Heat wave + seedlings= bad idea.

ArborMan

Member
So I have this one fem Skywalker Kush seedling that I started in ground from seed. It did fine up until a major heatwave hit my area a week ago, I came back to find half of her burnt though I did not let the soil dry out. Now it is in the high 80's to mid 90's and will continue to be for at least a few more days, what can I do to maximize the survivability and vigor?

The spot she's in gets 8+ hours of sun a day, I dug a 3'x3' hole and backfilled with 20% native soil (clay mostly), 30% Kellogg organic soil, 20% perlite, 20% peat moss, and 10% cow manure. I let the soil mix sit a week before I planted the seed in a pocket of perlite and peat moss dug into the soil mix (to avoid any nute burn). I use tap water that has been sitting out in a bin and aerating, pH neutral as well. So I'm assuming the problem is purely heat stress?

So far I mulched around the seedling with oak leaves to keep the soil cool and moist, and stuck up dead branches in the soil to block most of the sun from hitting the seedling directly. Am I missing something? Should I just dig it out and transfer it to a cooler spot in a pot? Should I leave it? It has grown a new set of small leaves but is very sluggish. Thanks!
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growone

Well-Known Member
i'd guess the raw manure may have been the culprit
a week isn't long enough to age raw manure in soil
should recover as the seedling gets a little more mature
 

ArborMan

Member
Hey growone thanks for the insight, it definitely could be that the roots hit a patch of manure. I'm tempted to re-pot it in some safer soil, but last thing I want to do is stress it out more. I guess leaf burn if caused from manure or hot conditions is hard to distinguish?
 

growone

Well-Known Member
more indoor experience(lately) than outdoor
but levaes have a different look from heat stress, this looks to me like a nute burn
and 90's outdoors shouldn't be a big problem
but you never know, ever strain/plant has its quirks
 

MYOB

Well-Known Member
Start seeds in pots with quality seedling mix. No fertilizer needed until they are established. That is burn from excessive fertilizer.

Keep them out of direct sunlight until they have a few sets of leaves, then gradually acclimate them to sun.

I would move them into small seedling cups with good seedling mix and get them out of the direct sun.

Honestly, I would try again. I wouldnt chance I with a plant that was so stressed so early on.
 

ArborMan

Member
Ok, I will start another seed but probably will be a very small plant by the time harvest comes (outdoor). Thanks for the info guys, I think i might attempt to carefully take the seedling out, rinse off the roots and start it in seedling mix indoors. It was actually in the 100's here last week, 107 i think it got to so the heat definitely contributed to it, I'm surprised it's still alive at all lol.
 

jamezsr

Well-Known Member
very carefully pull out these clones from the ground and move them to 5 gallon nursery pots using happy frog soil
put them in the shade
use PH water for few days first then maintain the nutes to 250 ppm for a week
they will recover
 
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