Monday, July 11, 2011

Week One 4 leaves, 3 inches

Well I must confess how excited I have been nurturing my little seedling...it didn't begin easily...I purchased five feminized BlackJack seeds from amsterdam....just as I was certain they weren't going to come, they arrived...in about 2 weeks...that was last month's disability check..for this month's disability check I am going to buy more lights...that is what I have learned these first weeks of trying...if in doubt...ADD LIGHT...
At one week it is about 3 inches tall with four gorgeous leaves...2 are round and flat and two are serrated...and new growth appears to be struggling to emerge from the center...I have learned to be careful watering...not only do I have to fear electrocution...a flood will knock my little seedling over...I tied it to a popsicle stick with some soft twine...and I moved the lights much closer as I was afraid it was "stretching" towards the light...I don't want it to focus on the stem but the leaves...I have 5 100 Watt CFL's on it but I'm not sure that's enough...I want it to thrive...and I reason that I can't begin to duplicate the power of the sun with simple bulbs...but I can try...:-)....more lights...and reflectors...focus the light on my baby...I enjoy opening the door and just looking at it...but I have learned not to mess with it...just leave it alone...

I have killed one seed...I believe it was because I was spraying it with MIracle Grow...this time I gathered rain water and am using that...the second seed sprouted up unexpectedly with the third seed after I had already given up on it...I transplanted it and moved it outside to the porch so I can compare growth between outdoor/indoor...I know if steve sees it he will kill it...so the third seed is my baby in the cabinet....the fourth seed is between wet paper towels under my nightstand...it has been several days but I have learned that these seeds seem to take a little while to sprout...that's how seed number 2 seemed to pop up out of nowhere after I had given up on it...

check back in in a week