okay, so...this grow me and a friend have going, isn't going all too well. I think it was poor organization and bad timing that screwed it up. I had to work a lot around the time we started, so i couldn't really take much part in it. On June 1st, he put 10 cups (with holes in the bottom for drainage), filled with potting soil (1 seed in each cup) outside, in the place we are growing. Well now, more than 2 weeks later, only...4 of them sprouted. They are all only about an inch tall, and at least 2 of them look pretty healthy. So that isn't the best start, and it is getting kind of late (we're using Nirvana Early Misty seeds) We went up the other day, and put plastic cups (with the bottoms cut off) over top of the sprouting seed cups. We watered them (it hadn't rained much) with distilled water, and sprayed seltzer water on them. The cups are suppost to protect them from wind and whatnot. Anyways, now the planting process starts pretty soon (hoping these sprouts continue to grow without dying..and get to a fairly decent size). We originally planned on using 3ft x 3ft x 1ft holes, but now we're considering just using 5 gallon buckets (my friends idea who has done much more research than me, so im not sure why). We found a potting mix in a farmers market that has a lot of good ingredients (i don't know the name). I'm not sure of all the ingredients but I think it includes Blood Meal, Chicken and Cow Manure, Worm Castings, and uh...something with the word shell in it (horrible memory). So anyways, do you think this is even going to work, are these sprouts too small, and too late for them to grow. Should we just use the holes, or should we use the buckets? Any other suggestions? Thanks a lot
well the decision on whether or not to place them in buckets or holes is primarily up to you and your enviroment. Are you going to be able to visit them as often as you like? How secure is the area, and how big would you like the plants to get. Your plants will be bigger being planted in the ground and will probably be able to go longer in between waterings since the roots will more space to search for water. It's easier for somebody to spot a plant thats in a bucket than in the ground. Your plants will more than likely flower earlier if they're grown in buckets instead of the ground. The mix sounds good but just be careful it might burn young plants, and animals might want to dig up plants transplanted in the mix if it hasnt been able to sit and decompose into the ground for a while since animals might think there is food under the plants. This is my first outdoor grow as well and im also growing some nirvana early misty. I've learned a lot already that almost anything can happen to your plants and you need to be on top of everything. I started with about 20 plants and now im down to about 8. Good luck with your grow and i hope ive been of some assistance.
I agree with jsuedo in changing from ground to bucket. I would wait until you can determine there sex and just keep the females and then make the decision to move them I was able to sex mine at about 8-9 weeks old . Watch the second and third nobles for fine white hairs or little balls. I would keep them right where there at unless there not safe
be careful because no wind will cause them to droop and become weak. my seedlings are 1.5 inches tall and i have them on my roof (just for an other couple of days) and they get lots of wind. theyre looking exceptionally strong.
Well, thanks everyone...I personally like the ground idea because as Jsuedo said...Plants are easier to spot in buckets. The area is pretty secure, its in some pretty heavy woods, its a big feild..with lots of high grass and jagger bushes...then clears out some more to where we plan to grow (so the high grass isn't a problem with blocking out sunlight). Theres a trail about 100 feet from our area, but its basically used for horses, and rarley at that...and I'm positive horses would never make it through all the obsticals. Its also at the top of a large hill, that most people probably wouldn't travel on foot...let alone into the woods and find our spot. So anyways... Do you think it would be a good idea to put this soil mix we found in the ground a while, before we transplant? Getting up there a lot is a slight challenge, first of all we don't want to be going up there a lot..making it 'suspicious' and also between both of us working...and gas prices its hard to get all the way out there (its about a 30 minute drive from where we live) We try to go up once a week. Like I said, only 4 sprouted...so im just hoping 1 of them is a female. And somebody said about making sure to not burn the plants...well how do you make sure of this? I'll try to get the name of the mix I want to buy. But other than that...does everything sound ok..as far as timing goes?
and also..this is probably a dumb question, but how big should the sprouts be until we put them into the buckets/ground? Should we wait until we see the sex? The cups they are in now are pretty small, plastic, dollar store cups, about 4 or 5 inches tall.
I start mine off in 5 litre containers. When I see the sex the females go into 11 UKgallon containers.
yes i would mix the soil in the ground a few weeks before your transplant. When to transplant from the cups into the ground depends on how big the cups are. If they're 16oz party cups id wait until they get their first set of five point leaves until i transplant. Depending on what kind of food your using to feed them determines when to give them food. If your using organics which need to go in the soil unless your making teas then its fine to transplant to that. If your using miracle gro or another chemical fert then id wait a week or two after you transplant until you begin feeding.
well, we decided to just go into the ground. Like I said, the holes are about 3 cubic feet each (probably a little bit less). We got the soil, which is organic (I still didn't get the name) But it has the chicken and cow manure, decomposed shell and fish bones (?) Kelp, Peat Humus (I believe)....I know I'm forgetting something. Anyways, The bags were obviousley pretty heavy, 2 cu. ft, bags..or about 52-56 litres. So we could only carry 3 per trip (1 hole). So we get to the spot, and there are 3 sprouts now, one of them seems to have been destroyed by either heavy rain or an animal. The biggest of the 3 remaining sprouts was about the length above as the amount of potting soil we had in the cup, so we decided to put it in the ground right then. We put that one in the ground (although I'm worried about it since when we cut the cup around it, the cheap potting soil sort of crumbled...and I'm worried about the roots. Also, we didn't have the time to let the soil sit in the ground before transplant like some people recommended. The other 2 sprouts are still in the cups, they arent as big, so we figured they'd have a little more time, until we could get the rest of the soil up there. So, another dumb question, about plant food...with this organic soil...do we use food? I would assume not...but I'm just making sure. If we do, then what type of organic plant food would you suggest? Once again, I'm not the brains behind the operation, I'm just trying to catch up. So feel free to laugh at me and my ignorance.