Yankeetoker's 2nd Grow Attempt - 2016 - All Advice Welcome!

[Lady Cannafan]

Just curious Yankee, are those smart pot transplanters inside of plastic planters? It's hard to tell from the pics.

I agree with PeeJay, you need more soil in there.

This is going to be a fun grow to watch.

 

[yankeetoker]

Canna,

They are 1 gallon Smart pots ( they were sitting on a table on planter caddies while I was preparing them). Before transplanting, I added soil, added water to pre-moisten new soil then continued to soak after transplanting. I put hydroton on top to keep from drying out surface.

 

[yankeetoker]

So after reading you guys posts, I removed the hydroton, filled soil up to near the top of pots, and soaked pots as instructed. I put some endomyco in the bottom of one of the pots in contact with roots (will see if it makes much difference) and will allow seedlings to use the water provided until Sunday.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Radogast]

That larger one looks pretty good, Rado. How old is it? I think by playing around with Yankee and the lobster compost levels you are going to greatly improve your growth rates. I could be wrong, but I think my hunch that that mix of composed lobster shells, manure, and peat humus is stronger than you reckon.

I believe you are correct PeeJay... I'm working on it, did a transplant today, etc
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I don't want to keep taking up thread time in YankeeTokers yard, but if you want to see my ship of stubborness slowly turn around, or play tugboat, you can find more in my current posts Radogast 2016 - The Neverending Growing also an updated picture of GSC Annabelle

 

[yankeetoker]

9 hours after transplanting.....

 

[CareStaker]

Looks like you got some good advice already. They certainly had the look of babies in too hot a soil, combined with wet roots. Don't water often, just soak em and leave em. Also, your light probably wasn't too close. They were likely just unable to turn the light into energy, as they were unable to get what they needed from the soil. You could also use quite a bit more perlite in your mix, which will get you the drying/drainage that the girls like. They look better already. Best from B'town.

 

[PeeJay]

9 hours after transplanting.....

Looks great, Yankee. When you add soil around the stem of a young plant during transplant it slows the transition into the new medium somewhat. It's not a plant killer. It just slows things down. We should see greening up and accelerated growth in about 5-7 days.

I believe you are correct PeeJay... I'm working on it, did a transplant today, etc
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I don't want to keep taking up thread time in YankeeTokers yard, but if you want to see my ship of stubborness slowly turn around, or play tugboat, you can find more in my current posts Radogast 2016 - The Neverending Growing also an updated picture of GSC Annabelle

I'll pop by later if I have time Rado. I really like the idea of the lobster compost as the core nutritonal amendment in a complete soil. Lobster shells have an NPK of 4.5 - 3.5 - 0. Gotta love those numbers. The video on the Coast of Maine site is very enlightening. They use peat composted with a fraction of manure as a starter, mix in a crap ton of lobster shells, run it through a chopper and compost the crap out of it. Strong stuff. I would totally use it if I lived where it could be picked up off the shelf and didn't have to pay shipping.

 

[yankeetoker]

Looks great, Yankee. When you add soil around the stem of a young plant during transplant it slows the transition into the new medium somewhat. It's not a plant killer. It just slows things down. We should see greening up and accelerated growth in about 5-7 days.

Thanks, PeeJay! As you can see, I am committed to growing and learning. After reading about the added soil in Smoky's journal, I tried to put a little "trench" at the base of both plants.


I'll pop by later if I have time Rado. I really like the idea of the lobster compost as the core nutritonal amendment in a complete soil. Lobster shells have an NPK of 4.5 - 3.5 - 0. Gotta love those numbers. The video on the Coast of Maine site is very enlightening. They use peat composted with a fraction of manure as a starter, mix in a crap ton of lobster shells, run it through a chopper and compost the crap out of it. Strong stuff. I would totally use it if I lived where it could be picked up off the shelf and didn't have to pay shipping.

I got 3 bags of that Lobster compost for $4 each at the end of the summer. Have been using it in my veggie gardens the past couple of years...didn't realize how strong it is!

 

[Radogast]

Looks great, Yankee. When you add soil around the stem of a young plant during transplant it slows the transition into the new medium somewhat. It's not a plant killer. It just slows things down. We should see greening up and accelerated growth in about 5-7 days.



I'll pop by later if I have time Rado. I really like the idea of the lobster compost as the core nutritonal amendment in a complete soil. Lobster shells have an NPK of 4.5 - 3.5 - 0. Gotta love those numbers. The video on the Coast of Maine site is very enlightening. They use peat composted with a fraction of manure as a starter, mix in a crap ton of lobster shells, run it through a chopper and compost the crap out of it. Strong stuff. I would totally use it if I lived where it could be picked up off the shelf and didn't have to pay shipping.

Shipping on that stuff from online sources is ridiculous! Last spring, when I saw some fresh at the farmer's market, I assumed I would need 2 or 3 bags for the year - so I bought six. It's hard to buy compost in a New England winter

 

[Radogast]

I got 3 bags of that Lobster compost for $4 each at the end of the summer. Have been using it in my veggie gardens the past couple of years...didn't realize how strong it is!

Score !

 

[yankeetoker]

Score !

Yeah, that was a great pickup...can normally get it for about $12 a bag.

 

[PeeJay]

LOL!

So, I'll tell you guys... The Yum Yum that is my core additive is a local product developed by a local xeric and permaculture guru who was doing doing organic and sustainable since her hippy days in the 60's. It was really warm today so I was doing some gardening stuff outside where it wasn't a mess. I needed to re-up on Yum Yum so I rolled a couple of miles to a nice nursery where I purchased a 20# sack for $32. That was WITHOUT even bothering to shop for a deal. My heart melts a little every time someone pays the shipping on Yum Yum because I have good results with it.

What is frequently missing in soil building threads is situational management. So much depends on budget, if you have space to store mixed soil, and how much of a pain in the arse sourcing the ingredients are. The reality is; a person who lives in a 3rd floor walk-up and gets around by public transportation will be bewildered in the soil threads. Budget is a real consideration. It gets pretty complex if you are green to the degree where you figure in the carbon footprint shipping factor.

You've got a glowing, locally produced, core organic soil amendment there and frankly, I'm jelly. Fork you!

 

[yankeetoker]

Update from 2/12....both plants still hanging in there...

 

[Lady Cannafan]

They sure are.

How often are you watering now?

White Widow is my favorite strain.

 

[OEF Vet 11B]

They seem to have a nutrient deficieny. I can't pinpoint which one but I'm sure someone with more experience can. At least they're hanging in there!

 

[PeeJay]

Nice Yankee. There are going to take some time to transition into the new soil and as I mentioned earlier because you buried quite a bit of the exposed stem it will take a little longer. They look improved since the transplant but haven't quite hooked up into the lighter dirt yet.

I'm wondering why there appears to be water drops on the leaves? If you are misting them, please don't. I'm curious about watering, too. They should not have needed any water yet.

Keep us posted.

 

[yankeetoker]

Nice Yankee. There are going to take some time to transition into the new soil and as I mentioned earlier because you buried quite a bit of the exposed stem it will take a little longer. They look improved since the transplant but haven't quite hooked up into the lighter dirt yet.

I'm wondering why there appears to be water drops on the leaves? If you are misting them, please don't. I'm curious about watering, too. They should not have needed any water yet.

Keep us posted.

So before I transplanted, I "attempted" to soak the pots since they are so high in peat. What I discovered was that they hadn't adequately soaked, so there was dry soil under the surface. I then attempted to soak the pots from the bottom up in a bucket using fresh water and spray misting the top. I did this on Friday and have just been checking in on them a couple of times per day to check temps and rh.

Sorry I didn't follow your instructions , I just kind of panicked at the thought of them sitting in dry soil. I haven't added any additional water since Friday...

 

[PeeJay]

That's cool, Yankee. If the soil is really dry you have to introduce water slowly and add it in stages. Water in a quart, wait ten minutes, water in a quart, wait a while, water in a half gallon - something like that. When potting up the new soil is often bone dry. It's useful to add some water to the new soil and stir. Once the soil is moist it will accept water more easily.

Dry soil is like a dry sponge. If you let a sponge completely dry out and then hold it under running water the water doesn't soak in. It just runs off the surface. Once you've coaxed some moisture into the sponge it starts to soak up the water.

Watering from the bottom is great for getting the whole soil mass saturated. Just let the pot sit in water that goes about 1/3 of the way up the sides of the pot for about ten minutes, then add some more water from the top. It's a good idea to set the plant where it can drain off excess water for a few minutes after if you do it that way.

 

[yankeetoker]

Watering from the bottom is great for getting the whole soil mass saturated. Just let the pot sit in water that goes about 1/3 of the way up the sides of the pot for about ten minutes, then add some more water from the top. It's a good idea to set the plant where it can drain off excess water for a few minutes after if you do it that way.

Which is exactly what I did. I let both pots sit out on plant caddies as quite a bit of the water drained. I will lift both pots before introducing any more water. I have an empty pot with the same soil mix to compare them to.

 

[yankeetoker]

These are from this evening, plus a third seedling (broke soil 2/2).