AKGramma's Perpetual Grow

The roots of three seedlings were poking through the sides of the peat plugs, so I planted them in a mix of soil-less and soil, as I did for the first 4. I'm going for a very light soil that will still support beneficial microbes, as well as provide plenty of oxygen to the roots.

They are numbered according to order of sprouting: Mystery #1, etc. (The previous Mystery #1 I sprouted early this year was male, so I ground it up into leaf powder. It was such a PRETTY plant, too. Was difficult to terminate it.)

There are too many to dome over at night (to protect them from the cat), So I need to reactivate the closet for the babies.

EDIT: I just set the peat plug in a hole in the solocup. No need to remove it, or cut the mesh, I discovered. Now, if you're going purely perlite, you can gently remove what you can of the peat, and rinse under room temperature water.
 
One of the two remaining clones is finally showing roots. Both clones have new leaves, but the smallest of the two has no roots. I know, because I pulled her up two days ago, and trimmed off the stem that was just mush and stuffed her back into the pot.
 
All my babies are in a corner of the closet now, with lights all snuggled down nice and close. I got busy moving furniture around to day, so forgot to look in on them. I'll do that before their lights out to make sure they didn't dry out.

Still no progress on the last two mystery seeds in the paper towel. This is day 9 since I started the 9 mystery seeds. These were from Nirvana, so no telling what they are. Most likely random strains, as they were only labelled photo freebies.
 
I meant to suggest using something (I have found that an emery board of the type that some people use to sharpen their claws works well) to file the seed cases just a bit, in order to make it easier to hydrate said case. SOME breeder freebies (IDK whether or not this is the case with Nirvana) exist because when you are dealing with many thousands of seeds, some get dropped and/or appear in such a way that there is no way to tell exactly which mother plant they came from (thus the term "mystery seeds" ;) ) - and, perhaps more importantly, their exact age. This filing seems to increase the likelihood that older/weaker seeds will germinate, and also decrease the time it takes.

IDK how safe it would be to try this on seeds that have already been soaking/dampened.
 
Just remember that the seed case is relatively thin, lol, and it would probably be fatal to the embryos to sand/file clear through it. I assume that the outer layer is a protective one and that, as such, one of its purposes is to protect against "momentary wetness" - IOW, getting wet but in circumstances where there would not be enough prolonged moisture to actually support the plant's life. And that, once moisture manages to get through the outermost part of the seed case, the rest would be porous. But this is just a guess; we all know that I am NOT an accredited plant biologist, lol.
 
TorturedSoul said:
Just remember that the seed case is relatively thin, lol, and it would probably be fatal to the embryos to sand/file clear through it. I assume that the outer layer is a protective one and that, as such, one of its purposes is to protect against "momentary wetness" - IOW, getting wet but in circumstances where there would not be enough prolonged moisture to actually support the plant's life. And that, once moisture manages to get through the outermost part of the seed case, the rest would be porous. But this is just a guess; we all know that I am NOT an accredited plant biologist, lol.
Click to expand...

I didn't file all the way thru, just flattened the seam a bit, and wetted them down good before putting them back into the paper towel. The towel is in a zip lock and standing uptight, so the seeds know which way is down. They were still firm, so I have some hope.
 
I read something about using a certain grip sand paper in a match box and placing seed inside and shaking it for a certain time instead of direct filing away at it :)


Sent from my iPhone using 420
 
AKgramma said:
The towel is in a zip lock and standing uptight, so the seeds know which way is down.
Click to expand...

I hope you don't mind that I chuckled over that. I'm guessing that when birds eat things that contain seeds, those seeds work their way through the bird, and get shat out... that they do not always land in a certain orientation. And that the same is true for wind-broadcast seeds or even ones that simply get dropped from the mother if they bounce at all. I doubt that the orientation of the seed matters overmuch in terms of germination. It might help (slightly) when the grower plants the germinated seed, but I wouldn't even swear to that.

Some extremes of effort... are extreme ;) . But I suppose it won't actually hurt anything.
 
AKroughneck said:
I read something about using a certain grip sand paper in a match box and placing seed inside and shaking it for a certain time instead of direct filing away at it
Click to expand...

The exact method is up to the grower. It's just scuffing/weakening the seed case's ability to be a moisture barrier, AfaIK.

AKroughneck said:
Sent from my iPhone using 420
Click to expand...

Sent from my laptop using my fingers, a browser, linux, and an anonymous neighbor's Internet connection ;) .
 
I got confirmation from a family member that the buds from my first BBL harvest settles his stomach, gives him a nice body high, and lets him get a good night's sleep. This makes me feel so good, that I can help someone with my grow! I certainly don't make any money off it.

I'm learning to get the quality with the Indicas, that I didn't get with the Sativas. More lights, lighter mixture, more nutes.

I hope the AK 48's provide the same medicinal effect that the BBLs do!
 
I don't go to these extremes, usually, because the other 7 seeds popped on their own. But we're talking 10 days now. I lightly sanded the seam and added more moisture. I read that laying a seed on it's side forces the root to emerge sideways,because it can't go down, like it does when deposited by birds or the wind.

I'm giving them every chance to pop, before giving up on them.
 
AKgramma said:
I'm learning to get the quality with the Indicas, that I didn't get with the Sativas. More lights, lighter mixture, more nutes.

I hope the AK 48's provide the same medicinal effect that the BBLs do!
Click to expand...

I'm wrong. AK 48 will replace the OGK's, because they give a head high. I will have to find a replacement for Nirvana's BBLs someday, but as long as I get clones, I'm good.
 
Hello Akgramma how are you doing? Have you tried a strain with high CBD levels? I just got some CBD OG but have not started them yet. Supposed to be good for pain relief. CBD THC ratio is 2:1. Can't wait to try it.
 
AKroughneck said:
I read something about using a certain grip sand paper in a match box and placing seed inside and shaking it for a certain time instead of direct filing away at it :)


Sent from my iPhone using 420
Click to expand...

THAT is interesting! I would have never thought of that. I would be afraid of overdoing it. tho. I like to see what I'm doing. I will say, it was a challenge holding a tiny seed in my fat fingers and trying to direct an emery board where it needed to go, and keep some fingerprints. :laughtwo:
 
Been monitoring an interesting conversation over in Sweet Sue's journal at The Perpetual Healing Garden - SweetSue's Joyful Return . Currently discussing the maturity of 420 magazine posters, compared with some others, whose posters are a lot younger and lack respect. Also discussing the movement towards less THC and more CBN for older users.

Sue has her own fan club, and gains new fans all the time. She's willing to try new growing methods and new strains for medicinal use. So if you stumble on my journal, please sub to Sue's journal, too. You'll learn a LOT about trying out different things, and the pros and cons of these experiments.

I also give a shout out to WeaselCracker, Tortured Soul, Tead, and my fellow Alaskans, who have helped me out along the way. I learn something new each day from you folks!
 
Lol at me getting mentioned in the same post that someone is talking about maturity. They must be having snowball fights in hades right now ;) .

But... Yes, AKgramma I generally feel the same way about this forum. Back when I found 420 Magazine, I had spent time reading at several others whilst trying to decide on one for a "home." I always felt like I was in a virtual Romper Room at the other cannabis-related forums (something that I rarely feel here) and that I needed a shower afterwards (something that I never feel here).

And that's a shame. At least one of those forums appears to have some intelligent members who are passionately interested in the science of cannabis (and of growing it). However, even there... I suppose that the ratio of insults to information is not really 50%, but someone visiting it for the first time might well get that impression (especially if he makes the mistake of expressing an opinion that is not shared by the long-time members). I can see someone having a bad day. I can see getting annoyed because someone did not use the search engine to look for information on a topic that has been posted about many, many times already. I can see not feeling like spoon-feeding someone the answer to a question when that same question was asked so recently that a multi-post thread appears just a few lines down from the questioner's. Because, hey, everyone gets annoyed - or just has a bad day - once in a while. But it turns out that a good percentage of the people that annoy just don't know any better, lol - and they won't learn unless someone takes the time to explain forum etiquette (et cetera). If I don't have anything useful to say (okay... or at least think I do ;) ), most of the time I figure that common sense dictates I shouldn't then be posting. Elsewhere it looks like a lot of people will go to the trouble of creating a post... with the sole intention of typing an insult. IDK... I sure am glad that I found 420 Magazine.
 
Still a waiting game with the ladies in flower. The 2 branches I sunk into a pot next to a BBL motherplant are just forming some roots, but they aren't ready to sever from the mother. They went to flower, so root development is slow. I have two normal clones tucked in with the seedlings, and they no longer have domes.

The two last mystery seeds show no sign of sprouting yet. Layers of the seed coat are starting to flake off. I can see an opening in the seam, but it's black, with no sign of a live embryo. I wonder how long I should let it go before giving up on them. It's been 12 days.

OGKs leaves still curl at night and uncurl a bit during their "day". I have switched all ladies in flower to Earth Juice Bloom. 3 times as expensive as MG for houseplants, but it has no N.

I still find the ladies potted in my soil mix taller and sturdier than those in the Hempy pots. There are more flowers on them, too.

I purchased six 5 gallon pots for part of my next grow to see if I can increase yield. I also have the 6 trash bins I purchased as hempys. So we're going big when the mystery seeds get big enough. 6 regular pots, 3 hempys, all 5 gallons or larger. I'm already planning ahead for the next batch of juveniles! I know what adjustments I'll make, that I am comfortable with. Less tress and all that.

One flower tent has two Mars 300's and a dozen 23W CFLs. This one has the earlier ladies in flower. The second flowering unit only has 14 23W CFLs, and the plants were put in more recently, but are physically older. As I harvest a plant from Unit 1, I'll move one from Unit 2 in there for the LED wavelengths. Since I'm not comparing plants of the same age or schedule, I can't fairly judge which unit's lighting is better.

I have entirely too much time to guess what kind of harvest I'm going to get. I DO know it will be better than I got last year, because I learned some new methods here and on others' journals. The ladies are healthier later in flower, the buds all over instead of just at the tips, slower loss of leaves as they are used up.
 
It sounds like you've hit a comfortable rhythm with the grow. It's amazing how quickly we learn around here, but then we have so many grows to peek into and so many members willing to share their experience with each other.

I'm still waiting for my hempy to do something exciting. On Tuesday I'll start another in a smaller container and plan to transplant.
 
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