Joe's Grows

[Stunger]

I'm not sure if I'm seeing insect damage, or if it's damage from trying to get out of the seed, whatever it is, I went crazy with the diatomaceous earth, just in case. Any creepy crawlers will be eviscerated.
It's only on the cotyledons, so I'll just keep an eye on it for now.
I notice she's very delicate compared to other seedlings I've grown, but she has a strong stem and isn't spindly or stretching too much.
Apart from the cotyledon damage, she seems happy enough.

Unfortunately they're pretty darn vulnerable and sweet tasting to chompy mouthed critters at this stage. I have learnt that I need to scatter some snail and slug pellets around the pots and I will investigate some copper tape or wire which is supposed to deter them too. DE should help.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Hurry up and grow...

 

[Jungle Joseph]

I found some spider mites this morning, I could barely see the little bastards, and the camera on my phone couldn't get a decent shot, but they were there alright. I'm guessing that's what chewed the cotyledons?
I've run out of diatomaceous earth, so I tried using alcohol to kill them.
That's right, alcohol.
I made a 50/50 mix of water and isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle.
I took the seedling out of the tent, and sprayed the soil to wet the surface.(not much, about 100mls)
I could see them before I sprayed, and literally, within seconds after spraying, they were all dead. Fucking amazing.
I definitely wouldn't spray a plant with this stuff, let alone a seedling, so I killed one I saw on the seedling pot by dripping alcohol directly onto it. Dead. Instantly.
By the time the seedling goes into the soil, any residual alcohol would have evaporated.
I'll be watching like a hawk from now on...any signs of bugs and they'll be getting alcohol poisoning!

 

[Carcass]

I made a 50/50 mix of water and isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle.

@InTheShed tried spraying aphids with iso, and it didn't do much- he was spraying it on the plants, though so his mixture was much weaker than yours... your 50/50 mix sounds like the ticket for spraying the soil!

 

[Jungle Joseph]

@InTheShed tried spraying aphids with iso, and it didn't do much- he was spraying it on the plants, though so his mixture was much weaker than yours... your 50/50 mix sounds like the ticket for spraying the soil!

Yeah it worked like a charm on the soil. I definitely wouldn't spray it on a live plant, I get the feeling it would burn it severely. I don't know about wetting the soil too much with alcohol when a plant is growing in the container though, it might burn the top feeder roots.

 

[Carcass]

Seems like it'd be fine for emergency use- although, I think you're right about the roots not liking it if you use too much.
You could always pre-treat the soil before the plant goes in to at least kill any critters close to the surface .

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Seems like it'd be fine for emergency use- although, I think you're right about the roots not liking it if you use too much.
You could always pre-treat the soil before the plant goes in to at least kill any critters close to the surface .

Yeah it seems to work well as a contact killer.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

No sign of any bugs today, the alcohol has done a great job.
The fan is going now, helping to strengthen her stem and create air flow etc.
I sat the seedling on a wire oven rack to allow the bottom of the pot to breathe.
She looks happy at the moment.
So far so good.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

This part always feels excruciatingly slow to me. I guess she's busy making roots, I should have added more soil to the pot when I planted her to give her more room to grow.
The temptation to water and feed is overwhelming, but I know I can't force things to happen, I just have to have patience right now ...

I watered her yesterday with yucca, organic acids and superthrive.
So much for patience

She is drinking though, the pot gets lighter every day, so I'm not worried about drowning her.

 

[Trala]

This part always feels excruciatingly slow to me. I guess she's busy making roots, I should have added more soil to the pot when I planted her to give her more room to grow.
The temptation to water and feed is overwhelming, but I know I can't force things to happen, I just have to have patience right now ...

I watered her yesterday with yucca, organic acids and superthrive.
So much for patience

She is drinking though, the pot gets lighter every day, so I'm not worried about drowning her.

Hi Joe

I’m so pleased for you!

I am the opposite. I love seeding (once it pops) through to veg and early flower, but I fucking HATE late flower. Like HATE.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Got some more goodies from the grow-shop today.
I got seeds for a cover crop (a mix of clover and some other stuff, I wasn't really listening, I was more interested in the peyote plant he had growing ) some mulch, and some of the yellow sticky pads to trap any insects hanging around.
I spread some cover crop seeds, watered them in, and covered with mulch.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

I filled the pot with soil, and watered her thoroughly. It weighs 235g fully saturated. Probably won't need water again for a few days, but I'll check how much she drinks daily.

 

[Trala]

She looks so tidy

 

[Jungle Joseph]

She looks so tidy

Thanks, @Trala
I'm gonna make this Zkittlez as pretty as I can, just for you, as a way of saying thanks for the seeds you sent, even though this isn't one.

I like symmetry, like a mirror image each side, so I'm going to train her a bit different this time. In a T shape
At least that's the plan, I've been known to change my mind... often
I'm not really happy about the insect damage on the baby leaves though, but the serrated ones look good, maybe a little pale, but I'm not sure if that's the strain or she needs some more food.

 

[Trala]

T for terrific! Coz she’s gonna be I just know it

 

[Jungle Joseph]

T for terrific! Coz she’s gonna be I just know it

T for terrific is better than T for tragic...

 

[Jungle Joseph]

I weighed her again today and she's at 199g.

 

[Carcass]

She's a happy little lady!

 

[Jungle Joseph]

I couldn't help myself and gave her 20ml of water around the edge of the pot last night. I have to keep telling myself to let it go a bit longer between waterings. I'm a bit of a helicopter parent
The pot weighs 170g now.
She might be a little bit pale, or maybe it's just the strain, I know every plant looks different at this stage.

 

[Coloradocoolaid]

A couple of tips… I hope that’s cool! The damage on your seedling wasn’t mite damage like someone said snails or something else. Clover will add a pretty good amount of N so don’t get crazy with it! One love brother or sister!