First-time grower needs advise.

[med420user]

I have a few seeds that I want to plant outside. Where I live the soil is sandy and the summers are HOT! I can either plant in pots or directly in the ground. My disability keeps me from doing anything too physical, so I need to find a way to grow outside that will be easy for me to do.

Also, I tried germinating a few seeds in a wet paper towel, but it dried out before the seeds sprouted. Any suggestions for germinating or should I plant the seeds directly in the soil? I only have about 6 seeds left, so I don't want to mess up.

What should I add to the sandy soil (cheap and easy, please)?

Thanks so very much!!

 

[Lucky420]

Well, germinating seeds w/a paper towel you could put the wetted towel in a plastic bag to help retain the moisture, thats what I do sometimes. As for planting in sandy soil, my advice would be to add some kind of potting soil or some such. If the sand is light and not to compacted I don't see why it would cause you much of a problem. I'd also like to hear some more idea's for this fella.

 

[lester gas]

sandy and hot, thats nice! sounds like florida but could be anywhere.
Add to the sand: compost, manure(or other organics) and a little clay soil if you can get it. We have grown plenty of 5 to 7 footers in pure sand out here in the west but you have to fertilize and cant let em dry out. If you cant dig thats cool, just layer the good amendments on top and top it off with a couple inches of the best soil you can get for free. The roots know where to go and they will still grow fast down through the sand towards the water table. Try to mulch if you have any materials(leaves)near the patch. Wear camo in the patch but never in public around leo. Have fun.

 

[lester gas]

Wait almost forgot: The paper towell works fine if you dont let it dry too far out. We like(for small scale): Starting directly in one gallon containers. Too heavy? No problem. use 3 to 4"pots. The purpose of this is to get them past the cutworm phase. Fresh sprouts have a whole pile of things that eat them but once they have 3 or 4 sets of true leaves the cutworms largely ignore them. Large scale: use cutworm collars. either old beer cans with each end cut off or drinking cups or(my favorite) toilet paper tubes cut in half. Place the cardboard tube in the ground so at least an inch is sticking up. Then fill it with your mix and plant one or two seeds in it. When the cutworm or cinchbug walks into it that night he'll walk around it and keep on going. For truly large scale(outdoor sea of green) you can saturate thousands of seeds in the ground and let the cutworms eat. Another way( this is the one we havnt tried) is to ring the sprouts with a little aggie sulphur. We are afraid of this cause it could burn the little stems if it made direct contact but who knows? Havent tried it yet. Peace,,,, maaaaaan.

 

[med420user]

Thanks!

Thanks!

Well, of course, your advise worked. I have 4 plants that are happy as hell. I'll take pics hopefully tomorrow. I'll need to be guided through the process if you guys don't mind.

They're in small pots outside in potting soil right now. When the time is right they'll go in the gound and be mixed with the sandy soil and potting mix.

Please let me know if you have a better idea for anything I'm about to do.

Thanks for all the great input.

BTW...I'm in norcal on the delta.

 

[hilljack]

glad to hear things are working out!

 

[med420user]

hmmmm. I tried to upload some pictures, but I get a message that says I'm not authorized. I'll post them as soon as I figure it out. Any clues on how?

The leaves on one of my babies turned brown on the edges of the leaves and curled up! Hope I haven't lost her to the heat wave!

 

[Guest]

hmmmm. I tried to upload some pictures, but I get a message that says I'm not authorized. I'll post them as soon as I figure it out. Any clues on how?

The leaves on one of my babies turned brown on the edges of the leaves and curled up! Hope I haven't lost her to the heat wave!

Hey med420user!

The pics have ben down because admin moved us to a new server, will be back up in no time.

Without pics and from the description it sounds like that little one is a heat casualty - but they are weeds and tend to surprise us by coming back when we think all is lost.

 

[med420user]

Thanks 1Toke. Why are you sad?

 

[lester gas]

med420! What a perfect location! Your main growth spurt will be from now until the 2nd week of july. They will slow down a bit in growth when the flowering starts to show. They'll still put on say another foot or more of cola(untopped), but the amazing growth spurt starts now. The sooner you can get them in the ground, the more the little dolls will take advantage of this stage and haul ass skyward. After about the 4th or so set of leaves, not many insects will mess with them in your part of the west.
Get the best mix going in the ground that you can. The most of that potting soil and maybe other native soil if it is easy to get. Turn under organic fertilizers now and let the racoons and such(if any) get used to it so they dont dig the area up after you put the girls out. This might sound like voodoo but I swear they love to grow their roots into organic bulb food that has been buried well below the surface. Have done this in plain sand(in natural wet places) with very good results but even if you can dig just a handfull of swamp muck or native leaf mold into the sand underneath your transplant the difference will be noticeable over plain sand with fertilizer. The delta has a million self-watered places lining it's canals. Where you are, any patch of large-diameter(12" trunk )Willows will indicate guaranteed year-round water. This will be true even if no water appears on the surface nearby; this will be true in the worst, possible drought. Such a spot is super low labour and the plants really shoot up on unlimited water. Bring a compass and pruning saw to let in light from the south without killing a single tree. Cant emphasize enough: may and june , plus the first two weeks of july, is the time to put on size in your area. Set them out now and they could easily put on another 3 feet before flower. Flowering outdoors will make you drool-- its so temping to sample early. By october/early november you should be in bud if you kept the rippers fooled and the mule-deer dont find the plants. If you're low enough on the delta you can dose them with high nitrogen fertilzer after the initial pull and they'll kind of half-assed try to revegetate but the photoperiod will be wrong. They then put out a second crop of bud, never as good and sweet as the october harvest but still good bud. If you can do a second harvest on a given female it will turn dark purple and be ready around december first. The amount will be less and the plant will be dieing but it's amazing how much frost a strong old female can take and still put out the purple bud! Many hobbiests dont even try this cause the plants just kind of limp along into winter and they prefer the fresher, green bud for smoking purposes anyway; but if it isnt too cold on your part of the delta, it can be double-cropped. (of course none of this works if you seed them for next year's bad-ass hybrid). Fly low and avoid the radar.

 

[med420user]

Thanks Lester! This is what they look like after 1 week. I already lost 2 babies to the heat so I need to get some more seeds. Are they too young to plant in the ground?

I also have a great place for an indoor grow, but don't have the $$ for the equipment yet. My MJ med needs cost me $300 a month and on a fixed income that's not happening, so I need this to work.

Know of any good place to buy seed?

Thanks again for all your help. I'll keep you up-to-date.

 

[Barn Owl]

I live in a hot, arid climate. I grow outdoor plants mostly to learn (indoors is my supply) and must use shade cloth in the extreme heat. It works well and hidesthe plants.

 

[lester gas]

420!! Nice sprouts in a good mix. You can put them out anytime but I have to say the little one is smaller than I like to transplant. Can be done though; you just have to be real careful and not bury the little stem or anything like that. A plant that young I expect to knock down and make crawl accedentally in transplant. If that happens, dont worry, they get back up and strong on their own in just a few days. You dont have to prop them although you can if you want.
The 2 bigger ones are just beginning to pass what I call cutworm stage. Another set of leaves and most ground dwellers like that will ignore them and let them grow. Slugs might eat off of them still but wont destroy them.(Slugs or cutworms if you have them could absolutly kill that younger plant you show) . But hey, your part of the west might not have this problem. If you decide to transplant the small one at this stage, just remember that there is basically one little tap root-- no root "ball" to hold that potting soil on-- it just makes for an awkward transplant but can be done(have done so many times.)
For seeds, can recomend nirvana through seeds direct for two reasons. One, they are so affordable for some really nice versions of famous strains and hybrids. and two they ship promptly in very clever, stealthy ways that leo just does not have the manpower to catch. They'd have to open all mail all the time to catch it.
Have dealt with them 3 times, all successful. No ones perfect and on my end of the west this stuff is somehow illegal so I have to say they havent allways come through with every strain every time. Have even once gotten what must have been old seed that had zero germ but thats the exception to the high reliablilty they have otherwise shown. Also, when Ive ordered Ive thrown in acceptable substitutes if they were out of one or another kind and have been pleasantly surprised with both the subs and the freebies. Of nirvanas line we have sampled with usually a high rate of germ(usually 100 percent directly in soil) afghani, superskunk, jack, white widow, powerplant, skunk redhair, cal orange (grows large,smells great), and several others that my drug-addled brain cant remember. Most were $15 for 10 beans. Have also gone with more expensive lines sometimes with low germ(still worth it if you breed and get at least one good plant) and I have to admit that most of nirvanas are about as strong as the pricier companies strains. Have gotten wild variation with thier version of jack. But still a bargain at 15. The most potent that co has that we have tried? White widow, white russian, and their version of afghani. Real knockdown power for the masses! Good luck.

 

[med420user]

WOW! Thanks Lester for all the great information. I figure I'll grow the legal limit and not worry about it. I'm certified in Cali so if I get busted I'll make a stink and become an outspoken advocate. I've learned to make conscious decisions and then flow with whatever happens. Of course that's easy to say when I'm in California

The little baby died, but the other two are on their 3rd set of leaves. I'm glad you said that it's okay to plant them now. Can I use a couple of huge clay post until I get the ground prepped? I put a little Osmocote fertilizer on them yesterday cause the seemed to being slow in their growth. I also acquired a few more seeds that are germinating in a paper towel placed in a baggy on top of the TV. I put a blanket over them and they are nice a cuddly warm.

Again...thank you, sweetie

 

[med420user]

BTW...we have tons of snails here. They are eating my tomato plants like mad. You think they'll be safe?

 

[JetUsUp]

the sand soil needs to be thickened up. so by adding a bag or two of potting soil to the general area will help. as for the hot-ness, well that in itself is hard to solve. but if its dry you can atleast get a timer for the hose and set up a really nice and easy watering system that could water them lightly throughout the day, without over watering them.

 

[lester gas]

Snails at the several elevations I use aren't a problem once the plants get some size on them. Have in the past tried the thin copper strip they sell at garden supply shops with good results(that was on vegetables and mums-- they love mums). Any copper should work( wire,pennies etc). Have also used snairall poison in little rings around the base of pansies, petunias and crysanthemums. But poison sucks. Baby cannabis can easily be taken out by those big european snails you have in your part of the west. What I do is: Hide small starts where I see no snail trails(still in starter pots) and, visit on a moist night(dewfall) and manually murder each snail by flashlight. You can kill dozens in one visit and solve even a large problem without putting poison around.
The copper works by some kind of electrolytic interaction with the snails moisture--I dont fully understand how-- but a strip will block all snails that come up to it.