Erdpurt Reg. - Organic

humidsubtropical First Entry in This Diary Let me give you some context. I started by germinating using the water cup method, with a 3 out of 4 success rate under temperatures ranging from 20–23ºC. After that, I planted the three seedlings in a mix of turf and perlite, where they stayed for about two weeks. During that period, it was a bit cold, around 16–20ºC in the grow space. About a week ago, I transplanted the young plants into 500ml cups. Since then, temperatures have improved and are now holding steady around 20–23ºC.

humidsubtropical After being transplanted to these 0.5 L cups last week, the plants are looking sturdy and healthy, and we can see healthy roots coming out the bottom. They aren't drinking so much water, I've watered them just once this week and sprayed them with water twice. A bit colder and drier than last week. Temperature range of 17-21ºC and RH range of 43-60% without much fluctuation.

humidsubtropical In this third week, I had to move them from the nursery area due to the fact the 40W LED Bulb burned out. Now, they are under a 100W LED QB but a little further from the light source. I'm waiting to get a little bit more root growth before transplanting them into a bigger pot. They've been sprayed with neem oil once this week for IPM. I couldn't really keep the cotyledones green, they've dried out. I wonder if they should've been getting more nutrients or if it's just a watering issue.

humidsubtropical Plant #1 is doing good, plant #2 and #3 are curling down witch makes me kind of worried about it being a desease, since they've been watered properly. Best case scenario, it's just a nutrient deficiency. Plant #3 also had a little damaged leaf which was removed. I took a picture so you guys can take a look at it, maybe it can help us find out why they're curling down. They've been sprayed with Beauveria bassiana once this week VPD is a little high between 0.80 and 0.90. I've installed another fan to increase air circulation in the grow. 🙌

humidsubtropical Added more carbonized rice hulls to aerate the soil and transplanted to a bigger and better vase. After getting transplanted the plants were watered with a fresh aloe and filtered water solution to promote root growth and life in the soil. By the end of the week I trained the plants to cut off some height and distribute growth to lower parts of the plant. _______________________________________ About Week 4's issue with plant #2 and 3#: After checking the roots, as suggested by @TruTraTri, I could see the roots were underdeveloped and I guess the cause was probably improper watering and low oxygen in the roots. There were a sequence of mistakes made to get this problem. First Mistake - Roots too deep: When they were transplanted to these 0.5 cups on arrival, I buried the roots (and stalk) too deeply in the soil to cut out some of the plant height. Second mistake - Wet top dry bottom: In addition the first mistake, only the top of the soil ended up watered and the deeply buried roots didn't get much of this water. Third mistake - Low oxygen to roots: The vase didn't have enough holes (side holes would help I guess) and the soil got a little compact on top, acting as a lid Countermeasures: After root checking, the soil got fluffier, and a day later, the plants were looking happier.

humidsubtropical Rough week, the air was extremely dry thus elevating the VPD to above 14. I waterd them once following the 5% to 10% volume of soil in water rule with a little bit of seaweed extract to promote soil life and root growth. Good news is pre-flowers on all of them. Plant #1 has dealt with the environment surprisingly well with no signs of stress. Since it was happy, I kept training it Plant #2 (the mutant tricotiledone)'s leaves started to curl down by the middle of the week. I thought it was asking for water but it wasn't and I ended up overwatering her. It was looking unhappy the whole week and it's just starting to get back now in the end of the week 6 of veg. Plant #3 (The smallest) has also dealt pretty nicely with the high VPD environment with an almost unnoticeable drop on leaves. I also kept trainnig. They've been sprayed with a solution of a KNF product called Bio citrus for IPM.

humidsubtropical Growth is a little stunted due to phosphorus deficiency (I guess). They are showing purple stems and some leaf bronzing/necrosis. Maybe, this has been one of the reasons for poor root growth all along. Plant n1 is definitely my keeper, resistant to adverse environment and responds well to LST. I'll do my best o to recover 2 and 3 though, I've bought some good quality bokashi and shrimp FPE (fermented shrimp flour, full of chitin and phosphorus) to topdress, increase soil life and improve their feed. Next week, I'll be transplanting them to 7L vases.