Day: June 7, 2021

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How to Manage Potential Hazards During the Outdoor Season

Ranging from mid-May to late October, the outdoor season in Canada has the potential to produce tremendous results. Growing outdoors is the perfect time for new growers to test genetics, experiment with fertilizers and practice different growing systems and techniques. If successful, outdoor gardens at scale can produce bountiful harvests, with plants that fruit large, heavy flowers, and crops that produce more dry weight for a smaller investment. While this growing season has many potential benefits for new and distinguished growers, there are countless hazards to mitigate before reaping the rewards of an outdoor garden. Follow the article below for a list of potential hazards you might face in the garden this season: 

Potential Environmental Hazards 

The passages below encompass some of the environmental hazards you may face during any season of gardening outdoors. Unlike growing indoors, there is no way to mitigate the environment of your garden. And as we all know, mother nature can occasionally be fickle in her approach to our outdoor activities. So, while there is no way to completely eliminate environmental hazards in the garden, there are steps and techniques we can take to manage the harmful and crop-damaging effects of extreme heat, rain, wind, snow and frost or other natural hazards like pests and disease.

Harmful Weather

Harmful weather during the outdoor season typically occurs during the later months of spring, or during the early weeks of autumn; however, damaging weather can transpire at any time. So, be vigilant against potential hazards, and focus your attention on weather forecast reports in your local area. 

While it is important to keep a close eye on the garden at all times, there are two important stages of growth when plants must be meticulously monitored: during transplant, and during the days before harvest. Mitigating the weather during transplant is extremely important because if the weather at this time is anything less than ideal, the chances of losing your plants to a rainy, cold or overly windy Spring drastically increases.

To manage harmful weather conditions during the outset of the season, consider planting late rather than early. For example, while most experts recommend transplanting outdoors a few weeks into May, sowing plants into their permanent homes in early June, may be a better option when faced with poor weather.

Likewise, the weather must be constantly surveyed as plants near their harvest date. During this time, usually around the later weeks of September or early October, plants will have developed the bulk of their flowers, and trichome heads will start to become clouded and later amber. As the harvest date approaches, weather conditions need to be monitored closely as early morning frost, rain, and plights of wind can damage flowers, freeze roots, or aggravate pre-existing stress. To prevent upsets during the early weeks of autumn, consider offering plants shelter during colder and wetter periods of September and October. 

Pests and Plant Disease

Other natural hazards, like pests and plant disease, offer increased risk to plants during the outdoor season. Among the most common pests include the two-spotted spider mite, thrips, the fungus gnat and the aphid. Some pests can be more damaging than others, however, all variants of the insects listed above can be destructive to plants. To catch pests before they completely damage a crop, study and review the different types of “leaf-damage” associated with specific insects. 

Pesky Pests To Look Out For

Aphid
Fungus Gnat
Two Spotted Spider Mite
Thrip

Although pests have the potential to upset a crop, plant disease can be even more detrimental. Root-rot, powdery-mildew, rust and bud-rot are among the most typical issues plants experience during the outdoor season. To combat these hazards, attempt to stabilize plants by offering them a consistent environment and a reliable feeding schedule. More often than not, plant disease is exacerbated by weak genetics and unstable periods of low temperatures and high humidity.

Plant Diseases To Watch Out For

Bud Rot
Powdery Mildew
Root Rot

So, the best thing you can do for your outdoor garden is to use fresh and reliable genetics, while offering them shelter or disease treatment if problems arise. For more information on mitigating potential hazards, read the passages below. 

Managing Hazards 

Because the outdoor garden is full of potential hazards, in some cases, it’s only a matter of time before one of the many destructive influences in our environment affects the outcome of a crop. For the best chance of managing these hazards, follow the prescribed tools, techniques and considerations below: 

Choose the “Right” Genetics

Choosing the “right” type of plant is perhaps the most important factor in achieving a successful harvest during the outdoor season. In this case, the “right” plant can be described as a genetic structure that is highly resistant to stressors such as pests, disease, or extreme environmental conditions. Furthermore, choosing a strain that will finish early in the season, as opposed to genetics that will ripen weeks after the average harvest date, will ensure that hazards are less likely to negatively influence the outcome of your garden. 

For example: consider an outdoor classic like Northern Lights. Known to be resistant to heat, cold, pests and disease, Northern Lights is the low growing, heavy hitter, that’s sure to reach maturity with little or no issues.

“Northern Lights”

Set Your Plants Up for Success

Along with a stable feeding program, the most adept outdoor growers enrich their crops with supplements like GreenPlanet Nutrients Vitathrive and Plant Guard to reduce the likelihood of a hazardous season. Vitathrive is GreenPlanet’s propagation supplement that contains a full complement of b-vitamins and elements that aid the plant through the vegetative stage. Among other benefits, Vitathrive helps to reduce the stresses that come from rapid cell growth, environmental conditions, and heavy fruit loads. GreenPlanet’s potassium silicate supplement, Plant Guard, also helps prepare your plants for extreme weather conditions, by strengthening cell walls and increasing resistance to environmental stress and plant disease. 

Disease and Pest Control 

When hazards like pests and disease arise, using tested and reliable controls can decrease the chance of these issues escalating to point of no return. For pests, two controls have been tested to produce reliable results: LockDown Pads and Doktor Doom Products. LockDown Pads are an economy and unobtrusive way of controlling pests at the source. By correctly using LockDown Pads during the outdoor season, soil-dwelling pests like fungus gnats and thrips will be caught at the source of breeding and will leave your foliage untouched by harmful damage. On the other hand, Doktor Doom’s aerosol pesticides can be used if the pest problem has become so noticeable that it has begun to affect the general growth patterns of your plant. 

Need continued support with your outdoor crop? GreenPlanet Wholesale is here to help!  For more information about the products mentioned above, please contact GreenPlanet Wholesale directly. For all other inquiries about products and services offered by GreenPlanet Wholesale, contact our team or your local garden supply store for more information. 

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