Grow Journal – Day 57 of flower!!

Here we are at Day 57 of flower.  Another week and we’ll be harvesting.  A note about bugs.  When I began this journey four years ago, I was given three plants by a friend. They all had spider mites. We didn’t see that at the time, but when the walls appeared as if they were moving, we finally got a clue. We tried everything except for pesticides that weren’t organic.  Nothing worked.  The very idea of fecal matter and bug bodies freaked me out completely and I have never believed the directions on any of those products, organic or not, that you can consume whatever it is so many days from the last spray.  I view all of it as systemic.  I don’t care what Monsanto says.  We bargained with the devil when we decided to use pesticides on our gardens.  And I’m not doing that with my health anymore.  So, my husband decided one day to smash and smear the little bastards on the leaves themselves.  We did that with potato plants outside and it worked like a charm.  Bugs don’t like the smell of their own death.  That took months and between that and bleaching the room over and over again, letting it heat up and hatch anything that might be still there, and repeating the process again and again, we actually got rid of them.

Then, last November, our friend brought our containers back that we used to take clones to him to hand out to patients.  Over the course of 3 1/2 years, I had given hundreds..if not thousands.. of clones away to people. I figured that since I was growing anyway for myself, it wasn’t a big deal to take clones and root them for other people.  I remembered how lost I felt in the beginning, so I thought it was a way to return the generosity shown me.  I’ve never accepted “donations” for the plants because our law in Oregon really doesn’t provide for that.  At least not specifically, so I chose to do all of this for free. But when he returned those containers, and although we cleaned them well, something was hiding..an egg, a mite..and it contaminated my clone room.  I had to destroy everything and clean endlessly.  I bought new seeds over time which I really could not afford, and replanted.  Fortunately, it didn’t get into my flower room.  It’s taken all this time to replenish everything.  However, now I no longer give clones away to my friend to hand out.  I can’t afford the risk of taking them to someone who does nothing to deal with his spider mite issue.  He’s been doing this longer than I have so you’d think he’d be motivated, but evidently not.

Now, if someone wants clones, they have to contact me at least a month in advance to discuss it.  I’m still happy to help others, but I’m not going to do what I used to do. Financially, I can’t really afford to do it anymore now that we’re retired.  Some people we know came over without telling us that they wanted plants until they were ready to leave.  I gave them some that actually were my back up.  I should have explained the situation, but you know how that goes..I didn’t want to disappoint them or hurt their feelings.  Etiquette typically is that you don’t ask, but last year I gave them some..twice actually..and so I’m sure they were just doing what they thought was right.  It’s not the end of the world..I can create more back up.  But you never know how a plant is going to do.  One day, it can be doing fine, and then the next day, it takes a turn for the worse.  In Oregon, we’re allowed six plants that can grow to flower and eighteen that can be a foot by a foot.  Whoever wrote the rules for the OMMP did us a favor there.  It allows for mistakes and unexpected events.  Trust me, the last thing anyone wants to do is prune eighteen plants continually to keep them that size.  I’ve done it when I was a newby.  It wasn’t long until I learned a thing or two and I started growing smarter.  Besides, with Rheumatoid Arthritis, my hands are a mess and trimming plants can be a challenge as can harvest.  It’s better now, but back then it was a nightmare.

The moral of the story is, don’t allow the spider mites to take hold.  Do whatever it is you can to deal with it, including the smash and smear method.  Patients cannot afford to ingest chemicals or fecal matter or bug bodies.  It’s not healthy and many of us have compromised immune systems like I have.  There’s a reason the dispensaries are picky and cannabis needs to be tested.  They have a responsibility to their customers.  But then, so do growers who grow privately for patients.

Enough of all the spider mite talk..now for the ladies!

 

I love gardening..it’s fun to create what you need to be healthy, regardless if it’s medicinal or not.  Because at the end of the day, it really is up to each one of us to create the life we want.  As always..my gratitude and blessings to TGA Genetics SubCool Seeds..Sub and MzJill work tirelessly for patients..always giving whatever they can to help all of us as we heal.

~Blessed Be the Garden!!