain quite small. In past grows, I started 1-2 months earlier, and the plants grew for longer and achieved reasonable size before flowering. 4-6 weeks left for these buds. Because we've had a lot of workers around the property, I've had to be careful about security. I moved the plants into a protected space that is safe from prying eyes and gets about 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. That's why these photos are a but funky. The other reason is that when I transplanted from grow bags, I began LST. You can see the hemp string training branches. In the pics it's hard to tell the size of the plants and what's what. But the plants responded well to LST. Multiple bud sites are developing equally. The only plant that's really struggling is the Maui Waui. Even though all strains are in the same soil mix, Maui is showing stress in the leaves either from pH problems or some kind of nutrient burn, which is unusual for an organic grow. You can see the damage, which again only shows on this strain. The plant did however respond well to topping and has two little colas developing thick juicy buds. So I guess I will treat this grow as a sampler to familiarize myself with the strains and try again when the days lengthen.

Thanks Sweet. This is only my fourth or fifth grow, so I am still a newbie, and it's good to know that I chose a good selection of strains. I really enjor having several strains to choose from and mix and match. I will share more pics as the plants develop.

Here we are after another 3 weeks. Shortly after posting the first set of pics, I transferred all seedlings into ~6 liter grow bags filled with my own version of super soil: compost, coco, rice hulls, manure, bat guano, bone meal, worm castings and some pelletized organic fertilizer for root growth. The soil gets soaked in effective microrganism solution and left alone for a week before transplant. I also topped 4 of the 5. Now they about 5x bigger than they were on Oct 1, with two top colas branching out. They look very healthy to me, bright green, no insect damage Maui Waui and Kaya Gold have just gone into flower, while El Dorado, Bubblelicious, and Blue Mystic are still in veg. The natural light cycle is already 12/12 here, so it will be interesting to see how much more they grow before putiing all energy into flower production. This week I will put all into 20 liter pots to finish and begin tying the down for LST. The final soil mix will include more bone meal, more bat guano, and a different fertilizer specifically for flower production. I would like to go bigger, but in the interest of security I have to keep them small and, if needed, portable. Stay tuned!

Thanks, and good luck to you too dealing with those ravenous stoner deer.

For variety, I'm trying a selection of 5 different strains, and am happy that they've made it through the critical first 3 weeks. All are Nirvana seeds and I got 100% germination. The only one I've grown before is Blue Mystic, which grew with a strong diesel smell and produced dense, resinous buds with a strong piney flavor and so powerful a high that I ould only allow myself one bong hit at a time. The only problem was that I grew an auto strain, so the plants stayed small. This time around none are autos. the Kaya Gold is growing fast and strong, but the others now seem to be catching up. I always grow outdoors, which has its pros and cons. On the good side, here in the subtropics, 18ºN, the sun is brilliant every day. And during the rainy season the plants enjoy abundant Ph-neutral watering. I have found that I don't need to worry about soil Ph because the rain keeps the mix right in the middle of the scale. The greatest challenge is soil composition. The local heavy clay is far too dense and gets waterlogged easily, even with pots or cups set up for proper drainage. For seedlings, it's important to compose soil that drains all unnecessary rainfall but retains enough moisture so that a couple of dry days in the sun won't totally dry it out. For this grow I am trying a nearly soilless mixture composed of coco, rice hulls, perlite, worm castings and dried cow manure. Everything but the perlite is produced locally and is dirt cheap. For example, a bag of uncompressed coco the size of a bed pillow is about $.30. There are no salts in the coco because we're not near the sea. I've also worked in a small amount of molasses-based fertilizer (vinasse I think is the term). Air and water flow through the mix very well, and I have added a thin layer of volcanic rock on the top to absorb heat from the sun. In another week or so I will transplant them into bigger containers. The medium will contain more soil and compost so that as the rains taper off with season, it can retain moisture longer between waterings. Also bat guano and fertilizers to support the flowering phase. In addition to the manure and organic fertilizers I put in the soil, I also use a liquid organic nutrient. In previous grows I have found that this fertilizer plus EM seem to keep the plants very healthy, and resistant to disease and pests. A long way to go still, so wish me luck! -Ragamuffin

Laos and Myanmar may have landraces unknown to the outside world. And Central Asia--places like Kazakhstan--probably do too.

Thanks tokage, that's all helpful. I've noticed some thickening of the buds over the last week, which is what I was hoping for. I dragged the plant inside to catch some clearer photos.

Still very much the newbie, I'm on about my fourth grow. This one is Nirvana's Master Kush about 12 weeks from seed. To keep the plant from growing too tall (security), I topped it at about 5 weeks, producing two long stems which I then trained down. The plant responded well with two horizontal rows of buds, which I try to show in the photo. Photos aren't really in order but it's pretty obvious what's what. There was a bit of drama a week or so ago when in trying to tie down one of the stalks there was a small split at the Y, but no fibers were severed so I quickly pressed it back together, wrapped it tight in string and put some tape around it-- no harm seems to have been done. However I can't tell how close they are to finishing. The buds aren't chunky, the way they have been with my previous grows. I figured that they just need more time to fill out, but now I notice that the little white grow tips on the buds are starting to turn brown. Does that matter? Can I expect more chunky bud production, or am I in for a crop of long, skinny buds?

I was surprised to see my Blue Mystic plants after 3 weeks were fully ready for harvest, maybe even a bit past the peak to tell the truth. 65 days from breaking ground to harvest. Here's a shot of the biggest cola. Everything is hanging to dry for a few days, in about 60% humidity and 85 degree F weather. Early samples are smooth and minty, cerebral high.

Thanks for the comments. I'll share some high res photos and close-ups in about 10 days.

Time for an update. Here are my two plants at 55 days. True to the strain, they are short but thick. The pots are 15" tall and 20" diameter. Should I trim the lower fan leaves? The smaller plant had suffered some kind of mild stunting early on, with slightly deformed leaves. But I kept it and am glad to see that it survives. It's been useful to grow autos my first couple of times. Actually, the reason I went for autos was that I wasn't sure how to handle the tropical light cycle of a consistent 11-13 hours all year long. I'm looking forward to branching out (haha) with some more robust strains that can grow bigger and yield more over a longer life cycle.

Hey People, any thoughts on trimming or otherwise caring for this lovely lady? This is my second grow, after bringing my first plant through harvest in October, and enjoying the fruits thereof. It was a small yield but I was just glad to have rescued the plant. The buds however were sweet, and that much for sweeter for having come from my own garden. Grow 2 has a pair of Nirvana Blue Mystic autos. Lost one seedling to a high wind, of the two survivors, here's the bigger one at 33 days. I just topped it, now it stands 12" in a 15" pot. All organic outdoor grow, with my own soil/compost mixture, cow manure, worm castings, and EM. And weekly watering with an organic liquid fertilizer. I plan to work in some bat guano as flowering approaches. Thanks in 2013, Ragamuffin

Haha don't worry, foliar feeding only during veg. I think of these as nutes for the soil. My plan is to keep the plants out through the end of the natural rainiy season and then two weeks or so of sunshine. So maybe 5 weeks from now. i hope that will be enough time for small buds on lower branches to really bloom.