Successful homegrown
When I was bringing the trash cans in this week, my neighbor asked if I had a minute. I’ve not talked with him much, but he seems like a nice guy. We kept our distance, kind of like Tim the Tool Man and Wilson.
So, I’m like, what’s up? He said, “Are you the gardener?” And that led to a great conversation about growing cannabis. Apparently, he can see the plant from its home by our South-facing window, and he has been quite mesmerized. He’d like to try growing it. I made him a cheat sheet, some of which I’ve shared below.
It’s fun to think I might have a grow buddy!
In the continuing adventures of a gentlewoman cannabis farmer, I’ve made great progress. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I received new cannabis seeds (at no additional cost) since so many of mine failed to germinate.
My first plant with the new seeds was a beauty. This time around, I didn’t use the kit from A Pot for Pot, although I still highly recommend that option. I’m thinking I can do it for less, although the up-front costs are a little higher.
I now buy Fox Farm Happy Frog Potting Soil. A 12-quart bag for about $20. I also purchased a three-pack of Fox Farm Liquid Nutrient Trio Soil Formula – Big Bloom, Grow Big and Tiger Bloom. Cost was $46. I follow their instructions for fertilizing.
Also from Amazon, I purchased a five-pack of VIVOSUN 3-gallon Plant Grow Bags for $13.99. A 3-gallon pot will typically produce a bigger plant than a 2-gallon pot from the same seed. Presumably a 5-gallon pot would yield even more, but I have not tried that yet.
My first plant ever in a 2-gallon pot took 102 days from seed to harvest over the winter. It was 20 inches tall at maturity. Yield was about 1/3 of an ounce or 10 grams. My second successful plant was in a 3-gallon pot during the summer and took 61 days from seed to harvest. It was denser with bigger buds but about the same height. Yield was just over an ounce or 30 grams.
I taste tested it yesterday, and it is perfectly potent weed, although I mostly use it to make my topical cream. Instructions are on my downloads page.
A new plant is already in fine shape. In yet another experiment, I re-used some of the potting soil, filling the bottom half of the fabric pot. Then I filled the top half with fresh soil. So far, so good.
The Burnmaster 5000
My latest art was done entirely with the new high-end burning tool (we shall call it the Burnmaster 5000). It’s fabulous!! I’ve been experimenting with stippling techniques, which you can see on the tree-like thing on the left.
I also used a combination of acrylic paints and colored pencils. Pencils are easier to keep inside the lines, but depending on the wood and the color, sometimes I have to really go after it to get the kind of coverage I want. The paint was much more difficult to keep inside the lines, but coverage was great.
The red and orange horizontal elements on the bottom were done in paint. They’re large enough so keeping inside the lines wasn’t too much of an issue. But the smaller designs with white are also paint, and while I love the depth of color, it was a pain to keep it inside the lines and doesn’t look quite as good up close. In the future, I’ll probably just use the paint for larger designs.
Dale cut up the remainder of my scrap wood yesterday. There are some darker pieces, which I think will look better with paint. I can’t wait to get started!
I like the stippling. Beautiful piece of art as always. So where are you putting all your pieces?
The talk about growing weed brought up a forgotten memory of a housemate growing some in an unfinished attic under grow lights. It was illegal then, of course. He went up to check on the plants and put his foot through the floor (it was an old rental), getting stuck there. Couldn’t call the fire department for help obviously. We managed to get him unstuck, but it took awhile.
The getting stuck story is great. I’m really glad the tide has turned toward legalization.
Thank you for the kind words about my art. I still don’t know what to do with them, so I bought a display grid, which is out in the garage. They are hanging on the display grid until I figure out a plan. Actually, they look kind of cool all stacked up against each other, but I would rather find them a new home. I will give some as Christmas presents.