Ok, ok, ok, I'm trying to keep composure...lol I know I'm laughing but really this is quite a setback. Yet at the same time, it is quite the learning experience. What I am talking about are the 30+ seedlings that have withered and died out of 85 or so. It is no fault but my own. I believe it to be from lack of humidity and watering. Should I say, I didn't expect the water to evaporate from the soil so quickly. As well, reading through here I've taken many an idea...such as not to over water. To do this I followed the way that AJ had mentioned he watered, in a thread response where someone's plants were dying due to over watering. He said that he bottom waters his cells for 5 minutes and then empties the rest out...There is nothing wrong with this because it is what his set up requires. It works well for him. What I have to say about this experience, is that every growing setup is unique in it's own and needs to be handled in it's own special way. I did not know, nor did I adjust for it and this is what makes my 30+ seedlings croaking ok. I was trying to follow someone else's methods without paying attention to the variables that might be present.
My set up is outside in an unconditioned space. It sits up in a loft of a shed. I maintain the temperature with a space heater, controlled by a digital thermostat. The Jiffy mix is not only warmed by the heater (which is set at 85) but also warmed by the germination plate I made. This keeps the Jiffy mix at around 79-82 degrees. That is the variance I have found through out checking random cells. The problem is not the temp of the soil, nor is it the temp of the air. It is the fact that these two combinations, combined with the lack of watering and extremely low humidity levels, starved a good majority of my seedlings of life. I don't know why some did and others didn't but I can safely say that is the reason they shriveled up and died.
So I have lowered my heater to 82 degrees and added a humidifier to the equation. I am hoping this will balance out everything and allow the soil to retain it's moisture longer than it has. The dryness was just sucking the water right out of the air, like filling your mouth with a spoon full of cinnamon sucks the saliva right out of your mouth..lol
I'm hoping we are back on track and will have no more fatalities...I've decided to put together another tray of 36 cells, to replace the ones that have died off. My white Fatalii's are toast among a few others. I'm not even sure what has died and what hasn't germinated yet, so I can't update my germination rates lol....it's sad really lmfao. But I am in good spirits and am already moving forward. Not being able to get over there more than around once a week is going to have to change. My buddy works and has two little ones and a fiance to keep up with, so I don't expect him to be able to give them as much attention as they might need. (And they only need this much attention because we don't have our setup under control yet. It's new to us and we need to get the kinks ironed out.)
Here's some pics of the seedlings that are left. The chocolate habanero's I can already tell want to grow into beasts. They are the biggest seedlings of the pics. The Brain Strains are growing strong. I will name them below.
These are the brain strains. They look real good.
From left to right, 3 cells a piece. White Habanero, Long Chocolate Habanero, Jamaican Scotch Bonnets and Datils
This is the same tray above at a side shot, also there are some seedling varieties at the end that you couldn't see in the pic above.
These next few are just random shots of different seedlings.
These next pictures are of the ones that shriveled up and died, as well as some seedlings that are partially shriveled and I'm hoping will bounce back.
I'd also like to add that these seeds where put into the Jiffy starting mix on Feb. 12th...the first seedlings that popped where on Feb. 18th. So the oldest seedling is 9 days old and the youngest I would guess at 4 or 5 days old. lol I know it would be nice to know which ones were which but I don't get over there often enough to keep up with which ones popped when. I am trying my best to keep this log updated regularly and with the most info I can. I appreciate everyone that looks and comments.
