Losing My Grow Virginity

[ShiggityFlip]

With solo cups always fill them up with soil. The seedlings can grow and fill out quite a bit when you do.

Really cool filter design

 

[Noob4x4grow]

Well here is the night 10 update:

Not a lot of excitement to report. I do have a concern on Thing 10 which was not well captured in tonight's quick snap shots. There is a slight light green tinge on two of the bottom most leaves. I have heard nutrient deficiencies, light burn, over/under watering and the roots hitting obstacles can all cause this. I am leaning towards the later half of those options based upon the shallowness of the soil and how tall Thing 1 has grown. I will keep an eye on it overnight and see if this is an issue in the morning. I may be repotting Thing 1 in the next few days.

One a side note I constructed a DIY filter to eliminate odors. I took a greek yogurt Cup (32 oz) and an egg drop soup container from Chinese takeout and drilled holes across both. The takeout cup is slightly more narrow with a taper than the greek yogurt cup so I took panty hose, pvc primer and pvc cement and combined them with aquarium charcoal in the gaps between:

The filter is awesome. Let us know how long it will last. For what it's worth, I don't remember needing a filter until late veg. That depends on the strain of course. I started waiting to hook up the filters until I could smell the plants. That used to save me some coin back in the day.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

I am more and more convinced that Thing 1 needs a new pot ASAP. I was planning on watering them both tomorrow evening, but should I transplant Thing 1 into the new pot and water then instead in the surrounding soil so the roots stretch?

Otherwise perhaps I move Thing 1 to its new pot tonight, and then give them both water tomorrow night.

 

[TheRocket]

Top read mate, subscribed

I'm not experienced in The slightest but I have read adding a bowl of water in the grow box will help raise humidity

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Top read mate, subscribed

I'm not experienced in The slightest but I have read adding a bowl of water in the grow box will help raise humidity

Thanks Rocket! I actually have an open cup inside of the box with room temperature water that I top off frequently.

 

[Noob4x4grow]

Thanks Rocket! I actually have an open cup inside of the box with room temperature water that I top off frequently.

Is the cup helping with your humidity, Kyu?

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Is the cup helping with your humidity, Kyu?

Honestly it is helping just slightly. I may need to move to misting the walls but the spray bottle nozzle I have only has the laser beam mode. After I move the Things to the felt pots I wot have room for a bigger humidity cup either...

I had a thought of trying to go back to a mini green house or cling wrap teepee but I think the fan is doing more to help the overall temp control and Co2 exposure. I'm not sure trading that off for increased humidity is much of an advantage; then again I am a novice with zero practical experience and what do I know?

I do know that for my next batch of beans I will handle the sprouts much differently and try to avoid transplanting if at all possle.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Night 11 update brings DIRE conditions.

I opened the box to find both of the Things droopy, depressed and weak. The temps do not seem crazy but I noticed the humidity is low! I watered these guys 4 nights ago and it seems they have already dried out. I think they are both in need of an emergency transplant with how shallow the cups are factored with the drainage stuff in the bottom inch.

These conditions seem really serious and I may not wait for elderly advice before going ahead with the transplant. An echo chamber of encouragement would be well received right now!

 

[Scrappy139]

Can you see roots out the bottle of the cup? Maybe transplant into another cup because these are not your your top strain seeds, im thinking a transplant might shock them to death but i have never had the promblema you are having but i know an trick that might work get a paper towel or something that retains water and put that on top of the cup so humidity goes up , and keep w close on on your plants for the next 24 to 48 hrs. I hope this helps i will be on so if you have question ill try to answer as fast as i can! I hope you get thru this and can get that trunk to work for you its an awesome idea man!

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Well guys, I performed emergency heart surgery, and the odds are 50/50 on their survival. I mixed up ratios of 2 parts Ocean Forest, 1 part Happy Frog and 1.5 parts course perlite. This was hand churned into a nice consistency and then added to the two gallon smart pots. The pots with dry dirt came up to exactly 3 lbs.

When I went to remove Thing 1 to be transplanted it was as I feared; the roots had partially penetrated the peat moss like material in the bottom but got stuck and the cup was totally dry. Despite the bad situation I was able to get both Things into their new pots.

Contrary to popular wisdom I also decided to boldly mix up some of my Fox Farms nutes. I took a sterilized empty milk gallon, mixed 6 tsp of big bloom and 1 tsp of boomerang and thoroughly mixed it within the gallon of filtered and bubbled water.

I added about a 1/4 cup of this nute mix into a measuring cup and diluted it with 3/4 cup of the plain bubbled water. Water was about room temp. This is what I gave each thing carefully drizzled just outside of the stem moving outward in a spiral pattern towards the edge. TO get even more crazy I dressed the top soil with 1 tsp of dolomite lime evenly distributed across.

I know this was likely all too much shock for the Things and there is a pretty high chance they won't make it, but with the shape they were in in lacking the soil depth and being nutrient starved and dehydrated I had to go for the high-risk procedure.

If they don't make it at least I have two pots ready to be occupied by my premium seeds and I can start to germ two of my choosing. I have a few auto and photo options - all are feminized seeds. I am hoping the Things make it as I have grown quite fond of the buggers. Please pray to whatever Deities you see fit for good luck and positive vibes!

Here are some photos of the havoc I wreaked upon them:

The good news is since adding the larger pots to the box and topping off the water cup my humidity has already jumped up about 15-20% and my temp is quite reasonable as well. I had to re-position the fan to get just the right amount of airflow without kicking up perlite dust. Well guys, the next few days all that I can do is wait.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Can you see roots out the bottle of the cup? Maybe transplant into another cup because these are not your your top strain seeds, im thinking a transplant might shock them to death but i have never had the promblema you are having but i know an trick that might work get a paper towel or something that retains water and put that on top of the cup so humidity goes up , and keep w close on on your plants for the next 24 to 48 hrs. I hope this helps i will be on so if you have question ill try to answer as fast as i can! I hope you get thru this and can get that trunk to work for you its an awesome idea man!

Thank you for the support and encouragement Scrappy!

 

[ShiggityFlip]

It's going to be touch and go. The soil you put them in, did you wet it before adding the fertilizer? I wouldn't add more ferts. They are dehydrated and the fertilizer can make that worse. Keep an eye on them an possibly raise the light a bit. They are in recovery mode. Make sure the soil has some dampness with plain water and let them go for awhile before watering again.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

It's going to be touch and go. The soil you put them in, did you wet it before adding the fertilizer? I wouldn't add more ferts. They are dehydrated and the fertilizer can make that worse. Keep an eye on them an possibly raise the light a bit. They are in recovery mode. Make sure the soil has some dampness with plain water and let them go for awhile before watering again.

I wasn't planning on any additional ferts but it seemed like it was hurting for some mobile and macro nutes. I added a cup of water to the top soil. I can add more water today when the lights click on at 7 since I didn't moisten the dirt before the transplant....probably another rookie mistake. Just how damp/moist should I get the soil to help hydrate the plant while encouraging the roots to expand? Containers are size #2 smart pots.

 

[ShiggityFlip]

If you watered right where the plant is I would leave it be for a few days.

 

[Noob4x4grow]

If anything, you can add water to the outer rim of the pots to encourage the roots to venture out for water once they drink up what's immediately around them. This will help with the humidity as well. Good luck Kyu

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Thanks for the advice Shiggity and Noob. Touch and go is exactly how I would describe it. I will plan on adding water to the outer edges tonight on click on and wait to see what happens. I will watch for signs of improvement and weigh them both again in a day or so to see how it's drinking up the water (if at all).

The pots should both be right at 3 lbz bone dry. I may weigh before giving water and then decide on a soak or a small sip. Rtk's bathroom scale method may really come in handy the next few days.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Night 12

Well one benefit of the larger pots is a higher peak humidity and the temps seem more stable too. The plants still look pretty pathetic but I gave them each a mild drink on the outer perimeter. In a couple of days I am going to weigh the Things and determine if they are taking up water. I'm not ready to give up on these sprouts until they stop fighting.

 

[Noob4x4grow]

they are stout plants sometimes. I'm sending positive vibes your way Kyu

 

[Kyu Maengun]

I am going to tentatively watch these Things. If things go south I may start to germ my power plant and quick one seeds. I believe both are autos but the breeder info says they each should mature right around 60 days, which would be sweet because I am absolutely dry on bud.

I am going to go weigh the Things right now and weigh again tomorrow to determine if they are drinking anything.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Both Things came in at exactly 3.6.

I will continue to watch carefully. It does seem like they both have had a slight positive response on the newer foliage but the oldest leaves are still pretty terrible looking. I could just be imagining the improvement however