Just Begun, Need Some Assistance

[Wart]

Well I got some seeds and started germinating them about last Tuesday using wet tissue paper inside two plates.

 

Anyway its almost been a week (I probably left them there for too long..) but now some are approx 10cm in length, and the seed bit has broken off.

 

I spose I should plant them now but Im unsure what to do. Living in canberra i think i will have to grow indoors due to the extreme weather.

So now should I go and buy pots?

 

Do you have 1 pot for each plant? how big should the pots be?

 

I have a room which has a skylight so I thought i could just grow them in there, dont really want the bother of getting lights and making a box and all that stuff.

 

I have taken a photo of the little plants, i assume i plant them in soil with the green bit out of the soil? the other end seems to be the root. how far do i plant them in the dirt? do i leave it so its sticking out??

 

will i be able to grow a decent plant without using artificial lighting and just using my room with the big skylight as enough sun for them? I can also bring them outside during the day if thats better for them but i wont be able to do that when it turns to winter.

 

I did try to find a FAQ but i couldnt find much on going from Germination to beginning growing because i dont know what growing method i should be using.

 

Also, I have a bunch of seeds in a film canister, do these need to be placed in the fridge or are they OK just sitting out. Wont be needing them for half a year or something.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Luke Skywalker]

Those seedlings were left faaar too long. They should be planted out into soil/media as soon as they show a root tip. Or just direct sowed. Those roots are brown because they're rotting, and those seedlings are dead I think.

 

I would suggest starting again. And as soon as they show any root tips, then plant them out, with the seed on it's side, (so the tip of the root goes around the seedling and down into the soil, then lifts itself out the top of the soil with a leverage force) and gently cover. Don't plant em too deep, maybe 2cm. I'm certain there are many germination methods shown on these boards, check out the search function and I'm sure you'll find many, many different ways.

 

As to growing under a skylight, yeah, it's possible. But MJ is a plant which likes lot's and lots of light to grow and flower well. The less light it gets, the taller, lankier and more susceptible to problems it will be. This is why when growing indoors, most people use High Intensity Discharge lights for flowering. (some growers do use fluoro's, but these are generally far less efficient and have nowhere near the penetration required. )

 

You could definitely grow in canberra indoors, in fact, the cool weather in winter is going to substantially assist you in keeping the temperatures down, as HID lamps usually require a lot of venting to keep the growroom in the right temp ranges.... The less the ambient temp tho, the closer it will get to dew point when the lamps go off. So if you do decide to grow indoors, in a wardrobe or a room with a hid, make sure you vent 24hrs a day, and run the "day" period for the plants, (18/6 or 24/0 day/night for veg, and 12/12 for flowering) during the night time outside. This will mean you get the advantage of a nice cool growroom, even with a hid running, as well as keeping the nasties of mold and fungus which come with low temps, moist air and no air movement.

 

Have a look around the various forums, there are many growers here who have setups, and the threads that have been posted here are very useful and informative. Check out the growing Faq, as well as the search function, and if you can't find something, or aren't sure, just ask, and I'm sure you'll get an answer, or sixty, soon.

 

And welcome to Oz Stoners Wart, I hope you have some better luck with your next seedlings, and if you hang around, I'm sure you'll have some damn fine female buds growing in no time.

[Guest Wilderbud]

You should have planted those seeds out days ago. Handle seeds with tweezers after theyve cracked and plant them as soon as they crack.

 

If you can find some peat then its a nice medium to use and one seed per 6" pot will keep you going for a month [then its time to get bigger pots].

[white_cluster]

hey wart, good to know you've got more seeds, because you will need them, dont worry about them things, Its still early enough to start again.

 

Anyways heres how I germinate seed.

 

1. get 2 nice heavy ceramic dinner plates, a roll of paper towel (good stuff is well worth it, my last go was with Viva and will use em from now on, I never needed to respray and all seeds germed, black and gold on the other hand, I used to spray every 12hrs or so), also get some bottled distilled water if you dont like drinking your water supply, rain or spring water or also better than most tap crap, esp mine. It helps if one of your plates is a bit smaller than the other(seals better, more humid, less light)

 

2. Unroll and rip the paper towel so you have 6 squares in a row together, than fold each square over so its the size of one square, and wet the towels real well so its absolutely soaked and under water, then pour the excess water of the plate by tipping at 45 degree angle, and sit it back down.

 

3. position your seeds on the towel, all fairly close to middle, then rip another 6 square strip of paper towel, fold same way and lay over the seeds, and spray it till soaked and under water again with a spray bottle filled with your water, then pour off the water again.

 

4. put the top plate over the seeds to cover and keep light out and stop too much evaportion and go put the seeds in a nice warm place, in this weather they'll do fine anywhere, but in winter, top of fridge, top of crop, top of bank of flouros is what i usually do.

 

5. get a pack of them plastic or styrofoam drinking cups and make a ton of holes in the bottom of each cup with a hot skewer (drainage holes). fill with your medium of choice, I use a 2/1 mix of perlite/vermiculite cos Im a hydro grower, but if your a soil grower you can use seed raising mix or make your own seed raising mixes, 50/50 perlite/peat or sand/peat is good, you dont want anything rich in nutrients, your seed contains all the nutrient it needs to germinate. have the pots prepared ahead of planting your seeds and make sure the medium is thouroghly flushed.

 

6. when tap root shows, like as soon as seed has cracked and you can see white get that seed planted, make a little indent in your medium about 6mm deep, i like to just stick the tip of my finger in there to make the indent. then carefully pick up your seed between thumb and forefinger dont squeeze it must treat it very softly, but be carefully cos they slippery like pussies when wet. drop the seed in the indent and very softly cover over and slightly, very slightly, tap down the medium with your fingers. the seeds will germ in as little as 8hrs and may take as long as a week. so check constantly, you dont want roots popping out over a cm long. oh uhhm, make sure your medium was nice and moist before planting.

 

7. give the planted seeds a light mist with your spray bottle every 6hrs or so to keep em moist and in good humidity, you dont need any humidicribs or nothing cos the seeds have already been hydrated by the wet towels. but a light spray is a good help, for indoors keep these pots under 18/6 of low light flourescent light, i use tubes almost a foot away for pre-germing. outdoors sit them on your porch or somewhere they wont get full sunlight. sitting in light of window is good.

 

8. once seeds have opened cotyledons (1st round leaves) they start growing some true serrated dope leaves, once these 2 leaves are each abouta cm long its time to transplant mr or mrs seedy. cut down both side of the styro or plastic cup, and pull sides apart and pull out your seedling, if your seedling is going into soil, or the same medium its in or similar, pop the whole lot of whats in the cup into your prepared hole in bigger sized pot, if you are transplating to a mediumless or clayballs grow, you will wanna brush away all the excess medium before putting into clay balls. (for aero, dwc, nft etc growers)

 

anyway good luck with your growing mate.

[Luke Skywalker]

Good one there WC.

[Guest weekprik]

welcome to growing

 

just buy yourself a 250mm APPROX self watering pot, and some seed raising mix from woolies or somewhere, a good one contains water crystals.

 

then stick ya seeds direct in to the soil as deep as the second knuckle on your index finger and lightly sprinkle more soil on top.

 

Then hand water the pot until the water just starts dripping out of the bottom, remove this dripped water and refill the self waterer with fresh tap water. now I said tap water on purpose as it contains trace elements and chlorine to keep the soil sterilsed and avoid root rot.

 

now just keep the pot moist enough so that when you stick your finger in to the soil it is just sticking to your finger if your finger comes out wet then it far to wet, if it comes out dry then water it. the self waterer helps but sometimes the soil drys out a little too much.

 

You could cover the soil with a sheet of news paper like a mulch to hold some heat in the soil.

once the seedling raises its head continue with the watering but remove the newspaper.

 

As far as the light goes the sun light will work, but under the sun can be hard way to grow as its not always relevant to the growing stage, that is your plants can start turning to flower too early,

Also what have you done about ventilation? if the plant doesnt get fresh air constantly then it will suffocate from the lack of C02.

 

Personally I would use a wardrobe, 250 mm exhaust fan and a small HID or compact fluros.

 

 

but hey those others guys have been growing longer than I have and their advice is sound however I have always had success doing it my way.

 

WP

Edited March 2, 2004 by weekprik

[Wart]

if in a pot outside, do i need to bring it in at night so it doesnt die i think it got to 9degree c last night. and put it back out in the morn?

 

also i planted a 4 into the same 30cm pot and left them outside under the porch, they were going great guns but they drop like flies one a day usually so theres 1 left. i think maybe that was cos they were so long when i planted them and prolly had root rot or were damaged...?

 

thanks

[TUGBOAT]

a roll of paper towel (good stuff is well worth it, my last go was with Viva and will use em from now on

Yep, Viva rocks, it must be those v shaped ripples

 

Tugboat

[Wart]

ok well its been going for about 2 weeks now, i have put a photo on here of what they are looking like.

 

how old do they need to be before you can tell if they are male or female?

 

i think its about time i replanted the ones in cups into pots, the stem on one seems pretty flimsy but hopefully it will beef up.

 

what ive been doing is taking them outside at say 10am then bringing them back in when it gets dark each day.

 

i dont water them very much either maybe once every 2 days. am i doing everything right? what do i need to do to keep it growing good etc..thanks

[Guest]

Yeah Viva Viva. If you are worried about transplanting you can try rockwool instead but its costly. As soon as the seed germinates and that tap root appears it will start growing microscopic side roots. All looking for nutrients. Water has many elements and minerals in it already which can keep a new seedling going days after its expended its stored energy but when you transplant too late the hairlike roots growing through the paper break and the poor things aren't likely to recover. Damaged, weak and stressed from being moved they will at the very least most likely go into shock and slow their growth. As Luke said just transplant them to a wetted warm medium as soon as that white tip appears. Then kep them someplace warm and dark until the first leaves start to appear. Then its weak light for the first couple of weeks. The secret to growing is to spend a lot of time with your babies. Keep checking on them every few hours. Water them but don't drown them. Love them but not to death. Watch out for wilting, yellowing of the major leaves and pests.

 

Then later hack them to bits, dry them out and set them on fire. ::