Outdoor The trails and tribulations of a first time grower [journal]

[KenBacon]

Hello one and all, I hope these words find you well and in good spirits. Some of you have already seen some of my other posts, and have helped tremendously with their answers. Thank you all!
After 7 test plants (from bag seed) I germinated to get some experience, I have low successfully germinated the first of my good seeds. The first one that I will grow outside, the proverbial popping off the cherry, will go in my own garden in full soil, is a Dutch Passion Think Different seed. I have christened her Mary Jane Ledank,and she just popped her lovely head above ground today, day 1.
I have germinated her between paper towels in 48 hours, and she is now living in a 1,5 liter pot, filled to the brim with a lush, moist and fresh layer of seedling soil. Just below, I have layered a mix of potting soil + full soil from the garden, perlite and a some chicken shit pellets. This mix I prepared a month or so in advance in the right quantities, to get the organic life in the soil going. Talking about organic: this is my preferred method for this grow. I will not be using nutrients if there is no deficiency, and will grow under the 1 billion watt Hps, to quote the honorable @912GreenSkell
The plant will be in my garden in full soil when the time is right, hopefully after a week or 3 in the nice sunlight on the south facing windowsill. The weather here is starting to pick up, so let's hope for some good sunlight and little clouds in the coming weeks so she can grow without stretching too much.
I will try and update regularly, when time permits.

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[bushmasterar15]

 

[Free Flow]

Daw look at the wittle baby... so far so good brother.

 

[Dichoti]

Heh. Everything's concise and written somewhat eloquently....
...and then I got to "some chicken shit" and burst into laughter.

 

[KenBacon]

Day 6 now, and after an initial 2 day period with clouds, we have now been in luck with days of relative sunshine combined with high clouds. Temps have been in the region of 19 to 22°C, which is quite nice for this time of year. Today and the week ahead, the precipitation is for sun and 22 to 24°C, so that bodes well. Since the weather is so nice, and there is only a gentle breeze in the air, I have been leaving MJ outside in the sunshine the whole day yesterday. With my testplants, I put them in the sun when they where a week old, and after 30 min, they drooped and where laying almost flat. So I was weary of that, and decided to give it a go and see after 15min how she reacted. Mary Jane took it as an absolute champ and stood tall and soaked up the rays like some strange, new treat. I left her in the sun, even past true daylight, as the temps stayed nice. Then, at dusk, I took her inside for a nap.

Today, the weather is even nicer, and she was happily sunbathing on the windowsill when I got up this morning. Since the windowsill only has direct sun until maybe 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I have placed her outside too, and will leave her there in the full sun till tonight.

I know she likes the sun, but I am a little worried that too much too soon and outside could stress her, because she is so young. Could this be?

She is going to go outside anyway in a couple of weeks, so my reasoning is to get her acclimatized already and get as much sun as possible so she stretches as little as possible.

Speaking of outside, I haven't talked about my growing spot, so here goes.
I will be growing MJ and a cousin of hers (of the frisian dew family) in my own garden. Where I live, the law regarding cannabis is very vague. You are allowed to grow one plant for personal use, so I'll be growing 2, since I live here with my girlfriend.
I have tilled a fresh patch and prepared 2 holes about a month ago. The soil here is very good for growing stuff,even without adding anything. While digging up the patch, for instance, in every shovel of earth, there would be about 5 to 6 big fat earth worms happily munching and shitting away, making the earth even more fertile.
So, to the holes, which are about 45x45x45 cm I added a mixture of 1/2 potting soil, 1/2 native soil and a good bunch of perlite to keep things airy. I also added about 1 handful per 10 liters of soil of chicken shit pellets. A tip I got from the very helpful @fryge
This mixture has been sitting in the holes now, waiting to receive the 2 ladies.
The patch itself is on the eastern side of the garden, which I know is not ideal to evaporate the morning dew, but it is the part of the garden that gets the most sun. It is full sun for about 9 hours a day. Added bonus: behind the plants is a concrete wall which heats up nicely and radiates heat during cooler hours, especially in May and maybe June, when days can be warm here, but the temperature drops at night.
Yesterday, I also planted a bunch of herbs and vegetables on the patch. For fun as much as for concealment, since I don't want anyone to be able to easily spot the plants when they look in my garden. I've got some tomato plants, some berries, which I hope will help with the smell later on during blooming; thyme, mint, strawberries, rosemary, lettuce, artichokes, courgettes, yellow peppers, absynthe, and some other stuff I don't know the English name of. I was careful to plant them well apart and to not have any large plants in front of the queens so they can steal the sun.

MJ Ledank herself is doing fine in here 1,5 liter pot, and I have been feeding her only water with a plant spray whenever the earth starts to feel a little dry. She has not had droopy leaves, and is showing good color and healthy growth, so I must be doing alright for now.
All comments, tips and critiques welcome, of course!

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[bakEQuatorial]

@912GreenSkell will tell you that the aclimation process you are doing is spot on. I agree too.

Seedling under intense sun would be an issue i believe. I've burned 2 weeks old plants with less than an hour of sunlight. However, with your temps, i don't expect too much an issue. Even humans can sunbathe for hours under those temps. My temps outside are never below 30 as long as there is daylight.


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[KenBacon]

@912GreenSkell will tell you that the aclimation process you are doing is spot on. I agree too.

Seedling under intense sun would be an issue i believe. I've burned 2 weeks old plants with less than an hour of sunlight. However, with your temps, i don't expect too much an issue. Even humans can sunbathe for hours under those temps. My temps outside are never below 30 as long as there is daylight.


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Thanks for the comment brother

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[KenBacon]

Day 10 and all is going swimmingly. The weather has been great with lots of sunshine, so Mary Jane has been sunbathing. At night I take her in and she is on a windowsill facing south. In the morning she stays there catching the rays behind glass, and in the afternoon she goes out to the garden near the place I am going to plant her, also in the full sun.
She is growing really well with daily watering because of the hot weather.
Maybe I have to repot her to a bigger pot for 1 or 2 weeks until she can go in the garden, because I think her roots may become constricted. I wanna wait to put her in full soil until the beginning of May, as it can theoretically still freeze here at night until that time. What do you guys think?

Also, I've noticed she has these slight wavy sides on her fanleaves. Is this something to worry about? A deficiency of some sort maybe?

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[Bode]

High KB,

Wavy leaves could be environment stress. Last spring I tried starting cannabis seeds in my cellar. Was a little cool (low 60's) and they grew like that. They were fine after I could get them enough time in the ground and warmer temps.
Could that be? Ciao

 

[KenBacon]

Hi Bode,

Could be. I think it has to do with a particularly hot day here a couple of days before. I had placed them out in the sun, but it became very hot (around 30°C), so I guess in the sunshine with little wind, it was even hotter. She was in there for a couple of hours and when I got home I immediately took her in the shade and rinsed the pot with water so she could cool down. Damage done, I guess... Although I don't know how lasting this is, or how it is going to affect her later on...?