Stickstones first grow ever - outdoors

what the hell kind of soil is that? how often do you water, daily? full sun?

kp

Thanks for checking in kp...here goes...

It is Schultz Seedstarter Plus with 9 months time release ferts -- I know, I know this stuff sucks for growing, but I didn't know that at the time. I do not yet know anything about soil and what to look for if I am going to fert myself...I'll figure it out.

I have only watered once in the last week due to recent rains. I don't plan to water unless we have a dry spell while they are still in the little pots. They do look drenched, though. They got a sprinkling the other day, but that is all they've had since the drenching that killed Jack Black.

The first three stretched and died in full sun (about 9 hours of solid direct sunlight per day), so I got them into a place with less sun (probably four hours direct daily). This last stetch happened there. I think I'm gonna put the two remaining ones in full sun with a straw helping them to not fall over, but they still have some growing to do before I can fit a straw on them.

Thanks again kp!

it looks like your soil has sticks and bark peices in it? that's probably the reason for the stretch, the tap root is hitting and object and pushing the plant upwards.

get a seed starter soil, mg makes one now, bacto is great... any low fert seed starter. add perlite if it doesn't drain well.

next ones start in full sun if you wish; i do... but start them in a small pot or cup or seed starter, so you can transplant after a few days, up to the cotyledons (bean leaves)

kp

thanks kp...I appreciate the encouragement after all my failures!

Well, I think Roids is finally done, although he hung on longer than I thought he would (I will refer to all my dead seedlings as males to make me feel better).

Jack Black looks the same, just a dead stem stuck in a straw. Both Roids and Jack Black are serving a purpose, though. Their soil is nice a moist for burying the other two as they grow up.

Here's shots of Roids, Greenjeans and Reacher. Reacher has brown leaf tips on the bottom node leaves.

Right now they are in full sunlight for a long portion of the day. My only mission is to check them and support them before they fall over. I know it's gonna happen, but I gotta be there when they stretch but before they fall. Hopefully i will be able to use a straw, but they are so short I may need to tie them to something.

Here's the pics.

the first one is kaput; but the other two are looking pretty good! i think you needn't worry about the pen and straw thing now, just make sure they get plenty of sun, and that they dont' dry out. if you live in a high heat area, daily watering may be necessary.

kp

Thanks for checking in KP!

I hope you are right, but they are at the same stage where the other four croaked. It doensn't get super hot here, but real humid. I've been trying to keep the balance between just enough water and just enough dryness to spur the roots on, but as someone has said on this site, those little pots dry out quick! That big pot stays wet for a long time, but the little ones dry out almost daily.

The two good ones are definitely growing quicker in the extra sun.

hey ss,
i think you should leave them in an area where they recieve full sunlight for half the day but put them in a spot where they do not recieve rain and have to resist the weather. put them in a covered spot (perhaps a window sill) and water them yourself so you can control how much water they receive instead of the rain drowning them. Also, i used a spray bottle to water my young plants instead of pouring water directly so i didnt drown them myself.

and i thought i sucked at growing
keep goin man i have 4 baby plants like urs but they look kinda healthier!
lol

James4884 said:

hey ss,
i think you should leave them in an area where they recieve full sunlight for half the day but put them in a spot where they do not recieve rain and have to resist the weather. put them in a covered spot (perhaps a window sill) and water them yourself so you can control how much water they receive instead of the rain drowning them. Also, i used a spray bottle to water my young plants instead of pouring water directly so i didnt drown them myself.

Click to expand...

Thanks, James.

Come to think of it, I had them all in my windowsill early on and had no problems. Maybe I am putting them outside too fast. Although I did harden them first.

Oh well, I don't need to overthink this since I don't know how to think about this stuff anyway. I've never grown any plant, ever.

I will keep the progress updated. Feel free to check in!

Fiyah said:

and i thought i sucked at growing
keep goin man i have 4 baby plants like urs but they look kinda healthier!
lol

Click to expand...

Nice! Keep those shots comin'...I can take it!

I started this whole thing back in mid April. I SHOULD have some established, sizeable plants by now...

Hey man, i don't mean to be one of those people who say you NEED this or that to grow... but it would be a really good idea to NOT use prefertilized soil.
If you really have to, get outside dirt and sterilize it, or non fertilized soil and use a fertilizer like miracle-gro (bad for plant too, but really easy to find)

BUT, I have grown two successful soil grows, failed on one, and am now doing a bubbleponics grow and i can say w/e the final outcome, its fun...

Keep on trying!

ancible said:

Hey man, i don't mean to be one of those people who say you NEED this or that to grow... but it would be a really good idea to NOT use prefertilized soil.
If you really have to, get outside dirt and sterilize it, or non fertilized soil and use a fertilizer like miracle-gro (bad for plant too, but really easy to find)

BUT, I have grown two successful soil grows, failed on one, and am now doing a bubbleponics grow and i can say w/e the final outcome, its fun...

Keep on trying!

Click to expand...

Thanks man...I was just reading your thread on your bubble grow. I have been wanting this for a month now ever since I saw Roseman's thread. Anyhow, I'm ordering one soon so I hope to get better results!

I hear you on the soil. The upside to killing so many plants is that I now have run through that shit and can get something good for transplant.

I pulled the plug on Roids and Jack Black...I'm now down to just Reacher and Greenjeans. I will get pics up later. they are doing well, but I still haven't achieved a second node an any plant yet. I brought both of them in yesterday for the day...horrible weather...but only after they got a good rain watering.

I am currently keeping them in full sun, occassionally rotating them to keep them from leaning over too much in one direction. I think if I can get to another node on these I may germ a couple more to make sure I get at least one female.

Here's the latest pics. The first is Reacher, then Greenjeans. I found some pics of my earlier disasters and these guys were laying down early. Sometimes with nothing more than ctl development like this one at day 4. It is the third pic here.

It looks like Reacher has its second node, if that is the first node up close to the cola. Can anyone confirm this? The droopiness is due to it just raining. It was perkier this morning.

Greenjeans' lower leaves got dry tips some time ago and haven't grown back yet, so the damage is old. The spots on the upper leaves just got there this afternoon, I suspect because it rained earlier and got some good sun afterwards.

I have been turning the plants during the day as they lean toward the sun. This seems to have kept them straight up and they aren't yet hinting at bending over like the others.

I'm thinking of germing some of my better remaining seeds before we get too far into summer in case these two aren't girls.

I wiggled the stems of both plants today and they seem pretty strong and stiff, especially Reacher. Maybe they'll make it!

Watch 'em be boys...

Hey man, sounds like you're having a rough time, lol. But at least it seems like your having a somewhat fun time.

Every time I look at ur plants, their soil is drenched. I think they might be getting over watered. I think some source of a light wind would be good as well, to build strength in the stems. As of now you probly just want to give them as much light as possible, expecially with how much H2O they're getting.

Good luck man, I wish you and your plants the best.

Peace

Thanks Bobo. And yeah, they do look drenched. Must just be my timing, 'cause they never look like that for more than a day in the full sun. Those little pots dry up in a day. If I took a pic now you'd see them dry. I'm gonna leave them dry for most of today to get their roots aired out and growing, unless we get some rain today. The bigger pot that Roids was in hasn't dried up once since I potted it. But I haven't watered them in over a week, so it has all been rain.

After seeing these final two mature to where they are now, I think I just needed to go through a much longer and gentler hardening process. I'll document the next germs much better and see how it goes.

Right now they are on my deck in full sun all day. They get wind, but are slightly protected by the railing.

It's amazing how much more excited I am in germing a few more after killing off nine and finally having two make it!

If I didn't already say it, I dig your contradictory sig!

Hey man, the more you kill the more experiance you get. Some get it one way, some get it other ways. I always find that learning from my own mistakes is better because I REMEMBER them. Keep going man! Don't give up. Like you said, The more experiance you have the more exciting it gets. Cause you catch things earlier on, and you fix them and it feels great! Happy Growing man!

Thanks man. I have been working a buttload the last two weeks and haven't paid my plants any mind. We got way too much rain this week and the plants are fritzin' out. I will put pics up maybe tomorrow.

However, these were runt seeds to begin with, so I'm gonna do about two more from better looking seeds with different soil and some ferts and see how it goes.

Thanks again for the encouragement guys!