A new start, a new beginning for Orange Shovel's Outdoor Season '08

Hey to everyone at RIU!
I am starting my '08 season as of last week, so I thought I'd start off with a pic update of what I am doing. I bought a pack of 10 early misty and 10 safari mix seeds from seedboutique.com, and I started 5 of each outside a few weeks ago. A cat somehow got to my grow, so I needed to start over. I had to make a cage, and germed a few more, so hopefully no more losses. THIS is the beginning of an awesome season so sit back and enjoy!



1. Here is the seedling plot I prepared with vinegar, chili powder, garlic and cinnamon as deterrents from snails.
2. My seedling soil
3. Preparing the cups
4. The seeds getting a good soak before going into the soil
5. My home made cage with the seedlings inside
6. The SOLE survivor of my last attempt...this guy is a trooper.

id be afraid that chilly powder and vinigar and stuff would atract mice and rats and stuff

Good Luck dude.

thanks manny, luck will be needed
jack, the cage should keep any mice out. also, this is in an area where rats and mice are probably not living...there is no water for a quarter mile and it is as dry as a bone.

UPDATE
checked on them today, 4 total are up and growing. 2 are still seeds, and i doubt they will germinate because it has been almost a week of them soaking up water in the soil, and they havent sprouted anything. well, heres what you guys like, the pics:



this guy have purple leaves...kind of odd, this is a early misty seedling.



this is a mandala safari mix seedling that had a cotyledon leaf eaten off by rolly pollies...can u believe that ROLLY POLLY!



heres a cutie safari mix that just sprouted




heres the random one that has a slightly curled leaf? anyone know if this is healthy or ok? also there are white spots on it...very tiny, dont look like dust mites...any help?

good looking babies man

Very nice plants. I've got one plant aswell which seems a bit purple though i can't be sure because she's (hopefully)still like 2 days old and the first set of true leaves are small.
Yours are a weak ahead from mine i guess.
Good luck.
Going to check your thread regularly.

thanks guys
i checked them today, the oldest has about 10 leaves total, so shes coming along well. i tried to transplant the smallest one into a bigger pot and the soil was way looser than i expected. i accidentally ripped its bottom roots, and it now has about 3 inches of a single root . it was so stupid of me. i replanted it, but do you guys think it will survive? at least the others are looking good. i will take some more pictures for you guys sometime soon.

yeah man I think itll just take a bit of time to heal but slow its growth

Orange Shovel CAGrower said:

thanks manny, luck will be needed
jack, the cage should keep any mice out. also, this is in an area where rats and mice are probably not living...there is no water for a quarter mile and it is as dry as a bone.

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don't fool yourself with the rats! look at my blog.

well well my friends,
I am back, and happy as hell with my babies. I guess you can say they are growing slowly because they are a month old, and look maybe 2 weeks old max, but here they are. Also, you will notice all the holes, i believe these are from slugs but anyone have any other ideas?



this is my oldest and most mangled plant. any one know whats wrong?



strongest plant



my favorite



poor little guy got eaten by snails



the group as a whole (minus the two biggest outside of the cage)

Any feedback? I am going to transplant sometime this weekend into 7 gal buckets at my guerrilla spot.

snail bait. pretty cheap. sprinkle it in a 10 foot circle around your plants. cover the whole area.

thanks, im going to be moving them about 10 miles to my guerrilla spot...



fdd, your house is by the mountains where the blurr and dots are in this picture (no photo editing program so i couldnt write in the picture, and yes i took the picture for you )



my shovel is back baby!!



anyone else love hiking in the woods?

the new brown dirt warrior.

nice going so far .. i built a cage too to keep them tree rats away .. frickin rodents .. i also have those red velvet mites crawling around my plant .. no damage yet (knock on wood) so i am not gonna try to get rid of them .. so good luck orange shovel

thanks, does anyone know why my biggest has deformed leaves? (first pic)

idk .. could be a lot of things whats ur pH?

Orange Shovel, good start brah. But might I suggest that you replace your screen with one with smaller mesh. Your plants shouldn't have rat problems, unless your plants go to seed!? But seedlings like your run the risk of snails and other insects.

Back in the 70's on Maui we(partners & I) would build a small screened in box in the jungle near water. We called these boxes our plant stadiums. Constructed in the jungle at the location where they would be. Then we'd put babies in those moss pellets to let them grow first few weeks. Then separate plants according to sex. Before we started building our "stadiums", we'd do our starters on the side of our house. Then we'd spend an entire evening from midnight til day break hiking these babies into the secluded jungle area for growing. Normally we'd lose over 60% of our babies hiking in to grow location. By building our stadiums, we'd never ever lose again...except plants that went male. Plus no critters ever eat our starters ever again(small mesh on screen).

Orange Shovel, how many seasons have you grown outside?

Orange Shovel CAGrower said:

thanks, does anyone know why my biggest has deformed leaves? (first pic)

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it's nothing to worry about. More than like it's the strain. But what worries me more is all the little holes on the leaves. You babies are being attacked by someone very hungry!

Like I said 'Orange Shovel', either get smaller mesh screen or go the your local nursery and buy a 3 in one spray for garden plants. Look for the "Garden Safe"brand. Will not hurt plants either but will do many things for your plants.

Puna Bud said:

it's nothing to worry about. More than like it's the strain. But what worries me more is all the little holes on the leaves. You babies are being attacked by someone very hungry!

Like I said 'Orange Shovel', either get smaller mesh screen or go the your local nursery and buy a 3 in one spray for garden plants. Look for the "Garden Safe"brand. Will not hurt plants either but will do many things for your plants.

Click to expand...

haha quite ironic that you recommend that brand. the day i saw these holes, i bought that EXACT spray and killed the ant infestations, and no more holes after that.

this is my first grow ever