Hey y’all. Just wanted to open a conversation about the challenges of growing in Oklahoma. Coming from California there has definitely been a learning curve getting our farm started out here.
Originally we were concerned about high winds. However with proper trellising that hasn’t really been a problem yet. Compared to west coast wildfires, tornadoes seem to be pretty rare. At least I’m my area.
The bigger problem has been bugs, specifically aphids and catipillers. We’ve pretty much beat the aphids, but only after switching from normal sprayers to actual foggers. I’ll post a link below to the one that saved us in the comments.
Catipillers are another issue. I never really had a problem with them out west, but they are out of control out here. Probably our fault for running lights at night, that attract all the moths. So far BT has been pretty effective, but we don’t apply it the last few weeks, so other controls seem necessary. So we’re screening off our air inlets, using bug zappers, and are going to experiment with predatory wasps.
Mold is another one that has surprised me. For one, it’s not just PM and Botrytis. There’s molds out here I’d never seen in my life. Such as rust mold, and black spot mold. For the most part it seems like the humidity is just so high, that you constantly need to be spraying. I’ve had good luck with Chester boones Castile soap for the rust mold.
Other then that it just seems like it’s all about having really good ventilation. So lots of fans, lots of pruning, and more space between plants.
Anyway that’s what we’ve learned so far, so I figured I’d share, and hopefully spare some of y’all the disappointment of crop loss. I’d love to hear what’s working for other people.
We’re also trying to find strains that do well in all the heat and humidity. Looking for real acclimated work horses, that are hopefully still in some demand. I don’t really care about the Gucci west coast exotics anymore, because if they’re covered in mold I can’t sell them anyway. So I’m trying to find something more like jager in Oregon, or Wedding cake in Cali. Like what strains are going to be Oklahoma’s version of blue dream or Jager? Lol.
Anyway thanks for reading, and anything you can share. The patients of Oklahoma deserve quality clean medicine. So hopefully this will help someone. Cheers.
