420 Magazine's Official Girl Scout Cookies Comparative Grow By Beez0404

Well I'm back after four successful up-pottings and one quick but painless plant culling. The healthiest four made the cut and that's how nature intended. When I do a journal I tend to get absorbed in it as I enjoy writing and do apologize now if I am long winded. When I do a tutorial section in my journals I try to do it in a way that someone who has no clue at the start would be able to pull it off after the tutorial. So my goal right now is to explain all that I personally do to move my seedlings in hempy/perlite solo cups into small 3/4 gallon containers my friend at the nursery gave me.

The first thing I do is get out my bottle of alcohol and set it on my planting table. Next thing is to take my new/used 3/4 gallon plastic pots and wash them with soap and water and let them dry. I did this task last night so they were ready to go today. I next take a small clean rag and pour some alcohol onto it and wipe down the inside of the pots. Anal on my part? Probably, but it only takes a couple minutes to prep your pots doing it this way.
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The next step is to fill the clean pots with growing medium. I intentionally leave the medium level in my pots an inch or so below the rim of the pots. For me most seedlings stretch because I do not have a 100W or so dedicated grow light with a dimmer switch so I get stretch under the screw in LED lights I use. So when they stretch some I backfill with medium to bury part of the stem. I have a small muffin fan that blows across the tops of the plants to help strengthen their stems.
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So now you are ready to transplant the seedlings from the hempy/perlite into the 3/4 gallon clean, freshly filled pots. I selected a solo cup with two seedlings growing in it. And remember these sprouted on Sunday and Monday, spent their first day above ground under a dome under the LED light. They spent their second day (yesterday) out from under their domes. I make it a point to give them the two days to help their taproots to grow out a bit. The taproots grow quicker in the perlite then in a medium or soil so the two days gives them a quicker start.

Here is the cup I selected for the first transplants. Note how high the perlite is up on the side of the cup. The perlite is just moist now. I am preparing to "flood" the cup until the perlite floats up.
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Also please note the piece of duct tape over the reservoir hole that allows me to fill the cup with water to float the seedling out. This photo shows the cup once I have flooded it with water. You can see how wet the water is in the photo.
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Once the perlite is flooded it's time to VERY GENTLY remove the seedling. Before I start this part I pour alcohol into my hands and wash them real quick. To remove the seedling you grasp the cup with one hand, thumb on one side and the rest of your fingers on the other side. You will want to start gently squeezing the cup and releasing it. Squeeze and release, squeeze and release. You are trying to in essence break up the perlite. At this point I grasp the very top of the plant under the leaves and while squeezing and releasing you'll begin to lift the plant out of the cup. If it seems like it doesn't want to come out fairly easily rotate the cup a bit in your hand and do the squeeze thing again while still lifting gently on the plant. You will feel it start to lose it's grip on the perlite and come out for you. I have that plants pot and a painter's paintbrush at the ready. I lay the seedling in my hand while I make a hole the appropriate depth for the baby plant. Be sure to make the hole wide enough so you can get it down into the medium.
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Once you've made your hole you slowly lower the seedling in to it. I try to leave the plant about 1 inch above the medium. This is an important step coming up. It is crucial to push the medium up against the full length of the plants roots, no air spaces please. I do this with the paint brush. I push it down into the medium about 2" from the seedling and push the it towards the plant. Go all the way around repeating this and once you're comfortable that the seedling is nestled in her new medium she is transplanted.
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When I have finished transplanting all of the babies I use a spray bottle to moisten the surface of the soil. I then use a clear solo cup as a dome on each plant. I will leave the domes on for 2-3 days to help give them a bit more humidity and it helps keep them warmer.

Here are the four @Weed Seeds Express Girl Scout Cookies seedlings relocated into their new homes. I look forward starting Monday to see what the @Prescription Blend nutrient line can do for these girls. When the girls fill these pots with roots they will be up potted and moved into their 4x4 tent under the @Mars Hydro FC-4800 light.

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A previous 420 member told me another way to get the seedling out of the perlite.

She liked to "float" the seedling out by filling the cup with water first. The reservoir hole should be covered, of course.

I'm not saying that people should try it this way, I just wanted to post an alternative to beez's method.

Disregard.

Because beez posted each step as a separate post, it appears that I missed some of them. :battingeyelashes:
 
beez0404 said:
When I have finished transplanting all of the babies I use a spray bottle to moisten the surface of the soil. I then use a clear solo cup as a dome on each plant. I will leave the domes on for 2-3 days to help give them a bit more humidity and it helps keep them warmer.

Here are the four @Weed Seeds Express Girl Scout Cookies seedlings relocated into their new homes. I look forward starting Monday to see what the @Prescription Blend nutrient line can do for these girls. When the girls fill these pots with roots they will be up potted and moved into their 4x4 tent under the @Mars Hydro FC-4800 light.

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  • Media owner beez0404
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Click to expand...

Are those 1 gallon pots, beez?
 
Thanks beez, well written and perfectly described...no video needed!
HashGirl said:
She liked to "float" the seedling out by filling the cup with water first. The reservoir hole should be covered, of course.
I'm not saying that people should try it this way, I just wanted to post an alternative to beez's method.
Click to expand...
But what about this? ↓↓↓
beez0404 said:
I am preparing to "flood" the cup until the perlite floats up.
Click to expand...
beez0404 said:
Also please note the piece of duct tape over the reservoir hole that allows me to fill the cup with water to float the seedling out.
Click to expand...
beez0404 said:
Once the perlite is flooded
Click to expand...
Isn't that the same as her method?
 
InTheShed said:
Thanks beez, well written and perfectly described...no video needed!

But what about this? ↓↓↓



Isn't that the same as her method?
Click to expand...

The post has been edited. Thanks, Shed.
 
InTheShed said:
Thanks beez, well written and perfectly described...no video needed!

But what about this? ↓↓↓



Isn't that the same as her method?
Click to expand...
That's what I was thinking.
 
And y'all thought we just click the like button and don't actually read the posts. :laugh:
 
Update for today 4/15/21 for the Girl Scout Cookie seedlings.

I'm calling today day 5 post sprout and will go from here. They are looking quite good this morning after their transplant yesterday. A couple more days and I'll start feeding them some delicious Prescription Blend nutrients and we'll see how they react. First pic is the babies under their domes. Second photo I took it off for the pic.
Hope everyone is having a great week.

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  • Media owner beez0404
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Girl Scout cookies day 5 post sprout

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  • Media owner beez0404
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Girl Scout cookies day 5 post sprout
 
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