New Grower Stunted Seedlings Recover After Transplant

[Cannaficiando]

I didn't think it was possible, so I gave it a try. Here's the sequence of events:

1 x Sweet Seeds Jack 47 Auto + 1 x Royal Queen Seeds Royal Jack Auto

Oct 9 - seeds in water
Oct 10 - seeds in soil
Oct 12 - cotyledons unfurl, first leaf set shows
Oct 15 - both seedlings stunted due to contaminated soil

I was pretty disappointed as I had already grown a Royal Jack from the same pack (for my brother while in Ireland during the summer) and it grew beautifully; the J47 came direct from Sweet Seeds and I had been really excited about it (you may gather that I'm a Jack man :smoking

Oct 20 - both seedlings left in the dark for 24 hours (probably not needed, but it made sense at the time). Working in near darkness, I removed the seedlings from the contaminated soil, gently removed any particles of soil from the tap root and placed them in known-good soil (didn't have enough of it, hence the half-filled pot). Here they are directly afterwards:

The leaves almost immediately showed signs of life, raising towards the light. After a couple of days on the windowsill, I moved them under my GrowNorthern HS1, and here they are two weeks later:

The top one is the RQS Jack. Both will need another transplant to larger pots, but at least there won't be any open roots involved. Can't wait to see how these develop. Wish me luck.

 

[Chester]

Great job of transplanting ... They look nice and healthy ... I'd go for the bigger pot now before they get any more roots ...

 

[Joe383]

What type of soil is that? Looks like it need some peat, bark chips or pearlite. Looks heavy on clay. Good job on transplanting and not stunting them too bad. Be carful re potting at this age though as there roots have not filled the pots and the soil will break apart and damage the roots easily.

 

[Cannaficiando]

Looks heavy on clay

Clay, sand, chunks of coco and probably some construction waste. It's appalling rubbish to grow in, but it's all I have. Today, I actually scored some proper coco coir - the stuff that looks like peat - so I'll use that to lighten the mix.

The Royal Jack was showing pre-flowers yesterday morning. I guess the ruderalis clock keeps ticking even while the seedling is in suspended animation. Reckoned an urgent transplant was needed before she starts to stretch. I'm using what looks like a 1 gallon pot, with soil from a previous grow (maybe a little hot, but it was mostly an organic grow using worm casting tea, bat guano tea, Epsom salts and molasses).

Anyway, here she is today:

The pre-flowers:

The Jack 47 is doing OK, not as developed as the Royal Jack. I'll transplant her when she either shows sex or reaches the fourth leaf set:

She's sharing the pot with a Sweet Seeds Sweet Cheese Auto that is due to be chopped tomorrow.

 

[Cannaficiando]

The Jack 47 was transplanted this morning. I managed to find a bag of coco coir compost at the garden centre (first I've seen in four years of looking). It makes up roughly 15% of the volume, with about 10% worm castings.

The Royal Jack (left side) has started her stretch.

 

[Cannaficiando]

The Royal Jack has stopped stretching and is in flower. Looks like she will be at best be a bonsai, so I'm going to move her to the balcony and let her continue in natural light. She was always going to be a long shot.

Need opinions please on the Jack 47. The second transplant went well, she hardly paused for breath. Pre-flowers are showing and new growth is quite strong. I think she can go the distance, albeit with a probable low yield. Any thoughts?

 

[Chester]

They look good to me ...

 

[Cannaficiando]

Thanks for the reply, Chester.

The Royal Jack is going to be a stick with a cola. No laterals at all. If I get any more than 5g dry from her, I'll be surprised.

The Jack 47 is still vegging, starting to look like a normal plant. She likes the lighter soil mix. Have started her on a little of the 4-4-8 NPK tomato food, with some Epsom salts, molasses and worm casting tea. Temps are 27° - 30°C, with RH at 70%. Lighting is 20/4.

 

[Cannaficiando]

The Royal Jack has stunted again, as expected given the soil. She'll be a 9-inch wonder.

The Jack 47 is now 18 inches tall, just starting flowering.

 

[Cannaficiando]

The Jack 47 is now a week into flowering. She's put on a huge amount of foliage in the past week, now 22" high. Lovely airy structure. Wish I had more in the way of bloom nutes, but the bat guano tea I made should be high in P. Humidity is high...not much I can do about that - it's the rainy season here. Think I'm in love with this lady...

.