Hey guys, I'm going away for 5 days, currently i have one bigger plant (at 8th set of leaves) and some baby sprouts that are a few days old, all looking quite healthy and growing. The plants wont receive any attention for this duration. Normally they are under a 400W HPS, however i've turned this system off and set them up under 3 cfl bulbs to reduce the amount of heat that gets sucked out of the soil. I'm trying 12/12 from seed with the babies, so they will only be getting 12hrs of light per day, as will the bigger plant. I watered them 2days before i leave and I'll give them a final water on the way out the door. Now I'm sure they will survive 5days without water, my soil has excellent water retention...any advice before i go? I was thinking of leaving the pots in a dish to hold additional water around the base of the pots, or will this only cause problems with drainage/ keeping the roots breathing. Any advice? Thanks
if the pots are big enough you can leave them for 5 days smaller pots dry out way to fast for that long, but 1+ gallons per would be fine for younsters don't leave them in standing water and soil did you know you can buy little self watering kits? Drop by a local nursery and see what they have (prolly not necessary for just 5 days though)
The babies are in party cups, they will dry out pretty fast i would prefer to not transplant them atm, way to much damage to the roots, what if i covered the tops of each cup with glad wrap (with the stem and leaves poking out) to hold in some moisture, and poke a few holes to allow breathing? its not ideal but i really don't want to play with them to much atm, they are only 5 days old.
I think you'll be ok with the 400 off and cfl's ....even with the party cups. Just soak them good before you step out. One thing that may be nice to do if you can, plant a few extra seeds in cups before you go to germinate. That way, in case of anything bad, you'll have back-up sprouts ready. Just a thought. Good luck, no worries, you'll be fine and so will your girls Peace - OGH
Thanks mate the girls are sitting in canna coco, it seems very user friendly hopefully the bigger plant doesn't start to get smelly whilst i'm gone, haven't got an odorsok yet and no signs of sexing, been on 12/12 for approx 8 days now, plant is 42days old atm so it should be due soon. she was my virgin plant and has had to deal with some stress in the past so fingers aren't crossed. If she does decide to be a he, i think i'll just plant in the woods somewhere, can't bring myself to plucking her after all that we have been through
Day 50 Well i got back into town to find the cabinet had heated up real bad, it was nearing the triple digits :0 the plants looked bad, very thirsty, pruned off new growth leaves on the big plant that had turned dead from this heat and gave them all a good watering with rhizotonic and they returned to life over the next 48hrs. Today the big girl has started to bloom after 17days of 12/12. i bent her over to get more light so she has a kink in the stem now. (33days veg, 17days thus far) She has battle scars that reflect my learning curve, but she keeps on chugging