Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

[Equanimity]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

It's like squirrel x guinea pig. they're not local where I am but the zoo has a couple, they used to let them run about all over but now there's just 3 or so in a cage somewhere. The hill they occupied is still swiss cheesed with their burrows. sorry for your loss man

 

[skunnymonster]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Sorry to hear of your loss buddy Bonnie

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

It's like squirrel x guinea pig. they're not local where I am but the zoo has a couple, they used to let them run about all over but now there's just 3 or so in a cage somewhere. The hill they occupied is still swiss cheesed with their burrows. sorry for your loss man

Yes, that's correct. Another name for them is actually Ground Squirrel. Their body, postures, everything is very similar to a squirrel, except these guys have short little tails, the squirrels have big bushy tails, Prairie dogs are built for digging (They dig massive tunnels in the wild, which is one reason people dislike them), and squirrels are built more for jumping and climbing.

They're fun little kids to have around, and they LOVE eating fresh, and dry Cannabis trim.

 

[Zabka]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Hey man, sorry to hear you've had a crappy few days. It must be really sad to lose a pet like that. Still, even from that picture it's obvious she must have had a great life!

Hope you're feeling better now. I always smoke when I'm ill; it might not help a chest infection too much, but it certainly helps with the rest...even if you just put yourself into a nice deep sleep!

The plant is looking good, even if your perfectionist self isn't entirely happy with it (and that is no bad thing!) The training is already having some effect - you can see the tops leveling out even though she's smaller than the pot!

Whatever it is, I hope everything sorts out for you soon

 

[SweetSue]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

So sorry to hear of your loss Antics. Pets are so close to us. My condolences. And feel better quickly. May the week take a better turn soon.

 

[Sphnx]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Sorry for your loss bud. It's horrible losing an animal friend...

 

[ChillAH]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Yes, that's correct. Another name for them is actually Ground Squirrel. Their body, postures, everything is very similar to a squirrel, except these guys have short little tails, the squirrels have big bushy tails, Prairie dogs are built for digging (They dig massive tunnels in the wild, which is one reason people dislike them), and squirrels are built more for jumping and climbing.

They're fun little kids to have around, and they LOVE eating fresh, and dry Cannabis trim.

Ever tried ferrets Antics?

 

[ChillAH]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

BTW srry to hear about the loss of a pet.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Ever tried ferrets Antics?

Nah, no ferrets for me. I considered it, but the smell in their cage at the pet store was enough to change my mind.
I have 1 more Prairie dog, a Chinchilla and a dog.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

And now I'm going to update.. because I'm bored. I feel a bit better, and well... I was bored.

So... The plant is taking forever. I didn't notice any more burn developing today, so I moved on to step 2. Nutes. Dose has been dialed way back from 10ml/gal of each, down to 2.5ml/gal of each. Just starting out small for now. I'm seeing some red/purple showing on the stems, which is a sign of a phosphorous deficiency, so I figured I'll start slow on the nutes.

While mixing the nutes I was thinking how I have an empty pot of soil, and this plant is going to still take some time to catch up... but I wondered if I could plant a new plant, and have it catch up to, and maybe even grow faster than this plant? Well why wonder? I figured I have the room, I have a pot and some dirt.. so fuck it! Let's give it a shot and see who grows faster!

Then as I was choosing which strain to grow, and getting ready to go through my germination ritual (Which hasn't failed me yet) I figured, why not take some pictures of what I do to germinate my seeds?

So here's my short how to guide on my preferred germination method/technique.

First, we need a seed. In this case, one of the Freebies from Herbies. ! World of Seeds Legends Strawberry Blue Feminised Seeds - Herbies Seeds
Then we need a nail file/emery board. I like using the bigger one with the foam core. It has a coarse, and a fine side, and as you can tell, I've used it for various projects throughout the years. For our purpose, we use the fine side.

Next, we place the seed into our hand, cupping our hand slightly to create a deeper wrinkle for the seed to roll in.

Then we hold the emery board by the very end, between the thumb and one finger.

We then use the emery board to roll the seed back and forth in that wrinkle a total of 5 times. Each movement counts as 1 pass. So you'll go something like back, forth, back, forth, back. We don't want to do this too much, or too hard, as it can tear the shell off completely and ruin the seed. We only want to lightly scuff the outside of the shell to make water penetrate easier.

Then I place the seed about 1" down into soil. Normal soil that you use for your grow, obviously making sure not to use something too hot for seedlings, such as FFOF. I'm using plain potting soil here. I plant my seeds with the tip down, so the taproot grows downward. I don't believe in planting the taproot upward, and haven't seen evidence to do it otherwise.
Then I water the pot to keep it moist. Not wet. Not soaked. And there should never be runoff water using my germination technique. Think of this as replacing the paper tower with soil. I am also watering with plain water. No nutes, and not PH adjusted. Plain water from the tap. I'm not the most gentle person, so I'd prefer not to handle my seeds with a fragile tap root sticking out, that's a recipe for disaster with me. I'm used to working on cars and trucks and wailing on shit. Being gentle just isn't in my repertoire.

And in a few days, this seed should pop. We'll see how well I do.

Germination light distance is suggested by Mars-Hydro @ a distance of 24-30". The current distance is 33", and I will adjust if/when necessary.

I'm also going to try germination this seed completely with LED, and will see how well that works out too.



You never know unless you try! So I figured it's worth a shot to see what I can do Plus, a double harvest is better than just 1.

 

[Equanimity]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Good luck with the new plant, you're certainly putting the effort in so let's hope you get satisfaction

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Good luck with the new plant, you're certainly putting the effort in so let's hope you get satisfaction

Thanks brother. But just to be clear, I'm not giving up on the other one! I just started wondering with all this recovery time, where a 2nd plant would be in terms of size/maturity if I planted another one. And instead of wondering, I figured the best thing to do was try it and see.

 

[Equanimity]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Thanks brother. But just to be clear, I'm not giving up on the other one! I just started wondering with all this recovery time, where a 2nd plant would be in terms of size/maturity if I planted another one. And instead of wondering, I figured the best thing to do was try it and see.

No, never give up.

One thing though; if you have any dewberries left, why not take a small clone from the Problem Child and set it up under a CFL or something, that way you can see how it does under different lighting?

I've just taken six clones and have them in admittedly less than optimal conditions but I'm hopeful. I've kind of gotten a knack for being able to pull things around and get out of adverse situations. 3 of the blue dream and 3 of the super silver - they've all got a bud on them - that's how late they are to the party lol

 

[SBG]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

It's all good. Full steam ahead.

 

[Subnoise]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Hey Antics figured I would stop by you're journal since I've seen you in my thread a few times. Sorry too hear about your loss and plant troubles. But looks like i arrived just in time. Good luck with the new seed.

 

[Buster Cherry]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

I think that I'll try germinating my seeds the way you do, kinda. I'll scuff it up a tiny bit, but I'll be going straight into a rapid rooter tray with the heat mat and light. I'll be checking out how it does straight away with LED. You have a good idea going though. If you have the space and supplies you may as well toss another one in the mix, since the other one is behind at the moment.

 

[Sphnx]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Looking great man! I've always thought the purple/red on the stems/stalk was a magnesium deficiency... Is it phosphorus?

 

[SweetSue]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Thanks for the timely tutorial on planting a seed in soil. My grow is going to be no-till so the seed goes right into the soil the plant will spend its entire life in. The germination is my next big mystery. I consol myself with the knowledge that these are some of the heartiest plants on earth. Keeping it simple seems to be the best approach. I'm assuming you have good germination rates? Any ideas on germinating under CFLs? I'm wondering about lighting requirements to get the seed to break the soil barrier. As soon as it pops through I'm confident of my abilities to make it thrive. I have never germinated any seed indoors. Ever. I feel rediculously inadequate here.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

No, never give up.

One thing though; if you have any dewberries left, why not take a small clone from the Problem Child and set it up under a CFL or something, that way you can see how it does under different lighting?

I've just taken six clones and have them in admittedly less than optimal conditions but I'm hopeful. I've kind of gotten a knack for being able to pull things around and get out of adverse situations. 3 of the blue dream and 3 of the super silver - they've all got a bud on them - that's how late they are to the party lol

Forgive me for not knowing the term, but what is a dewberry? And right now I only have one single space for Germinating, Cloning (which I haven't done yet), Vegging, and Flowering. I'm trying to work on some plans for a Veg space, but no luck as of yet.

I think that I'll try germinating my seeds the way you do, kinda. I'll scuff it up a tiny bit, but I'll be going straight into a rapid rooter tray with the heat mat and light. I'll be checking out how it does straight away with LED. You have a good idea going though. If you have the space and supplies you may as well toss another one in the mix, since the other one is behind at the moment.

KingJohnC uses a matchbox, which he lined with sand paper, 300 grit if I remember correctly. My nail file method is just an adaptation of his method, since I didn't have a matchbox handy. But he places the seeds inside, and just shakes/rolls them around for a short time, and the same effect is achieved.
Using rapid rooters is probably similar, but I'm not sure about the heat mat, especially with seeds, as I've read (again from KingJohnC), that sex during germination is partly influenced by temperatures.

The mat might be a necessity for cloning? I'm not sure, I haven't gone that route yet, but you might want to think it over before using heat with seeds.

Unfortunately, I don't have the space. I have room to grow about 3, in 5 gallon pots. However, throwing a 3rd plant in eliminates my ability to move the pots around easily, which reduces the training I can do, and would crowd them too much IMO.
I'd prefer to yield 2 ounces for each of 2 plants, over yielding 5 ounces from 3 plants. My interest and focus is on maxing out individual plant total yield, opposed to an only slightly higher total yield from more plants.

Looking great man! I've always thought the purple/red on the stems/stalk was a magnesium deficiency... Is it phosphorus?

Maybe you're right. I just thought I read before that the red/purple showing up on stems (and not on leaf petioles, which is considered normal) was a sign of a phosphorous deficiency. And the lightening of leaves between the veins was one of the signs of a magnesium deficiency.

Maybe someone can clear this up for us?

Thanks for the timely tutorial on planting a seed in soil. My grow is going to be no-till so the seed goes right into the soil the plant will spend its entire life in. The germination is my next big mystery. I consol myself with the knowledge that these are some of the heartiest plants on earth. Keeping it simple seems to be the best approach. I'm assuming you have good germination rates? Any ideas on germinating under CFLs? I'm wondering about lighting requirements to get the seed to break the soil barrier. As soon as it pops through I'm confident of my abilities to make it thrive. I have never germinated any seed indoors. Ever. I feel rediculously inadequate here.

Germination isn't really difficult, as the seed really does the work for us. It's the little extra things we do that increase germination rates, or at the very least, make us feel comforted knowing that we've done all we could to help them along before we start the germination process.

For me, the main focus is just keeping the soil moist at all times, or at least as often as I can, absolutely never letting it dry out, and the seed will do its own thing. I think the extra step I take with the emery board, just helps water penetration into the shell a little faster. So maybe for some seeds I cut down the time it takes to pop above the surface? At least I think it does.

I always try to keep thinks as simple as possible. I do add small things here and there, so I can learn as I go, but never a ton of new things at once, as it pushes me too far outside of my comfort zone, and that's when I tend to make mistakes when I'm not thinking clearly due to frustration or stress.

Sometimes it really helps me to sit and just calmly think about the grow in my head, going over things one at a time, especially like when the problems started. It's difficult not to get upset over something you spent a lot of time and effort on, but sometimes just taking a step back and thinking, as simple and silly as it sounds... sometimes that's what works.

My previous plants were all germinated under CFLs, and I personally like to have my seeds under 18/6 lighting as soon as they hit the dirt.

So far, I have 100% germination out of.. I think 12 seeds now? I killed 2 with nutes too early on my first attempt, I completely lost one seed while constantly digging it up to see if it was sprouting (This taught me patience lol), and one seed I used the nail file too hard, and half the shell came off before germination, I put it back on, and planted the seed, and a taproot did sprout! However something went wrong, and the seed later turned to mush, I assume too much water was being absorbed due to the missing shell.

But don't worry about it so much, you'll do just fine, it's not much different than germination outdoors. Each grower just finds a few extra things they like to do, before they let the seed do its thing.

 

[Pablo Tesla]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Hey Antics, I think you should keep things simple. A seed knows to do the job.

Keep growing.