Oh boy, here we go.....my 1st grow in nearly 30 years

[Harpua88]

Time to transfer.....

 

[Harpua88]

So these are my own seeds, the ones I let go way too long after paper towel pop. I kept them cool, and I purposely did not meticulously handle them. These are only so i can wrap my head around process. The roots were too long, I excpect 0 to make it.

The rest are transplanted/being transplanted on point.

 

[Harpua88]

See, isn't this exciting??!

.....not really... ;)

Bonus points if you can guess what that mylar reflective thing is in the middle.....

 

[sambapati]

See, isn't this exciting??!

.....not really... ;)

Bonus points if you can guess what that mylar reflective thing is in the middle.....

Kite?

 

[Harpua88]

Kite?

You mean like, the thing you fly, with a long string?

Is there a full moon tonight? Because I'm trying my best to read and understand various threads, and I don't know if it's a language thing or what but........I'm just so confused..... ;)

That is one of the panels to the old "Phototron" that I bought in like, 1987.......I kept a few of them....

Anyway I got like, 75 cups with sprouts in them and man it took forever. Like many hours......the paper towel method is cool and all, I got like 95% popped after 72+ hours, but eesh......and a lot of the roots started penetrating through the papers towels......they just drilled right through them. With some of them I literally had to cut around them with scissors and plant them with the tiny piece of paper towel that they went through.....

I got trays of cups.....the people at Lowe's must think I'm nuts... ;)

 

[Harpua88]

Thoughts. I may not do the paper towel method any more, except for cases where I have only a few select seeds and every one is vital. I would like to experiment with planting seeds right side up, which can't be easy. But if I had only 3 seeds of something great and 1 or 2 were planted upside down that could be a problem.

Also, tweezers do no good once a seed sprouts. It becomes far more delicate and I am not chancing crushing them. Some sort of more gentle, felt-tipped grabber could be helpful.

Humidity is key. After transplanting seedlings they must be kept nicely warm and humid, and the soil must be soft and fluffy.

 

[Harpua88]

Eesh....

Germination rate near 100%

Survival rate (so far) near 100%

 

[TSD]

Eesh....

Germination rate near 100%

Survival rate (so far) near 100%

I told you that you were going to have a forest lol. Wait till it's time to cull some and you can't bring yourself to do it Summer 2021 was the first time that I put plants directly in the ground in my full sun all day garden and my second location... usually did pots or in ground were in woods, not full sun and not babied as much. So I had 11 survive, 4 monsters in the garden, 2 little clones I meant to give away but they never got picked up, 2 normal size out back 3 normal size at location two . Ended up with more than I had time to take care of, so I battled pests because I wasn't doing enough preventative stuff, and ended up with 10 damn pounds despite several mishaps. Luckily a few got chopped early due to mold/pests and we didn't have 10 pounds to process all at once... but it was a solid month of processing the harvest. That's why I only had 6 this year lol. Obviously they grow much larger outdoors... but I hope you don't have a day job lol. I'd say my quantity went down, but my quality was significantly improved this year. I know you plan on breeding and such, so you need more anyway. Good luck, off to a good start!

 

[Harpua88]

These are the things that excite me now......

 

[Madbud]

Not a fan of 3-in-1 meters. The prongs spread and break, the ph meter is useless because of the scale, water meter is ok but wait til its close to zero for watering in soil.

 

[Harpua88]

Super groovy in a far out way...

1969

 

[Harpua88]

I told you that you were going to have a forest lol. Wait till it's time to cull some and you can't bring yourself to do it Summer 2021 was the first time that I put plants directly in the ground in my full sun all day garden and my second location... usually did pots or in ground were in woods, not full sun and not babied as much. So I had 11 survive, 4 monsters in the garden, 2 little clones I meant to give away but they never got picked up, 2 normal size out back 3 normal size at location two . Ended up with more than I had time to take care of, so I battled pests because I wasn't doing enough preventative stuff, and ended up with 10 damn pounds despite several mishaps. Luckily a few got chopped early due to mold/pests and we didn't have 10 pounds to process all at once... but it was a solid month of processing the harvest. That's why I only had 6 this year lol. Obviously they grow much larger outdoors... but I hope you don't have a day job lol. I'd say my quantity went down, but my quality was significantly improved this year. I know you plan on breeding and such, so you need more anyway. Good luck, off to a good start!

Oh i have no problem thinning the herd. That's what this is about. You can't hunt and keep 'em all.

I do have a day job, really my own business....I'm a multi-tasker.... ;)

 

[Harpua88]

Not a fan of 3-in-1 meters. The prongs spread and break, the ph meter is useless because of the scale, water meter is ok but wait til its close to zero for watering in soil.

Whatever they can do is good enough, I'm having my water professionally tested and eventually my outdoor soil. I just want to get a handle on what's up and any adjustments I'll want to make from time to time. If i find any discrepancies I'll act....

 

[Harpua88]

Argh, I'm not there!! I'm sure they're fine it just sucks being away, even for 2 days. :(

 

[Madbud]

Whatever they can do is good enough, I'm having my water professionally tested and eventually my outdoor soil. I just want to get a handle on what's up and any adjustments I'll want to make from time to time. If i find any discrepancies I'll act....

The two prongs are weak. After going thru a couple i got a water only meter with a single 10” probe, and water the soil slowly when it reads near zero.

 

[Harpua88]

At like $10 each or whatever they were they're practically disposable.......I'm just as much looking forward to using those plastic plant benders. Such a simple thing......

 

[Harpua88]

Another picture of the past for today

Now I remember.....it was the summer of 1986 when we had a weed drought. It was a combination of many things. Back then it all was seasonal. Until there was enough US, West Coast, the South, growers popping up really in every state......greenhouses, indoor......faster growing, bigger, earlier maturing strains....

It took a while for things to break. Until then, summers got worse and worse......I'm not talking about summers in Humboldt. ;) . But it was drought......then came November - December and things got far better, then spring was different, sometimes more imports/Mexican......then summer, bad again for a while.....

1986 was an awesome year for a lot of reasons. Weed was not one of them. This is when I said (sometime at the end if '86) "that's it, I can do this, I can grow.......what is a metal halide.....wait, I can buy seeds from Holland??? Gotta be a gimmick from High Times magazine......still.....honey, I'm going for it."

"But that Phototron thing isn't that good.."

"I know, but this is really how to do it right. I will use the phototron to start seedlings....."

 

[Harpua88]

High brow stuff

 

[Harpua88]

This is who I bought my Halide from

 

[TSD]

This is who I bought my Halide from

Definitely used to have one with a big ol ballast like that and the ginormous bulb.... Technology sure has come far!