Day 1
Never grown before, but always liked plants. Especially plants like these 😊
Seeds came today. Only one will be grown for now (Bloody Skunk Auto). The seed was slightly scraped (purposefully), and then placed in distilled water. Seed sank to the bottom with a little push after 6 hours. Hopefully that's a good sign :) Seed was then taken and put into rooting medium. Currently lights are on 24/0 to warm the area surrounding the seed. Tomorrow temperature/humidity measurement will be set up.
Day 2
Was able to measure the temperature. It's about 22 C. Natural humidity is a bit low in the area (35%), so a humidifier is being used occasionally to increase that. Seed has sprouted now (15 hrs after being put in the rooting medium), maybe in two days there will be some real growth 😊
Day 3
Root looks like it's off to a good start. Positioning seems a bit off though. Will keep an eye on it for the next couple of days.
Day 4
There was a surprise waiting today 😁 Plant pushed through the piece of sponge at the top without a problem apparently. The light has been switched to a 125W 5500K CFL, for now without any reflector. A bit worried that this might be too strong, especially for a seedling. However there aren't other 5500K or higher Kelvin value lamps available, so going with this one for a couple of days. If there are problems, will go back to just a collection of 2700K bulbs and hope the plant survives haha.
Got a heating pad, so now the temperature is being kept around a comfortable 73-76 F. Night temperatures should drop to around 66-68 F.
Lighting schedule has been switched to a 20/4 schedule, to allow for better plant development. Will probably stay with this schedule for the first couple of weeks.
Could also see the taproot poking out of the Root!t sponge. Not sure if that's going to bad for this root to be exposed to light at this stage. Once (if) the leaves start to get wider than the Root!t sponge the plant and sponge will be transplanted to a small 1 Liter pot. If the roots continue growing but the plant stays stunted then it will also be transplanted.
Andddd....got nervous about the 125W lamp. Decided to switch it out for the previous lights (two LEDs, two CFLs, all at 2700K). Total lux value is about 10000 measured by the seedling. Seemed also like the seedling might have been craving some water, so gave it a few drops. It hadn't been watered since being planted. Hopefully not over-watering here...
Day 5
Seedling has grown by another centimeter. Leaves haven't really changed that much. Nevertheless, decided to put the seedling in a slightly larger container. The cup was taken and filled with some potting soil (Compo Sana Anzuchterde) and the Root!t sponge put into that. Did this because the tap root was poking even further out of the sponge and didn't like that. Gave some more water, mainly in the lower section of the soil. Will not water again for a few days unless it seems really too dry. Don't want to over-water 😑
Day 6
Seedling doubled in height. Starting to get concerned about stretching.
Read conflicting information about the optimal humidity for seedlings, but most seemed to say that less was better, and a humidity dome not necessary after sprouting. One source suggested that seedlings stretch when under a humidity dome. So that's been removed.
Switched to the 125W lamp as well in case the seedling was stretching because of not enough light. Added a fan for a breeze to occasionally move the seedling...hopefully this will make the stem a bit sturdier. First set of leaves has begun to develop a bit more..but it seems a bit slow. Might just be being impatient 😄
Day 7
Not much has changed. Soil is getting to be dry enough where watering again should be ok. So that will be done tomorrow morning, with a small amount of BioBizz RootJuice.