How deep can you plant seedling with weak stem?

[tablelegslim]

I have a seedling with a somewhat skinny stalk. Can i up pot it and just build the soil around the base up to the cotelydons? Its not leaning yet just trying to figure out a way to support it on its own. It will get planted outdoors more than likely in a place where it will not have too many visits. Trying to get it in shape for outdoors

 

[Stunger]

Hey tab, this is just my 2 cents. Your plant look well, the lower stem does look a bit thinner than the middle but that might be the light or something. Firstly, I would think that it is now getting to the growing stage where it will soon begin to thicken up it's stems. It doesn't appear to me as a concern because they will grow thicker. But secondly, I have up-potted plants at that size which are taller than I want above the soil, so I have replanted them deeper (like a tomato) after perhaps removing the low weaker nodes. I never had any problems from it, it worked fine, but everyone's grow conditions are different. Cheers.

 

[Phytoplankton]

I agree with the above ^. You can plant it deeper, not sure it’s necessary. If you’re really concerned it might not take the weight, stick a bamboo garden stake next to it and tie them together.

 

[SmokingWings]

Can i up pot it and just build the soil around the base up to the cotelydons? Its not leaning yet just trying to figure out a way to support it on its own.

Sure you can. You can bury it as deep as you want. Bury it and leave the top 2 to 3 inches sticking out the soil and it will do fine. In fact anywhere along the stem that is under the surface would start to grow new roots. That is getting a bit extreme but it can be done. Marijuana plants are a type that will grow very well under those conditions.

When you put the plant in its outdoor spot and bury it so that more of the stem is underground those extra roots will come in handy during dry spells.

Originally, when the seedling was first planted in soil it should have been put in deep enough to cover the peat pellet completely instead of leaving half of it above soil. It would not hurt anything if the plant had been deep enough to cover that thin stem area.

You will have another problem with that plant, though, that you did not ask about. There is a bit too much soil in the pot. It is up to and even with the rim plus it is mounded up around the peat pellet and stem. What will happen before long is that you will water it and one day the water will not immediately soak into the soil. It will start to run to the edges and overflow which will make it harder to tell just how much water actually got into the soil. This could become an even bigger problem when you mix fertilizers or nutrients with the water.

Bury the plant so that the soil surface is about a 1/2 inch or so below the rim. Bury it deep enough to cover the peat pellet. And, you can still put a mound of soil around the stem which is a good idea since it will make the water flow towards the edges where most of the ends of the the feeder roots are.

There is a "Goldilocks" zone for soil planted pots and that plant is above it. We see a lot of new growers who do not put enough soil in their pots when transplanted and the soil surface is below the Goldilocks zone.

 

[tablelegslim]

Thinks its starting to come around. Hopefully its a fem. I may try and cut a clone and see or if i just wait and find out when it matures.

 

[SmokingWings]

Hopefully its a fem. I may try and cut a clone and see ...

It does look better.

Take a very healthy fan leaf and cut it off so the stem or petiole is intact. Place that in a glass of water or a pot of water so the leaf floats with the petiole submerged. Now put that somewhere that will get 12 hours or more of uninterrupted dark. If all goes right a flower will start to form where the leaf and petiole meet. If female some stigma or pistils will develop.

It doesn't always work but when it does it is a fun experiment to try. Plus it tells whether the mother plant is female.

 

[tablelegslim]

@SmokingWings thanks man i will definitely try that out this evening and post the results. How long do i need to let it sit in the water? Also it may be longer than 12hrs before i can get back around to checking it. High probability it may end up being dark for 24hrs give or take a few. And how long before you give up on it if and when its a bust? Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks in advance,
Slim

 

[SmokingWings]

How long do i need to let it sit in the water?

It has been a couple of years since I did that sort of thing. Plus I did not take notes when I put just a leaf in water but it seems like it took about 2 or 3 weeks. Sometimes the petiole would form a small root but usually not. I would leave the glass of water under the lights along with the other cuttings I was trying to root. One day there would be a very small bud showing with pistils sticking out. I never did spend any great amount of time paying attention to the leaf in the water. If I noticed slime forming on the end of the petiole I tossed it.

Like I said it was just a fun experiment I had read about several times while bouncing around the World Wide Web reading up on what others said about taking cuttings and developing clones.

Also it may be longer than 12hrs before i can get back around to checking it. High probability it may end up being dark for 24hrs give or take a few. And how long before you give up on it if and when its a bust? Sorry for all the questions.

Being dark for 24 hours straight every now and then is not a problem. I would give if the root slime started showing or if the leaf wilted because it was not taking up water. If the leaf stayed healthy looking but never did anything after awhile I would pay attention to the date and after several more weeks would give up.

No point in trying this with auto flowers. A good chance those would already start flowering before the best case scenario with a leaf. But with photo-period plants it is something fun to try.

 

[tablelegslim]

I gave it a shot i cut 3 off and stuck them in the dark. After being in that dark period does it need to be under a 12/12 or can it be under the 18/6 w the “mother” could be a male sex unknown at the moment. I been treating it like a female plant topping training etc. is the fan leaf below a good enough candidate for the experiment? I took a few off

 

[SmokingWings]

I gave it a shot i cut 3 off and stuck them in the dark. After being in that dark period does it need to be under a 12/12 or can it be under the 18/6

The leaf you show is what I am mentioning. The leaf has to be under 12 or more hours of non-interrupted dark so that means it cannot be with the mother plant unless that is also being flowered. By the looks of it the mother plant is not yet sexually mature so neither is the leaf. Without the mother being sexually mature at this point I doubt that the leaf will start to show any flowers no matter how long we wait.

It is just a fun experiment to try. Certainly not the best way to try to determine the sex of plant. Lot easier to take a cutting and getting that to root and then putting it under a 12/12 lighting schedule. There is a website called "growingweedeasy" which has an article titled like "10 Odd Realities (With Pictures)". Scrolling through that you will see some examples of a plant with the flower showing up in the area where the fingers meet. There is at least one example of what looks like a leaf by itself with a female flower.

 

[tablelegslim]

Thanks for the info. Quick question when the plant first started out the fan leaves were thick and wide. Now they are all skinny looking is it something im doing wrong that caused that. I know the humidity is low like 30-40s im not sure whats going on but ill post a picture

 

[SmokingWings]

Quick question when the plant first started out the fan leaves were thick and wide. Now they are all skinny looking is it something im doing wrong that caused that. I know the humidity is low like 30-40s im not sure whats going on but ill post a picture

Often a sign that the plant is not able to take up the amounts of nutrients through the root system. The more it is able to take up the more it has to create those big healthy and green leaves that indicate it is growing at optimum.

In my grows the number one cause is NOT a lack of nutrients in the soil. Instead it is that the soil is not damp enough for the plant to get what it needs as fast as they need it.

Check and be sure that the watering is at its best.