So, my last (first) first grow ended abruptly after 7 days of life. So I would still like to count this as my first grow as I didnt even make it past the beginning stages of veg. RIP Ralph fr. Today I will be starting a new grow, but still my first time, but I'm jumping in going for a organic, living soil, outdoor, low stress approach. I am a huge Z terp fan, so hoping this plant will give me something sweeter than gassy or glue-y. HERE WE GO! Date: Jun 28th 2025 Stage of growth: Seed Day 1 I've taken the Gorilla Z Auto from FastBuds and placed in a mason jar filled with RO 6.6ph water in my garage. Date: June 29th 2025 Stage of growth: Seed Day 2 A taproot has emerged! The seed is still floating on the surface of the water. Will probably plant this tomorrow. While this was going on I was preparing my soil and space for the seed. For my soil/grow space: I've created an entire new soil environment in my backyard from scratch for my seed to go into in the next day or two. It is now no longer just backyard soil, but rich in nutrients that will hopefully help this plant thrive even more. Here is everything I did to prepare my backyard soil, which has a ph of 7.2: Dug about 10 inches down Leveled it ish~ Put cardboard as the base layer Put red woodchips from front yard over a thin layer on cardboard A small soil layer (same topsoil from backyard) 1 tsp of elemental sulfur (bc my soil ph is 7.2) Handful of worm castings 1 tbsp of mykos root enhancer 2 tbsp neem cake (pest control) More topsoil (layering) 1 tbsp neem cake (pest control) Another handful of worm castings A dried up plant i found that kind of resembled straw so i decided to throw it in there (irrigation?) More topsoil A pinch more of worm castings 2 red worms i found while leveling (I plan to buy more at petsmart) Gently mixed in worm casting to the top layer of soil Put 6 bamboo 3 ft tall sticks in the dirt around it making the skeleton to a barrier i will let it dry and begin to add the netting and chicken wire once the seed is planted Watered with random water from my RO tap, distilled, and hose just to wet and solidify the entire base. From here on I will be watering with 6.6 ph reverse osmosis tap water. And its done! Tomorrow on day 3 of seed I will plant it and begin its seed cycle. Thanks for coming to my 2nd attempt at a first grow. Any advice super welcome and appreciated! Date/Time: Jun 30 1:15 pm - day 3 overall Stage of growth: Seedling Environment: 90.1 F with 27% rh Ph levels of soil: 7.55 Ph levels of my water: 6.6 Updates: I’ve taken the seed with long taproot and placed into the ground with some mykos sprinkled into the hole before planting, then watered lightly with my RO 6.6 ph water. I then took chicken wire, and fenced off the bottom portion around the bamboo sticks to make a rough 2x2 barrier. After that, I covered everything loosely with 2 layers of netting. Inside of my chicken wire fence is another circular chicken wire fence to act as a form of a double wall around the early veg plant. UPDATE (later same day) this netting is keeping flys IN, which is exactly what im trying to prevent. I assume its because its loosely covered and the bottom has the openings. Ill revise tomorrow. Observations: I noticed not only is a bird prominent around this garden, but a possum or rat (im not sure) also showed up last night at 1:30am. So I will need to try as much pest prevention as I can. Videos attached. Watering: I only lightly watered right after planting today, the soil seems pretty moist still and I dont want to overdo it. I plan on watering either late tonight or tomorrow morning. Any concerns or questions: Is the netting worth it? Are there better methods for pest prevention in an outdoor garden I could take other than the netting? I also don’t like how it looks, or the attention it draws to this plant. I hope to see a sprout in the next 2-3 days! Will come back to update when I see something. i took the netting off completely. I saw some sprouts, and then now they seem to have almost come to a stop in growth MOST RECENT UPDATE: Date/Time: July 9 11:00 am - day 12 overall Stage of growth: Seedling Updates & Observations: what I think is the gorilla Z sprout, which is the middle sprout, is now almost at a halt it feels like. It has yet to grow any more leaves, and I’m wondering if I’m over-caring for it. I notice that I have not only cats, rats, and birds, I also have possums to worry about that keep coming right around this patch and eat figs, leaving fig parts on the ground to decompose into the soil but also attract unwanted pests like fungus gnats. I cant see the potential Z sprout anymore, it seems to have wilted/fallen back under the pieces of dirt, which isn’t a good sign, but ill try to have more patience. Watering: I haven’t watered since last night at 6pm, before that was the day before at around 7pm. So right now the plant is getting watered roughly 1 every 24 hours. Environment: currently at 11:04am the temperature is 83.1 F and relative humidity is 40%. But over the last week + the temp jumps from 55 F to 99.5 F, and relative humidity going from 12% to 85% depending on time of day. Any concerns or questions: I think I overwatered into root rot....I'm going to water less, and less amounts. I will come back in 2 days and see.. any help much appreciated here.