Hmastrings 2011 "Striking seeds in the patch."

[Rob547]

great idea with the crate, I've been just rethinking what a pain in the balls it is to get solo cups out to the woods, without mangling them or spilling dirt everywhere, ugh been there lol.
I've had slug problems in the past myself, in my experience, you would probably see them all over the place in the frame itself, probably dead. I've also noticed they come out if its reallly rainy/humid etc. I've also ONLY had them eat/destroy VERY young seedlings, leaving tiny stems that's all. idk why though. I've also seen weird little beetle things? that live in/on top of the soil if its moist enough and eat tiny seedlings too, they would also probably be right in the cup still though. try diamataceous earth if concerned. the beer can trick will also let you know if slugs are indeed in the area too.

 

[hamstring]

Rob547
Thanks for the feedback much appreciated this is the type of input(Sounds like you have been there) I'm looking for. Can't be that hard to keep an extra cup full of beer in the cold frame. Be nice to have a cold sixpack in there sometimes let me work on it hehehe.

The milkcrate works well just make sure the cups fit very tightly together or as you walk through the bush and invariable stumble on undergrowth you will end up with a nightmare and come looking to punch hamstring in the nose. It’s amazing how bad they can really look after a mile walk with loose cups. Check out one of my pics where I used a down spouts when first experimenting. When I took these guys on the same hike and pulled the bag off the top it looked like a genocide on all things green under there. Talk about heart breaking when you get to your plot.

 

[Claude Hopper]

I've been just rethinking what a pain in the balls it is to get solo cups out to the woods, without mangling them or spilling dirt everywhere, ugh been there lol.

Me too!

My solution has been less than ideal and only works for me because I'm only a few miles from my gardens. I cut the tops off 2-liter bottles as high as I can get and still allow room to slip in a solo cup. I can carry five of these "bullets" in my inconspicuous day pack.

It doesn't leave much room for anything else.

 

[blackone]

Sweet I make cardboard containers that fit inside my backpack when I transport my seedlings to the spots. It's worth the effort when you arrive at the site and find every plant undisturbed.

 

[jay-toker]

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[hamstring]

Claude
It’s been a dilemma for many gorillas and there is more than one way to skinning the cat. A guerrilla over at UDG tells how he used to take his seedlings out of the cup soil and all and put them in a bucket of water mixed with a little, i think he said, high phosphorus ferts and wash away all the soil until all the seedlings were bare roots. He then wrapped them up in newspaper.
The reason i bring this up is because on my first cold frame I didn’t use cups and I ended up basically bare rooting all my seedlings. I would have laid down a 100 frog skins on a bet they all would have died but quite the opposite they all lived in more than one location.
Blackbone
Great idea for moving a few seedlings. I think you put your finger on the important part of any of these ideas the containers must be secure any movement and you just made a shredder not a hauler.
jay-toker
Hey brother the town was called Machias if I remember correctly that was back when I took a piss I didn’t have to worry about it getting on my shoes. I hope you play around with a few ideas. Those promix bales could be the pack in them selves if you can up with a comfortable way to strap them on. If the season treats you well PM me and I will tell where i got my hauler. I don’t like links.

 

[hamstring]

So guys what’s the consensus is it slugs?? Should I be asking this question in a different forum??

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

It sounds like snails to me hamstring. They can suck the life out of a seedling stem in about 2 minutes leaving it delapedated. I put 8 or 10 pellets of snailkiller on each cup so that if they slime their way in, they cant kill the seedling.

Its puzzling that the med man wasnt hit. Not even one? Ive never seen any strain resistant to snails so thats curious.

I use 160z styrofoam cups for my seedlings. I stop by the convience store and by me a 44oz drink. My 16oz cup slides down in the 44 and keeps the seedling safe. I put the clear plastic top on it and off to the patch i go. It provides a good hard shell for seedling transportation.

 

[krk]

slugs love beer...get multiple cups fill 1/2 full and watch them drown.... or overgrow them... copper rings work great....

 

[jay-toker]

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[Claude Hopper]

It’s been a dilemma for many gorillas and there is more than one way to skinning the cat. A guerrilla over at UDG tells how he used to take his seedlings out of the cup soil and all and put them in a bucket of water mixed with a little, i think he said, high phosphorus ferts and wash away all the soil until all the seedlings were bare roots. He then wrapped them up in newspaper.
The reason i bring this up is because on my first cold frame I didn’t use cups and I ended up basically bare rooting all my seedlings. I would have laid down a 100 frog skins on a bet they all would have died but quite the opposite they all lived in more than one location.

I remember when they sold tomato and pepper plants as "bare root" and shipped them north from Georgia. I'm sure that well hardened off cannabis would be as tough as a tomato.

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

Not quite as tough as tomatoes Ch, but maybe close! I have a story.

Its intersting that all of the old timer books reported that cannabis didnt appreciate having its roots tinkered with and that the plant didnt like to be transplanted. That can be true and for some strains the roots are touchy. but....

last year i had several Biddy Early plants in cups that i had taken to the site but hadnt planted them. More than a week later i returned and every one of the cups was full, i mean full of Ants! They had made a nest in the cups or something. I removed the plants from the cups to see gobs of ants inside the rootball. I was growing next to a flowing creek so i thought if i held the rootball under the water for a minute, the ants would need air and leave the roots headed for the surface. It didnt work. even after 5 minutes under water, ants were crawling all over the roots. It was hot and i finally said "fuck it" and washed nearly every drop of soil from the plant. BAre roots. I spread the roots out on the soil, covered them, watered and left.

2 weeks later i came back and brought a couple of replacement plants because it thought the chances of those plants surviving was similar to a snowball in hell. Suprisingly, every plant was alive and healthy. Live and learn i guess. Cannabis roots arent as touchy as i thought.

 

[hamstring]

KrK
Thanks for the input I always have room for one more cup and it will have beer in it this time. In fact I am going to do my first corn grow this season and will be starting up another cold frame so I will incorporate the beer in the cup.
DS
Great story I think one of us should do an experiment with some of our plants next season trying the "bare root" method against the way we normally transplant it would be very interesting to see if one takes off better then than the other. It would solve a lot of transport problems if it works well.

 

[CanniDo Cowboy]

Not quite as tough as tomatoes Ch, but maybe close! I have a story.

Its intersting that all of the old timer books reported that cannabis didnt appreciate having its roots tinkered with and that the plant didnt like to be transplanted. That can be true and for some strains the roots are touchy. but....

last year i had several Biddy Early plants in cups that i had taken to the site but hadnt planted them. More than a week later i returned and every one of the cups was full, i mean full of Ants! They had made a nest in the cups or something. I removed the plants from the cups to see gobs of ants inside the rootball. I was growing next to a flowing creek so i thought if i held the rootball under the water for a minute, the ants would need air and leave the roots headed for the surface. It didnt work. even after 5 minutes under water, ants were crawling all over the roots. It was hot and i finally said "fuck it" and washed nearly every drop of soil from the plant. BAre roots. I spread the roots out on the soil, covered them, watered and left.

2 weeks later i came back and brought a couple of replacement plants because it thought the chances of those plants surviving was similar to a snowball in hell. Suprisingly, every plant was alive and healthy. Live and learn i guess. Cannabis roots arent as touchy as i thought.

Thought I would share:
Speakin of old timer grow books, I still have one of Ed Rosenthal's first printed grow books I bought new in 1972. It really is quite unbelievable how far we have taken the plant. One chapter even describes how a few "expert growers" have learned to graft branches from the plant and grow a separate plant...LOL

Anyway, on the bare root subject, Ive found the MJ plant to be one of the most durable when it comes to messin with the roots. It is quite common when indoor hydro growers pick up soil potted seedlings to completely wash the roots before adapting them to hydro. Even the smallest amount of soil/sediment spells disaster to a hydro system: clogged filters, pumps, reservoirs etc.

When I transplant from cups to larger containers, I always knock off the bottom 3 inches or so of soil and even gently pull all the roots downward while 'fluffing". The other day, I had a clone I had left in a styrofoam cup too long and the rootmass had spiraled around the bottom of the cup. I began "unwinding" the 1 inch thick root mass/mess and by the time I was done, it stretched out to be 8 inches long. The plant never missed a beat!

Also, Ive always found baring the roots fairly radically helps the roots adapt to the new soil quicker and easier. In fact, I think it's a crucial step in the transplant process. It tends to "untrain" them from the cup containment/encasement faster and reduces shock and transplant stress. CC

 

[hamstring]

CC
Agreed every time I see a gardening show on the boob tube they recommend pulling off the first few inches of the soil to expose the roots. It just seems a little extreme to wash all of the soil off. Not saying its not a good way just freaks you out a little sort of like walking around naked vs. barefoot. You have to wonder though when you transplant into ground you’re bunching all the roots up in one place vs. spread out all over the container if you kept the soil.
My interest is peaked not promising anything this season, not ruled out, but I have to try this it could change carrying seedlings around the bush forever.

 

[CanniDo Cowboy]

CC
Agreed every time I see a gardening show on the boob tube they recommend pulling off the first few inches of the soil to expose the roots. It just seems a little extreme to wash all of the soil off. Not saying its not a good way just freaks you out a little sort of like walking around naked vs. barefoot. You have to wonder though when you transplant into ground you’re bunching all the roots up in one place vs. spread out all over the container if you kept the soil.
My interest is peaked not promising anything this season, not ruled out, but I have to try this it could change carrying seedlings around the bush forever.

hey Ham...Here's the general gist, IMHO. Yes, you are somewhat bunching the roots. I burrow a deeper and more narrow hole and carefully layer the roots into the hole. The layered root mass expends less energy orientating and getting down to root business.

When planted in the compacted state, you can first easily see the roots that were up against the container going every which way: Up, down, sideways and even the usual spiraling. Roots that have worked their way up the sides of the cup now have to either turn and go down or go laterally to become lateral or feeder roots. it's pretty safe to say the roots really dont know where the hell theyre headed, yet....lol IMO, lots of energy spent and recovery time lost trying to get orientated to the new digs, so to speak..

Do an experiment. Plant one cup without breaking up the soil and one with a few inches of roots bared. With the bared root one, also take your thumbs and "knead" the remaining soil to gently loosen up the remaining compaction all the way up to the stem line. You'll find little or no wilting or shock recovery time with the bared root method. (I always use a Vitamin B-1 anti-shock for added shock prevention.) On the other hand, usually the compacted one takes several days to recover, sometimes more: Wilting, listfulness, shocky...Try it bro, you'll be surprised. And, if yer embarrassed at looking at a naked plant, you could keep yer eyes closed while doin it but I wouldnt suggest it...LOL CC

PS...I'm not sure how any of this applies to carry seedlings over the hills and thru the woods and way beyond grandma's place, but hopefully it gives you a starting point...CC

 

[Rob547]

Where'd you go hamstring??

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

Thought I would share:
Speakin of old timer grow books, I still have one of Ed Rosenthal's first printed grow books I bought new in 1972. It really is quite unbelievable how far we have taken the plant. One chapter even describes how a few "expert growers" have learned to graft branches from the plant and grow a separate plant...LOL

. CC

Hey CanniDo.

I used to have a bunch of those books but ive lost them over time. I had one by Rosenthal and Mel franks i think. It was an 8 1/2 X 11 green paperback. It was my bible throug the early 70's and then i got a thicker hardcover book, "The complete guide to growing Marijuana". It had pictures!

This many years laters, they were wrong about 1 or 2 things, but they started me out. I even went to the doctor and got a perscription for colchicine. I was shitting bright green in no time at all..

hamstring, give us a report bud. Hows the Bh, Bm? Dont you have some Sensi stars?

 

[CanniDo Cowboy]

Hey CanniDo.

I used to have a bunch of those books but ive lost them over time. I had one by Rosenthal and Mel franks i think. It was an 8 1/2 X 11 green paperback. It was my bible throug the early 70's and then i got a thicker hardcover book, "The complete guide to growing Marijuana". It had pictures!

This many years laters, they were wrong about 1 or 2 things, but they started me out. I even went to the doctor and got a perscription for colchicine. I was shitting bright green in no time at all..

hamstring, give us a report bud. Hows the Bh, Bm? Dont you have some Sensi stars?

DS...Yep, that's the one. I still have it and read it for shits n giggles from time to time...I'll drag it out and take a pic n post it for old time sakes...lol CC

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

Im worried about hamstring. In the years he's been a member here he's been a regular poster. Even during slow times he'll drop in every couple of weeks and make a comment. He doesnt do many threads either. So im wondering why he hasnt updated his thread.

In fact he hasnt posted since the first of June.

hamstring, tell us something buddy. I hope youre just busy with all of those beauties.