Come on 12 we’re cheering for you. 
420 Magazine's Official Girl Scout Cookies Comparative Grow By Emilya
- Thread starter Emilya Green
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Emilya Green
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Seedlings, Day 2 Update #2
Well, old #12 is still a no show, and today I did not note any disturbance in the soil above that seed. There was that one seed that didn't want to sink... that one that showed almost no reaction to the water... it may turn out that 11 is our magic number after all. We will give her another couple of days, but the ones that are up are all looking great!
#12, where are you?
Well, old #12 is still a no show, and today I did not note any disturbance in the soil above that seed. There was that one seed that didn't want to sink... that one that showed almost no reaction to the water... it may turn out that 11 is our magic number after all. We will give her another couple of days, but the ones that are up are all looking great!
#12, where are you?
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- #63
Emilya Green
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I just had a very scary moment, and I scared Ms. J. as I suddenly stood up in the middle of our favorite police show and must have made a noise somewhat like a scream. Ms. J. looked frightened and I frantically signed that I had made a mistake upstairs and the plants were likely burning up! She interpreted that there was a fire and she ran up the stairs to the attic with me!
This evening when I was taking my pictures and checking out the plants, I adjusted the lights by turning them all on. I had already moved the lights down to 18" or so away from the plants yesterday, but each time I neglected to see just how much light that was with my trusty LUX meter. The full array had only been on for 5 hours or so, and I was hoping, no, I was praying that my plants were OK.
After seeing that all of the plants were fine and after calming my frantic partner and assuring her it was a false alarm, I measured the lux hitting our 2 day old plants. Egads and gadzooks!! 35K is a bit much for seedlings! I turned the lights back down to low and found that setting to still be 18K and a bit too much at this early stage, so I raised the lights about 6 inches. Now the LUX is showing about 14K and I will be able to sleep well tonight knowing that I probably averted a disaster. I have also now verified that the plants are getting enough light that they won't want to stretch and with each new set of leaves, I will increase their light a little bit, finally finishing veg at around 35-45K.
It is dangerous to garden while stoned sometimes. A good buzz might help me get into my plants and to be able to see the way they communicate a bit better, but I really need to double check myself, especially when doing something new or out of the ordinary. Keeping a good journal and documenting each change made helps keep me in line, and I am now kicking myself for not mentioning here that I wanted to adjust my LUX often while in Veg... because maybe I would have then remembered to measure it!
oh wait!!! The plants!! 
This evening when I was taking my pictures and checking out the plants, I adjusted the lights by turning them all on. I had already moved the lights down to 18" or so away from the plants yesterday, but each time I neglected to see just how much light that was with my trusty LUX meter. The full array had only been on for 5 hours or so, and I was hoping, no, I was praying that my plants were OK.
After seeing that all of the plants were fine and after calming my frantic partner and assuring her it was a false alarm, I measured the lux hitting our 2 day old plants. Egads and gadzooks!! 35K is a bit much for seedlings! I turned the lights back down to low and found that setting to still be 18K and a bit too much at this early stage, so I raised the lights about 6 inches. Now the LUX is showing about 14K and I will be able to sleep well tonight knowing that I probably averted a disaster. I have also now verified that the plants are getting enough light that they won't want to stretch and with each new set of leaves, I will increase their light a little bit, finally finishing veg at around 35-45K.
It is dangerous to garden while stoned sometimes. A good buzz might help me get into my plants and to be able to see the way they communicate a bit better, but I really need to double check myself, especially when doing something new or out of the ordinary. Keeping a good journal and documenting each change made helps keep me in line, and I am now kicking myself for not mentioning here that I wanted to adjust my LUX often while in Veg... because maybe I would have then remembered to measure it!
oh wait!!! The plants!! 
Happy to hear that part of the cog in the wheel stopped long enough for you to remember! Haaa haaa. Damn stoner!
I did the same damn thing on Monday with a couple lights I am not using yet thankfully! I turned them up to 100% to get a little extra side light for the pic. Never turned them down until yesterday morning when I walked in there and said..."Oooooooo".
I did the same damn thing on Monday with a couple lights I am not using yet thankfully! I turned them up to 100% to get a little extra side light for the pic. Never turned them down until yesterday morning when I walked in there and said..."Oooooooo".
Good thing an active mind never stops. Could have been a quick end to what should be an extremely informative journal 
Timhomegrow
Well-Known Member
I can't wait to see the tomato cages
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- #67
Emilya Green
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There are going to be a lot of them!
Timhomegrow
Well-Known Member
I've heard you talk about them before, looking forward to seeing them in action
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- #69
Emilya Green
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All good this morning! Still no sign of #12.
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- #70
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
It has now been about 5 days since the last seed plantings, and a week since the first. I think it safe to assume at this point that #12 is not going to make it to our world. The other 11 are doing wonderfully though and seem to be very happy where they are at and not having to stretch to find more light.
Today I did two very important things. First of all, I have not watered again since each came up, forcing them to find the bottom of the cup and start working on draining the water. This clearly is too much of a task for such young things, but they have made a good attempt at getting started with the job. Today I carefully watered just around the outside edges of the cup and I made two circles around each cup, but not with enough water to even get a drop of runoff. The cups were at saturation with the constant watering before the plants hit the surface, and clearly being able to take this much water today shows me that the plants are indeed using a lot of water already. With this in between watering around the edges to draw the spreader roots out that direction, I am now good to wait again until the plants mostly drain ALL the water before watering to runoff the next time.
The second important thing that I did was to rotate each plant in its position and then shift the plants positions on the table under the light so they get a new orientation. I believe this helps the plant to grow evenly, without favoring any particular side, keeping the plants uniform in shape as we start to develop into a multi layered plant.
Today I did two very important things. First of all, I have not watered again since each came up, forcing them to find the bottom of the cup and start working on draining the water. This clearly is too much of a task for such young things, but they have made a good attempt at getting started with the job. Today I carefully watered just around the outside edges of the cup and I made two circles around each cup, but not with enough water to even get a drop of runoff. The cups were at saturation with the constant watering before the plants hit the surface, and clearly being able to take this much water today shows me that the plants are indeed using a lot of water already. With this in between watering around the edges to draw the spreader roots out that direction, I am now good to wait again until the plants mostly drain ALL the water before watering to runoff the next time.
The second important thing that I did was to rotate each plant in its position and then shift the plants positions on the table under the light so they get a new orientation. I believe this helps the plant to grow evenly, without favoring any particular side, keeping the plants uniform in shape as we start to develop into a multi layered plant.
I seriously appreciate that post. It was a good reminder to my heavy handedness with my waterings over the past couple weeks.
I know it may seem like 2nd nature to you at point with your watering but for us newbies, it really is so beneficial to get reminded consistently with detailed instructions/scenarios like this. Thank you.
I have not watered or sprayed the surface of my containers for quite a few days now. There is definitely plenty of water weight still in mine. It took so much self control to walk away from the tent without dumping a gallon of water in each. LOL.
Ok...I think this is where I went wrong over the past couple weeks. In an effort to keep the roots moist, I was over watering them and went way over the fine line of moist and drowning. I killed one last week from letting it get too dry and another one this week from over watering.
I know it may seem like 2nd nature to you at point with your watering but for us newbies, it really is so beneficial to get reminded consistently with detailed instructions/scenarios like this. Thank you.
Something else that I need to start incorporating. I have done this before. Do you have a schedule for doing this? Or just randomly keep doing it?
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- #72
Emilya Green
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I move plants around and rotate them constantly... pretty much every time I work with them. This is another reason that I hate using nets and yoyos to restrain my plants... my preferred method of additional support being tomato cages that are attached to each individual container, so that I can easily move the plants.
There are so many things that can go wrong in the beginning and watering can certainly be one of them. I don't allow randomness in my gardens if I can help it. I monitor the water usage so very carefully all through the grow, but especially here in these starter cups. This is my first and best chance to restrain the roots in order to form a root ball and I would never just randomly water, or passively water by setting the cup in a source of water and letting it seep in from the bottom... I want to know exactly what is going in and how much my plants are using. The wet / dry cycle is the key to this consistency, by having a baseline to strive for, not just in the amount of water being used but in how fast the plant goes about this business.
Then there is the 3 day rule that I seem to have incorporated. I can only let my plants go unwatered for 3 days before I feel that it is time to interact with them. The opposite of being an overwatering/everyday messing with the plant sort of gardener, I give them time to do their thing without me. I might be rotating and moving them around, but that watering pitcher stays put away until I reach that 3 day mark. If the plant has not been able to drain its container by then, it is time for a watering around the edges, with much less water than would saturate the cup to runoff. Every 3 days... without fail... the plants know that I am there. The plants here could have gone for a couple more days and been ok, and they would have eventually drained the water from the containers... but I watered the edges, making them the wettest places in the container, forcing the roots to grow that direction, while I had a chance to do this. Soon, the roots will be so strong I won't get to that 3 day mark, and I will only water when they get light as a feather again, but right now, making sure to not overwater but also giving them this slight nudge, seems to be a trick that I do consistently in my grows. I get these 3 day opportunities several times in the grow, such as right after an uppotting, and I watch for them to occur.
Another silly thing that I do but something that probably makes a small difference, is that especially while I can at this young stage, just like a newborn baby, I have to pick it up and breathe on it and hold it while I inspect things. This co2 that I put on the plants in this way, and indeed my dna as I breathe it on them, becomes part of the grow. Maybe it makes a difference, maybe it doesn't... but I do get right down and personal with my plants... always have.
Diatomacious
Well-Known Member
I love to do this myself. It really does make the plant grow more evenly. Think about outdoor plants, the sun is constantly changing position in the sky lighting the plant from different directions all day long. A bit much for an indoor garden but once a day or every other day is spot on.
Plants are loving it Emilya
they look awesome. Seriously making me want to try this strain. 
Diatomacious
Well-Known Member
A little blow job works wonders eh?
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- #75
Emilya Green
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I walked right into that one, didn't I?
Diatomacious
Well-Known Member
You sounded so sexy doing it I just couldn't resist.I walked right into that one, didn't I?
A good practice for sure. Back in the eighties and nineties, light movers were a must. Added much strength to the plants as they follow the lights. Helped keep those big 1000watt HPS"s from turning all the tops crispy.
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- #79
Emilya Green
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Veg, Day 1 *Geoflora week 0
It has been 5 days at the seedling stage and that seems to be quite enough. These plants almost all doubled in size overnight! Even though I watered yesterday around the edges with almost enough to saturate the cups, several of them were significantly lighter this evening with the others right behind them. They will need a full watering tomorrow for sure.
A look from the side shows good healthy height with no stretching toward the light. The cotyledons look great and everyone is working on that next set of leaves.
I have also added a light oscillating fan in the room to start exercising these young plants so they build good healthy stalks and get better air exchange. The breeze is indirectly blowing on them in the small 6x6 room so as to not damage the tender little things.
Here, I will just let the pictures tell the story. I think they like it here in Emmie's garden.
It has been 5 days at the seedling stage and that seems to be quite enough. These plants almost all doubled in size overnight! Even though I watered yesterday around the edges with almost enough to saturate the cups, several of them were significantly lighter this evening with the others right behind them. They will need a full watering tomorrow for sure.
A look from the side shows good healthy height with no stretching toward the light. The cotyledons look great and everyone is working on that next set of leaves.
I have also added a light oscillating fan in the room to start exercising these young plants so they build good healthy stalks and get better air exchange. The breeze is indirectly blowing on them in the small 6x6 room so as to not damage the tender little things.
Here, I will just let the pictures tell the story. I think they like it here in Emmie's garden.
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Emilya Green
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Veg, Day 2
All is well and all of the plants needed to be watered since the cups had mostly all become light as a feather as compared to a cup of water saturated soil. A couple of the small ones had a bit of water weight left, but in the hopes of syncing everyone together, they all got watered just to the point of runoff just now.
dry soil and light
The rapid growth above the surface seems to have slowed down a bit this last 24 hours, but I imagine that most of the energy was being spent underground, as the roots searched for the last bits of water. They were watered at 1300 hours local time today, and this will be the first official check of how long the wet/dry cycle is, and I am betting that it will take a little less than 3 days to drain these cups. If we do get to 3 days and there is still significant water weight, you know what I will be doing? Lightly watering the edges, again.
The light was turned up to full power and raised some more, so that the LUX is around 18000-19000, a raise of about 4000 or so. When we get to the next set of leaves, I will raise it up some more, ending around 36k at the end of veg.
The plants were all rotated and reshuffled on the table, after lining up for their broadway shot, and should all now be at a different position than before.
All is well and all of the plants needed to be watered since the cups had mostly all become light as a feather as compared to a cup of water saturated soil. A couple of the small ones had a bit of water weight left, but in the hopes of syncing everyone together, they all got watered just to the point of runoff just now.
dry soil and light
The rapid growth above the surface seems to have slowed down a bit this last 24 hours, but I imagine that most of the energy was being spent underground, as the roots searched for the last bits of water. They were watered at 1300 hours local time today, and this will be the first official check of how long the wet/dry cycle is, and I am betting that it will take a little less than 3 days to drain these cups. If we do get to 3 days and there is still significant water weight, you know what I will be doing? Lightly watering the edges, again.
The light was turned up to full power and raised some more, so that the LUX is around 18000-19000, a raise of about 4000 or so. When we get to the next set of leaves, I will raise it up some more, ending around 36k at the end of veg.
The plants were all rotated and reshuffled on the table, after lining up for their broadway shot, and should all now be at a different position than before.