PeeJay's Neophyte Breeding Adventure

Babies are burtsing onto the scene. It's been a little under 72 hours since the beans hit the soil. I do not germinate in paper towels just soak them in water for a couple of hours and plant them directly into the soil about 3/4". All three so far are Paki Chitral.

Funny story. I spaced out a little when I was sowing the seeds and realized that I had more pots in front of me than seeds left. One of the pots in front of me had a Paki seed in it but I had no idea which one it was. I had been removing the pots to the greenhouse once they had a seed in them and I forgot to do that. I rooted around in the most likely suspect trying to see if I could find a seed. I decided that was dumb so I just went and got an unsoaked seed and planted it. One of the Paki pots has two seeds in it.

I marked the unsoaked seed pot with a little stick. Guess which was the first to break ground? Yep the one with the stick in it. I have no idea if that is the pot with two seeds in it or not. We'll have to wait and see. :smokin2:

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Hi PeeJay,

Thanks for answering my question...I'm usually a cloning girl and haven't popped seeds in awhile...I soaked and put in soil 24 hours ago...kept wondering how long it takes, looks like I have 2 more days to wait....not a very patient girl is Shawnee...but learning.....:circle-of-love:
 
Shawnee if you just soak and pot... don't be upset if it is a bit longer than 3 days... I think PJ would agree that was a really short period of time... I tap root mine before putting to dirt and it usually takes about 2 to 3 days to pop soil so I would have to think normally it would take 4 to 5 days to tap root and pop but I have the utmost faith that you will be the happy mom of babies in the very near future.... sending major mildew free karma your way....:circle-of-love:
 
oh Dennise, thank you and that is so sweet....trying to get my sea legs back with a new attitude, whilst I swab down the decks and whistle while I work....I am so thankful that people like yourself take notice and give encouraging advice...much appreciated, and it means a lot:circle-of-love:
 
Ghetto greenhouse it good. The storm came on quickly starting with hail.

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That became violent rain. I'd be embarassed to show you the ratty old skillet that I warmed up green chile, sweet onion and Neusky's apple smoke bacon relish for burgers last night and never brought in and washed. It was empty when this assertive cloudburst began. Tempest in a teapot? No, tempest in a soiled skillet.

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After about an inch of precipitation in 20 minutes the sun was back out and shining on the greenhouse that will only last a few years before ending up in a landfill with it's cousins the disposable diapers. The rosemary, hysop and catmint are looking a little beat up.

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But inside semi-disposable greenhouse all was well.

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Shawnee said:
Hi PeeJay,

Thanks for answering my question...I'm usually a cloning girl and haven't popped seeds in awhile...I soaked and put in soil 24 hours ago...kept wondering how long it takes, looks like I have 2 more days to wait....not a very patient girl is Shawnee...but learning.....:circle-of-love:
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Dennise said:
Shawnee if you just soak and pot... don't be upset if it is a bit longer than 3 days... I think PJ would agree that was a really short period of time... I tap root mine before putting to dirt and it usually takes about 2 to 3 days to pop soil so I would have to think normally it would take 4 to 5 days to tap root and pop but I have the utmost faith that you will be the happy mom of babies in the very near future.... sending major mildew free karma your way....:circle-of-love:
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Shawnee, I always do my seeds this way and have had very few failures. The only thing I've ever really changed was depth. The rule of thumb is 1/2 - 3/4 inches and when I wrapped a piece of tape around the tip of a pencil to actually measure it I discovered I was planting way too shallow. If you plant too shallow the seedling is much more likely to come up with a helmet on resulting in stretch. The goal is to have them break soil leaving the seed jacket behind like all of mine have so far. As the embryo moves up through the dirt the friction with the dirt pulls the seed coat off.

People should stick with what works for them but my observation is that paper towel germinators do not seem to have higher success rates or quicker sprouting times. In fact, I think they give themselves extra opportunities to screw up. A seed that germinates in the soil establishes a soil/root interface right out of the gates. A paper towel germinated seed has no root soil interface when it is dropped into a hole and covered up. There is potential to damage the root in the process. It takes time to establish the interface after that. Because the seed is already rooted when dropped in the hole depth is not considered an issue and they end up with more "helmet heads."

72 hours is when I start really looking. That is when they start to show. Most of these should show themselves in the next two days. There are 16. We'll see how many no-gos and helmet heads there are. After the storm I looked and two more Paki are up - 5 out of 8. No Panama as of yet.
 
good to know PeeJay, I have had 100% success with soak to soil but it's been awhile....I also thought it should be planted 1/4 " deep but had a helmet or 2...I get the pushing thru the soil to remove it so going forward I will plant deeper....FYI I am a Doc Bud soil girl with a degree in Horticulture, so I get the concepts, know the principles, have gardened for 100's of years, but am a complete newb to MJ and am humbled to all the nuances to indoor growing and have had a setback or two....just trying to watch and learn....with respect.....
 
PJ I totally agree with every word you just said and didn't mean to infer anything different...:straightface: I was actually trying to pay you a compliment as in 3 days from bean to sprout is awesome...:high-five: and your right.... I do germ in a paper towel and I leave it 72 hours before I even check it then if I have a tap... and honestly I usually do.... it takes another 2 or 3 days for it to pop soil and again you are right... I have had a few helmet heads...:blushsmile: I am very guilty of not putting the bean deep enough and every time I think it has been to shallow... I've had a helmet head....:Namaste:.....:circle-of-love:
 
Denise, you need to get ahold of a sack of bagseeds and try different ways! No wait, scratch that. You would never be able to kill babies after they were born and you'd end up like one of those lady's with cats all over the house. Bag seed babies would be in every nook and cranny.

:circle-of-love:
 
:rofl:
 
Shawnee said:
good to know PeeJay, I have had 100% success with soak to soil but it's been awhile....I also thought it should be planted 1/4 " deep but had a helmet or 2...I get the pushing thru the soil to remove it so going forward I will plant deeper....FYI I am a Doc Bud soil girl with a degree in Horticulture, so I get the concepts, know the principles, have gardened for 100's of years, but am a complete newb to MJ and am humbled to all the nuances to indoor growing and have had a setback or two....just trying to watch and learn....with respect.....
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Oh cool, Shawnee. I was a high profile chef for a couple of decades. Then a while back I decided to go after a degree in nutrition and dietetics. That has entailed a ton of chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochem. Oh, and microbiology. I've always been a gardener with a love for xerics and permaculture.

The chef thing is interesting because I always had to establish standard operating procedures that had to be flexible when the poop hit the fan. Situational management trumps following the rules sometimes. Also, I had to listen to my staff. They would frequently shortcut procedures I had laid out. As I matured I learned that often what they were doing made sense. The unspoken rule was that they were free to do that, but that I would call them out on it because I was hyper-alert to what was going on all the time. Staff knew that they could deviate but that I would ask them why what they were doing made more sense than the way I showed them. I learned a ton from my coworkers over the years. At the same time I wasn't afraid to call bullshit if the explanation wasn't up to snuff. Hence, you will often find that I spout out procedures in a Pope like fashion and will back them up with evidence and reason. But, I also learn new things all the time.

Doc's kit is great! I must get one soon. In general I mess around with LOS but am quite a bit more prudent than most LOS geeks. I always liken it to some dude who tells me he makes the worlds best marinara sauce. It is the "best" because he throws in everything but the kitchen sink including special "secret" ingredients. A good red sauce requires finesse and balance, not a huge pantry.

The chemistry part of it is fascinating. Ion transport in particular. Dig Doc.

:peace:
 
ClosedCircuit said:
Pretty much just did the same thing myself PJ. Don't feel too bad :)
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Well, we all do it. LOL I couldn't remember if I put 3 seeds in soil the other day, or only two. So far I have two sprouts....I wonder how long I will wait for the third one to say to myself it doesn't exist.

:laugh:
 
Cannafan said:
Well, we all do it. LOL I couldn't remember if I put 3 seeds in soil the other day, or only two. So far I have two sprouts....I wonder how long I will wait for the third one to say to myself it doesn't exist.

:laugh:
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What I really need is someone standing over my shoulder all the time and watching to make sure I don't screw up... NOT!

;)
 
Whitty08 said:
SweetSue, I saw you ladies they seem to be quite healthy! Were you making reference to their stature?
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I got the lighting all wrong in the beginning and they all went leggy on me Whitty. The seeds I started in the small pots with LOS never made it at all. These survivors are working hard to make me happy, and I insist on holding myself to some crazy standard I shouldn't. My husband was dying and that these plants survived that crisis should be enough for me to celebrate. My reference was to those unfortunate seeds in LOS that never stood a chance. Next time, lighter soil should result in better germination and stronger root systems.
 
SweetSue said:
I got the lighting all wrong in the beginning and they all went leggy on me Whitty. The seeds I started in the small pots with LOS never made it at all. These survivors are working hard to make me happy, and I insist on holding myself to some crazy standard I shouldn't. My husband was dying and that these plants survived that crisis should be enough for me to celebrate. My reference was to those unfortunate seeds in LOS that never stood a chance. Next time, lighter soil should result in better germination and stronger root systems.
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I've had the same issue with my lighting as well. My tent is currently being used to flower my Blue Widow and I know it doesn't matter the photoperiod for autos but I'm using a 16/8 cycle and as we all know that's not what a flowering plant needs. So I may have the same issue as you had in the beginning.
 
Soliciting constructive criticism -

I'm not potting directly into my LOS pots to be gentler - I pot into 1 gal pots with a starter soil of 40% perlite, 30% peat moss, 30% compost/super soil blend. Except for a compost tea or Glomus Intracides innoculation, I feed them only water until repotting.

I am also feeding only water this first time through the Clackamas Coot style soil mix. 8 weeks into flower, I'm still happy with the soil.

I'm tryng a 'less is more' approach to nutrition.

I'd like to do some natural pesticide sprays as preventatives to supplement the neem in the soil mix - I don't have a clear idea of effective Integrated Pest Management. I'm doing OK this first round, the soil is suppressing gnats that come in with new starter soil every few weeks. I might need a boost when I start to reuse 2 pots of soil in a few weeks - not sure what that boost should be.

-- -

Constructive criticism welcome. I'm enough of a permaculturist that I will balk at using new soil each grow, other than than I am open to ideas.
 
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