Artificial Emotion
Bluelighter
You need to start keeping it simple.
Try an experiment, keeping it simple this time and see how you go. Get peat pellets (the kind that swell up when you soak them in water before use) and plant the seeds straight in there, making holes just a few mm deep and covering. Keep them warm at a temperature of 21-23 degrees centigrade and wait for them to germinate. Then once you see roots poking through the bottom you then plant them into a small pot of soil, planting some mycorrhizal fungi into the planting hole if you wish.
The soil should be something simple to start off with. Never mind adding sand, stone, top soil, ashes and all that. Just get multipurpose compost from your garden centre/nursery (please show us a photo before you use it so I can say whether it's likely to be okay to use if you want to be sure) and sieve it with a 1/4 inch gardening sieve.
Make sure you water the soil once you've planted the peat puck into the planting hole with tepid (inbetween hot and cold) water and then use what is called a wet/dry cycle, meaning you allow the soil to dry out slightly inbetween waterings so the roots can get oxygen from the air. But be sure not to let it dry out too much otherwise the plant will wilt and cause damage. The soil, if it's a multipurpose compost, will already have fertilizers added to it so you do not need to add calcium, phosphorus or any other fertilizer to it. Each time you pot up with fresh compost you are adding fresh unused compost for the roots to use so they will get enough nutrients from that. And that leads me on to the next point - you should be potting up in stages instead of planting straight into one big pot full of soil.
You need to make sure your environment is right if you're growing indoors with the right amount of light and good airflow maintained by the use of a good extraction and intake fan. I assume you already have that sorted out, right?
Try an experiment, keeping it simple this time and see how you go. Get peat pellets (the kind that swell up when you soak them in water before use) and plant the seeds straight in there, making holes just a few mm deep and covering. Keep them warm at a temperature of 21-23 degrees centigrade and wait for them to germinate. Then once you see roots poking through the bottom you then plant them into a small pot of soil, planting some mycorrhizal fungi into the planting hole if you wish.
The soil should be something simple to start off with. Never mind adding sand, stone, top soil, ashes and all that. Just get multipurpose compost from your garden centre/nursery (please show us a photo before you use it so I can say whether it's likely to be okay to use if you want to be sure) and sieve it with a 1/4 inch gardening sieve.
Make sure you water the soil once you've planted the peat puck into the planting hole with tepid (inbetween hot and cold) water and then use what is called a wet/dry cycle, meaning you allow the soil to dry out slightly inbetween waterings so the roots can get oxygen from the air. But be sure not to let it dry out too much otherwise the plant will wilt and cause damage. The soil, if it's a multipurpose compost, will already have fertilizers added to it so you do not need to add calcium, phosphorus or any other fertilizer to it. Each time you pot up with fresh compost you are adding fresh unused compost for the roots to use so they will get enough nutrients from that. And that leads me on to the next point - you should be potting up in stages instead of planting straight into one big pot full of soil.
You need to make sure your environment is right if you're growing indoors with the right amount of light and good airflow maintained by the use of a good extraction and intake fan. I assume you already have that sorted out, right?
stupid question, that has probably been asked before....
I have tried to grow on a couple different occasions, nothing serious, only 1 plant at a time and each time have had the same results... I sprout the seeds for 3-5 days in moist paper towels, and then plant them indoors in a soil medium and use natural spring water from a mountain stream to avoid any chemicals that may be present in the municipal source. My soil is usually 20% sand bottom, a layer of natural stone containing calcium and phosphorus ground up across the top of that, about 5% and the rest consisting of around 50% dark natural top soil from the creek bed, 10% ashes and 15% planting soil (if fertilized, the kind for roses) mixed. the natural soil is sifted to remove any other plants or roots that might be in it, using 18 hour light on 6 hours off schedule. the seedlings are planted about 3 inches deep, and at least 6-8 inches of soil above the sand layer. Well, the plants shoot up to about 12-14 inches tall within 2-3 weeks, before any leaves form, then it gets 2-3 leaves at the top of the stem, then the plant just seems to either fall over and die, or they turn yellowish and dry out, either way it is just before I am ready to change the lighting timing to 12/12 to flower the plant. What am I doing wrong here? the plant is well wateredthe roots in the soil look good when I go through them, I am at a loss here...
-OcO-