Tiredofschwag
Member
Well, I never was one to be trendy but it seems the seeds I have chosen aren't very popular. If you search google for info about autoflowering varieties, you get only a few hits with any real information about Automatic Hindu Kush and thousands of hits about Automatic AK47. It's amazing how many auto varieties there are now and how many new varieties are coming out.
But I bought the Automatic Hindu Kush (Masterlow X Hindu Kush) seeds anyway and you have to know I'm dedicated because the first order for $112.00 got stolen by a crooked seed vendor. I ordered again though and suffered the agony until they arrived.
Then, when I looked at the seeds I was quite disappointed. There were 5 very tiny seeds and a couple that were so small I felt they would never germinate and 5 larger seeds that were very light in colour and I felt they were no good as well. But I kept going.
I read years ago that the way to tell male seeds from female seeds is that the females seeds are smaller. There was argument about it but I tried it and sure enough I have some success with it. So I started up the two smallest seeds about the size of the head of a pin. I'm starting 2 seeds a week to work a perpetual grow but I want the females to grow a bit before the males come on. Now granted there is no proof that the smallest seeds are female but it's the way I do it. I want to make a seed run so I have some seeds to plant out in the garden in between the giant marigolds.
I soaked the seeds in a cup of luke warm tap water and set it on top of the shoplight I use for growing my orchids in the exact place that keeps the water at 76f degrees. After 12 hours they both sank to the bottom with a little tap which is a good sign because in my experience floaters don't grow. After another 12 hours the larger one started to crack and another 12 hours the smallest one cracked. After one day the larger one had a nice little root pertruding out and I planted it. Another day later the second one was ready and planted and a couple of days afterwards they popped up. I was shocked because they came up so fast when I was really expecting them to not grow.
I'm using the AllTreat Premium Potting Mix from Walmart which is actually very good and it's PH adjusted.
The seeds grew really fast and on the first day they were already showing their second set of leaves. I don't think any of my plants grow that fast although most of them will sprout like that.
Actually going against all the advice I have read, I began fertilizing on day 2. They doubled in size overnight. These plants are just gorgeous, so healthy, so fast. Then after a few days of fertilizing a few dribbles every day and letting some drops remain on the leaves I got scared and decided to listen to the other growers and stopped fertilizing and swithched over to plain water that had been left out to get rid of chlorine. And after a few days of not fertilizing I could see a definite slow down. I started to fertilize a little bit every day and they took off again. They really do seem to love the fertilizer. I use the Schultzes Premium Orchid Fertilizer with micronutrients 19-32-18. I've been using it for years on my orchids and all my weed grows and it's actually PH adjusted. It's very mild because orchids don't like heavy fertilizer. I grow my orchids with very mild fertilizer with every watering and use that system on my standard weed as well. These two plants are two weeks old in a few days and are growing great.
The following week I started the two smallest of the remaining seeds and had the same very fast response and after a few days the second two look great.
This weekend I'm starting the two smallest of the remaining seeds which are getting to be normal sized seeds. Again the larger one is ready to plant after 48 hours.
So even though I had lots of worry and heartache over these seeds my faith has been restored and I'm very happy.
But I bought the Automatic Hindu Kush (Masterlow X Hindu Kush) seeds anyway and you have to know I'm dedicated because the first order for $112.00 got stolen by a crooked seed vendor. I ordered again though and suffered the agony until they arrived.
Then, when I looked at the seeds I was quite disappointed. There were 5 very tiny seeds and a couple that were so small I felt they would never germinate and 5 larger seeds that were very light in colour and I felt they were no good as well. But I kept going.
I read years ago that the way to tell male seeds from female seeds is that the females seeds are smaller. There was argument about it but I tried it and sure enough I have some success with it. So I started up the two smallest seeds about the size of the head of a pin. I'm starting 2 seeds a week to work a perpetual grow but I want the females to grow a bit before the males come on. Now granted there is no proof that the smallest seeds are female but it's the way I do it. I want to make a seed run so I have some seeds to plant out in the garden in between the giant marigolds.
I soaked the seeds in a cup of luke warm tap water and set it on top of the shoplight I use for growing my orchids in the exact place that keeps the water at 76f degrees. After 12 hours they both sank to the bottom with a little tap which is a good sign because in my experience floaters don't grow. After another 12 hours the larger one started to crack and another 12 hours the smallest one cracked. After one day the larger one had a nice little root pertruding out and I planted it. Another day later the second one was ready and planted and a couple of days afterwards they popped up. I was shocked because they came up so fast when I was really expecting them to not grow.
I'm using the AllTreat Premium Potting Mix from Walmart which is actually very good and it's PH adjusted.
The seeds grew really fast and on the first day they were already showing their second set of leaves. I don't think any of my plants grow that fast although most of them will sprout like that.
Actually going against all the advice I have read, I began fertilizing on day 2. They doubled in size overnight. These plants are just gorgeous, so healthy, so fast. Then after a few days of fertilizing a few dribbles every day and letting some drops remain on the leaves I got scared and decided to listen to the other growers and stopped fertilizing and swithched over to plain water that had been left out to get rid of chlorine. And after a few days of not fertilizing I could see a definite slow down. I started to fertilize a little bit every day and they took off again. They really do seem to love the fertilizer. I use the Schultzes Premium Orchid Fertilizer with micronutrients 19-32-18. I've been using it for years on my orchids and all my weed grows and it's actually PH adjusted. It's very mild because orchids don't like heavy fertilizer. I grow my orchids with very mild fertilizer with every watering and use that system on my standard weed as well. These two plants are two weeks old in a few days and are growing great.
The following week I started the two smallest of the remaining seeds and had the same very fast response and after a few days the second two look great.
This weekend I'm starting the two smallest of the remaining seeds which are getting to be normal sized seeds. Again the larger one is ready to plant after 48 hours.
So even though I had lots of worry and heartache over these seeds my faith has been restored and I'm very happy.
