(Outdoor, 1st ever grow) Northernberry

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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
so I just got 11 northernberry seeds in the mail from Peak Seeds - northernberry is what peak seeds calls Northern Lights #5 x Blueberry. I haven't got any experience growing but I've spent a lot of time on various forums and watched a few grow movies and most of all have done a lot of reading - and I'm hoping I don't mess this all up! Sorry for starting a grow journal without having a digital camera, I won't be snapping any pics for you guys right away but I may at some point down the line. I'm aware it will be hard for you guys to know exactly how my plants are doing based completely off of a description, and will try getting hold of a digital camera soon.

Day 1: for comparative experimentation porpoises I'm germinating my first 4 seeds 2 different ways. 2 are soaking in a sealed plastic jar and will be placed in moist soil in 8-ish hours and the other 2 are sitting between moist paper towels in a plastic bag sitting in an "age of empires 3" box on the back of my monitor. I'll keep the paper towel ones moist until I see a tap root, but will be placing the other 2 in moist soil tonight regardless of weather they look any different after soaking than they do now.

Plan:
I'll germinate 3-4 more with whichever of these 2 methods gets the best results over the next few days to a week, and use the older ones as guinea pigs and try and let the younger ones skip past any mistakes I make with the 1st group. They'll only be a few days to a week age difference so there will probably be little difference between the groups once they've matured past being seedlings (if they live that long, haha). I'll be putting them outside in pots in 2-4 weeks depending on their health and the weather.

aaand I have a question too... I've heard people say to put seeds under fluro's (or other lights) during germination but I've also read they should be in a warm dark moist spot (which is what I'm going with) - is this OK, or should I give them light right away?

peace
:weed:
 
Lacy

Lacy

New Member
I put miene under lights right away because they come up so fast and you don't want them to stretch.
oGipRotRe said:
so I just got 11 northernberry seeds in the mail from Peak Seeds - northernberry is what peak seeds calls Northern Lights #5 x Blueberry. I haven't got any experience growing but I've spent a lot of time on various forums and watched a few grow movies and most of all have done a lot of reading - and I'm hoping I don't mess this all up! Sorry for starting a grow journal without having a digital camera, I won't be snapping any pics for you guys right away but I may at some point down the line. I'm aware it will be hard for you guys to know exactly how my plants are doing based completely off of a description, and will try getting hold of a digital camera soon.

Day 1: for comparative experimentation porpoises I'm germinating my first 4 seeds 2 different ways. 2 are soaking in a sealed plastic jar and will be placed in moist soil in 8-ish hours and the other 2 are sitting between moist paper towels in a plastic bag sitting in an "age of empires 3" box on the back of my monitor. I'll keep the paper towel ones moist until I see a tap root, but will be placing the other 2 in moist soil tonight regardless of weather they look any different after soaking than they do now.

Plan:
I'll germinate 3-4 more with whichever of these 2 methods gets the best results over the next few days to a week, and use the older ones as guinea pigs and try and let the younger ones skip past any mistakes I make with the 1st group. They'll only be a few days to a week age difference so there will probably be little difference between the groups once they've matured past being seedlings (if they live that long, haha). I'll be putting them outside in pots in 2-4 weeks depending on their health and the weather.

aaand I have a question too... I've heard people say to put seeds under fluro's (or other lights) during germination but I've also read they should be in a warm dark moist spot (which is what I'm going with) - is this OK, or should I give them light right away?

peace
:weed:
Click to expand...
 
O

oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Of the 2 soakers, for some reason 1 has sunk and the other is floating! Earlier they were both floating
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
OK, after around 6-9 hours the 2nd seed sunk while the 1st one only floated for a few minutes... interesting, but does it mean anything?
 
O

oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Lacy said:
I put miene under lights right away because they come up so fast and you don't want them to stretch.
Click to expand...
thanks - I'm not too worried about stretching as they'll be going outside and will also be LST'd, but I'll keep it in mind. I'll probably pop them under lights shortly after the first signs of life. I can't leave them alone, I even don't think I've left them unchecked for over 3 hours at any time yet... I even woke up randomly from my sleep and I'm sure you can guess where my mind was and what I did first!

so... I'm a little obsessed, can you blame me? :roll:

what does everyone think of using FoxFarms light warrior for seedling / early vegetative? Also, I was planning on picking up some bat guano at some point (probably 10-3-1 or something with high N and low K) but am not sure at which point I should begin to apply it or in what quantity... I know they should probably go without for at least a couple weeks, and that I'll regret over-feeding if I learn what not to do the hard way - but I'm not sure of the details. When (/if) I do apply something like bat guano or similar ferts, does it have to be as topsoil only or could I also mix it into potting soil then transplant into it when I start using bigger pots?

oh and what about fox farm grow big vs bat guano/worm castings? would both be pushing it? (for vegetative growth once they go outside that is, not talking about right after they pop!)

if any of that didn't make sense it's probably a sign I smoked too much... perhaps I'll clarify it later

:peace: & thanks.
 
Lacy

Lacy

New Member
oGipRotRe said:
thanks - I'm not too worried about stretching as they'll be going outside and will also be LST'd, but I'll keep it in mind. I'll probably pop them under lights shortly after the first signs of life. I can't leave them alone, I even don't think I've left them unchecked for over 3 hours at any time yet... I even woke up randomly from my sleep and I'm sure you can guess where my mind was and what I did first!

so... I'm a little obsessed, can you blame me? :roll:

what does everyone think of using FoxFarms light warrior for seedling / early vegetative? Also, I was planning on picking up some bat guano at some point (probably 10-3-1 or something with high N and low K) but am not sure at which point I should begin to apply it or in what quantity... I know they should probably go without for at least a couple weeks, and that I'll regret over-feeding if I learn what not to do the hard way - but I'm not sure of the details. When (/if) I do apply something like bat guano or similar ferts, does it have to be as topsoil only or could I also mix it into potting soil then transplant into it when I start using bigger pots?

oh and what about fox farm grow big vs bat guano/worm castings? would both be pushing it? (for vegetative growth once they go outside that is, not talking about right after they pop!)

if any of that didn't make sense it's probably a sign I smoked too much... perhaps I'll clarify it later

:peace: & thanks.
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Thats great that you re keeping on eye on them
I use dnf because it has all that stuff in it but doesnt smell.
 
O

oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Day 2:
-the 2 seeds in moist-paper towel have shown no signs of life yet
-the 2 soaked seeds have been sitting under light in 6cm Jiffy Pots about 1.5-2cm in moist soil, about 2cm from the top.

I'm not sure if I should have done this but I dug 1 out of it's peat pot for a sneak peak to see if it was doing anything, and it seems to be splitting with a line of white down 1 side! I was careful and put it back into the soil after about 3 seconds. Both Jiffy Pots still have very moist soil - I think I may have initially over-watered them. I poured a small amount of water in until a couple drips came out the bottom - though it was small, the pots are TINY. The soil was very fluffy and was reduced in depth by around 20-30% by the water.
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
How wet should the paper towel be with that method of germination? It's nearing 2 days later and it's still damp from the initial watering, and smells kinda funky. I've now noticed that these 2 seeds each have a white spec at 1 end that my remaining 7 dormant seeds do not, I guess that's the tap root just beginning to poke out? The other 2 seem to have a white line down one side, but appearing more like a seam than anything actually wrapped partially around them.

edit: oh and as for the "funky" smelling paper-towel, I meant funky in a bad way.
 
BigGuyTok'n

BigGuyTok'n

Well-Known Member
Just checking in to subscribe to your grow.
The method that I liked best for germination was to soak in the jar for 20-24 hours and then to the paper towel. I have read of people that go straight to soil, but I hate the waiting and kept poking around to see how they were doing. I even accidentally broke the head off of one once. My GF says that I fuss over them way too much and I know she is right but the obssesion takes over:roll:.
As for lights, as I understand it they don't need any until they are above ground.:peace:
Good luck, I'll keep an eye on your grow here and keep hoping for pics later.:mrgreen:
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Thanks for stopping in Big Guy, I think (for further experimentation of course! :mrgreen:) I'll try germinating another 2 the way you suggested (kind of both of the ways I'm already trying, but at once) and throw them in some water for a day then into a moist paper towel.


Anyone know when a good time to start giving them some fertilizer would be? I'm guessing small amounts at 3 weeks after first true leaves appear wouldn't do any harm? For some reason I'm really enthusiastic when thinking about transplanting them into a potting soil + high nitrogen guano mix (maybe with some perlite or coco too if it needs some fluffing up) when I move them outside... anyone who's tried this and an alternative able to shed any light?

I hear blueberry is sensitive to over-feeding, so I fear that NB's blueberry half could give it a similar susceptibility.
 
wackymack

wackymack

Well-Known Member
what sight did you get the northern berry?and do they ship to the us?

both strains to make northernberry are ment to be indoors,it sounds like a real heavy hitting indica
 
O

oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
wackymack said:
what sight did you get the northern berry?and do they ship to the us?

both strains to make northernberry are ment to be indoors,it sounds like a real heavy hitting indica
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PeakSeedsBC is where I got them, they do ship to the US but they charge $40/10 seeds to US customers $30 to canadian... and yeah I thought it was a little strange that NL#5 & blueberry are both often marketed as being better for indoor grows, but I've heard (both from growers and from M.J. at peak seeds) that NB does well outdoors - but then again some people also say northern lights does alright inside and out. I plan on keeping them inside until I'm certain the weather will be consistently easy, and also to give them a shake after heavy rain in later stages to prevent bud rot. If when I move my first 2 seedlings outside they wither away and die in a week, I'll know the next ones probably won't make it either (at least under the same conditions) :roll: I hope I don't give this whole experimentation thing more credit than is due, because it sure seems like I'll be relying on it!:-o
 
wackymack

wackymack

Well-Known Member
thanks man,ill be lookin at ur grow and ill be checking on them. +rep

if i do get them it be interesting to see how urs does out and mine in
 
O

oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
I'd be growing indoors if I could, but my current situation just doesn't really allow for it (comfortably, anyways). I'll definitely try indoors some other time, and I may pick up a couple more strains to do outside this year too.
 
O

oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
Aloha!
Well again, my impatience got the best of me and I dug up the 2 seeds I had originally placed in soil after letting soak and they both have germinated! Ones taproot is even about twice as long as those coming out of the ones I placed in paper-towel, but the others is a bit smaller. I noticed they were going up not down, which probably wasn't a good thing so I carefully flipped em over and covered them with dirt. I've also placed the "monitor-back babies" in soil too, and have 4 germinated seeds under light in Jiffy Pots and am waiting to see some green above soil.

Now that I know they're all coming along I'll be leaving them alone until I see something above soil, so not to disturb them. I also have a 5th on it's way that has been soaking since this morning and will be put in paper towel either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. So far I am very pleased with Peak Seeds as they've been very helpful, shipped quickly, and have given me 100% germination so far. Now the grow is in my clumsy hands and if they live through my care until harvest I'll be a very happy man!
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
day... 3?

of the 2 seeds that were just soaked and put into dirt before any tail emerged, one has peeked above the soil.

How long does it usually take before it sheds its shell?
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
oh and it looks like seed #5's tail is showing too! 5/5 germination so far, each has been within 48 hours of it's start. Not going to start any of the remaining 6 until I get a few seedlings to prove I've done it right so far... just being cautious =P
 
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oGipRotRe

Well-Known Member
day 4:

oh no! another one has emerged from the dirt, but it's um laying down whereas it's counterpart is standing tall... it also looks kind of dry. Is it dead?? It's totally over on it's side, but it did come up 2 cm through it's dirt and appears to still be firmly in place (I'm not about to check, because if it is still living I would greatly disturb it by doing so). I hope it's not too late for this one, I know it should be expected for some to die before gaining much maturity but... but... she's so young! :'(
 
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