The lone indica. The first set of vegetative leaves came out stunted and deformed, with slow growth. The 2nd set of leaves looks better formed but there is only one?
The two sativas. As they usually do they grew tall quickly and then got top heavy. One was knocked over with watering but a twist tie took care of the relative weak stem. They are both just starting to grow vigorously now.
So on the last addition of beans (April 9th) I added 40 plus beans. While it’s still a few days, or more, too early to expect any to have popped, I am panicking as none of the first round of beans have popped except for the three shown earlier. So today I decided to add some “purps” (as they were labeled by the person who gave them to me) so another 12 were put into some compost. Thats a mind boggling 80 beans put into compost. According to my notes from last year, round two beans should start popping next week, and round 3 beans should pop last week of April/first week of May. So the first three sprouts are very ahead of last years schedule, while any new sprouts will be on the same time frame as last years crop, more or less.
So my current sprouts: They seem to be getting more vigorous although that indica is a pokey one for sure. Not sure why. As I mentioned earlier it could be the amount of sunlight in spring is a bit feeble, but I have my doubts. Another possibility is that the water I am using is treated tap water. I let it sit out for several days so it can off gas the chloramine, but it may not be fully removed from the water as it is tough to break down from what I have read.
yeppers! The longer days seem to be helping. One sativa is noticeably out-stretching the other, so maybe one boy, one girl!
!EXCELLENT! More sprouts! A couple of sativas and an indica! Right on time for the 2nd round of beans that I dropped. I’ll be transplanting the 1st indica sprout tomorrow and will take some pictures then. The sativa that fell over has recovered after a few days and the supporting twist tie removed.
So, I need reading glasses when gardening it appears. At this point I only have one new sprout and it’s struggling. I’m roughly half way into the expected time frame to see sprouts from my 2nd round of dropping beans and just a few days into my 3rd round of bean dropping. I’m suspecting that my compost may be too hot which would explain the low germination rate (other factors like age and poor storage could also be affecting results) and mutated looking sprouts. Since I have a lot of Purp seeds, I’m going to drop another 12 in some commercial bagged organic compost. Tomorrow most likely. That way I can compare with the twelve Purps in my compost mix which are due to pop any day now. It’s also been cold and foggy most days lately. When the sun comes out it is nice though.
Anyway, here are the three (two tall sativas, one short indica) in their new pots. They are finally starting to show vigorous growth. Getting ready to top the tallest sativa.
Thanks kindly Tim. I do want one boy as I want to have some fresh seed stock. If last years grow is any indication, the really tall sativa will probably be a boy.
I know old school growers frown upon feminized seed. But, that's all I grow now and make my own from anything I purchase.
Thanks so much Tim for mentioning feminized seeds! I had completely forgotten about that concept. I could go to a local shop and buy female cuttings if I wanted, could probably get some fresh seed stock as well. But I am avoiding those options for two reasons; 1) Saving money, thus maximizing my earlier investments in my gardening/compost equipment. 2) I’m trying to keep this sativa line going. The genetics are very pure and come from a highly respected farmer in the UK. Once I get some fresh seed stock to replenish what I have, I’ll look into feminized seeds. I want to establish other basics first, such as figuring out if my personal blend compost is too hot.
I understand our methods differ, I love to share knowledge if I can. You can make feminized seed from any female you currently have. Your female doesn't need to be come from a feminized seed. I also make my own colloidal silver to save money. When a do a seed run my female can produce over a thousand seeds and she is only in a 2 gallon pot. I'm making critical kush feminized seed right now, she still needs a few weeks to finish her job.
wow I need like 3 plants a year to be happy. As I mentioned earlier, one main goal is to keep things really simple. Again to work out the bugs in this new style, for me, of growing. I’m really still kind of inexperienced really. But yeah, I have to be careful to minimize my anxiety levels. I tend to take on more than I can actually cope with and I have many irons in the oven as we speak. Luckily a lot of the stresses of this past year (like falling ill and almost dying, losing my medical coverage, losing my home) has dramatically turned around for the better. But it taught me well that I need to be very mindful of taking on too much. But next year I would probably love to produce thousands of feminized sativa seeds! This season I just want to produce a bit of smoke and some heirloom seed stock, as well as perfecting this style of grow. and we are not so different. We both like to share knowledge.
I had a friend ask if I could feminize an old strain from the 90's he has been running, called blue dream. He gave me seeds and a few females to grow out. They were the largest outdoor plants I have ever grown. I did make him feminized seed and still have hundreds of them myself. I've had great success keeping seed viable by storing them in canning jars inside my fridge. I'm a light weight user myself. 4 ounces a year is all I use. But, I love growing and sharing with those in need.
Well, it’s been a day or three. Finally got my first vaccination shot. So far so good! The sativas have been stretching like no tomorrow. I keep topping, they keep stretching. The lil indica is doing very nicely now.
But except for this lone strangler, nothing else has popped up. Very disappointing. I’m keeping this wee one just in case I need them for breeding purposes.