dingo bingo Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 (edited) Morning all, Happy to be adding a diary to the comp' - good luck to everyone! I'm still a novice with GG so I expect to be here making up the numbers but look forward to seeing what's possible in everyone else's diaries. Strains I'll be growing are Fast Lemon Cake and OPG x Freezeland. I've read so many good things about them on here that I couldn't resist. I've decided to go with Photo's only as my soil is a heavy clay and I'm worried that would stunt any Autos. Waiting for my seeds to arrive and then I'll aim to grow them inside under a 100W LED for a month or so before planting out at the beginning of June. This will be the second year for my one and only plot (hope to find some more plots for next year). There's two beds, one 5m along and the other is 6m long, both 1m wide. Last year I cleared the area of bramble and nettles before digging the beds and adding a bag of horse manure compost for each m2. This year I'm a bit late preparing the plot and haven't done as much as I'd hoped but I've been a couple times this week to weed the beds and dig over the soil before adding Clay Breaker, Chicken Manure Pellets (5 handfuls per m2), Bone Meal (2 handfuls per m2) and Fish, Blood & Bone (2 handfuls per m2) yesterday. Next week I should be adding more horse manure compost, ideally another bag per m2. Here's the plot..... And the before and after of working one of the beds earlier in the week.... Wish me luck! Edited April 20 by dingo bingo 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluePeter Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Good luck Pal Cant you find another plot as a back up. Never put all your eggs in one basket as they say Id take a strimmer to all that bramble as the berries can cause your buds to rot and by cutting them all back, you'll free up the nettle roots to throw out nettles everywhere which will be beneficial for stealth and for soil in the long run 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingo bingo Posted April 20 Author Share Posted April 20 8 hours ago, BluePeter said: Good luck Pal Cant you find another plot as a back up. Never put all your eggs in one basket as they say Id take a strimmer to all that bramble as the berries can cause your buds to rot and by cutting them all back, you'll free up the nettle roots to throw out nettles everywhere which will be beneficial for stealth and for soil in the long run Cheers mate. Probably not in time for this year. I know it's not ideal but it's all I've got right now. The only other decent plot I know of was a previous plot which got ripped 10 years ago - it'll be overgrown now so a lot of work to resurrect a plot that was already ripped doesn't seem worth it. Over summer I do intend to find some more plots for next year. How much of a risk is the brambles to causing rot? I don't think getting rid of it is possible to be honest due to the amount of it and without it my plot would be very easily accessible from a quiet layby just a stone's throw away. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphyblue Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 Good luck dude. Wouldn't worry about them brambles as u said its ur defense and the rest of the plot looks pretty open so should get plenty of airflow. If i remember my reading right it isn't the brambles that cause rot its the blackberries as they mature and decay they spread spores. Someone will correct me if i am wrong which is highly possible. That soil looks heavy though dude maybe add some coco straw hay leaf mulch from under the trees in the background. Organic matter that will help break the clay up a bit. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingo bingo Posted April 21 Author Share Posted April 21 I could pick as many blackberries as I can reach before they decay.... Yeah I'm on it, gathering what I can and will add it with the compost. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skit Rat Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 100% what @murphyblue said coco get some 75l coco bales , I'd say atleast 3 per bed with compo and straw layered not dug into the clay to much , I'd probably turn over the coco in the clay soil though for the next how ever many weeks u got until plant out make sure its crumbly. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingo bingo Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 (edited) Is coco preferable to compost? It seems more expensive and not as easy to get hold of.... I understand it would be great if your plots in the middle of nowhere but I'm lucky to have my plot within walking distance of a road so I can carry bags of compost to the plot without too much hard work. Edited April 22 by dingo bingo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skit Rat Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Just do what you feel comfortable with man , we're not gonna try and get you to go out your comfort zone , as a new guy compost works well . After a few years youl research more about soil and how to make it the best for your plants. Flower quality is reflected in soil condition aswell as other factors but the flavour comes from the earth and the roots or how well the roots can grow will help the plant grow and survive in hot weather plus uptake nutes, if this I'd you first rodeo then small steps just be sure to take notes and improve each and everytime (season). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeworks Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 (edited) 22 hours ago, dingo bingo said: Is coco preferable to compost? It seems more expensive and not as easy to get hold of.... I understand it would be great if your plots in the middle of nowhere but I'm lucky to have my plot within walking distance of a road so I can carry bags of compost to the plot without too much hard work. Moving bails of coco from A to B, is much easier than humping bags of compost You would need a load of water though Edited April 23 by Hazeworks 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingo bingo Posted April 25 Author Share Posted April 25 After last night's midnight mission by moonlight humping a dozen bags, chicken wire and bamboo canes across the wilderness I went back today to finish the final straight and add the goodies to the beds. I collected up some old leaves and added them to the beds with the old spent coco before adding about 200L of horse manure compost to each bed on top of the coco/leaves. (Photo before I levelled it off). For the last bit of prep. for the beds I've got some spare weed fabric that I'm thinking of covering the beds with after a good downpour - more to help the beds warm up than suppress weeds. Once I've done that I'll leave the beds until planting out and have a bash at clearing some more brambles to make new beds for next year. I'm eagerly awaiting delivery of the seeds from RGS and will get them going as soon as they arrive. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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