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Oldfellainspain 2024 2nd Grow Log.

oldfellainspain

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With this 2024 second grow I intend to wait longer before I transplant into the three gallon grow bags. I have filled the tray with perlite and put a pinch of seedling mix on top. This is so I can actually see the seeds as I sow them. I'm bottom watering with a quarter strength liquid fertilizer. I'm growing under LED lights. I'm hoping this will produce good root balls.
The tray was seeded on 2nd April, germinated by 9th April. Today April 20th, I'll thin the seedlings and go for natural light instead LEDs. The terrace where I'm growing them is is warm with shade and sun so I can move them around and hopefully keep them happy. Although it doesn't get cold at night I'll still bring them in.
 

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oldfellainspain

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Seedlings in the perlite tray thinned yesterday evening. A second tray with seedling mix was started, and has now germinated, in case the perlite tray is not a success. This second tray is running 10 days behind the first tray, so hopefully I can make some comparisons by looking at photos. In a perfect world I would have started the two trays together, but space and lights made that impossible. Both trays are growing KY17 and Spectrum 50%-50%.
 

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oldfellainspain

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Twenty four days from germination, and thirteen days from thinning, the perlite tray has got some reasonable growth. The seedling mix tray needs thinning now. Difficult to see which of the two trays is better. Wish I had seeded them at the same time.
 

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oldfellainspain

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Another week gone by.
Both trays are coming along slow but okay. The root to stem connection in the perlite tray was tenuous to say the least, and the plants kept falling over, so I've topped up the cells with about a quarter inch of damp soil to see if that helps. It looks okay at the moment.
I've thinned down the seedling mix tray to one plant per cell with a couple of exceptions holding two plants.
On my first grow this year I used lights and growth was quicker. I'm in no hurry, so will keep to natural light with these two trays.
 

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johnny108

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What was your on/off time for the lights?
What kind of light did you use?
I’ve only ever done seeds in the windowsill, and they always look smaller than other grow blogs show- thinking about lights this time, since I’m planting so late.
 

oldfellainspain

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What was your on/off time for the lights?
What kind of light did you use?
I’ve only ever done seeds in the windowsill, and they always look smaller than other grow blogs show- thinking about lights this time, since I’m planting so late.
Sorry, I thought I had replied earlier.
Lights: 8am to 10pm.
Cheap LEDs left over from a shelf lighting project. Don't have any idea were they fall on the colour spectrum.
 

oldfellainspain

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Another week and still seeing slow progress in both trays. I've got a couple of runts and also lost a couple of cells in the perlite tray, but the rest are doing well. Lost one cell in the seedling mix tray. In both instances I was distracted and allowed them to sit in full sunlight for too long. All plants wilted, and when moved into the shade a few didn't revive. I think a haircut for the perlite tray is imminent.
 

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manfisher

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Another week and still seeing slow progress in both trays. I've got a couple of runts and also lost a couple of cells in the perlite tray, but the rest are doing well. Lost one cell in the seedling mix tray. In both instances I was distracted and allowed them to sit in full sunlight for too long. All plants wilted, and when moved into the shade a few didn't revive. I think a haircut for the perlite tray is imminent.
Looking great! You're well on your way!
 

oldfellainspain

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I’ve been trying something similar with orchid bark, instead of perlite- it seems to be faster than the soil mix….
I would say that it looks like better growth with fertilized bottom watering in the perlite tray. I'll give it another week and then start comparing dated photos with the fertilized bottom watering seedling mix tray that is 10 days behind.
 

oldfellainspain

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Another week gone by and everything still growing slow but sure. The perlite tray plants will have a haircut today. The extra quarter inch of soil that I put in the perlite tray has stopped the plants falling over. I'm tempted to transplant one of the plants into a bigger container to see what the root growth looks like.
The seed mix tray shows much better growth for the Spectrum than the KY17. Not sure why that is.
 

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oldfellainspain

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Five weeks from germination, growing on west facing windowsill with fertilized perlite. Does the root growth looks pretty weak for five weeks? I would like some comments/advice please. I'm not sure whether to transplant into 3" pots with seedling mix, or leave them be.
 

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Knucklehead

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Five weeks from germination, growing on west facing windowsill with fertilized perlite. Does the root growth looks pretty weak for five weeks? I would like some comments/advice please. I'm not sure whether to transplant into 3" pots with seedling mix, or leave them be.
Are you allowing the soil to dry out between waterings? If the soil stays moist the roots have no reason to go deep and spread out searching for moisture. In about another week it will be time to start hardening off the plants by slowly increasing exposure to direct sunlight until they can stay in direct sun all day (a little bit more each day, watch for sunburn), expose them to wind, water less, and don't water at all the final week. Prep them for the hand off to Mother Nature.
 

johnny108

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I’ve been trying something similar with orchid bark, instead of perlite- it seems to be faster than the soil mix….
Sadly- orchid bark is too dry, and the air gaps too great for small plants. Once the seedling is established, orchid bark, or similar, works great as a semi-hydroponic system.
If I try again, I'll go with 50/50 perlite/vermiculite, because it's worked well for me in passive wicking systems- it bottom waters easily. Just have to watch nutrient concentrations carefully.
 

oldfellainspain

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I've come to the conclusion that there's not much difference with the two growing mediums. Both trays seem to have good and bad cells which I'm putting down to bottom watering being uneven. I'm going to transplant the healthiest plants into 3" individual plastic pots, so I can tell by the weight of the pots one at a time if they are too wet or too dry. Time consuming? Yes, but I've got plenty of free time.
I'm determined to get a good root ball before they go into 3 gallon cloth sacks, as I think transplanting into the sacks too early has caused problems with my current grow. We'll see.
 

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oldfellainspain

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As threatened, Transplanted into 3" pots. Nine spectrum in the dark tray and nine KY17 in the light tray. Probably the most careful I've ever been handling the plants. Four hours since transplant and no sign of drooping. Fingers crossed that tomorrow morning they all still look good.
 

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oldfellainspain

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One week later and the transplanting into 3" pots has proved to be a good move. The plants look good and are all showing new leaves. Moving them in and out of sun/shade to harden them up starting today.
Taking Knuckleheads advice on watering. When the pots are really dry and light, I'm bottom watering. Lifting each pot individually and assessing the weight, I seem to have solved my problem of overwatering. About time.
 

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oldfellainspain

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About eight weeks from germination now. Growth is slow but steady. Plants are between two and three inches high, and all looking healthy. A few small white roots are showing through the bottom holes in the pots. Twenty minutes of direct sun and the leaves droop. Fifteen minutes of shade and they recover completely. With a moderate breeze the plants stay upright, although a few leaves have been damaged by the plastic markers. Temperatures are very pleasant at the moment, peaking around 85ºF mid afternoon and dropping to about 70ºF overnight. Average RH about 65% to 70%.
 

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