transplanting_

[ZigZag]

One of the strains I germinated this last week is tiny- less than 1" after 4 days above ground. Its in a rooting cube and seems like its just stopped growing. I 'm thinking of trying to pry apart the cube so I can get a look at the roots.Fatality expected, but nothing to lose at this point. Guess there's just one way to find out....at least I've got more seedlings than I can grow in my space so what the heck...anyone tried this before?

 

[bobsakamoto]

hey zig zag. i have never tried that particular thing but i do know with all plants during transplant, if you have to try to get at the roots say for diagnosis, you want to use a knife or a toothpick or something to go around the edge of your container and between it and your soil. if your soil is pretty dry it will help to just lightly spritz it beforehand to make it cling to itself. that said, if you're just talking about getting through the cube then i would alternate between lightly saturating/bathing away the cube from the roots using a pipette or an eye dropper or something to give you control over its duration and intensity. depending on how that goes you might want to have some "tool" on hand to ease the cube along, depending on its density it could be like a cheap art/paintbrush, a pipe cleaner, etc. just something that lets you remove the cube as gently as possible. it might take you a while but at least you'll be able to get a look at your roots and maybe save the plant. good luck!

 

[steve]

look into a good root stimluator like Great White

 

[ZigZag]

thats a great suggestion_ I have more seedlings than I can legally plant at the moment so trying that will give me an idea of what the issue might be. yesterday I did decide to toss the smallest seedling and opened up the cube. The tap root was nice and white and looked in good shape, however there was very little production of root hairs_ even inside the cube. It was moist but not dry so I'm still uncertain what the culprit is...probably me because I didn't check the humidity outside the dome before I brought them out of the "nursery". My bad on that cuz it was way to low. have That's under control now.
So I'll try checking around the outside of the cups first, then work my way towards the center looking very carefully for root growth outside the cubes. If that looks like it could be better then I'll start working on the cubes to loosen them up...maybe put some a tiny bit of coco or perlite on the top so the small spaces in the cubes don't dry out the roots..sound like what your suggesting? Thanks for that, I'm gonna give it a try!

 

[ZigZag]

Steve, got some white Shark, used a bit in the PH 5.5 water I used to moisten the coco before transplanting the cubes, and even used a little when I soaked the cubes to start.
I'm not using it now cuz I'm not sure if any nutrient overload is contributing to this_. I'm not real certain how much of the powder to mix with how much water for seedling strength...or even if the White Shark has any issues as far as nutrient overload...don't think it would since its just organisms without any salts but trying to play it safe for now...got any suggestions? Thanks for the reply.

 

[bobsakamoto]

i don't know if i'd put aNYthing on top at this point, at less than 1"tall, you run the risk of accidentally bending it or worst case snapping (it GASP) doing any sort of fiddling above dirt/soil level. i am not an archeaologist (nor apparently can i spell it) but what i had in mind with what i was describing was something like what i've seen archeologists do when they are at a dig.... very gently brushing away dirt, sediment, rocks, what have you while carefully preserving the artifact until they remove enough of the "stuff" around the artifact to safely "remove" it from the ground/wherever it is....does that make sense?

 

[steve]

look into a good root stimluator like Great White

Mix as directed and feed plants in the moring because that is when the plant feeds itself - "nutrient-up-take"

 

[ZigZag]

Steve, Thanks for the reply. I've been giving the girls a little in the morning and a little at night. The coco/perlite mix i have drains very quickly so the coco is moist but not wet. I'm probably going to increase the nutrients starting tomorrow_ about 1/2 strength instead of the 1/4 strength I've been giving them this last week.When I went to the grow store before getting started I decided to try a new coco and also have new lights so am experimenting_ trying to find what works best. The White Shark was expensive but a much better deal than the other microbial juice I was considering_ and being a powder it should have a long shelf life too. I used it last time and still have 2/3rds of the jar to work with so its a much better buy than it appears when its on the shelf.. Thanks and cheers to heathy bushy plants!