Crow's Seedstockers on the wrong side of the tracks

[Crow River]

@Shumroom, thanks man. We'll see how it goes the next few weeks, but yeah it's going okay so far. 

[Crow River]

Bit of an update on goings on at the plots. Earlier in the week went to the bramble plot to harvest a couple of girls that had been affected by rot the week before. I probably should have taken them sooner, but I had no bags to do so last visit. I did take extra bags too just in case other girls were affected. Dry, with some sun, and pretty windy that day. Good for drying plants out after the previous night's showers. 

 

When I arrived I could see immediately that the rot situation had got worse. Went round checking all the girls, and decided to chop a few more as not only were they ready, but I needed to stop the rot as the expression goes. 

 

Plot on arrival

 

You can see even from a distance that a couple of girls have lost tops to rot. Yeah, I really should have chopped those two earlier. Lesson learned, as Croptober draws near, take bags just in case... Other girls that had rot included both BCN Critical XXL Fast, on top buds. The one that had blown over was worse than the one that didn't. Thankfully, that was it.

 

BCN Critical XXL Fast

 

So all these girls were chopped. I threw away any tops or lowers that were rotten, they're in what might be my compost pile if I come back here next season. I also put aside some buds that only had a small amount of rot, or needed further inspection. They went in "bud surgery" bags to be worked on back at base. 

 

The positive side was that I didn't really lose that much thankfully. If I'd waited until after the forecast rain, it might have been a very different story. Another plus was noticing that another two girls were pretty much finished, and no rot. So I chopped them too.  

 

Just about had enough paper carrier bags with me for all the girls that I harvested. The BCN Critical XXL Fast had to go in doubled up bin liners. The healthier Critical had only a few small bits of rot, so I removed them. She was pretty much ready to harvest though, so I resolved to go back in a few days once the rain goes off again to chop her.

 

Harvest bags

 

Bud surgery bags

 

On the evidence from this plot at any rate, it seems that fast versions really do finish a bit earlier. Very welcome for a staggered harvest. 

 

After taking several girls, the plot has opened up quite a bit. Good for airflow to the remaining girls, but possibly also more risk of wind damage. Mind you, they all seemed to be coping with the gusty breeze. They are all in flower and all looking fantastic. I removed yellow or dying leaves from all the girls and gave them a root drench of Flower Power and also liquid seaweed. For some this was their last feed. Apart from the remaining BCN Critical XXL Fast and one other plant, I estimate all the others have some way to go before finishing. I'll continue to visit more regularly, and if I need to take some early to avoid big losses to rot, I will.

 

BCN Critical XXL Fast

 

Triton Biscotto Lime mum

 

Plot after first harvest

 

I've been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast this week, knowing that I have a few fast and early version girls nearly ready to harvest. Saw that a 24 hour downpour was predicted for the weekend, I decided I would chop them all on Friday. Not just the two at the bramble plot, but also one at the railway, and four at the embankment.

 

This led to a frantic scramble around all three sites this afternoon after work. Went to the railway first, took a girl back to base, loaded up with paper bags and bin liners, then off to the bramble plot. The BCN Critical XXL Fast was definitely ready, and so was another plant. I trimmed fan leaves, then took buds into paper bags. The Critical had quite a few small spots, mostly on tops, but also a few lowers. Cut those out before placing in the bag. It started to rain while I was doing the her too.  Double bagged the girls in bin liners, then off to the embankment plot.

 

I only had less than an hour before sunset, and the girls were all wet from the rain. So no point and no time to trim fan leaves on site. No point using paper bags either. So quick and dirty harvest time. Chopped three girls, and put straight into bin liners. Took about 30 minutes. 

 

With those tall girls gone from the front row, the Triton Biscotto Lime, and a couple of smaller girls will get more sunlight, which should be beneficial.

 

I'm pretty pleased that I managed to catch a couple of girls just in time. I don't think they would have fared very well in the current heavy rain. Only one early version still out, plus the lower part of a semi-auto. The rest are all full season strains. All are now in flower except one wee plant.

 

Bramble plot before second harvest

 

BCN Critical XXL Fast

 

Bramble plot after second harvest

 

Embankment plot before harvest

 

Embankment plot after harvest

Edited October 7, 2023 by Crow River

[Crow River]

Visited the embankment plot, just to see how things are going. Also was ready to harvest any girls that might be ready, ahead of forecast cold snap tonight and tomorrow night. 

 

The Triton Biscotto Lime clone is fattening buds, but not ready. It will be at least a week or two, possibly a bit longer. Maybe the end of the month, maybe early November.

 

I did not water or give fertiliser to any girls, because of the forecast cold nights. Better if the soil is a bit drier, so it won't freeze. I'll check in on them all in a week's time.

 

Embankment plot on arrival

 

Triton Biscotto Lime clone

 

Embankment plot on departure

[Crow River]

Went to the bramble plot for the first time in over a week. I took paper bags ready to chop any girls that might be ready. Also carried bottles of Flower Power to give them all a root drench.

 

Unfortunately, the rot has been steadily attacking the girls at this plot. Also quite a few broken branches on several plants, I'm assuming wind damage. All lowers, some were still attached and alive, others had fallen away and lay dead on the ground. I went round salvaging snapped branches, but it was too late for some. Five girls were quite badly affected by rot. A pity because some look maybe a week away from finishing otherwise. Reckon the huge downpour last weekend has not been good for these girls. If we hadn't had some nice sunshine the past few days, might have been even worse. Cut out buds from the affected girls, some went straight on the compost, others had some basic surgery on site and will be triple checked back at base.  

 

Some plants were unaffected by any damage (yet). Surprisingly, the Triton Biscotto Lime top buds were all cooked. So I took those, leaving lowers to ripen a bit longer. I think this plot gets quite a lot of sunshine, so buds are ripening quite quickly.

 

I am probably going to return in a couple of days, and will most likely either chop all the girls that have had rot, or do a progressive harvest, taking tops and leaving lowers a bit longer. I'll assess the situation then, but will be prepared if need be. Given that the girls that had some rot are unlikely to fare very well during days of constant rain, I might just take them all early. So potentially could be harvesting five plants, plus uppers from another two.

 

Bramble plot on arrival

 

Triton Biscotto Lime mum

 

Bramble plot after third harvest

[Crow River]

Just adding a note here to say how impressed I am with Triton Biscotto Lime. An absolute pleasure to grow outdoors, given my northerly latitude it's pretty amazing how robust the strain has been. The mum/clone at the bramble plot produced some lovely purple tops as they finished up. It's been a real surprise seeing these girls do well, and recover from leaf dieback, coming back stronger. Seem to be pretty resistant to rot and mould too. Unexpected, but very welcome. One to add to the proven outdoor strains list...

[Shumroom]

Do other Cookies based varieties normally do well with our climate?

 

Atb

 

 

 

[Crow River]

1 minute ago, Shumroom said:

Do other Cookies based varieties normally do well with our climate?

 

Atb

 

 

 

 

Dunno, maybe this is just a fluke? I certainly never expected this strain to do so well outdoors. Though TBL did prove to be quite resilient indoors earlier in the year.

[Crow River]

Got all the bud from the first and second harvests trimmed and jarred now. Unfortunately I lost nearly all of the two Critical plants to mould and rot after harvesting. 

 

Two Triton Biscotto Lime still out there. A storm is due to arrive tomorrow night, so I will brace the taller girl at the embankment plot to help her withstand strong winds.

[Crow River]

Some pics below of the two Triton Biscotto Lime, which will have to contend with a big storm starting tonight and lasting several days. I braced the tall girl at the embankment plot with extra stakes, hopefully will stop her from keeling over in the wind.

 

TBL mum ripening her lowers at the bramble plot

 

TBL clone (left) braced for bad weather at the embankment plot

[Crow River]

Another frantic dash today, to harvest plants before the latest severe downpour started. I was looking for girls that either had some rot starting, or were damaged, or indeed were ready and finished.

 

Over at the bramble plot, two girls had some rot on the tops, including the Triton Biscotto Lime mum. So I removed a small number of rotten bits, and chopped both. Just one girl at that plot now.

 

Then to the embankment, and while no rot was detected, the wind had made the taller girls lean over. Also there were signs of wind damage on leaves, especially the Triton Biscotto Lime clone. I suppose I could have strengthened the staking of those taller plants, but with the heavy rain coming I decided to chop all three. That just leaves the two extreme late plant outs at that plot. They definitely need a bit longer before finishing. 

 

So that's the season nearly over at those two plots, and only three plants still out. Of course I have some more girls still at different plots. Hopefully they'll all be okay in the coming rain.

 

That is the end of this diary, as all the Seedstockers strains have now been harvested. Fair to say that there were mixed fortunes, some strains succumbed to rot, while others were tougher and less affected. Given the weather we had over the summer, it was something of a miracle anything made it to harvest. In a drier year, reckon the BCN Critical XXL Fast would do better than it did. Similarly the Mandarin Panties Auto. The real surprise was Triton Biscotto Lime. I didn't expect this strain to be so tough and do so well, despite quite late flowering. I would be happy to run all three again.

 

Thanks to @Seedstockers-Mark for generously providing beans and encouragement. Thanks also to folk who have commented, made suggestions, or just followed along.

 

I'll definitely be back outdoors next season, maybe a different approach next time. Until then, happy growing to all!

 

Triton Biscotto Lime mum lowers

 

Embankment plot on arrival

 

Triton Biscotto Lime clone

 

Embankment plot after harvest

 

[Stigofthedank]

big ups @Crow Rivermy man m, TBL  for sure next year, given how north you are it’s amazing to see her do so well for

loads of people 

 

well done matey

stig

[Crow River]

@Stigofthedank cheers man, TBL did suffer a little from rot as the buds matured, also maybe a little late for my latitude. But pretty darn tough otherwise. Probably need a semi-auto version really for round my way...

[Crow River]

Wet my two remaining BCN Critical XXL Fast beans. Going to give them another go outdoors this season (if they germinate okay). Hopefully they'll fare a bit better this time...

[Crow River]

Apologies for the lack of recent updates. I planted the two BCN Critical XXL Fast down at the Bramble plot ten days ago. Below pics of them and a Shaman at plant out. Critical  are at the front in first pic, back in second one.

 

Went back today and they're doing okay. A few raggedy looking leaves lower down, but new growth looks very healthy. I gave both a pinch of slow release fertiliser granules, for an extra nitrogen boost. Hopefully they'll get a good drink over tonight and tomorrow with the rain coming in.

 

 

Will try to update this diary more frequently, sometimes get a bit lost among my main GG diary and forget to add to this one...

[Crow River]

Well unfortunately there's bad news from the Bramble plot. 

 

The sight that greeted me when I visited this evening was not a pleasant one.

All the plants had been munched. I don't mean just a wee bit, I mean properly munched. Only two still had any fan leaves, and one of those (a BCN Critical) had a damaged stem (half nibbled through) so looked like it had been super cropped. Not good. Not good at all. Pretty much total devastation. All the girls seemed to still be alive, and small leaf shoots were growing on all the stems. But this plot is basically a write off now.

 

Reckon the culprits were rabbits. I have noticed a lot more of them in the area this year compared to last, there were loads hopping about on the way there. Obviously they've been breeding and thriving despite the local foxes. I managed to locate the point in the perimeter fence where I think they got in, they just went under it. They ate all the lower leaves and branches on each plant, and then they gnawed through the stem higher up to get at the upper leaves they can't reach. I tried to repair the girl with the half nibbled stem by binding with some twine, not sure if it will work. Nothing really stopping them coming back and finishing the survivors off mind you. 

 

I had brought some grow nutes with me, so I gave all the girls (or what's left of them) a feed and then left. I think I probably shouldn't plant anything else there until I can sort out some cages or a better fence. 

 

One Critical  was almost completely destroyed, just a few small shoots left. The other still had a fair few fan leaves left, but the stem was partly gnawed through. I don't have any more seeds, so that's that for this strain I'm afraid.

 

I'm pretty gutted TBH. But hey, there's not much can be done about it now. I suppose some of the girls might grow back a bit. But then the rabbits can munch them again any time they want. I'll maybe see about reinforcing the perimeter fence, or making some cages. Given the carnage I'm not hugely motivated, but I can take some chicken wire down next visit and if there's anything still left I can try and protect it.

 

Last year it was people that were the problem. This year it's wildlife. Oh well, at least I still have a hefty stash from last season's harvest - though I have hardly any Critical as it was nearly all lost to rot after harvest.

 

Some pics of the aftermath.

 

BCN Critical Fast XXL munched

 

BCN Critical Fast XXL partly munched

 

Emergency stem repair