Struggling with seedlings.

[West Coast Vaper]

Hi Dave. You mention putting a 'dome' coke bottle to protect the young seedlings. This maybe handy for the odd rainstorm also. Do I need to make ' some' holes in the side of the bottle so the plants can breath or not bother as the dome won't stay on long.

Hey man. So no holes. When I do use domes I kinda keep an eye on it. Taking it on and off. Mainly on at night, helps keeping bugs away and keeps temps up. Mornings I take it off until the day gets beyond hot then I give them a light spray. Bearing in mind I use a shade house.
Summer I don't bother much with domes.

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[Bay Seeds]

give them some protection for the first two weeks, everything eats microgreens

[Furbrain]

On 12/17/2021 at 7:47 AM, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

hey buddy, welcome to the forum, hope all is well your side

who/where did you get your seeds from? you got any more?? this is not recommended for auto seeds when growing them, but you can test their viability by leaving them in a cup of water for 12 to 24hrs. if after 12hrs they're still floating, give a slight tap with your finger tip to see if any sinks to the bottom. the sinkers are for sure viable, leave the floaters till the 24hr mark, give another small tap to see if any sinks. the sinkers are viable and should pop (though maybe not with the autos) the floaters have high probability of being duds. if they all float, contact the seed supplier to see if they don't wana be generous enough to replace them. technically they don't have to, but some seed banks do.

the reason I say it's not recommended when growing auto seeds is because generally with autos you wana pop the seed right in its final pot with no intention to ever repot and never interfere with them or else you hinder them too much and they turn on you, but in your situation you kinda need to test if they're any good at all.

if you growing autos you have no need to concern yourself with what time of the year it is since autos grow and flower independant of light cycles. some seasoned growers keep auto seeds on hand so they have something to pop in winter when they can't pop photoperiods, specifically for the reason that they don't have to worry about what time of year it is.

only when growing photoperiods outdoors you need to follow the seasons. sowing in spring, vegging through spring and summer, flower in fall through winter. 

but really if you look at the seasons here in SA, we start spring in Sept, but this year everyone who had plants outside in Sept. had early flowers, because the seasons are all fucked cause of that global warming thing. so we focus more on hours of light. any spot in your garden that gets 16hrs or more of sunlight will be the spot to veg a plant, anything less than 16hrs you probably gona induce flowers. so even if you got a photoperiod it will act as a auto, starting to flower really soon. 

seeing as you dealing with auto seeds, in your defence, they have a reputation of being full of shit. one wrong move and they flip you the finger. I really feel that photoperiods leave more room for error, and even if you mess them up you have a greater chance of fixing your problem and still ending up with some bud.

I would also chime in on the whole growing medium thing, seeing as it's autos and you don't wana repot, don't think popping in one medium and then repotting to another is an option. you gona have to get one and stick to it. let us know what you using right now and maybe some pictures? 

I would recommend a lower/lesser nutrient soil, because you can always add nutrients and topdress with worm castings and all that, but because you going to pop a seed you putting yourself at risk when using hot soil. seedlings don't need much food, they get enough food from clean tap water untill they start showing first set of true leaves. just a note, it's harder to remove nutrients from hot soil than it is to add nutrients and in a organic situation the golden key is "less is more" 

hope you get something going sooooon

✌

 

 

Would starting the auto's in a jiffy block be a good option?. If so, which jiffy type should I get. Please understand I'm only trying to grow a few plants (6-8) at a time. I did say 'trying'

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

Hey bud, 

I would recommend against that, in all honesty, although I am not 100% sure what the science behind it would be -other than autos generally being full of shit and you can never be too safe- my gut is telling me no. 

only for the sake of "doing it for science" and at the same time minimizing human intervention, seeing as that is enough to stunt autos sometimes, you can try combining the two ideas. 

so you would fill your pot, dig a hole big enough for a swollen jiffy to fit in there, pop that thing in and drop the seed in the jiffy and only try to keep the jiffy area wet till you see life. gona have to use a dome in this scenario, the downside here may be that the jiffy is very small in comparison to say a "solo cup" or small 12cm nursery pot, so if you're only trying to keep the jiffy wet you're at higher risk of it drying out, hence the must use of a dome and meaning you're going to have to check up more often and keep it moist more often rather than using a bit more medium that can stay wet/moist for longer.

[Batista]

If you want to make use of the current grow season to grow 6-8 trees and have some awesome dank, I suggest you get photoperiod clones and grow those out, while practicing germination with bagseeds so as not to worry about wasting cash, and also having a somewhat good harvest at the Apr/May 2022 mark.

I would personally say it's too late to germinate seeds but I am talking about photoperiods and not autos going outside for the season. I don't really have experience with autos so can't really talk about them.

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[Furbrain]

On 12/20/2021 at 3:46 PM, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

Hey bud, 

I would recommend against that, in all honesty, although I am not 100% sure what the science behind it would be -other than autos generally being full of shit and you can never be too safe- my gut is telling me no. 

only for the sake of "doing it for science" and at the same time minimizing human intervention, seeing as that is enough to stunt autos sometimes, you can try combining the two ideas. 

so you would fill your pot, dig a hole big enough for a swollen jiffy to fit in there, pop that thing in and drop the seed in the jiffy and only try to keep the jiffy area wet till you see life. gona have to use a dome in this scenario, the downside here may be that the jiffy is very small in comparison to say a "solo cup" or small 12cm nursery pot, so if you're only trying to keep the jiffy wet you're at higher risk of it drying out, hence the must use of a dome and meaning you're going to have to check up more often and keep it moist more often rather than using a bit more medium that can stay wet/moist for longer.

Greetings.

Thanks for the advise/feedback.

I have......I think......got some reasonable soil now!. Am trying an experiment with Auto's straight in the finished pot.

Also trying again with photoperiods. Temperatures where I am regularly vary between 30° day to 15° C night. I put domes on at sunset and remove in morning. Is this a good idea or waste of time?.

Photo show soil I'm trying now.

Have a groovy New Year

[Furbrain]

On 12/24/2021 at 2:18 PM, Batista said:

If you want to make use of the current grow season to grow 6-8 trees and have some awesome dank, I suggest you get photoperiod clones and grow those out, while practicing germination with bagseeds so as not to worry about wasting cash, and also having a somewhat good harvest at the Apr/May 2022 mark.

I would personally say it's too late to germinate seeds but I am talking about photoperiods and not autos going outside for the season. I don't really have experience with autos so can't really talk about them.

Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
 

Many thanks for your help.

I have a friend who has given me some photoperiods and so I'm trying with them. I also think it's too late to try them but I'll have a go!.

Also planted 3 more Auto's. One has popped and reckon the others will do today.

All I can do for now!.

Have a lekker New Year .

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

Only a pleasure brother✌

First time I see the ever-grow bag, never heard of anyone using it either so I can't really give comment on it. Hope it works for you!

The Orgasoilux on the other hand I have tried once and heard a bunch of mixed things about it. my personal experience, I bought one bag that went straight into a 40L pot and I planted a 2 month old photoperiod over from a 10L pot, a nicely established plant and root mass, wasn't a small plant, yet few days later the plant was burnt to shit. still managed to save her, but not before the damage has been done. I grabbed my EC pen, did a runoff test and the EC was more suited for a fully grown fruit tree than a 2 month old shrub. so I flushed the soil with clean water down to the right EC, took the plants out anyway and put them in fresh FreedomFarms Premium Classic, still harvested around 50g off the plant... kept the flushed Orgasoilux in a big pot outside all winter exposed to the elements, rained through quite a bunch, used it after a few months and it turned out fine. but didn't trust it again after that.

the general customer experience and feedback with Orgasoilux has also been a bit of a hit and miss situation, as far as I can remember, though lately it's been more positive, I don't use them as my personal go to brand.

without second guessing myself, the brand that gives the best bang for your buck would be the brand with the most consistent results that you can rely on and study their product to get to know how to work with it better, without them changing the product up on you or delivering inconsistent results throwing your learning curve off course. You can't and wont go wrong with a bag of Freedom Farms Premium Classic, but see how this experience with those two bags turn out for you, one thing is certain - you're headed in the right direction 

Let us know how things turn out, maybe hit us with a couple photos, sometimes a problem goes unnoted and is easily spotted by external perspectives. 

Hope you have a grooovy New Years too man, stay safe out there

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

almost forgot the part about the dome.

first I have to ask, you doing all this outdoors in the direct sun or indoors?

the point of the dome is to not let moisture escape from your medium too quickly, so you've got it flipped around there bro beans, you gotta keep the dome on during the day to retain the humidity and not let the medium dry out. during night time out in nature the humidity levels rise as the temeperature cools down and the sun isn't evaporating moisture, so you may take off the dome during night time, but you may aswell leave it on. 

if high temperature is the issue when keeping the dome on during the day I would advise to move the pot into a cooler spot at least untill the plant has come up and formed some roots. 

once there is roots the plant cools itself down, but when you're popping a seed it's absolutely crucial that you keep in the range of 25°C, the more constant that temperature the better. 

if you got that 25°C on a constant, then worry about RH and get that up to around 60 to 80%. - anything lower than 60% will cause the medium to dry out too fast and anything higher than 80% will become favourable to mold and disease- 

hygrometers are epic little devices for propagation, they read °C  and RH. 

[Furbrain]

23 hours ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

Only a pleasure brother✌

First time I see the ever-grow bag, never heard of anyone using it either so I can't really give comment on it. Hope it works for you!

The Orgasoilux on the other hand I have tried once and heard a bunch of mixed things about it. my personal experience, I bought one bag that went straight into a 40L pot and I planted a 2 month old photoperiod over from a 10L pot, a nicely established plant and root mass, wasn't a small plant, yet few days later the plant was burnt to shit. still managed to save her, but not before the damage has been done. I grabbed my EC pen, did a runoff test and the EC was more suited for a fully grown fruit tree than a 2 month old shrub. so I flushed the soil with clean water down to the right EC, took the plants out anyway and put them in fresh FreedomFarms Premium Classic, still harvested around 50g off the plant... kept the flushed Orgasoilux in a big pot outside all winter exposed to the elements, rained through quite a bunch, used it after a few months and it turned out fine. but didn't trust it again after that.

the general customer experience and feedback with Orgasoilux has also been a bit of a hit and miss situation, as far as I can remember, though lately it's been more positive, I don't use them as my personal go to brand.

without second guessing myself, the brand that gives the best bang for your buck would be the brand with the most consistent results that you can rely on and study their product to get to know how to work with it better, without them changing the product up on you or delivering inconsistent results throwing your learning curve off course. You can't and wont go wrong with a bag of Freedom Farms Premium Classic, but see how this experience with those two bags turn out for you, one thing is certain - you're headed in the right direction 

Let us know how things turn out, maybe hit us with a couple photos, sometimes a problem goes unnoted and is easily spotted by external perspectives. 

Hope you have a grooovy New Years too man, stay safe out there

.

[Furbrain]

8 hours ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

almost forgot the part about the dome.

first I have to ask, you doing all this outdoors in the direct sun or indoors?

the point of the dome is to not let moisture escape from your medium too quickly, so you've got it flipped around there bro beans, you gotta keep the dome on during the day to retain the humidity and not let the medium dry out. during night time out in nature the humidity levels rise as the temeperature cools down and the sun isn't evaporating moisture, so you may take off the dome during night time, but you may aswell leave it on. 

if high temperature is the issue when keeping the dome on during the day I would advise to move the pot into a cooler spot at least untill the plant has come up and formed some roots. 

once there is roots the plant cools itself down, but when you're popping a seed it's absolutely crucial that you keep in the range of 25°C, the more constant that temperature the better. 

if you got that 25°C on a constant, then worry about RH and get that up to around 60 to 80%. - anything lower than 60% will cause the medium to dry out too fast and anything higher than 80% will become favourable to mold and disease- 

hygrometers are epic little devices for propagation, they read °C  and RH. 

Only now I'm seeing how the temps/weather can change down in this neck of the woods!. 33° this arvo.......

Am trying the domes as suggested and will monitor carefully. Hope they don't fry......

Will update as and when........

Take care,.........it's a jungle out there!.

[Weskush]

Howzit brother. I wouldn't bother with the domes. It will only intensify the uv rays on the seedlings and probably fry them with your temps. I would rather add a shade cloth of some sorts to ease the exposure for now until they are big enough to be able to handle it. Just keep them hydrated and you should be lekker  . PS. I didn't read the thread, just looked at your latest post, so ignore any advice already contributed pls

Edited January 1, 2022 by Weskush

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

On 12/31/2021 at 3:45 PM, Furbrain said:

Only now I'm seeing how the temps/weather can change down in this neck of the woods!. 33° this arvo.......

Am trying the domes as suggested and will monitor carefully. Hope they don't fry......

Will update as and when........

Take care,.........it's a jungle out there!.

I see with your setup it makes it a little hard to move things around at all, this could possibly make things a little more complicated if you don't already know the conditoins are right and may mean you'll have to bring in and incorporate a few different ways of changing environmental conditions.

especially with autos that don't wana be touched at all 

the younger the plant the more they demand those perfect coditions - what you have there will be fine for a month old plant, even if it gets to 33°C you can use a lazer thermometer and check the leaf surface of your plant, should be around 24 to 26°C cause the plant can cool itself down. seedlings can't do that yet. 

I agree with Weskush that the light intensity together with the dome and the high heat might toast your seedlings. so anything that'll decrease light intensity - check what angle the sun comes in at when the temps hit higher than 28°C then hang another layer or two of shade cloth on the side the sun is coming from - this will lower the temp at the sight of the seedling too.

this is not the only way to go about it, just the first thing I can think of, but you'll have to be able to move/remove the additional shade cloth easily enough as to not create a tedious job for yourself. maybe look into making it possible for you to move stuff around a little more, this option will probably be cheaper and more practical.

I feel it's more important to keep moisture around the seedling so do whatever you can to keep the dome on, because you're outside and soil surface dries up quick quick outside and hopefully you not saturating the whole pot? if you giving minimal water just around the seedling, which is what you should do, you should keep the dome on aswell. 

just don't keep the dome on when it gets up to 30°C - when working with seedlings try reduce heat on those days.

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

ps

Happy New years brother, may it be a prosperous and fruitful year ahead 

[Furbrain]

On 1/3/2022 at 6:26 AM, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

I see with your setup it makes it a little hard to move things around at all, this could possibly make things a little more complicated if you don't already know the conditoins are right and may mean you'll have to bring in and incorporate a few different ways of changing environmental conditions.

especially with autos that don't wana be touched at all 

the younger the plant the more they demand those perfect coditions - what you have there will be fine for a month old plant, even if it gets to 33°C you can use a lazer thermometer and check the leaf surface of your plant, should be around 24 to 26°C cause the plant can cool itself down. seedlings can't do that yet. 

I agree with Weskush that the light intensity together with the dome and the high heat might toast your seedlings. so anything that'll decrease light intensity - check what angle the sun comes in at when the temps hit higher than 28°C then hang another layer or two of shade cloth on the side the sun is coming from - this will lower the temp at the sight of the seedling too.

this is not the only way to go about it, just the first thing I can think of, but you'll have to be able to move/remove the additional shade cloth easily enough as to not create a tedious job for yourself. maybe look into making it possible for you to move stuff around a little more, this option will probably be cheaper and more practical.

I feel it's more important to keep moisture around the seedling so do whatever you can to keep the dome on, because you're outside and soil surface dries up quick quick outside and hopefully you not saturating the whole pot? if you giving minimal water just around the seedling, which is what you should do, you should keep the dome on aswell. 

just don't keep the dome on when it gets up to 30°C - when working with seedlings try reduce heat on those days.

Wow man........thanks for that .

Been hectic this week with other stuff but I'm persevering on the weed.

Will try the suggested ideas!.

Follow up with pic's soon.

Cheers.....

[Furbrain]

On 1/3/2022 at 6:29 AM, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

ps

Happy New years brother, may it be a prosperous and fruitful year ahead 

And the same to you kind Sir.

Have painted tops of Domes and only use between 1100-1430hrs......

Just keeping a close eye on them. So far they ok. I'm not going to stress about it. Problem is, I love a good thunderstorm and heavy rain. Any extreme weather is a nice experience for me.............. except when you're trying to grow weed outside!. No sweat, I'll persevere with these under no illusions of a great outcome!.

Focus is already on solar and an inside tent!. First focus on getting this idea funded. Man,.............. I want to be able to control indoor climate and enjoy my thunderstorms .

Many thanks again for your input.....

Cheers.....

[SkunkPharm]

I am coming to the party late on this thread but it looks like you have things under control now. Just want to add my 2c. If you have adequate water I would just dig holes add a little bit of starter soil and let the plants grow in the native soil like you have there in the Karoo. Cover the soil with compost and a thick mulch to minimise evaporation. You will get awesome results. Also breed with some seeds this winter so that the cultivars can adjust to your area. 
Enjoy

[Furbrain]

On 1/9/2022 at 1:23 PM, SkunkPharm said:

I am coming to the party late on this thread but it looks like you have things under control now. Just want to add my 2c. If you have adequate water I would just dig holes add a little bit of starter soil and let the plants grow in the native soil like you have there in the Karoo. Cover the soil with compost and a thick mulch to minimise evaporation. You will get awesome results. Also breed with some seeds this winter so that the cultivars can adjust to your area. 
Enjoy

Many thanks,..........I'm on the case!. Will update on progress.

[Furbrain]

On 1/7/2022 at 3:01 PM, Furbrain said:

And the same to you kind Sir.

Have painted tops of Domes and only use between 1100-1430hrs......

Just keeping a close eye on them. So far they ok. I'm not going to stress about it. Problem is, I love a good thunderstorm and heavy rain. Any extreme weather is a nice experience for me.............. except when you're trying to grow weed outside!. No sweat, I'll persevere with these under no illusions of a great outcome!.

Focus is already on solar and an inside tent!. First focus on getting this idea funded. Man,.............. I want to be able to control indoor climate and enjoy my thunderstorms .

Many thanks again for your input.....

Cheers.....

Greetings. I have more positive growth now!. I will insert photos with this post. Please can anyone give me thoughts on my progress.

In order;

A) Autocreeper 21 days from seed.

C) Autocreeper 21 days from seed.

D) Borderline (Photoperiod) 30 days.

E) Borderline (Photoperiod) 30 days.

F) Jamaica Pearl ( Photoperiod) 26 days.

G) Borderline (Photoperiod) 26 days.

H) Jamaica Pearl (Photoperiod) Jamaica Pearl ( Photoperiod) 26 days.

I) Borderline (Photoperiod) 26 days.

Some look quite good???? but some not so!.

Comments welcome. I have made frame for area. 1) extra shade for those hot days and 2) Tarpaulin for heavy downpours. 3) Scrog net system to be 'laced' should any of my girls decide to grow more......................and I live in hope!.

 

 

[Weskush]

Lekker setup there to grow some trees

[Furbrain]

17 minutes ago, Weskush said:

Lekker setup there to grow some trees

Ah yes......GROW........being the optimum word . Some of my girls look a bit iffy.

[Bos]

I'd like to add here as well.

Growing in pots in our heat has disadvantages, you have to manage this enviroment for your plants.

I believe mulching may assist your growing efforts. Its got mulitiple advantages. 5cm of grass clippings or straw will help with moisture retention as well as keeping your soil surface cool in the heat. Its essential in the hotter areas of RSA as cannabis plants has lots of fine roots near the surface. It will also benefit the micro organisms in the soil and in turn they will benefit your plants, it will also add organic matter as it breaks down and you can easily just top it up.

On the north coast 30-40deg C is common in summer, some of my seedlings have burned to a crisp. I add a layer to all my pots and even my 2x growbeds and I can see the benefit just in my watering schedule.

[Furbrain]

57 minutes ago, Bos said:

I'd like to add here as well.

Growing in pots in our heat has disadvantages, you have to manage this enviroment for your plants.

I believe mulching may assist your growing efforts. Its got mulitiple advantages. 5cm of grass clippings or straw will help with moisture retention as well as keeping your soil surface cool in the heat. Its essential in the hotter areas of RSA as cannabis plants has lots of fine roots near the surface. It will also benefit the micro organisms in the soil and in turn they will benefit your plants, it will also add organic matter as it breaks down and you can easily just top it up.

On the north coast 30-40deg C is common in summer, some of my seedlings have burned to a crisp. I add a layer to all my pots and even my 2x growbeds and I can see the benefit just in my watering schedule.

Yeah, the weather is brutal for sure. Your method makes perfect sense. Thanks for the input.