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I've got another run of Pink animal crackers(https://growdiaries.com/diaries/148818-grow-journal-by-bitwood) that I started but I've had these seeds for over a year now and always wanted to give them a go and thought if I started them now, I'd have these in time for Christmas. I have the extra room so figured why not. These are regular seeds to really took a gamble originally only popping 3 seeds with the possibility that they're both males. So a few days later from the start, I started 2 more.
7/20 - Germinated 3 seeds in a glass of 25% solution hydrogen peroxide/filtered tap water.
7/21 - After 24 hours the tap root on one of them(We'll call her #2) emerged from its shell and was transferred to a Dixie cup filled with Fox Farms Happy Frog with a dash of Xtreme Gardeners Mykos and watered it in. A dome to retain heat and moisture was placed over it.
7/22 - Still no signs of germination on #1. #3 finally popped her tap root and was also transferred to soil with a dash of Mykos and watered in. I didn't think this over when intially starting them that these are regular seeds. With the potential for males and #1 not showing any signs of life, I decided to start 2 more seeds. We'll call these #4 and #5.
7/24 - #2 has already emerged from the soil. #4 and 5 had their tap roots emerged from the shells so they were also transferred to Dixie cups with a dash a Mykos, watered in and placed under the dome.
7/26 - Still no signs of life on #1. Removed the seed from the water and planted it in my 4x2 bed. Here it will either become worm food or if by some chance it actually emerges, I'll transplant it to its own container. #2 is looking good. It already has its first true leaves. #3,#4, and #5 are already starting to emerge from the soil.
7/27 - #4 and #5 almost have their cotyledon leaves out of the soil. #3 hasn't really done anything. Its starting to look like it might not make it.
7/29 - #3 didn't make it. #4 and #5 have already broken the soil and have their true leaves emerging. Looks like we're good to go with 3 of the 5 seeds that were started. Moved them to a grow tent and placed a filter bag over the dome to cut the light intensity down a bit. PPFD readings under the light filter are 200. In another day or two once all of them have their true leaves fully emerged, I'll remove the filter bag.
The first week of veg has seen some really nice growth. They're almost caught up to my other grow which was started a week prior. I think this is most likely due to the smaller pot size so it transitioned its energy from root developer to plant growth sooner. At this point is just watering with filtered tap water. I did foliar spray with a tiny bit of fish hydrolysate and aloe vera when feeding the other grow but for the most part its just been keeping the soil moist with just plain water.
All of these look really healthy except for #4 which seems to be slightly stunted. They're all receiving the same care so possibly in the genetics. This week starts the cycle of foliar treatments cycling between IPM and nutrients. I'll also be introducing compost teas to keep the soil happy.
8/8 - Watered with plain filtered tap water. Growth is looking really good.
8/9 - Started brewing a compost tea I'll be feeding them tomorrow. The compost tea recipe I'm using is the following.
5 gal De-Chlorinated Filtered Tap Water
1 tbs Fish Hydrolysate
1 tbs Unsulfured Black strap molasses
2 tbs Homemade EM5
1 tbs Down to Earth Kelp Meal
1 tbs Down to Earth Alfalfa Meal
2 cup Homemade Worm Castings
1 tbs Extreme Gardening Mykos
1 tbs Down to Earth Bio Live
Mix everything together except for the last two ingredients and aerate for 16 hours.
8/10 - Just before feeding the compost tea I added the Mykos and Bio Live, mixed it in and aerated the tea for an additional 10-15 minutes. Diluted the tea 2:1 with more de-chlorinated filtered tap water and gave both of them a good soil drench. Applied the rest to the garden outside, the other two plants from my other grow, and the raised bed.
8/12 - They're starting to get thirsty and drinking more requiring more frequent watering. I plan on transplanting them to larger pots next week and getting them on the Blumat Classics to keep the soil moist and reduce the amount of work for myself. Today I applied a foliar of water, aloe, and neem oil and watered with filtered tap water.
This week was pretty busy. I didn't keep any notes but did take a few pictures on days I tended to the garden. This week they were up potted to larger pots. The daily watering was getting to be too much work.
8/13 - Watering and foliar spray of fish hydrolysate and aloe vera.
8/18 - Transfered the two bigger ones(#2 and #5) into 3 gallon fabric pots and the tiny one(#4) into a 1 gallon pot. The soil mixture is Fox Farms Happy frog with a touch of Build a Soil Craft Blend, kelp meal, bokashi, and some added pumice for additional draining. I moistened the soil with a mixture of homemade em5 and filtered tap water at 1:500 delusion. I noticed when transplanting #4 that it would actually be a lot taller the but the stalk decided to do a curly Q and is all twisted up. Looks a bit like a bonsai. I'll remember to include pics in next weeks entry. They're all drinking off the Blumat Classics as well since the other grow was migrated to my raised garden bed. With the 3 gallon pots I may need to increase the size of the reservoir or move them to the Blumat Tropfs system I have if the classics can't keep up with their watering demand.
08/19 - Foliar spray of neem for IPM. A leaf rub is already started to give off a very very earthy/piny odor. No odor coming from the tent.
bitwood
