Papaya anyone?

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
hey everyone this is my first grow and im doing it indoors and am growing papaya, seeds i got from nirvana seed co. i am currently running them in veg. 18/6 light cycle and they are coming up on three weeks old. does anyone have and tips for me on this particular strain, such as lighting when to flower, weather or not to top, when to clone things like that... let me know. thanks.
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
i have them in dixie cups right now i have all my big pots lined up and ready to go, when do you think i should transplant them to there bigger pots..(final home).??
 

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
Make the pot at LEAST 4 gallons. You can transplant them whenever you think they're ready. I had a LOT of trouble getting my seeds to germinate, out of two batches I got one viable sprout, and she decided to be a good girl. She's one of my biggest plants despite not being germed til early June, then went into her own dixie cup June 9th. She did put on her big girl panties just over a month later on July 18th, but I can't remember how many nodes growth that was, the cups were falling over in the wind.
She was going all organic!
She's not huge, I've made mistakes, not fed when I should have, what I should have. I now have a plant that's close to 3' tall (I expected that when I topped her, and she's begun flowering so there's just not as much "size" growth) and doing pretty well. The large pot helps her deal with heat issues, and I just think she likes having big shoes (as hydrotech likes to put it) on. I'm debating going with 4 or 5 gallon pots for this next phase (I've some clones). :mrgreen:

Now, the plant's not huge, this is my first really successful grow, but I'm learning a lot as I go along. I did learn to use fertilizers/tonics/nutrients with mycorrhizae. I saw EXPLOSIVE growth when I began using this stuff. I currently use a combination of a Hippie Juice called Super Plant Tonic (found on eBay as Blue Mountain Organics, and they now have a whole product line I hear is very, very good), completely organic. And I was using Dr. Earth Organic 5, but in looking at the FF Happy Frog decided that since their product has higher P levels and the Mg, it would better suit my garden's current needs. All gets dosed with mycorrhizae up until three weeks or so (don't quote me, Ohsogreen's the one to talk to on how to finish with this stuff) before flowering finishes.

I tell you what, I've taken a bunch of clones, but I've just heard of "re-vegging" and if I could keep somma the girls with whom I've developed a relationship.... Some of 'em, they're a coupla pains in the ass, I'll be glad to cut their roots! So demanding, high maintenance, I tell you what. But there are others who I think might be some really good smoke, and they sure are pretty to look at.
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
nice! so you had troubles germinating your seeds...is this papaya your referring to, because i had a rough time there too, i germinated all mine in just a regular cup of water in a warm dark place and when the shells cracked(most within a day) i put them in there peat pellets and into the dome they went. needless to say i only got 4 of 10 to come up out of the dirt for me. im thinking i didnt have my soil packed around the seeds good enough...? this is my first grow, its alot fine tuning and working out the kinks to try to get a good system going. i had a rough couple of days tho with some seriously high temps, they didnt last long couple hours maybe but i hit 108! i got it under control now and they look better than ever except i notice on two of the plants there is slight yellowing at the tips of the leaves, kind of curling up and dry just on like two leaves, doesnt look too serious, ive been doing reading and i think it might be from the heat stress. if thats the case according to what i have read, now that i have my temps back down in the upper 80's light/ mid 70's dark. they should be ok. im thinking i am going to transplant either this weekend which will make them exactly 3 weeks from the day the came out of the dirt, or wait one more week im not sure tho. papaya is a fast growing plant and it doesnt get too awfully big which is the reason i picked it, not to mention im more of an indica fan myself. how old should the plant be before i start adding nutes? i have this Scotts all purpose flower and vegetable continuous release plant food, its 10-10-10....?
 

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
Yes, just the Papaya were problematic. I got two batches (three were sent, one came in completely and totally crushed, 'twas heartbreaking and fucked). I could get them to just barely crack, but they wouldn't sprout the taproot. So, when I got the second good batch I gave them mild nutes (as instructed by my provider). Couldn't get that push. I noticed that they weren't very fat, not like the Indica seeds, and not like my bagseeds. It seemed they didn't have enough juice to get themselves tapped, rooted, and sprouted. But the one that did has come through. No such trouble like this with any of the others I'm growing.

No plant seems to appreciate hot roots. This makes growing in pots problematic, and also makes grandeur in scale a good thing, rather like aquariums. I solve the problem by wrapping the pots in white paper and mulching well. The plants seem to want a lot of food, weak food. I like using teas made of castings and molasses, trying used coffee grounds to help acidify, as I've got problems keeping pH down. Heat stress will definitely give you problems like you're describing!
(Going back and forth but I'm bongsmilie )
Hydrotech364 grows this same Papaya, he's the one who's been telling me how to handle her. :)
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
hopefully i wont need to germinate anymore seeds if i can get this whole cloning thing down. good idea on the wrapping the pots im totally doing that when i transplant. but when did you start feeding nutes?
 

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
Mmm... about 3 weeks or so, just before I transplanted, VERY mild (as in approximately 1/4 strength). She didn't appreciate the group flush I did the other day, but has bounced back and her leaves are pricked towards the sun again. I can't highly recommend using mycorrhizae at that stage enough. This is assuming you're not using a soil that comes with a lot of fertilizers already loaded in it (I can't remember and I can't be arsed to scroll up and look right now) such as Sta-Green or Miracle Gro.
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
yea i am using miracle gro moisture control potting soil, i just looked at the fert. rating and it seams rather low, but thats probably a good thing for starting plants. its .21-.07-.14 . ive decided im going to wait until next weekend to transplant and when i do transplant i am going to start them on their nutes... my game plan is to start with this stuff called "BONIDE Root and Grow", i think its more for like cloning maybe its suppose to "help reduce transplant shock and promotes more vigorous plants." this stuff is 4-10-3. you mix it with water and give it to them in their waterings, every other watering right? at a 1/4 strength you said... i'll probably use this for 1-2 weeks then i have this other stuff that is 10-10-10 but this stuff is like little BB's like small little fertilizer pellets....like dip'n'dots if you know what i mean.... lol i figure sprinkle that on the surface of the dirt around the plant and then water...? good idea or not im not too sure about this sprinkle fert cause you want to be able to flush in case of nute burn correct? help me out here... anyway i just got done readjusting my intake and exhaust hopefully for the final time. temps have not hit a hundred since so thats a good thing. thanks for updating me man it really feels good to have someone to talk to about this, especially someone who is growing the same strain, because i do know different strains are different as far as how and what to expect when growing.
 

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I wouldn't use the little time release balls, though they're probably fine for some other garden plants. The 10-10-10 stuff is hot enough, just remember to start slow and low. And mix enough perlite or vermiculite into that MG soil, I think you'll like the results better. I get splinters from MG and Sta-Green soils.
 

thelastpirate

Well-Known Member
DAYUM!!! Papaya is one of the strains I'm thinking about ordering. Keep me posted. I am growing sackseed right now, I just don't have alot of faith in the seed shops these days. Been hearing alot of bad press about seeds not sprouting, stealth methods discovered etc. Besides that, I'm kinda questioning the whole "bagseed is crap" mentality. From what I smoke off of my plant (yes, I cheated and cut 2 lower branches early at 8 weeks) after it was dried and cured properly, the shit is far and above superior to the dope it came from, and that was pretty damn good.
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
one of my plants is starting to turn really light green, the whole plant, its my tallest plant so im a little concerned... do you know why this would be? the only reason i ask is because its just way way lighter green than the others and it just looks suspicious...
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
yea i only got 4 out of 10 to sprout so i was really bummed about that. granted it is my first grow but still i did them all the same and only 4 of 10 came up. so i used a few bag seeds myself, i wanted ten plants but i will make due with these 4 papaya plants and the 3 bag seed mystery plants... i have some pics i will get up on here ive been taking new pictures of them like every week. its cool to see the progress, they just grow so damn fast its life before your eyes, im really enjoying this whole growing experience.
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
they turned purple or pink toward the end of flowering..? oh and by the way those papaya seeds i ordered them online at The Attitude Cannabis Seeds Marijuana Seeds i got the stealth shipping which is where they hide the seed packet in a shirt and send it to you that way, and on your card it shows up as t-shirt gift or something like that. and the shipping was crazy fast i wanna say it was like a week or less.
 

Dirtyboy

Well-Known Member
they turned purple or pink toward the end of flowering..? oh and by the way those papaya seeds i ordered them online at The Attitude Cannabis Seeds Marijuana Seeds i got the stealth shipping which is where they hide the seed packet in a shirt and send it to you that way, and on your card it shows up as t-shirt gift or something like that. and the shipping was crazy fast i wanna say it was like a week or less.
They were colored the whole flowering period.
 

Bongulator

Well-Known Member
Huh, I haven't had much prob with Papaya. I ordered 10 seeds, got em no problem. I planted six, 5 germ'd, 3 were female, and the other two were unknown when I trashed them. (3 females was fine with me, didn't particularly want or need more, that's what the EZ-cloner is for.)

I haven't flowered mine yet. I have the three females and three Hindu Kush females in a custom-built cabinet with a 600 watt light. I could flower them anytime, but I have two other crops going (3 x NYC Diesel, and 6 x Hindu Kush), and I don't want to do all three harvests in a two-week timeframe, so I'm gonna keep vegging them until the end of the month. They're getting big though, and it's getting hard to keep em below the ScroG screen. I suppose there are worse problems to have. ;)
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
well i uploaded my pics to this site, but cant figure out how to get them on this thread. i guess if you just click one of the random thumbnails and search for pics type in papaya and you will see my pics from the first three weeks of growth... dont laugh tho, this is my first grow. i lowered the light today because i feel alot better now that my temps are under control.
 
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