Hello from Arizona -

[wow_arizona]

Hello everyone, from our place in Tucson, Arizona! I am a new indoor grower and appreciate all of the knowledge shared by everyone on this forum. I have successfully grown outdoors in Arizona. This year, with the change in law, there are a few of us old people who are collaborating info, seeds/clones/methods in our “OGGC - Old Guys Growing Consortium” and generally having fun.

Zkittles - 2019

Until Covid, we had a small exclusive outdoor/nature oriented B&B. We are rethinking our approach and plan on having a VERY CANNABIS FRIENDLY establishment in the fall. The website for that is under development, the current site is https://wowarizona.org We have done habitat restoration for the twenty-five years we have lived here, so we are not new to cultivation/growing/difficulties/ pertaining to Arizona conditions.

ME - I have rare form of glaucoma and I have used cannabis for major pain almost my whole life. I have studied and researched the plant since I was a child. I have a whole program that I teach to “old people” about cannabis. the site for that is https://411on420.net

Growing
OUTDOORS - I have grown outdoors for a couple of years and have a couple of neighbors joining me this year. I am creating an irrigation system for my grow house this week, with thoughts of having plants in it by mid/late March.

Seedlings were started, along with a bunch of clones. Seedlings have been now distributed to my neighbors. These will start to get acclimated to outdoor sun in eight days. Most will have received a first fimming by then.

INDOORS - This is my first year indoor growing. I am using LED lights for both 3tent (HLG100 4K color temp with four T5 Nanoreflector) and rspec’s for 5tent ( HLG 600 rspec & 300 rspec). In one week, the 5tent will go to flower, and clones will go in 3tent. It looked like this yesterday-

A video camera has been added to the 5tent so a time lapse can be created. The camera has variable height/location ability, so it will be easy to move to different vantage points. This is the angle at which it currently sits -

I have a password protected link for a live-feed of the camera that I have shared with my OGGC and some others, for those who want to sit and “watch the grass grow…”. Both tents have temp/humidity monitors and the 5tent also has a CO2 monitor.

We are more than happy to share whatever information we have learned on-line or come visit. We share treats, too!

[TheMadFlascher]

BTW that hoop frame looks familiar!! Beautiful looking plants!!

[wow_arizona]

Thanks!

The hoop house was loosely based on a design from bootstrapfarmer.com

[dunbar]

The treats look amazing! Beautiful plants too!

[Maz]

I’m headed off to Arizona on a road trip in a few weeks. Can’t wait I love the Sonoran desert.

Looks great!

[wow_arizona]

If you send an email a few days in advance, we would be more than happy to have you come by and have a look at our place. That is, if you don’t mind hanging out with a couple people who like to look at birds and creatures.

[wow_arizona]

Added a canopy fan, right after some pruning/leaf removal, watering and a foliar spray (just water)

[MrBlue]

Welcome to GN wow and your stuff looks great
No hermies in the Zkittles?

[wow_arizona]

Thanks!

Nope no hermies, it was only two (large) plants and they matured “just right”.

[wow_arizona]

Getting the ‘irrigation pile’ together for the outdoor area, we are waiting for the 1/2” tubing and tees to arrive.

Two zones of the timer will service eight plants, one zone will be for an overhead interior misting system and the fourth will be for other veg/fruit plants. To monitor root temps, I am going to use long-distance Bluetooth barbeque temp probes inserted into the top four inches of soil. (My kid wholesales them from China and I have a box of returns that are perfect!)

I use them for cooking, too!

[stever33]

Hello back from Tucson! First time grower myself. Just here reading for tips. Good luck. Is shade cloth recommended growing outside here in Tucson?

[wow_arizona]

I have experimented with it. This year, I am going to use a 30% WHITE shade cloth over the very peak of my grow house. It will extend five feet from center. In the past, plants were hidden and shaded enough from late afternoon (killer) sun. Different situation with the law change makes for a slightly different approach to placement.

Last year’s intense temperatures prompted me to use some shade cloth, but it was too dense and caused the buds to ‘open’ a bit.

Little tip for AZ outdoor growing, if using pots. Lightly sand/abrade the plastic and paint them white/desert light greens. It reduces surface temperature and slows evaporation.

[stever33]

Thanks for the information. I tried tomatoes one year but it was too hot.

[wow_arizona]

I am restarting the yellow pear tomatoes from last year! They grow really well in our heat.

[chrisj]

Hi @wow_arizona and a huge welcome to GN. Those are some lovely pictures and thanks for sharing. Your indoor is off to a great start and looking forward to seeing your flowers. Happy growing.

I have shared with my OGGC and some others, for those who want to sit and “watch the grass grow…”

So basically you live feeding your grow to the interwebs? That is really cool.

[wow_arizona]

Yes.

https://video.nest.com/live/sefT95uOTB

[wow_arizona]

Quick question to all: Currently, my 5tent (5x5) has plants in 3 gallon cloth pots. I am flipping to flower in one week. Would a bump to 5 gallon cloth pots be recommended? I was thinking about letting one get a little dry and then sliding the cloth back a bit to see the current root situation.

These had some serious leaf removal two days ago (time for more). They were watered this morning and several have gone into the stage of using quarts/liters almost every day. This photo is current, as of midday, March 2.

Cultivars, all from ILGM seeds (except J-MAC)
Back row: Blueberry 1, J-MAC, Jack Herer 1
Middle Row: Blueberry 3, Blueberry 2, Jack Herer 2
Front row: Blue Dream 1, Blue Dream 2, White widow

Square pots on right - Jack Herer 1 and Blueberry 2 clones, started in Root Riot plugs, moved to soil yesterday.

[happilyretired]

Very nice and welcome. I’m just right next-door here in California.
If it were me I would up pot them.I know a few others that would do the same and you would get explosive growth. Your root ball is generally The size of your canopy. They are going to do a tremendous amount of growing for the first 2 to 3 weeks after you flip lights. They would like the space I’m sure. Let me tag @PreyBird1 He’s got about 10 tents going and he does a lot of small pot stuff so he can take one look at your picture and tell you exactly what your plants will need.

[PreyBird1]

I would up pot to 5 gallons. just remember when they stretch there gonna need the room and stay up on defoliton. You could even sneak 7 gallon planting bags in there. There smaller around but taller. I use 3 gallons for plants being cloned for mothers. Then i flower the mother stock after the baby clones rooted. This way i always have tiny baby mothers. Big mother i do not fool with anymore unless i need a lot of clones.

These are baby mothers in 3 gallon bags.
And just a fun fact. Cannabis plants grow 40%-60% bigger in flower.

[PreyBird1]

I actually run 7 full tent set ups.