Okay let me start off by saying I’m a dunce and wasn’t thinking when I germinated the seed I found. I really should have waited until Spring and whatnot but curiosity got the best of me. At first when I saw it growing I thought maybe I’d let it grow until it produced the classic leaves, press them, and make a cool heirloom, but as it got bigger I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
My plant is now about 6” tall and I’ve gotten a cheap pH / wetness/ light gauge, a some pH test strips, and some rooting hormone for later.
I transplanted the seed into a cup of dirt from outside, and eventually potted it in a decent container… but I’m pretty sure I messed up badly. I used miracle grow peat moss as my medium and now the old cotyledons have crumbled away and I’m afraid the first set of true leaves are following suit. They’ve turned softly yellow-green and one is brown/crumbly at the tip. The upper foliage is in good shape, but new foliage appears a lighter hue than the mature leaves (maybe okay?).
My dinky, cheap pH meter told me that the soil was like pH ~5, which I know is a problem, so I flooded the soil (multiple times, I kind of freaked out) and let it drain out until the runoff was near neutral (pH test strips!) but my soil meter still reads quite a low pH (between 5 and 6). It was super cheap so I don’t trust it that much.
I guess what I’m getting at is that I’m concerned for the plant. I assumed it was nutrient lockout from the low pH so I tried to dilute it but it’s been ~24 hours and the lead tips do not look any better. I’m thinking about adding a baking soda slurry to try to neutralize it a bit or just scrapping the peat moss and starting again with a new soil, but I’m concerned about stunting the plant in the event of a new transplant.
Let me know what y’all think.
Edit: Here’s an example of the leaf issue.