I just did the stupidest thing

[DigiTM]

Well, I just started my micro grow 4 days ago and tonight I did probably the stupidest thing you can do with a new seedling.

My grow had been going pretty well for the first few days. Temps been remaining constant, light cycle is doing well (I'm going 12/12) and I've been happy.

However I have been concerned about my soil. I have an organic soil mix with hypnum peat, sand, perlite, and some minor compost additions specific to my region (which just happens to be regionally located where the strain I'm using originated).

It seemed to drain well at first, but after having it sit for 4 days I noticed that my soil was still very very mucky. I'm talking swampish material. No drying what-so-ever. So much so that I was worried that the soil would be TOO wet for the seedling to survive. I know that the number one cause of killing a new baby plant is over-watering it. I debated what to do and eventually went with an emergency transplant. <DOH>

I basically took the surrounding soil, cut a circle about two inches wider in diameter then the area I planted my seed in. Then I placed it on a surface and slowly dissected around till I had just a close area of soil in which I knew the seedling was located. (Talk about treating this like a surgical procedure). I know that I did not hit any of the budding roots or anything, I was more then careful.

I then took a spoon and picked up the soil of the seedling area and transplanted it into my smaller (slightly dryer soil) pot. The only issue was during transfer, the soil topping for the seedling fell off. Exposing the poor little baby. Once I transplanted it, I covered it up softly with a little fresh top soil, making sure not to crush the poor thing.

The thing looked good. Slightly green with a touch of red as if waiting to break through the dirt to accept the light above it. It had already completely shed the seed casing (which I left next to it).

I'm just concerned about the exposure. I did this during its regular lighting time period but I hate to think of the idiocy I just did in transplanting the thing at only 4 days.

To give you an idea, I went from this:




To this:




It should drain a little better and hopefully be okay.

I am just really worried about what I did and whether my baby will survive or not. So anyone have any comments on this? I know that if I don't see the seedling popping through the soil within the next 2 to 3 days time, I probably killed it (there is only a slight layer of soil covering it right now) but if anyone wants to laugh at me, console me, or scold me on what happened, feel free to for now until I know for sure.

 

[sativo]

Huh? What are you so worried about? That thing will live, believe me. Be careful you don't burn down your house with the light so close to the plastic

 

[DigiTM]

I'm mainly worried that I didn't take enough care. You can never be careful enough with it, and I'm a klutz from time to time. So idk. Just being a worry wart that I accidentally crushed the thing or something. I still feel stupid for transferring it though. It simply means more work for me down the line.

And no worries about the plastic burning. It has enough room.

 

[geminibud]

A little thrive alive B-1 supplement helps out in times of stress like these.
I would see if there ok first but heed that advice about the B-1,I've f****d up real bad in veg before and somehow got through it with 2-3 administrations over a couple weeks

 

[upgradeshafted]

listen my friend let it be wet until it sprouts...dont try to fix everything until you kill the seedling it knows exactly what to do without your help

 

[SoEx]

listen my friend let it be wet until it sprouts...dont try to fix everything until you kill the seedling it knows exactly what to do without your help

Aye! Seedlings are EXTREMELY resilient and more than capable of surviving in adverse conditions. Just be cautious, but not overly paranoid. Even if you had mangled the little seedling's roots somehow, it'd still likely be fine. I accidentally broke the taproot on my baby seedling AFTER it had been water deprived (the rockwool cube was not wet) for over 18 hours (hydro). The thing was completely limp and looked like it'd die. But it survived and made a wonderful recovery. Cannabis is a strong plant that'll surprise you.

 

[Guest]

I have put 2 or 3 seeds per cup before in case some didn't germinate and then after they all came up I took the whole little square of dirt put it in a cup of water and separated the seedlings and transplanted them in there own container and they didn't die, so you don't have to be afraid they will die just think about rain betting them down out side they are very adaptable, peace:

 

[frostynugs420]

yeah, if there was holes in the bottom of the container, i see no reason why you would have had to transplant it, but it should be fine.

 

[DigiTM]

The baby just popped through today.

This smaller container seems to work better with draining right now.

 

[Blunt_69]

Draining. soil. dude are you kidding me.... MJ is a tough plant, it will survive in harsher condsions then what you are putting it through... relax, smoke a j, dont watch for instant change it takes awhile. Oh one last thing... leave it the heck alon untill the root system is developed, the soil will stay wet there is nothing "drinking" up the water yet.

 

[DigiTM]

I don't think you understand with how wet it was. The previous pot wasn't draining properly at all. I figured it out by looking at the pot after I emptied it.

When I first filled it up, I didn't notice it because testing worked fine but afterwards I found out why.

The bottom of the pot had 4 drain holes, however when I added a bottom water plate, it plugged into two of the holes, only allowing two to drain. One of the leftover holes ended up being blocked and limited pretty much any chance for the water to drain from the pot making the soil literally into muck.

I just drilled some additional drainage holes into the pot now and it should be working fine when I use it next time.


@Blunt: Thanks for the advice on leaving the roots alone but it is a little late as I already transfered the plant. It is doing more then fine now and has grown over an inch above the soil in just the last day. When I transfered it, I didn't mess with the growing root structure at all. I don't plan to transfer the plant again until the roots are fully developed in the current pot. It is a biodegradable pot and will be obvious when the plant has expanded its roots beyond its current means.

 

[panopticist]

I know that the number one cause of killing a new baby plant is over-watering it.

Close...

The number one cause of killing a new baby plant is over-tending it.
All you need to do is provide the proper conditions and the plant will grow itself.

 

[DigiTM]

Close...

The number one cause of killing a new baby plant is over-tending it.
All you need to do is provide the proper conditions and the plant will grow itself.

I understand the idea of over-tending, but I don't see the harm of carefully tending for a plant when you are doing a single micro grow. I don't have to divide my attention between multiple plants and am trying to obtain a maximum yield, in a limited grow space, for myself from this one single plant. No?

 

[bounty29]

The more often you tend it the more chances there are for you to screw something up.

 

[cobia]

The more often you tend it the more chances there are for you to screw something up. ---- Bounty29

 

[SoEx]

I understand the idea of over-tending, but I don't see the harm of carefully tending for a plant when you are doing a single micro grow. I don't have to divide my attention between multiple plants and am trying to obtain a maximum yield, in a limited grow space, for myself from this one single plant. No?

The idea is you don't really /have/ to tend to it much. The plant knows what it's doing. Sure, you can be along for the ride and train it/tuck leaves/etc, but ultimately it's the plant that will do 99.9% of the work. Just monitor things carefully, react to REAL problems (don't get paranoid and invent possible problem scenarios), and you'll be happy.

 

[Murphy]

I have a hard time with "over tending" myself........I love to smoke weed but, I'm obsessed with being "in the garden" looking for some "good idea" to help them grow. Now I lock my cab and I only check on them every few days (I'm a hydro grower). Once they sprout, they grow, it's a weed. hopefully one day I'll be as good at growing pot as I am at keeping my lawn full of crab grass LOL.....