Organic Living Soil (Coots Mix) - Grow 1

Welcome to my diary! This shall be used to document my experiences as well as reference for future needs or problems that may arise. I have helped work on plants and grows both indoor and outdoor for most of my adult life in some form or capacity. I have finally managed to set up what I hope will be a successful space for my own growing pleasure. The space is set up in a 3x3 grow tent in the corner of my room which I share with my indoor cat. I hope any challenges that come along will be met with grace and that I manage to learn something every step of the way regardless. My soil consists of: 1/3rd Medium Perlite, 1/3 Sphagnum Peat Moss 1/6 Malibu Compost 1/6 Wiggle Worm Pure Worm Castings Malted Barley Crustacean Meal Kelp Meal Neem Cake Karanja Cake Basalt Gypsum Oyster Shell Flour Tues - 09/08/2020: --------------------- Planted 4x Banana Bomb seeds in red solo cups filled with Clackamas Coots soil mix that has sat for about a week after mixing by hand. 3 of the 4 seeds were showing tap roots with 2 of them having been soaked a day ahead of the other 2 and therefore having a taproot nearly half an inch. 1 of the second seeds was larger/thicker and is showing no tap root, it got a soak for around 18-24 hours (sunk as it should) and moved to a moist napkin for 12 hours, so I am hoping it sprouts along with the others even if it lags behind. Currently under 4x 23w/6500K CFL bulbs. I plan to keep the seedlings under these for a week or two until roots have been established and I can transplant into their final 10 gallon fabric pots. Wed 09/09/2020: --------------------- The two seeds with the largest tap roots/soak time have just began to break soil as of noon. Waiting to see where they and the others end up by tomorrow. Hoping that I end up with all 4 sprouting. I feel 3 are a sure bet. I have the last 1 of 5 Banana Bomb seeds moved from a soak to paper towel method as a backup should the slowest seed from yesterday not germinate. I had 2 other freebie seeds soaking with the first round, but they did not crack or show a root after 3 days soak/towel so they were tossed. Shooting for 4 plants for my 3x3 tent, but I will work with what the universe provides. Thursday 10/09/2020: ------------------------ All and all not super stoked at germination rate, but I didn't expect much from free seeds which tend to be of old stock or known poor quality. I am surprised that at least 2 out of the 5 BB seeds didn't germ. The last seed that got a soak/towel looked immature however so I didn't expect much from it, but I thought the one that I planted without taproot showing might have pulled through. We shall see if the freebie Cement Shoes germs through in order to give me an even 4 plants. Friday 11/09/2020: ------------------------- Decided to soak the last seed I have. It was a freebie strain called Cement Shoes from Canuk Seeds. I had a total of 3 free seeds from Canuk and the first two (Green Crack and Do Si Dos) didn't germinate. It looks like only 3 of the 5 Banana Bomb seeds I purchased (Bomb Seeds) will germinate. Otherwise everything is moving along smoothly so far. 3 Banana Bomb seedlings are growing at a steady pace. Moved in the humidifier to the tent to up the humidity to around 65% and removed the dome from the plants to let them breath a bit more. I may alternate them between in the dome and out every other day or for half the day just to keep the soil in the solo cups more moist without having to spray it down a bit or have the lights dry it out. But they should be happy with the temp and humidity tent wide. Saturday 12/09/20: ------------------------- Switched from CFL's to 2X 180w Mars Hydro older blurple LED's about 20 to 22 inches from seedlings. Felt that the seedlings looked a little stretched with the cfl's, but probably just my paranoia. Tent essentially running what I plan to for the rest of veg. CFL's should be fine according to the grow logs I have read and seen online. Maybe I will use them longer next time. Sunday 12/10/20: ------------------------ Planted a germinated Cement Shoes seed to round out my plant number to 4. Removed stalled/dead Banana Bomb seed, it had started a small tap root, but looked like it was unable to cast off its shell and sprout, which is a shame because it looked close to surviving. After this many days of not showing itself above soil while the rest only took a day or two to say hello, I decided to give it the axe in exchange for the seed that was coming along much better before planting. While its possible the tossed banana bomb might have eventually found its way up in several more days, I didn't feel like risking waiting around. It seem stalled out/dead. So 4th solo cup goes back under the dome to sprout while the 3 others hang out doing their thing.