Black Venus's secret garden 2022

[Black Venus]

Thanks @ratdog. I have a bit of a seed-popping addiction and always end up with too many plants, so when a friend is able to re-home them it feels like they're doing ME a favour!

[Black Venus]

5 hours ago, mikeydoughnut said:

Top read was that @Black Venus. Very rarely find myself in the outdoor section but glad I did. Didn’t want to drown you with likes so thought I’d pop a comment up instead.

Whole heartedly agree on the regs thing. I find it exciting too. Managed to sex a pack of blues using only 10cm pots, dunt have to be so much aggro really.
I’ll pop a follow on n try n keep up and watch those Ace seeds. Malawi regs keep a-winking at me. 
Beautiful stuff  

 

Thanks for your lovely comment @mikeydoughnut. Glad you're finding it interesting. Yes, the more I look at the Ace catalogue the more I wonder why I didn't get into them sooner. It's not just that they're producing quality stuff, it's the whole ethos behind them and the sense that they're doing the right things for the right reasons. They seem to be a bit under-represented on UK420, especially in the outdoor section, so I thought I should do something about that. Nepal Jam looks right up my street – "warm, clean and expansive effect that leaves you happy and floating on air for 2-3 hours" – gotta have some o' that! And it's supposedly well adapted to shite weather! Let me know if you decide to go for the Malawi and I'll be very pleased to come along and watch their progress.

[Black Venus]

A little update on the Celias and Smiles. These are the Celias (below).

 

 

One of the Celias is definitely a boy, and the one which was a bit ambiguous is now fairly conclusively identified as a girl. I say 'fairly', because I never underestimate the ability of male plants to produce long fine hairs on their mini-bollocks which can seriously look like pistils. But I felt it was certain enough to allow me to plant her out into the garden. I'd prepared a really nice spot for her in the middle of the spud patch, but I got cold feet about it when I realised how stinky she was – because the spud patch is close to next door's fence, and this was the neighbour who complained about the smell a few years ago, and I don't want to fuck him off any more than I have to. I assume that a plant which gives off such a strong fug of weed when it's in veg is going to be a right howler once the flowers get going, so I've erred on the side of caution and dug up a new patch of ground for her in the middle of the garden, away from all the fences. I've found a spot where she'll be screened off from the view of the neighbours' windows by various strategically placed bramble bushes and dangling tree branches, and where she'll still get lots of sun. No special preparation done – just dug a hole with a bit of frass and chicken poo and some home-made wormcasts, and in she goes.

 

I have two more Celia plants which are a bit younger, and one of those has a pretty definite female pre-flower. She will probably end up planted in the greenhouse border. I find that some varieties do better in the greenhouse and some do better outside in the garden, and the only way to find out which they prefer is by trial and error ... so if I've got two girls then I can hedge my bets. The other plant is still too young to show sex.

 

The Celia male is looking great and I'm hoping to distribute his jizz across the whole garden in due course. He's still in early pre-flower so there's no rush to isolate him – I'll just keep him in his 2-litre pot to help restrict his size.

 

Smile F2s – suddenly shooting for the sky

 

Meanwhile the two Smile F2 plants have taken off like rockets. I'm really pleased about that, because it has been a bit of a trial to get any Smile plants at all – first with the non-germination, and then with the seedlings being stunted and distorted. But I do so desperately want some Smile bud this year because I've almost run out, and this variety really is my special medicine. Two plants is better than nothing, but I may or may not get a girl. Anyway, after growing through their phase of distorted leaves they were starting to look normal except for their ridiculously compact structure, with the nodes all stacked up on top of one another. Then, last week, they suddenly stretched out like a couple of little telescopes! It was weird because it happened in the space of about 48 hours – these long fat stems suddenly appeared between the nodes and they tripled in height! Now they're finally starting to look like proper plants rather than stunty runts, though they still have some leaf and node aberrations – like three or four leaves per node.

 

Three leaves per node

 

 

Four leaves per node

 

 

This is like two leaves morphed together, with a fasciated stalk

 

But hey-ho, I'm not complaining. I'm just grateful to have any Smile plants at all. The seeds came from @dannychoo via subbies a few years ago, and there's a diary on here somewhere about the making of them. The male plant, if I remember rightly, had three leaves per node. Not sure if that has a genetic basis to make it more likely in the offspring, or if it's just random. But it doesn't have any detrimental effect on the end product. Praying for a girl and some more Smile bud in the jars, but if it doesn't work out then I'm hoping I can find a Smile-like high in one of the Celia girls. And failing that I'll just have to wait and see what @GSZZ comes up with in Smile version 2, which I know is going to be brilliant. 

[OldFord]

Highly impressive sir   ,  just had a re read from front to back and plants are thriving and a nice selection too.   

 

It wont be long til all the hard work pays off and the jars are filling  

 

Please keep the updates coming sir.   

[Black Venus]

Thanks for dropping by @OldFord – I've been finding your outdoor diary very inspiring too, especially the way you have your plants "hiding in plain sight" in the wilder parts of the garden. That's pretty much what I'm trying to do, blending them in among the nettles and brambles!

[Black Venus]

One of my Smile F2s has begun flashing her bits, and she's female! So chuffed to have a Smile girl and hopefully some replenished jars in a few more months. The other Smile plant is not sexed yet – it has plenty of preflowers but they're all a bit vague and shapeless at the moment. I'm leaning towards thinking it's a boy, but I don't really mind one way or the other now that I've got the other girl. If it's another female then I should get some well-filled jars, and if it's male then it expands the options for pollinating between the Smiles and Celias. Either way, I'm happy. 

 

One curious thing though is that both Smile F2s have whorled phyllotaxy, or three leaves per node. They've have some slightly odd growth right from the start, including the node oddities which I reported on last time, but now they're both growing consistently with three leaves per node. It's interesting because the male plant they came from also had three leaves per node. I've had a few plants do this over the years but I was under the impression that it's not a genetic thing (i.e. not directly inherited) but I may be wrong about that. Maybe the offspring of whorled parent plants do have a predisposition towards it.

 

The third Celia plant is also now confirmed female, so she has gone into the greenhouse border – along with the female Smile. Here they are just after planting out.

 

Celia (at the back) and the two Smile F2s. The one in the pot is the one which hasn't shown sex yet.

 

 

The female Smile, with whorled phyllotaxy

 

 

Meanwhile the older Celia girl (below) is getting her feet down into the good earth and still growing tall and skinny. I've placed a cage round her since this photo was taken, as I think she will need some support when she gets bigger. Her leaves are a little bit pale at the moment but she'll soon green up once she starts drawing up nutrients from the soil. I gave her a sparing amount of Living Soils Grow nutrients to help kick things off. The Celia male (not shown in this photo) has been upgraded from a 2-litre to a 3-litre pot because he was looking a bit miserable, but I'm trying to keep his roots fairly restricted to stop him growing too big.

 

 

 

Here's another pic of the younger Celia in the greenhouse. She survived the extreme greenhouse temperatures earlier this week and looks happy to have her feet in the soil. With a few chillies, tomatoes and peas to keep her company. She's growing vigorously but is definitely less tall than the other Celia girl – more of a bushy structure.

 

[Black Venus]

Time for an update on the autos.

 

Here's the auto corner. Got four in here, doing their best not to be noticed.

 

Like a lot of people on this forum, I've gradually become disillusioned with big commercial seedbanks and am mostly now just growing their stuff as autos. Take Dutch Passion for example. I've grown some fantastic plants from them and I've also grown some duds. I've had absolutely corking weed one year, only to grow another seed from the same packet the following year and get something mediocre. But I do enjoy their stuff when it's good, so I have a couple I haven't tried before, AutoBlueberry and Auto Lemon Kix. I like their normal Blueberry because it has a nice high (and it hasn't hermied on me so far, contrary to its reputation) but it is challenging to grow in my garden because it seems to take ages to start flowering. That's one of the biggest factors in whether things will grow outdoors in the UK or not – it's not so much the number of weeks it takes to flower, but how long it takes to flip after the solstice. Blueberry (and its relative Blue Velvet) don't get going properly until September, and then they're bollocksed with botrytis. I could grow them with light dep, but I'll be honest, I can't be arsed. I don't love them enough to put the work in. So I'm taking the next best option and growing Blueberry as an auto this year. Autos are a supplement to the main crop, so I tend to shove them in a corner of the garden and let them get on with it. They are in flower now, which is always nice.

 

AutoBlueberry is big and tall with quite a subdued smell and is late to start flowering (relative to other autos). 7 weeks in this photo.

 

 

Auto Lemon Kix smells like creamy lemon pudding topped with mouldering citrus peel. Nom nom.

 

 

Auto Gelato from Real Gorilla looks nice, and smells like a slightly over-ripe trifle. 8 weeks old here.

 

 

 

Santa Marta Haze Auto. This is a Seedstockers variety I'm growing for the first time and got to admit that so far it looks like a crock of crap. Stunted, mutated, pale and not even a foot tall yet at the age of 6 weeks. But I've had special magic plants among the ones which look crap, so we'll persevere and see what happens.

 

 

Auto Zamaldelica from Ace Seeds. Four weeks old in a 20-litre pot and wowza!

[CustardVape]

Top stuff @Black Venus you shall be rewarded well for your hard work 

[OldFord]

10 hours ago, Black Venus said:

Thanks for dropping by @OldFord – I've been finding your outdoor diary very inspiring too, especially the way you have your plants "hiding in plain sight" in the wilder parts of the garden. That's pretty much what I'm trying to do, blending them in among the nettles and brambles!

 

Yours are looking great sir       I love this time of year when the gardens  & GG's are in full swing  ,  most autos nearly done and the fasts kicking off .... wonderful time of year  

 

To be blunt .... im an old git and really couldnt give a flying f**k for our gov's archaic view & stance on our fine plant of choice         As long as any of the surrounding properties are not affected or offended by the fine aromas i simply carry on regardless !   

[Black Venus]

I completely agree with your philosophy @OldFord. There is something really special about growing weed in a garden. I actually feel duty bound to do it, on the basis that the law is only going to change when the culture is changed. In other words, we need to get to a point where someone sees weed growing in a neighbour's garden and doesn't think anything of it, rather than flinging their hands up in horror. I'm quite brazen in what I do, and I'm not complacent about the risks I'm taking, but honestly – people need to just see weed as a normal part of everyday life, growing in people's gardens and being loved and nurtured among the veg and the roses. 

 

To a great extent that's already happening. I do a lot of cycling and I smell weed everywhere I go – all around town, out in the villages, posh areas, everywhere. That's the daft thing – everybody's doing it, and we're all trying to hide it from everybody else. It's bonkers.

 

I grow weed primarily because I love the plants. I love being around them, studying them and spending time with them. I usually end up growing more than I can use myself and give a lot of it away. I just think it's the most beautiful, magical and fascinating plant I've ever encountered, and that's why I can't get enough of it.

 

I do make an effort to avoid upsetting the neighbours. I keep the plants out of sight as much as possible, and grow the stinkiest ones as far away from fences as I can. But the joy I get from having the plants around me is so great, I feel I couldn't be without them. One day things will get better – and every garden that has a weed plant in it is a small step towards that.

 

PS: I'm a madam rather than a sir.  I don't know why there are so few women on this forum. Are there fewer women than men growing weed, or is it just that women are less inclined to join forums about it? I've no idea. 

[OldFord]

@Black Venus   My apologies madam    I should have realised with the user name ,  just so used to sirs on here ,  there's a fair few lady growers on here but most dont advertise it .. poss due to so many stoned guys on here & poss unwanted attention  

 

I'm the same with my grows , i love plants !!   i love the challenge of growing the best plant i can ,  be it in GG ,  light Dep or just full term in the garden ,  the challenge of beating mother nature & lady luck to get plants across the finish line in late september / october and to try get them in wonderful condition    The thrill  

   

I love the colour shows ,  the challenging issues the weather throws at you ... all highly entertaining.    I smoke once or twice a month as normally restoring customers pride & joys and i wont work half arsed so my smoking is minimal.    

 

I grow way way more than i could ever consume but i do offer up most of it for meds to some local pensioners  ,  i  give quite a bit away as sharing's caring        I keep some jarred for visitors. 

 

I grow in plain sight in the garden yet  almost nobody visiting realise they are there ,   i agree with people ned to be more chilled about another growing but i do feel the dinosaurs making the laws need to change their ... archaic & draconian views to our fine plants.   99% of the dinosaurs setting the rules are 75+ yrs old and from a diff era and have an inherent  hatred for it sadly.   Things will take a long time to change i believe but in the mean time i say sod the system and carry on regardless !    

 

 

 

 

[Zebal]

11 hours ago, Black Venus said:

To a great extent that's already happening. I do a lot of cycling and I smell weed everywhere I go – all around town, out in the villages, posh areas, everywhere. That's the daft thing – everybody's doing it, and we're all trying to hide it from everybody else. It's bonkers.

 

I grow weed primarily because I love the plants. I love being around them, studying them and spending time with them. I usually end up growing more than I can use myself and give a lot of it away. I just think it's the most beautiful, magical and fascinating plant I've ever encountered, and that's why I can't get enough of it.

 

I do make an effort to avoid upsetting the neighbours. I keep the plants out of sight as much as possible, and grow the stinkiest ones as far away from fences as I can. But the joy I get from having the plants around me is so great, I feel I couldn't be without them. One day things will get better – and every garden that has a weed plant in it is a small step towards that.

Hi Black venus,

i'm exactly the same as yourself, you couldn't of summed it up better. keep up the good work.

Zeb

[Black Venus]

No worries @OldFord – I don't make much of a show of being female, so you had no way of knowing. I don't think many people on here would try to flirt with me if they knew how old I am. 

 

It is amazing that you only smoke a couple of times a month with all the fantastic buds you produce but I completely understand that the thrill is all there in the act of growing them. Every plant teaches me something new, keeps me humble and brings so much joy into my life. I spend hours in the garden just hanging out with them, enjoying their company and their ever-changing scents and colours.

 

Yes we just have to carry on regardless because I don't think the law is going to change in the short term (certainly not with Tory twats in government), although I think attitudes are changing significantly and so when it does happen, it'll probably happen quite quickly and without much fanfare. In the mean time I grow these beautiful plants because I know it's the right thing to do.

 

Is that a Mk1 Escort in your profile pic? I used to have a 1964 Mk1 Cortina, one of the 'woody' estates with the fake wood panels down the side. It was built without seatbelts and had a bench seat in the front, so if you went round a corner too fast you'd slide straight over to the passenger side. Happy days!

[Black Venus]

Thank you for your nice comment @Zebal, it's much appreciated. 

[CustardVape]

@Black Venus and that is exactly the reason I chose to grow this year. I'm not a heavy toker at all , mainly a small amount at weekends, but I fancied the challenge because I enjoy plants and tinkering in my garden. No one can tell me what plants I can and can't grow , the laws an ass and should be treated as such.