Story Time - Peat pellets

I started my “Gary” strain (see journal) in a Burpee seed tray, in the peat pellets that came with it because I’ve had great success germinating other seedlings (marigolds and green beans) this way. Being my 1st go at cannabis, I overwatered like crazy. That kept my seedlings flourishing in their coco until…here’s what happened:

I transplanted to a Jiffy pint and all was well, but my gals were stunting as they went into veg. I figured they might need another transplant because of all the D E I was using. The ph was becoming a bit too alkaline and they looked hungry, but too young to feed.

When I flipped the Jiffy pint, the FF HF soil fell out bone dry and all that was left was a retracted peat pellet. My runt was nothing more than a coin-sized coaster and my star had a disc of about 2” deep. It looked as though I hadn’t removed the pellet’s paper at all. I assure you, I did. Tell that to the peat was that must’ve been scrunching up every 2-3 days. The runt stunted early because her roots were crammed up with the peat to it’s OG form.

Bro _ I didn’t have the heart to off em. I already had my two 2.5 gal pots loaded with 2” rocks at the bottom and HF throughout. I gave the edges of that disc a little smushing and buried my gals as deep as I could wo the leaves touching the dirt. Then I covered it with a skimmed layer of sand. They look much happier, but still literally dying of thirst. I sang, “You’ll never get away from me,” with Bette Midler to them. It’s true!

I’m inviting everyone to follow this journey for as long as we can. Let me give you confidence and a place to clout all that knowledge and experience y’all got on me. Help! I think I may have messed up, but we may have a happy accident on our hands, Bob. Come see what happens. We’re on a cliff hanger.

Yours in the garden,

Gary Green

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Jiffy pellets are from the devil. Even taking off their nets. I started my plants in coco/perlite this time and overall it went much better (though I had a couple of genetic misfits in the bunch!). .

Good luck with your grow - do you have any pictures for us to see?

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Hey @GaryGreen what your setup for this journey? Grow environment; lights, air, room, feeding schedule, temp, humidity, etc. and pictures. We like pictures to add some color to the journey.
Are your using any root stimulator? I have learned that helps tremendously. Can save your grow when things slip out of whack. And powers the flower process. Plants store sugars and such at night for use later the next day and more importantly during flower.

Good luck!!

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Ditch those pellets and get some pro mix and a bag of composted cow manure and mix a handful in each gallon pot of pro mix

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Never use jiffy peat pods they will kill ur plants

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Thanks all! I’m going to look into root stimulator. So much info it’s humbling, I love it!

I’m in a 2x4 AC Infinity, with a Mars TSL 2000 light set just a hair under 50, but my gals were raised about 6-8” with a dish stacking rack from Dollar Tree, so that they’d be level with soil in 2.5 gallon pots. In my Geraldine run, I’m using FFHF right in Jiffy 4”. Idk if cardboard pots were such a good idea for propagation, but I can’t find tinier plastic pots. I think these are photo plants.


I’m thinking my gal on the right needs a little CalMag. I promise I studied. I practically rewrote the bible in a comp book. I tried to predict the worst and hope for the best, but there’s so much more to learn. Thank you all for your help.

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Don’t let it bother you, you’re dealing with living things here, and no matter how well you prepare, each plant is a bundle of surprises. They look good to me, I’d just try for a touch more humidity in their early youth.

My seedlings/transitioning to veg state plants are set for 70% RH. I’m going to start slowly dropping it to the proper range for early veg over the next week or so.

I’mma have to get my backside to dollar tree and see if I can snag a cookie rack or two.

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Walmart wants $12+, so def do DT for that rack. It’s neat, ain’t it?!

They also have seeds 4 packs for a dollar, so u can companion grow to get ur humidity up. My RH is 16% all over the house, but companions help lift it near 40% in the tent. When ur priority plants get bigger, you can move ur Daisies or Zinnias outside to the partial sun they prefer in maturity.

Stay away from Back to Roots seed from Walmart. Their germ rate is almost nil. I tried their lavender and idk if they got mildew or bled color, but they had a pink hue around the seed on the paper towel. I tried em in soil too and they were all duds. I got one viable seed on the paper towel and nothing else.

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