So the title says it. I know someone is going to say just stick it in the soil thats how plants work they have been doing it for longer than we have blah blah blah.
My question is is what can we do to provide the best chances of survival? No greenhouse, items from the recycling bin are allowed. No pucks, cubes or bought starter things.
Would germinating inside then transferring out as seed with a taproot shock them?
Would you just stick the seed in the ground anyway?
Cut in half bottle over the top?
Covered with a plank or something similar?
What options am i missing?
@Bob13
Iāll chip in 2 cents for this , for me I do the following
I soak the seeds in rain water with fresh Aloe Vera juices . The jar goes In a box with a reptile heat mat ā¦ does the aloe add value , I think it does , I could be conning myself as well ā¦ once they sink next is Into paper towel lightly dusted with great white , I prep takeaway coffee cups with 1/4 composted seaweed to 3/4 seedling mix , cut the top off a small coke bottle and use the bottom for a dome , this slides perfectly into the coffee cup Btw
Seeds go in and a light water , I then push the dome firmly in place
punch a couple holes in the sides of the bottle to regulate the humidity a little , and we are off n racing
I tend to leave the dome on for an average of 5 days
Edit : just a little baked when typing this , so just to clarify ā¦ once the sprouts are potted up ( early spring ) I move them outside - not in direct sunlight for more than a couple of hours early morning . The seedlings do better with the dome on first few days I found because the temps are generally fairly low that time of year and the extra humidity seems to help them to get up and going
I donāt put plants (cannabis) in the ground at all anymore.
But I do put seeds in small starter containers outdoors under the sun.
I have used styro egg cartons or small styro cups with Jiffy seed starter mix or ProMix, which I put seeds into. I put these out under direct sunlight-- after dark I bring āem indoors and put under light.
I transplant out of the egg carton cells (or small cups) after a week to 10 days.
I do not cover seeds/seedlings with anything while under the direct sunlight, as they will quickly get way too hot, just mist āem with a spray bottle to keep āem moist.
So Iām in this boat with you. My plan is a bit rough around the edges still so keep that in mindā¦so anyways heres the plan for a ācold startā guerrilla. Iām in the north a bit so itās still cold till may sometimes.
I take paper towel rolls and cut them to make about three sections.
Cut the bottoms so you Can fold them like you would a cardboard box.
Fill with your preferred seed starting mix and voila! Seed starters you can either plant or peel off at transplant time. Careful tho because after about 2 or 3 weeks they get mushy and will fall apart(exactly what i want )
Take an empty gallon jug thatās been rinsed well(very important because you Will attract bugs and critters otherwise) Can use old 2l bottles or whatever on hand for this as long as they arenāt colored clear milk jugs still work just avoid green bottles. I like gallons cuz they have a handle and you can get like 6 to 8 plants in each container comfortably
Cut almost all the way around the bottle about 2/3 to 3/4 up from the bottom leaving a little plastic attached so the bottle stays in one piece yet you can have relatively easy access. I like gallon jugs cuz i just leave the handle intact and cut aground the other part of the bottle. After this part you should have a āflip topā bottle
You are gonna need an overflow hole so if you get rains or a flood the water can escape somehow but not through the bottom. The idea here is to reserve about 2 or 3 inches in the bottles so your guerrilla seedlings donāt dry up before they get a chance to grow! (Also if your in a desert climate its easy to set up a ādog water bowlā type refill situation so seedlings can get started with only one trip to set up and can wait a month to go back with piece of mind) The water reserve is intended to get your seed starters thoroughly moist and tosoften them so roots can penetrate but also so you donāt have to continuously check the sprouts(security)
Lastly you can cover the top hole where the cap was and the side drains with small sections of salvaged window screen so you donāt get any uninvited guests living in there while your away.you can use glue or tape just make sure itās clear
This is intended to be a bring in to the spot assemble and leave it solution to not draw attention coming and going frequently. Works well in cold environments kinda like how your car is 10 15 degrees warmer inside than outside even without the top cap and side hole. Used it last year but didnāt have the screen and got a colony of slugs in there lol. But it did sprout my plants in late March and get them through to April before the slugs got em when it warned up.
So before you go to the plot: assemble the āstarter potsā, the flip top vessel unless you want to do it in the bush, and have a soil mix ready.
At the plot: fill up your āpotsā wet em and plant em. Arrange them inside the vessel and argue the outside with just enough tape to cover the gaps and hold it together. Id suggest a clear tape but Iāve used duct tape and it works. Remember That the point is to eventually get the seedlings out so donāt go too crazy.
These can also be a transport solution as well if you leave the water out of them till you get on site in which case id suggest watering each pot then filling up the bottom up to the hole.
This is not perfect but if you are a crafty person you can source 100%of the materials for free or rather āno additional costā. It does work but I only did two testers last year and got the plants chomped on so i just didnāt take the time to post about it till now. Iāll make a few this year and show them when its time. Any questions Iāll gladly answer. I also have a larger planting version but this will work for up to like 20/50 plants itād only take 3 or so vessels to make that happen could carry everything you need in a single backpack.
you could always plant them somewhere theyāll get watered and tended, like a city owned garden bed or something, maybe even at city hall might be the Aussie Bastard or a Grinspoon might make it a while
i would put a piece of wire above them to keep birds or varmits from getting to them also i would make a beer trap for snails to make trap just get a saucer place it next to seedling and pour beer in snail will crawl in and drown when full repeat
)
