Outdoor Potpourri 2026 - Take 2

Aircoholic Okay, one week in and the seedlings all start to look worrisome. They start looking a bit pale, a bit matte green, the leafs drooping, growth somewhat slow-ish. All this really makes me worry that the same mistake from the last grow will repeat, so I'm looking for the cause to find a good solution for the situation. My hot guess at the moment is a too moist root zone, caused by the soil that binds water longer than I thought and the regular standard pots that don't allow drying of the soil on the sides or bottom. And of course my inability to adapt to these circumstances 😣 My plan of action is to let the soil dry out more, until the pots feel light - when that is achieved, I will carefully try to transplant them into a couple of 3L AirPots I have lying around, that I completely forgot about (thanks, ADHD brain!). It's risky, but I don't want to risk stunting their growth again by overwatering and ultimately drowning them. Oh and on a positive note, I started with 4 seeds and now have 5 plants - Lemon Pie Auto was a twin mutation (polyembryony), which I seperated in an intense operation, carefully diging both out until I could remove the small one, which then received her own pot and is looking alive, so at least any damage I caused to her roots, hasn't been vital. Don't expect her to grow super tall or big and have massive yield - she's gonna be a small miracle, and I love her, no matter what she grows into. All plants are beautiful!

Aircoholic I've repottet them on Day 09 into 3L AirPots, hoping that would help with the moisture in the root zone. Well, it did, but it turns out, that wasn't the problem. The issue seems to be the soil - the issues the plants show are not signs of overwatering, but rather of nutrient or salt burn. And even though they've survived the repotting, I'm afraid I won't be able to change the soil for them or flush them. They haven't grown at all in the last week, and they don't show any signs that they're about to change their minds about that. That leaves me with the decision to basically end this grow as well, eat the shame and start over again - with better soil, straight into AirPots. There should still be enough time to move them outside by the end of the month and have a decent development.

Aircoholic This is sad and incredibly frustrating, but I'll have to call this grow failed as well. I was focussed on the pot and watering and didn't realize that the soil was actually the culprit, not only holding water very differently than I'm used to, but also the soil seems to have been pre-fertilized. What I thought to be overwatering, the hanging leafs, the pale green/grey color, no growth for over a week, the yellowing leafs and the brown-ish spots, but it turns out it was actually nutrient burn. The soil I used was just too hot for the small seedlings - but I didn't find any info on that on the packaging. It's a lesson learned, and one that came with a high price and a lot of shame I have to overcome. I will start a new outdoor grow, the last attempt, in a separate diary, in case you're curious how this adventure will continue, will the plants ever make it outside and see the natural sunlight?