This will be my ongoing thread to document this years outdoor grow in lovely hot and humid southwestern Ohio.
I grow to recreate.
Last years was pretty sweet and I’ve plans to expand my gravity irrigation system by taking advantage of a collapsing cistern that can still retain about a 1000gals of rain water, and the local availability of used food grade 300gal IBC totes and 55gal barrels, as well as install a permanent trellis made from garden t-bars and 4x8 cattle fencing.
I grow in live soil and this year I am expanding to another 4x8 raised bed. I’m fortunate to have a perfect sunny spot with lots of sun between a barn and an old animal shed that we use for outside storage. I volunteer in a soup kitchen which has an added benefit of providing lots of organic waste for composting (hot tip - it is illegal in most places for commercial establishments - grocery stores, etc. - to give you food waste. Soup kitchens are usually exempt from county health regs). We have two large tumblers and a worm bin. Also lots of composted horse manure to be had by the cubic yard for a decent price. Comes with rocks! I mix my own soil from mostly locally sourced materials using a mineral recipe based off a Build-a-Soil mix and the BAS nute kit for more nutrients.
Last year I grew a 4x8 of Seedsman Purple Oreo F1. A real banger for this area of you’re a couchlock, indiga loving person. I’m not! That bed was originally suppose to be for the Seedsman Strawberry Banana Grape (SBG - where are the seeds this year Seedsman!), which I killed a bunch of because…dunno, it’s all magic to me! Another banger for this area, though. I managed three of them in 30 gal pots. SBG is my fave, heavy on the sativa - a bright, lets do stuff, energetic high. In a few other 30 gal pots I had some Gelato 41bx - this is a great hybrid, leans a little sativa I think, looks promising for swOhio, and Peyote WiFi - this strain hates swOhio unless you like weak, fluffy buds. My buddy Mike does!
Hey Jeff - thanks for joining up and sharing info. We love our Ohio customers. Sounds like you ve been stitched up by local legislators who have tried to ban you buying seeds out of state. ThinK people will obey?
It’s my understanding the gray areas with regards to the sale of cannabis seeds has been caused by the redefining of hemp seeds in the BBB (FY2026 appropriations bill), not SB56, the Ohio state law banning the sale of hemp derived products in any place but dispensaries, along with a bunch of new regs governing legal weed and the re-crimilization of what were ticketable offense to intent to distribute ( like having more than 6 plants.) Honestly, given America’s penchant for seizing private property (and now persons) without due process - this is the concerning part.
So seed ban applies to all US purchasers, not just Ohio, yes? And it’s my understanding the loophole here is buying seeds in a state where weed is legal will remain legal. You just need to open Seedsman outlets in each state. Easy peasy!
I beleive two bits of legislation. One on a federal level that will make all seeds from mothers above 0.3% THC as marijuana NOT hemp. And then the Ohio legislation which bans any growers from buying seeds from outside the state. All very restrictive. We have helped set up a seed industry coalition to help challenge the federal legislation, and if we cant over turn it at least explore if we can work with USDA on how its interpreted and enforced.
Thanks for the clarification. I did see something about the ban on out of state seeds, but then couldn’t find where I’d read that - not a lot of in state coverage, or if there is, I’m not peeling back enough pop up adsmyo find the info.
Seems both, Fed redefines and SB25, would have the same affect - make the interstate sale of cannabis seeds illegal.
This week is prepping beds. The older bed has a thick layer of cover crop (clover, vetch, cowpeas, etc.) that I started to cover with some new soil. This week I’ll mix another 45 gals of soil with BaS amendments and finish topping that bed. The newer bed gets soil from the 6x30 gal pots from last year plus the unused soil from last year, a thick layer of kitchen compost and char I make in the fire pit ( FIRE!), worked into the top, covered with new soil, innoculants and cover seed.
Those hound dogs like them some compost. When I amend with fish stuff, I have to put a temporary fence around the beds.
If you’re doing soft beds like these, it’s good to dig footers under each vertical post and fill with a couple inches of river pebbles. Makes it easy to level and keeps it from sinking.
Mixing soil. A good excuse to skip the workout. This is a small pile I left wrap in this tarp all fall/winter. Now, this is a terrible thing to do to one of these tarps. Pretty much ruins them. I’d tossed about 3 gallons of worm castings in it before I wrapped it. I never strain out the worms. Self limiting communities, worms. They’re banging till the rooms full. Anyhoo, when I unwrapped it today there was quite a worm party going on. Wigglers and crawlers all messing around in the dirt.
As I add in the nutes and various minerals, I’ll make a well in the middle of the mound and put them in, cover, mix it about, etc. A long hoe works great for this.
When all the ingredients are added. I’ll take the hoe and push and pull to mix, distributing the ingredients the entirety of the tarp, then, grabbing each corner, lift to turn the soil over to make a pile again, then repeat. Do that 4 times and voila! Soil. With worms!!
There’s a lot of food based manufacturing in this area and you can find these blue barrels for pretty Cheap. Blue is great as it inhibits algae growth. In the past I’ve been using PVC bulkheads and on/off valves. I tend to over tighten things, which has caused a problem in the past. When I got these barrels, I decided to use brass. year.
Once all the connections are complete, it’s a good idea to fill the minimum and check for leaks.
For some reason I’ve yet to determine, some of these valves thread properly, and most did not. Which was unfortunate as I really wanted a valve at each bulkhead.
This year I’m using a small grow tent for seed starting. Controlling the environment has always been a challenge in a smaller tent, with the introduction of purposed humidifiers for tents and IOS PPD meters, it’s looking like I’ll have a bit more control this year. I’ve put my dirt in there to warm it up. Haven’t used the humidifier yet.
