2022 Massachusetts Outdoor Growers

Here's my starting soil, seems to be working well. I drill drainage holes in my keg cups, rocks for drainage, and LABELING everything this season, so as not to get confused. Which happens easily when you puff the old peace pipe.

So here's a question for the knowing, I could use a little help..
First time I've just plinked all my seeds into cups with water. My question is, when they sink are they ready? Or do the hulls need to be split? They've been in water almost 48 hours only found one obvious root, some sank, some didn't until I touched them. So I took them out of the water, and put them in moist napkins, ala my old method.
What's the rule here?

PioneerValleyOG said:

@Flowtrail55 View attachment 5120647

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Hahahh that seed company name is fantastically New England!!! I love it!

Cam anyone help me with that seed question?

I've always done 24 hours in a glass of water followed by however long it takes in damp papertowel in a ziplock bag in a warm spot. I've heard a fair number of people recently who discounted the need for the 24 hour soak (they just do damp papertowel or simply plant and keep the medium evenly moist til seeds arise) but I've done the soak + papertowel method long enough I don't really plan on changing much.*

I've always felt seeds sinking was a good sign, i.e. they were absorbing water, but I've had plenty of seeds continue to float and still pop.

* TBF I used to inflate the ziplock with my breath which I felt did work well but over time I came to accept I was probably also adding germs that didn't need to be there, I'm not completely averse to making changes...

YardG said:

I've always done 24 hours in a glass of water followed by however long it takes in damp papertowel in a ziplock bag in a warm spot. I've heard a fair number of people recently who discounted the need for the 24 hour soak (they just do damp papertowel or simply plant and keep the medium evenly moist til seeds arise) but I've done the soak + papertowel method long enough I don't really plan on changing much.*

I've always felt seeds sinking was a good sign, i.e. they were absorbing water, but I've had plenty of seeds continue to float and still pop.

* TBF I used to inflate the ziplock with my breath which I felt did work well but over time I came to accept I was probably also adding germs that didn't need to be there, I'm not completely averse to making changes...

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Omg so this was exactly what I did. I soaked them, then added them to napkins in a cup waiting for them to Sprout. I too used to just use the wet paper towel method but with the $ I spent on seeds, thought I'd try the 'professional ' way.

Pioneer did you have trouble just germing in your media? Just curious you should be doing what your good with. I don’t keep beans for long longest probably a few yrs but never have issues doing it the real pro does it, Mother Nature.

i put them directly into soil, i think this may a) inoculate the tap root early b) allow biology to adversely affect the seed... i suppose there is some element of only the strong will survive this way, which i also appreciate... also less work moving them around, bigger soil mass is also good because of the tap root and its tendencies of delving vertically

Happy Earth Day!!! Welcome new babies, Putang, Double Grape, Jack Herer and a Waziri, I believe. Born under a big ass half cheese moon!

Yes, I did things a little differently this year, but seems like it's all working out. The media I have is exceeding my expectations. I drill 3 holes on the bottom, <outer edges> and some brookstones on the bottom then add soil, mix it til its a little muddy and Boom! Ps, I had zero failures so far, need to finish planting today, so far so good.

23 days since germination, with no supplemental light. Easy keepers too, both the Waziri repros and Rustam Kush remain the most vigorous but the other two aren’t far behind. Looking at May 15 for outside deployment.

p59teitel said:

23 days since germination, with no supplemental light. Easy keepers too, both the Waziri repros and Rustam Kush remain the most vigorous but the other two aren’t far behind. Looking at May 15 for outside deployment.

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Looking good, bro. My Waziri has just sprouted!

PioneerValleyOG said:

Looking good, bro. My Waziri has just sprouted!

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They don’t need a lot of help to do their thing. I like simple unfussy plants.

Good ol' PuTang.

Changes coming to the garden in 22

Three days from Earth Day, the first day the kids first poked their heads from the dirt. From the time I placed them in water, the 16th of April, six days had passed.
All but one seed has sprouted and gone into dirt, 19 of them have now began to grow between 1/2 and 3 inches or a tad more. It's been warm during the days but cold at night, today I made the decision to go on a field trip.
I cracked the window and placed some cups and a temp/humidity monitor. Window went up to 68, compared to 63 inside.
I announced to the kids that we were going to The Porch.
They seemed quizzical yet excited.
Out to the porch we went, sans windowsill pots. I placed a temp gage and began to fret immediately.
I didn't want to get them burned if course. My porch is screened, shield one. A random fish tank screened cover on the porch became my second layer of protection. I find myself checking every 10 mins to make sure everything is copacetic.
Here's pics of some of the kids on The Porch. Out of 27 pots, 8 remain to show. 1 seed remains to root.
Cheese quake is looking strong across the board. Too early to tell if anything really stands out.
Time will tell.

Need to decide what seeds to start for outdoor. Also thinking about delaying my start until July to reduce veg time to reduce plant size. I have a small suburban yard and both neighbors removed some big trees which increased sunlight but reduced privacy

Seedlings sometimes get a little stringy, got this idea in a dream after seeing P59's tooothpicks - took it a little step further. I wrapped said toothpick with a twistie-tie, then cut short and curled into a loop. Will be using slightly longer bamboo skewers next. Here's a pic or 2.





Ps Bam I forget where you're located, but it's possible that I will have some extra seedlings.

bgc2020 said:

Need to decide what seeds to start for outdoor. Also thinking about delaying my start until July to reduce veg time to reduce plant size. I have a small suburban yard and both neighbors removed some big trees which increased sunlight but reduced privacy

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Losing screening is always a bummer. I've found if fencing is too expensive in some areas, sumac is excellent for three reasons. It grows fast, it's cheap, and provides both cover and shade. Forsythia works well but may take longer to grow, also a little more esthetic.
Starting in July... would you have to use autos? It is only a couple-few weeks later than Mid May, just curious about short outdoor grows, sounds almost mythical to me.

Just makes a smaller plant. Less veg but will still stretch mid August. Autos can go early as to hopefully miss our fall weather

So my babies have entered the 'shoe-string' phase, they are long and they gangle. Usually I transfer them into 1 gallon pots at this phase, but with it still in the 40's at night, it's not feasible. It's the least sexiest time for the plant, the stem is still weak and susceptible to rot which will kill the plant instantly.
Kid gloves.

15 of the 19 will go straight from the keg cup into the ground, the rest into two gallon pots. They are starting to get their groove on and are twice as big as they were last week -

Rustam Kush on left, Sholgar on right




Balkhi repros



Waziri repros