Finally, A Second Grow Journal!

[barillaro]

The raspberry cough that fell out of her pot is a beast! Already about an inch tall and going to be a monster as far as I can tell

Her sister is a bit behind but I'll credit that to her being buried a bit deeper

No sign of the NL though...

 

[CatfishKnight]

Quick update as I'm planning out the grow a bit more. I will be doing Coco as well as soil.

I will be running coast of Maine soil with their squid additive as well.

I was hoping to reuse my Coco from the previous grow. I removed most of the root ball, does anyone think this is fine to be rebuffered and reused?

I am on my 3rd grow in the same soil!

 

[CatfishKnight]

I am on my 3rd grow in the same soil!

Using Coco Coil, perlight.
It still drains good.
Just keep adding a little fertilizer with each watering.

 

[barillaro]

Picked up coast of Maine's squid additive and will begin using it after I transfer to the final pots @CatfishKnight

 

[barillaro]

RC 1, had to prop up the humidity dome as she hits it now!

RC2
Hers sister following right behind

NL
I had a bad feeling about the NL girl so I moved the top soil a bit and found her pushing taproot into the air.... Quickly reoriented her and gently recovered. These are called weeds for a reason, hopefully she recovers

Also the quantum boards is being shipped!

 

[barillaro]

RC1 doing great

RX2 doing good as well

NL auto not doing so good, starting to grow leaves but hasn't even broken the surface yet... light just go ahead and risk up planting to Coco.

I lowered the light down about to in I'll have to check the exact measurements when I get home. Trying to stop the raspberry cough from stretching but because the Northern Lights is so squat I moved it into the corner to try to lessen the light and promote stretch

 

[barillaro]

Popped some (hopefully girls) DK orange today. 7 hours soaking in RO water and one sank already, good sign?

 

[CatfishKnight]

RC 1, had to prop up the humidity dome as she hits it now!

RC2
Hers sister following right behind

NL
I had a bad feeling about the NL girl so I moved the top soil a bit and found her pushing taproot into the air.... Quickly reoriented her and gently recovered. These are called weeds for a reason, hopefully she recovers

Popped some (hopefully girls) DK orange today. 7 hours soaking in RO water and one sank already, good sign?

Yes good sign. Also ruff her up a little with fine sandpaper. Soak in Hydrogen Peroxide for killing any germs and bacteria before planting. She will grow like a Weed...

 

[barillaro]

Yes good sign. Also ruff her up a little with fine sandpaper. Soak in Hydrogen Peroxide for killing any germs and bacteria before planting. She will grow like a Weed...

Haven't heard those before, I'll be sure to try, thanks catfish! Do i rough up before the soak or after?

 

[CatfishKnight]

Haven't heard those before, I'll be sure to try, thanks catfish! Do i rough up before the soak or after?

Rough up before soaking. Helps water to soak into it to sprout.

 

[barillaro]

RC1 both are on the verge of being spindly... Cannot put a fan in yet as it is still too dry ~15% rh

RC2

Once humidity goes up or the girls get a little bigger I will be throwing the fan in.

*definitely a plus for soil, haven't had to water or mix nutes once yet! Even being dry as hell the girls will get their first bit of water tomorrow along with some sunlight.

Doing everything I can to stop the stretch while trying to get the NL girl to pop up a bit... Hopefully she's just working on roots first , but she too will get some sunlight tomorrow

 

[barillaro]

Girls are getting some real light today! Saving a few cents on electricy is nice too
Should I leave them in the direct light or throw them under the shaded area under my coffee table?

RC1

RC2

Stumpy little NL girl. My other northern lights were squat for sure but this is unreal! Her roots better just be taking off or she's not leaving the 1.2L pot

 

[barillaro]

@Emilya hey em, this is my first time growing with soil and also with natural sun thrown in, any chance you can make sure I'm not getting any bad habits so far?

 

[Emilya Green]

I would be happy to... looking good so far!

 

[Emilya Green]

Girls are getting some real light today! Saving a few cents on electricy is nice too
Should I leave them in the direct light or throw them under the shaded area under my coffee table?

RC1

RC2

Stumpy little NL girl. My other northern lights were squat for sure but this is unreal! Her roots better just be taking off or she's not leaving the 1.2L pot

I wouldnt give them a lot of direct light on their first outing
They will get used to it... but shade might be best this afternoon.

 

[barillaro]

I wouldnt give them a lot of direct light on their first outing
They will get used to it... but shade might be best this afternoon.

Thanks em, seems forces greater than myself are looking out for me, the sun moved behind a tree and shaded them 30 mins after this picture

 

[Emilya Green]

Thanks em, seems forces greater than myself are looking out for me, the sun moved behind a tree and shaded them 30 mins after this picture

Good deal! I remember frying a bunch of seedlings to a crisp one bright sunny summer day. That was a very expensive mistake.

 

[barillaro]

Good deal! I remember frying a bunch of seedlings to a crisp one bright sunny summer day. That was a very expensive mistake.

Definitely would hurt! One more question, I just read your thread in how to water, specifically Letting the pot dry out to about 1" of moisture in the bottom of the plant. Is this bad for the microbes in the soil? I heard it can kill them

 

[Emilya Green]

Definitely would hurt! One more question, I just read your thread in how to water, specifically Letting the pot dry out to about 1" of moisture in the bottom of the plant. Is this bad for the microbes in the soil? I heard it can kill them

You should not believe everything you read. If microbes were that delicate, life would have died out on this earth a long long time ago.
First, unless you are growing in a "give water only", living soil situation, you are not relying on the microbes to feed your plants anyway. Who really cares if a few of them go dormant between waterings? The fungi are very tough... they can survive a bit of drought with no problem because they have a symbiotic relationship with the roots.
And that is the thing... it is hard to kill off microbes and fungi. This is the reason they put chlorine in our water supplies... without that, microbes would take over. Hot or cold, wet or dry, they seem to invade anywhere that we don't take precautions to keep them from multiplying. Their ability to survive is actually greater than ours and long after human beings have died out, microbes will be doing fine.
So when your soil goes dry, sure, some of the microbes die, but just as many more were born and multiplied on the last watering... the population ebbs and flows along with the life giving water. Many of the microbes (remember they are tiny) also hide, in little pockets of moisture all through the soil, surviving in holes in the perlite and other organics in the soil where some moisture is retained. Some also go dormant... something we can't do. In that dormant state, ready to swing back into active life, they wait for the next watering... not dead. Nature survives. It would take a great effort to wipe out all of the microlife in your soil... certainly it would be a lot harder than letting the soil dry out down to the last inch.
And then consider the microbe population in that last inch. They are still multiplying every couple of hours and there are lots and lots of them down there. Add water and give them the ability to move all through the container again, and very quickly, within hours, microbes are everywhere... eating, multiplying, surviving, and feeding our plants.

 

[barillaro]

You should not believe everything you read. If microbes were that delicate, life would have died out on this earth a long long time ago.
First, unless you are growing in a "give water only", living soil situation, you are not relying on the microbes to feed your plants anyway. Who really cares if a few of them go dormant between waterings? The fungi are very tough... they can survive a bit of drought with no problem because they have a symbiotic relationship with the roots.
And that is the thing... it is hard to kill off microbes and fungi. This is the reason they put chlorine in our water supplies... without that, microbes would take over. Hot or cold, wet or dry, they seem to invade anywhere that we don't take precautions to keep them from multiplying. Their ability to survive is actually greater than ours and long after human beings have died out, microbes will be doing fine.
So when your soil goes dry, sure, some of the microbes die, but just as many more were born and multiplied on the last watering... the population ebbs and flows along with the life giving water. Many of the microbes (remember they are tiny) also hide, in little pockets of moisture all through the soil, surviving in holes in the perlite and other organics in the soil where some moisture is retained. Some also go dormant... something we can't do. In that dormant state, ready to swing back into active life, they wait for the next watering... not dead. Nature survives. It would take a great effort to wipe out all of the microlife in your soil... certainly it would be a lot harder than letting the soil dry out down to the last inch.
And then consider the microbe population in that last inch. They are still multiplying every couple of hours and there are lots and lots of them down there. Add water and give them the ability to move all through the container again, and very quickly, within hours, microbes are everywhere... eating, multiplying, surviving, and feeding our plants.

Nicely written! Answered any possible follow up questions as well