Back Garden Tropical Grow

[RedFarang]

Dear fellow gardeners,

Little did I know it would take 21 years from the first time I took a hit from a reefer until doing my own grow. I emphasize own - it is for personal consumption only. I am situated in tropical climate in Southeast Asia.

The seeds are simply bag seeds which I successfully germinated using the wet tissue-method. The seedlings have now grown 2-3 inches tall and look very healthy in their respective small pots. I am gradually increasing the amount of direct sunlight, and plan on planting them when they have become 6 inches.

The soil here i somewhat clay-like, but I have carefully mixed in a small amount of manure, and ensured to make holes in the pot for proper draining. The temperature has been rather high lately, between 100 - 107ºF, and unlikely to drop below 70ºF at any time of the year.

The seedlings are about seven days old. Before I took the picture, the soil was almost dried out - I only gave it a quick spray for good looks.

Great to be here - thank you. Oh, and gardening is a true joy!

 

[RedFarang]

DAY 8: I gave my babies too much (direct) sunlight today and one of them seems to be preparing for its departure... I instantly removed them from the sun and improvised amateurish support for the stem, using two thin wooden sticks.

I think they have enough water. The soil is not soaked but still moist from watering this morning.

The other seedling is strong and fine.

 

[Sorenna]

I love it when they are so tiny. Total cuteness!

Im sorry one of your little ones doesnt like that heat. I wish you much good luck and will pop in from time to time to see how they are doing. I have heat like that here in the hottest part of summer, so Im curious how they will do.

 

[RedFarang]

Hi Sorenna,

Thank you for writing!

Yes, they are cute but fragile! I am definitely acting like the over-protective father checking in on them every 30 minutes. If I had more seeds, I would be more relaxed about it. Those cuties come from bag seeds. Only two out of 14 seeds germinated. I am an optimistic realist about this, but have definitely caught onto gardening! If this doesn't work out I will be ordering seeds very soon! Being that I am located in Southeast Asia, I am slightly apprehensive about having them sent through mail, but perhaps some of those seed companies are really good at doing it discreetly?

 

[Sorenna]

When you get ready to order seeds, check the Sponsors : 420 MAGAZINE ®. I ordered mine from Herbies Seeds. I was very happy with them. I, too, was a bit apprehensive about ordering them, but they were sent in a plain, padded envelope and nothing on the outside to indicate the contents. Im sure there are a number of other seed banks that have stealth mailing.

 

[Weaselcracker]

How's it going RF?

 

[RedFarang]

Weaselcracker,

Thank you for asking.

I have really been looking after my babies the best way I can. I carefully increased the amount of direct sun light every day, not over-watering.

The trouble started on day 8, when plant B simply decided it had too much sun. The stem crumbled in the matter of minutes. I removed the plants from the sun immediately and was able to support plant B back up. It now stands by itself, but I have kept the support in place for safety. It seems to be weak near the soil base and has hardly grown in the last three days. Plant A is doing better, but also seems to have taken too much direct sunlight. Yesterday and today both plants were growing in shadow, but still outside of course.

From day 8 and onwards I have sporadically kept the plants in front of an oscillating fan. Both stems appear to have thickened somewhat. Plant A has a reasonably strong stem for its size.

Perhaps it is time for some light organic fertilizer? Please tell me we can save my babies...

 

[Weaselcracker]

No don't add fertilizer at this point. It's a common mistake. There's bound to be some in your soil. Oh- I just reread and see you put some manure in. So let them process what's in there now.
It should be fine especially if it was old manure and not very much of it. Otherwise they may struggle for a while as seedlings before they grow big enough to deal with the nutrients. But don't worry about that now, let's assume the best.
Clay is a good buffer to help keep ph levels steady, which is sometimes a problem for growers. On the down side, it doesn't drain well and cannabis likes aerated fluffy soil and doesn't like having soaked roots for long periods- so keep an eye on that too and plan for the future when you transplant them.
Just thoughts to keep in mind.
They look fine! Plant growth is exponential. They need leaves to grow more leaves, and so on. So baby them now and soon they'll be big enough that you won't have to.
Seedlings naturally grow up in the shade beneath the fronds and leaves of larger plants, so a shaded or partial shaded situation is perfect, especially if it's very hot out. Also- the roots should be kept cool too if possible, so avoid cooking them in their containers. One option may be to dig a space down into some moist soil, in the ground that is, and place them in there during the hot afternoons. There are probably other, maybe better, options.
They'll be fine. Keep an eye on the new growth in the center. Any damaged leaves will stay damaged, but in a few days you'll have twice as much leaf area to catch light, and then twice as much as that.
Good luck and keep updating

 

[RedFarang]

Thank you so much for all of that great advice! I thought I had read that even seedlings need direct sunlight, but that it must be added gradually. However, your explanation makes perfect sense. Yes, it is hot, so I will keep them out of direct sunlight AND cool by digging that hole for hot afternoons.

I would really prefer working with some high quality strains, but I do not like to take any unnecessary risks - especially in Asia. If I can succeed with these two bag seeds, it will be just fine. I don't need very high THC content to have a good time. A little taste, and I am usually a happy camper...

Thanks again WC - you're great! I will read through you advice one more time and then wake up tomorrow being yet a notch more excited about my grow. It is incredible how happy one can get from two seeds, some dirt and manure...

 

[RedFarang]

Day 12: Tiny hungry larva

On day 8 the sun almost killed one of my babies, leaving one of the leafs on plant B all patchy and damaged. From day 10 - 12, I saw similar damage on plant A, thinking it too was sun-damage. However, the remaining leaf looked healthy, so when a 2/3 of the leaf was gone by early afternoon I started to get suspicious. Taking the plant inside, checking under the leaf I found a tiny larva, about 6-7 mm, green with an ugly black head. I removed it with a pair of tweezers.

I almost overlooked it, as I thought it was another instance of sun damage. Glad I didn't - otherwise the whole seedling would have been eaten by morning time...

 

[Sorenna]

Ugh.. thats terrible. Im so sorry to hear it. Will you be able to save either one of them?

 

[RedFarang]

Yes, I think they will be alright. No further damage than the bites taken from one of the leafs. According to Weaselcracker, I should not worry too much. With the sunburn and now this, my seedlings don't look too good, but both have new sprouts on top and the stems are reasonably strong.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Just a random thought I had...
If you end up getting a lot of problems with pests - neem extract is a popular and effective treatment.
I used to bump into neem trees all over SEA. They grow wild in the drier regions of Thailand, Burma, Malaysia and especially I would see lots in India. We would brush our teeth with the twigs. The Thai government had plans of farming them so I'm sure there are some of the typical monoculture plantations of neem trees around the area by now too.
Making DIY neem oil would seem to me to be a fun project to me, if you're into that sort of thing. Or maybe it's available to buy- though more likely the local options are more toxic.
There are other organic solutions- like I said it was just a thought...
Enjoy the sun!

 

[RedFarang]

WC,

Thank you for your tip on neem extract. I will ask my wife about it, too, as she should be familiar with such.

Today is day 14 of my grow. A lot of drama underway - cannabis seedlings are very vulnerable, at least when you only have two and cannot afford losing either one.

As you can see from the picture they are both alive. I had to cut the leaf from plant A (left) but other than that it seems ok. Plant B is lagging behind after the sun damage, but the terminal bud (is that the right term?) is still growing and has a healthy green hue to it.

The crumbled eggshells were added in a slight state of panic two days ago, but does not seem to have done any harm at all.

I keep being careful not over-watering, trying to increase the amount of direct sun-exposure without going overboard.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yeah they seem vulnerable being so small and in a semi-hostile world. Having a few extra seeds would take the stress off. A lot of the herb there does have those in it though...

 

[RedFarang]

You are right WC. I used to throw out dozens - I could not grow safely at my former house.With relocating, however, the environment is right for a grow, and now I regret not saving them all. I will try with these two first. If it fails I will have to check out the (very) local market for some herb.

 

[RedFarang]

On day 15, I gave up on plant B - the new top leaf had not grown since the sun damage struck on day 8, and the first set of leafs became weaker by the day. Inspecting the stem, it had almost broken at the soil base level. Plant A, however, is healthy and happy. As you can see in the upper part of the picture, one of the leafs is amputated from larva attack, and the left leaf from the first set was also removed due to sun damage. Apart from that the plant is stretching for the light and seems overall very excited about being alive. The plant is now approx 5 inches, and the stem is noticeably stronger.

 

[Sorenna]

Im sorry for your loss. Your remaining one looks pretty good.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Looking good mate. I hope it's a girl!

 

[Weaselcracker]

โชคดีฝรั่งสีแดง!!