Fleaz'z Grow Blog: First Grow!

[johnny108]

I grow in a semi-soilless mix with full strength triple-20 fertilizer applied every 3rd watering.
A large portion of the mix is coco coir:
10 quarts coconut coir
5 quarts perlite
5 quarts vermiculite
5 quarts commercial bagged potting soil

I used to water full strength fertilizer every other watering, but this was wasteful.

 

[Wombat_smokes]

Coconut coir and (sphagnum) peat moss both retain moisture. When using coir seed starting discs, I had seeds mold due to excessive water retention (I watered too much & too often). When I added enough water to saturate my peat based seedling mix, it grows white mold. With that said, they are good ingredients for a Potting mix; but beware over watering.

To manage the mold, I sprayed a 1:1 mix of peroxide and water. No harm to the plants, just water spot damage to the leaves.

 

[StoneCarver]

Mold can be an issue with any seed starting mix. I also use hydrogen peroxide; it also gives the added benefit of releasing oxygen into the soil mix when it breaks down. I also use Physan 20 to inhibit mold/fungal growth. After the seeds have sprouted and grown a bit, meaning I no longer feel they need their humidity tent and can take it off, I'll inoculate the soil with beneficial microorganisms such as Mycogold.

 

[Fleaz]

I appreciate all the feedback. I ended up getting some Fox Farms ocean forest mix for the 3 I plan to plant in pots, one bag should cover all 3. It seemed cheaper than buying all the "ingredients" and mixing my own. I am considering finding or buying some clay for the pots based on what PvtPublic mentioned. For the above ground planters, at least without plants they retain a ton of moisture for days. I got some Garden soil to top the planters off and some compost to mix into the existing soil to give it more nutrients, no clue when they were used last. We got some snow the last few days with lots of rain on the forecast, so ill be waiting another week or two to transplant. Great for the area, we have had a dry winter, snow pack is the lowest in recorded history and fires have already started, luckily only small fires locally. Although 125,000 acres burned in Nebraska (morrill fire) a few hours away and we got the smoke from that. This whole region is feeling it pretty bad.

 

[OrlandoJoe]

Hello, I'm new here!

I'm going to preface this with me being completely new to growing plants in general. I got my seeds in from victory seeds last Saturday and sowed them in that afternoon. I got 3 varieties: Virginia Gold, TN90, and Meechurinski.
I am in Colorado (5b) so it is a bit colder at night still but we had a warm week (93F as I'm writing this) so I set the dome in a south facing window during the day and the dome got really warm, they all seemed to germinate well, first sprouts showed on Tuesday with them filling in throughout the week. I had some basil and tomato seeds in the dome and I think I may have been spraying water at to much of an angle because some tobacco sprouted in those pots as well lol. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that because idk if my varieties got mixed. Kept the dome on until Friday morning. I'm not sure if it was overwatered, too humid or was too cold at night but they are kinda purple (photos look a bit greener), could also be from all the light, very sunny and not too much cloud coverage throughout the day. I got a grow light and now using that to hopefully expedite the process so they can be as large as possible before transplanting outside. If you guys have any tips or tricks for a first time grower, please let me know!

I'm trying my hand with tobacco for the first time as well. Got the seeds from a northern friend, and having good success this far. Hope all goes well for you!