Sweetsue's First Grow - Stealthy Trio of Autos Under CFLs

[SweetSue]

It's been over a week now since the seeds were planted and still no peep at all from the White Widow, so this morning, before my birthday got off to a start, I pulled the pot out, dug up the planting core...

dug through the particulate matter (which reminded me of our days sifting through matrix and looking for tiny fossilized bone when we worked at the museum) .....

... and found nothing. Absolutely no sign of the seed at all. And no idea at all where it ended up. Buried in the soil somewhere, most likely. When I planted the seed I remember thinking it was sooo tiny and didn't look very hearty, so I'm not surprised. It was a gift, so no loss of funds on our side. It was purchased last year and was probably poorly stored before it finally got planted. Oh well.

This means we're down to two girls for the grow. The space was overloaded with three plants anyway, so this is actually a good thing. Now there's more space for them to grow and thrive. I do better with two. I stopped at two children too. Another advantage is that I can concentrate the lights on these two, and we all know the importance of good lighting, don't we?

They appear to be doing well. The THC Bomb germinated with a mild distortion in the true leaves. I have no concerns about that. It will all work out as she grows.

And the Buddha Magnum, looking pretty as she can be for a youngin'.

I'm going to water tomorrow instead of today. It feels more comfortable to me to go three days between at this point. I think I may do a watering schedule akin to my exercise schedule - three days a week spaced at Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. I believe three waterings a week will suffice nicely in these pots. I was going to do every other day, but I know from experience that I'll do better using the same days of the week. The key appears to be the consistency of the schedule, and I've managed to stay consistent with exercising on Monday, Thursday and Saturday for over 18 months now, so I trust I can keep this on schedule as well.

Still waiting on the worms and the fungi inoculant. Maybe tomorrow. (That song from "Annie" always runs through my head when I say that.)

Now I'm going to treat myself to a birthday Callanetics exercise session and continue my trend of looking younger every day. Have a good one everyone.

 

[SAMtheAPman]

I've had that problem of "disappearing seeds" as well! Now I germinate in paper towel to make sure the seeds have actually germinated before I plant them.

 

[COorganics]

Sue, Looking great over there. I keep saying that, and that's because I keep saying that out loud to myself whenever I check out your fabulous updates. 2 is probably better than 3 plants, in your space, with your lighting, as you said yourself. A blessing in disguise!

Question for ya: Do you have a source of comfrey over your way? I'm in need of some dynamic accumulators. Anything really.

I love reading about you looking younger everyday. Dale is a lucky man to be married to as good a woman as you.

 

[EinsteinCross]

Well I can't help but feel a great loss for the widow that could have been... aside from that I have to agree it really is for the best with your set-up! do you plan to somehow put that pot to work another way?

 

[SweetSue]

I've had that problem of "disappearing seeds" as well! Now I germinate in paper towel to make sure the seeds have actually germinated before I plant them.

I considered that Sam, but I really wanted to see if this soil mix was as good as I suspected. My belief is that you should be able to plant right into the soil and expect germination, given viable seeds that is. That Widow was the sorriest little seed I had ever seen. Having said that, I went digging for it in hopes of scarring it lightly and trying a paper towel to see if it could be coaxed into germinating. lol

 

[SweetSue]

Sue, Looking great over there. I keep saying that, and that's because I keep saying that out loud to myself whenever I check out your fabulous updates. 2 is probably better than 3 plants, in your space, with your lighting, as you said yourself. A blessing in disguise!

Question for ya: Do you have a source of comfrey over your way? I'm in need of some dynamic accumulators. Anything really.

I love reading about you looking younger everyday. Dale is a lucky man to be married to as good a woman as you.

Thanks CO. I enjoy putting the updates together. It satisfies my creative bent.

Other than the comfrey I planted next to the building my brother used to live in down the road a bit we lost our local comfrey source when the herb store in the immediate area closed last summer. When I needed comfrey root to help heal Dale's sternum I ordered from Frontier through Amazon. They sell leaf matter too, which would serve your purposes well. I've ordered from them before and have always been satisfied. I'm considering getting some stinging nettle from them because I'm not sure I'm going to be able to find it easily in this urban jungle.

Before the end of summer this year I harvested a supply of comfrey leaves and made some pressed fertilizer to get me through the winter. It gets diluted 15/1 (water/fertilizer) so it should get me through the next opportunity I have to sneak in and cut more. Last harvest I was a bit uneasy, since I don't know who lives there, but it's the neighborhood Dale was raised in and we know almost all of the police that work there, since we also had our tattoo studio there and tattooed most of them, so I didn't think I'd be arrested. It was a hoot though.

Next spring I want to join the community garden so I can plant a few comfrey, some mints, borage and camomile. I miss my herb garden. For the first 20 years of our marriage, before Dale's health took a nosedive, we had a lousy house with a wonderful yard that had a huge perennial and herb garden. Dale had a sweet G-scale train that ran around his koi pond too. Good times.

Dale agrees with you. These exercises I do are amazingly effective and I keep getting thinner and thinner and looking and feeling younger all the time. He recently started calling me his trophy wife, which is pretty motivating. I think I'm the lucky one. This man has loved my crazy, emotionally reactive ass unconditionally for 33 years. It makes life so much easier to handle knowing he's right there to support me.

 

[SweetSue]

Well I can't help but feel a great loss for the widow that could have been... aside from that I have to agree it really is for the best with your set-up! do you plan to somehow put that pot to work another way?

I really don't have a use for it EC, but I need to ask my brother-in-law, who lives right below our apartment, if he's transplanted his Widows yet. If not, I'll offer it to him. I may just plant my aloe vera into it. I'm pretty sure it would love it.

Hey, that's a decent idea. I'd forgotten about that new plant. Thanks for helping me remember it EC.

 

[SAMtheAPman]

Yeah, I feel the same, if they're good seeds then they should sprout in the soil. But.... I've found out recently that I'm impatient and too curious so have gone to the paper towel method

 

[SweetSue]

Yeah, I feel the same, if they're good seeds then they should sprout in the soil. But.... I've found out recently that I'm impatient and too curious so have gone to the paper towel method

I'll admit, it was hard waiting as long as I did. LOL My mother always used the paper towel method when she germinated for her garden. I'm already considering doing that next grow and starting them in tiny pots for the first week then transplant into the no-tills. Just to see what difference it would make. I know I'm very gentle with transplants and this soil should be very forgiving. The word on Autos is the less you disturb them, the better for them. Life's a big science experiment, as this community of cannabis farmers proves over and over again.

I'm convinced that, putting aside the medicinal benefits of the plant, it's the experimentation that most of the growers enjoy. The sheer volume of new techniques and tweaks to established methods is amazing to me. So much fun going on as we grow. Not that long ago it wasn't like that. Ahh, the value of the Internet forum.

 

[COorganics]

Whoops, belated birthday wishes my friend.

 

[SweetSue]

So the Endo Mycorrihizal finally came in.

The jar comes with no instructions whatsoever, other than dosage suggestions. Unbelievable. Now I need to begin by deciding how much I want to add. I'm not concerned about the living mulch. Eventually the myco colony will spread to include them. That's one of the reasons we don't till and disturb the living web these spores will develop. My only thought here is the inoculation of the cannabis. I decided to play it safe and go lightly, because these are barely seedlings. A half teaspoon should do the trick. Now, how to apply it to the soil?

When I ordered it I thought it would arrive more promptly than it did. When it didn't arrive in a timely manner I figured I could just water it in. You want the myco AT the roots. They aren't any good without contact with the roots. It says so right there on the label. My intention was to simply dissolve it in water and use it as a drench. Then I opened the jar .....

..... and realized that I had ordered granular myco (remember my plan to inoculate before planting?) which did not look soluble.

Ok, stop and think about it. Maybe it will surprise me. So I hauled some water and the myco to the kitchen sink and tossed some granules into a small container.....

..... added some water and shook it vigorously.

No such luck.

I need to get this into the root zone. After some consideration I opted to get a toothpick and gently make some holes down into the root zone around the seedling.

I spooned the granules around the seedlings......

..... and watered them in using a series of firm blasts of water from the garden sprayer. This worked rather well. Taking some time to thin out the over-abundant living mulch, I finished off by taking the time to do the scheduled watering. Again I used the method from last time - watering from the tray first until it slows wicking and then finishing with a top drench. Today it was just plain rainwater. In total I used almost a half gallon per pot. I wish there was some way to check the mid level of the pot to assure myself I'm getting it well watered. I need to let myself learn as I go. The water demands will change as the plants grow anyway.

Then I repotted my rooting aloe vera before having my cup of coffee. Someday this is going to be one fabulous plant that will greatly benefit my cannabis plants. Thank you, garden angel.

Still waiting on those worms. Where, oh where are they? All things in their own time I guess. I just need to be patient a while longer.

Life is sweet.

 

[SweetSue]

Whoops, belated birthday wishes my friend.

Thanks CO. It was a nice day. For dinner I did a slow cooker meal of Honey Garlic Chicken that knocked the socks off my husband and daughter. Halfway through the meal Dale turned to me and said "Try this with beef". Definitely a new family favorite.

We had his post-op meeting with the surgeon today. That was a long five weeks! Somewhere about 36 hours ago he turned a corner and started to feel like a normal human being again. The surgeon and the cardiologist (they work out of the same office so we got a rare two-for-one) were incredibly pleased with how well he looks and the progress he's made. He came out of the surgery 20 pounds heavy in fluid and dropped the last of that through dialysis just this morning. He's looking better than he has in years. Monday he starts cardiac rehab for up to 12 weeks and we get to remind his body how to move again. For over two years it's been one emergency situation after another as his kidneys failed and his heart deteriorated further. For the first time in what seems forever it feels like we have some hope for a bit of normalcy.

That was the best birthday present a girl could ask for.

 

[brightlight]

Hello Sweetsue.
I've been following along after seeing an invitation by SoilGirl. Nice work! And very glad to hear that your husband is recovering nicely.

There are water soluble versions of mycorrhizae but they are considerably more expensive. But it still doesn't fully dissolve in H2O. You can top dress w/ your granules & still get benefits or maybe crush up your granules and then top dress or gently mix into top of media.

 

[SweetSue]

Welcome brightlight. I hope you continue to enjoy the adventure. Thanks for the thought. I read somewhere that if you crush the granules it could damage the fungi spores, making them less than optimal.

I've been busy trying to get the tree up for decorating (it's a huge job of rearranging and cleaning the room before I can get to the good stuff) and hadn't had time to really look in on the girls until now. I've been hoping the fungi addition would be successful, although I wasn't sure how I would determine that. When I finally peeked in during a break this is what I found:

The Buddha Magnum

and the THC Bomb

True leaves are uplifted and looking very perky. I think it was a success. The difference between yesterday and today is wonderful.

I love watching these little darlings grow.

Back to the tree.

 

[SweetSue]

The worms have finally arrived!! This is a crazy time of year to be ordering worms. I'm pleased and relieved to have them finally arrive. We live in a very secure building that the mailman can't get into, so I was concerned we would miss him. I left a note on the door for him to leave them and alerted my brother, who lives one floor below and smokes all of his cigarettes out on his balcony, to keep an eye out for me. He just dropped them off.

When I tore the box open (so excited!) this is what I found.

Nicely insulated against the potential cold. Most of it will make good bedding for the worms at some point. I seem to recall an admonition about using colored paper. I'll check that out on the worming threads.

Under all that shredded paper lies the bag 'o worms.

Worms like to escape, so they need to be firmly secured.

Cut the bag open to find the prize; a churning lump of worms. I chose to get a mixture of European worms to dive deep in the pots and help till the lower levels, and red wrigglers to compost the top layers. Forgive the reduced quality of these pictures. Worms are distressed by light. I figured they had suffered enough stress in shipment and I tried to handle them without all the lights shining on them.

Thankfully I watered this morning (just rain water). The soil is moist and delicious looking (from a worm's perspective). These are only 7 gallon pots and don't require a large number of worms added to get a nice starter colony going. I simply reached in and tossed a few random handfuls into each pot. Here's part of the group that will help me grow the Buddha .....

..... and a few of the tillers of the THC Bomb soil.

They all look beautiful, don't they?

The rest of the bag got added to the existing worm bin I keep under the kitchen sink. My garden angel gifted me with a small batch, more to force me to begin my own worm bin than for any other reason. It was such a thoughtful gesture, demonstrating his support of my adventure into living organic soil gardening. It's been over a month since I set this temporary worm bin up. It's got a good amount of moisture and decay going on that these new worms should appreciate. I made sure there was a bit of extra food added about two weeks ago so there would be some food source available when this batch got here.

The new worms and their beautiful bed of vermicompost got gently dumped into the bin.....

..... And covered them with some fresh and damp bedding. We eat a lot of eggs, so I have a steady supply of egg cartons to use for bedding.

It's pretty obvious to me that this bin has become much too small. They'll be content here as a break-in station, but ASAP I need to upgrade to a larger container. As soon as I get the Christmas tree decorated I'll attend to that project. I already have the containers set aside. It's just a matter of putting it together.

Now they're all in place, safely nestled under the sink.

Then I went back to watch the worms dive into their new home in the cannabis pots. That was wonderful fun! It took them no time at all to make themselves at home.

Good soil, beneficial fungi, worms to till the soil so I don't have to. From this point on I could do nothing more than water and maintain adequate light and these plants will be fine. Of course, I intend to continue adding some beneficial plant material and things like coconut water (on occasion), aloe vera water, malted barley drenches and a few other additives, but that's only because I choose to. In a few months I'll be running on auto pilot and preparing for my second grow in these pots. My next big project will be a scrubber before these girls start to develop their perfumes. I'm a happy gardener.

Back to that tree decorating. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.

Susan

 

[SoilGirl]

Wow I missed a lot. First off, happy late birthday! I really hope you had a good one, it sounds like it went nicely
..So glad to hear Dale is that much better.. that's wonderful news. I hope the normalcy you mentioned begins now and lasts for many long years.

and... Worms!! awesome haha. They will serve you well. The seedlings look great too. you've got your own little ecosystem-in-a-closet. How cool. I love it. Keep up the great work and awesome shares!

 

[SweetSue]

Thanks SoilGirl. I'm enjoying that little world-in-a-closet. It's funny, Dale and I seem to have a thing for tiny worlds. He does model railroading in T-guage, about the smallest you can get. We make putz houses, which are essentially little Christmasy dioramas. Dale makes ships in bottles. We used to do bonsai - the ultimate control gardening. Right now we're working on the Christmas trolley layout under the tree, which for me is this massive and delightful art project of creating a beautiful miniature world that engages you to stop and think about what those people might be saying to each other.

I think I was meant to be a micro gardener. I'm hoping this grow can fill the need for Dale. I suspect that if for some unimaginable reason it didn't, Dale would want to fill the grow space with orchids, another previous hobby.

I added a bit more mulch from my bag of extra. That gives the red wrigglers I added yesterday something to start composting and adds protection from the lights. I think they appreciated it. This vermiculture is interesting stuff all on its own. I wonder how they'd like it if I did a little thin trench of goodies for them?

Here's the THC Bomb

and the Buddha Magnum

The living room smells like the outdoors after adding that mulch - almost like a bit of forest. I guess if you can't live in the forest as initially planned it's nice to at least occasionally catch a drift of the smells. Memories are deeply tied to smell. We honeymooned in a cabin right smack in the middle of a National Forest Area. Good times.

Now I need to figure out where to put the worm Geo Bag. The landlord lets us use a locked storage space in the stairway that leads to the roof. The door is right outside our apartment door (we're like the last house on the street) and I'm thinking that might be a nice place for them. The hallways aren't heated, but it's a secure and solid building. Not too cold in winter, not too hot in summer. I could insulate them against the cold. I'll get in there and clear out the space tomorrow and then get out there and get some leaves. There's a lot a block away with a hugh cache of leaves just waiting for me. If I toss that bag of Miracle Grow Organic potting soil and their perlite that I won't touch now out of that storage space, the worm bag can go there. Challenge met and conquered.

OK. Back to my miniature Victorian village. I have streets to lay, crowds to organize, snow banks to create. Don't you just love the wonder of the holidays?

 

[SweetSue]

While reading through a thread on vermicomposting on another site I came across this link on converting garden material into a richer equivalent of cow or horse manure. It reminded me of a time I'd forgotten about when my mother and I did this same approach to generate some quick compost for her garden. PeeJay shared a similar story about a friend of his who used this process to put together an easily assembled outdoor grow in a forest that sounded amazing. If I got it right, this is the link to that tale. It's post #25. https://https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/peejay-s-perpetual-organic-homebrewed-soil-stealth-cabinet-greenhouse-grow-2.200864/

And here's the link to that article in Mother Earth News.
https://https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/homemade-fertilizer-zmaz78jazbur.aspx?PageId=1#axzz3LtbzUoo9

I grew up reading Mother Earth News. My mother was a charter subscriber. It always makes me smile to find myself on their site again.

 

[SweetSue]

CO has me all excited about vermicomposting and cycling leaves into the garden, so I decided to go out today and jump start that process. A block from our apartment there's an empty lot that is fairly neglected and gathers a multitude of leaves every year. The big concern about collecting leaves in an urban setting is the use of salt and chemicals to melt ice, which will find it's way into the organic matter. The value of this lot is that its relative isolation and neglect have spared it these pollutants.

The lot is surrounded by huge trees that produce copious amounts of leaves.

The leaf litter in this plot is almost 4-5" deep in some places.

There's a wide variety of leaves represented here as well.

As I'm scooping them up, I turned around to find this under a batch of leaves. Treasure!

A bit further down the street there's an isolated area that never gets salted and has an abundance of smaller leaves that have been collecting here for years, so I added some of them and the lovely black gold lying beneath the pile.

A full bag of future vermicompost.

Now to carry this heavy bag up the 40 steps to our apartment.

Sixteen pounds of leaves waiting for me to process them into a worm bin.

That part was fun. The next step will have to wait a bit. Dale is expecting me to help him with the Christmas layout, at least for a little bit.

 

[COorganics]

Sue,
Question for you. I wanna purchase more worms as well. Do you think it's a crazy time of the year to do that? I noticed yours came just fine. Who did you buy yours from?