Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 10 Entries. Sunday, February 2 View Page Yup. Per my previous belief in that the 178's root had reached 27.5 inches in 2023, it turns out that it reached 40 inches (!) in reality. I'm not sure butt I believe that the roots had reached this length butt were lost in the medium and not at the outer edges of it - hidden, essentially. There are mysterious, grey blobs of whatever might be growing in the Mycorrhizae as well and those & the SS Mix of Jiffy-Mix + Bio Gro Endo Plus are just hanging out for the NEXT root to come through. That'll be a 166 Gerry and it is currently in the upper container awaiting its sprouting. I 'can't wait'! eg   Tuesday, February 4 View Page I thought I was 'seeing things' when the cots of my 166 were busting from the seed coat and the roots were literally swirling around in a vortex of downward FURY! Lol, Ahem, etc. & probably 4-5 inches in 6 days, anyway! Well, I had forgotten about it sort-of and I HAD re-watered it slightly a day ago butt it's not right in the way, so, much neglect is at hand. Now, it is in a more-conspicuous place and this has been started without any ferts nor Myco added - There is Myco in the SS Mix tube and the SS Mix from many, many seed starts and freezings; (I freeze the SS Mix whenever I've terminated a plastic cup seed experiment, rather than leaving it out to just be gross, like food left on the counter. Ewww!) I feel that this kills stuff that has accumulated and the Myco knows whazzup anyway. A couple days later, I may thaw the atrocity, and let 'er dry out, in the kitchen sink; Myco survives better if it is slowly cooled by Nature rather than by my freezer, butt if it's there, it's there. No worries. THIS experiment has NOT ever been frozen nor thawed - the SS Mix is still moist from about 1 foot to 3 feet down, give or take(!). Laters---eric g   Friday, February 14 View Page Ummm, this got to be 14 inches, then 18 inches (no Diary entry for that) and I added Miracle-Gro Tomato Food 18-18-21 and it seems that all downward growth stopped, (OHlolNO). I'm guessing that the plant has reached its equilibrium as to how much above-ground there is as opposed to how much below-ground there is...and how much nutrition is available. ...and light! This may be significant because if each is dependent upon the other, well, of course, they are, well, it's just that I'm thinking there is significance to this relationship beyond what I'm not even thinking of @ the moment, lol. Thoughts below, I suppose, and see my 'solution/amendment' to it in the next post. eg   Saturday, February 15 View Page Well, for more light input, here's my attempt, lol. I have noticed the cots and 1st true leaf following the light in the living room from day to day butt it has not been anywhere nearly enough to promote even the growth that my basement light setup provides. We'll...see, lol---eric g   Wednesday, February 19 View Page Here is a 42 Gerry FP '23; Not sure when it was started but I'm sure it was at least 2 weeks ago+; I don't wanna move it to find out. Anyway, this ties in with that the Miracle-Grow Tomato Food is working well with the FP---I recently sprouted a 142.6 AG of mine and the FP's tendrils I'm allowing to wrap around the stem just for fun! I'll keep an eye on it. The MG may be having an OPPOSITE effect on my 166 test tube plant; The growth has STOPPED and the first true leaf is the only accomplishment of that plant in the previous post, plus an 18" tap root + numerous 'filler-upper' roots we normally see, up-top. The tap root MAY be starting up again. I am sorta sure that minimal lighting...well, that should not be an issue, with my other, better results... Will theorize soon. eric g   Tuesday, February 25 View Page Well, 't's been a few days now butt this is a 16-ounce drinking cup with a fruit cup installed as a lid; I've long been wanting to experiment with a lid that has a pointed-down characteristic, as the evaporating water stays up at the top forever if no 'condensation nuclei' (any sharp points in the lid's surface, in THIS case) concentrate the H2O enough to drop it back onto the SS Mix below. This started ALMOST-happening immediately butt needed an occasional tipping of the SS Cup to see it happen. I'm sure it did, anyway. A piece of clear tape is at opposite edges of the lid to keep it attached. No need for SS Mix messes! In this way, the terrarium effect ensues and I look forward to practically COOKING SS Mix and attempted seed sprouts in this manner - 'Heater Fan(tasy) - A Closed System'. Maybe a Tesla Coil to further-simulate the conditions for the first Life on Earth? Hmmm...eg   Tuesday, February 25 View Page Yup. Surprised at how quickly they sprouted. Should be no surprise due to the 'viewing window'; I love this! There were also 2 37 FPs from like 2014 in there also. No sprouts therein. I have a handful or two left to keep trying with, probably using them up in '25 trials. eg   Tuesday, February 25 View Page Yeah, I like 'em leggy, green being a probable plus, lol; Here's them FPs o' mine and I just merely spring tap-watered them; February 17th to 25th. The idea here was to just use about 1/3 the cup's normal depth of SS Mix and let them get leggy, followed by filling up the rest of it with the remaining, many-times-reused SS Mix. I am certain that the Myco originally 'installed' in the SS Mix, nearing a year ago, MAYBE, is always doing its job. It is like the worms in the Patch that get tilled and some killed in early summer - Yet, a month later they are reproducing and ducking outta sight as I simply look the Patch over for fun at night - or whilst getting male flowers. The Cycle of Life. PS---I put a Men's Daily Vitamin in the SS Mix to see how it'd do as a simply-different source of possible nutrients. No MG in this particular setting. eg   Sunday, March 2 View Page The Man Vitamin was a little too manly, lol, and I wish they'd have that effect on me, lol. Well, NO, since these plants are at Death's door and yet, now, as of the 5th, one of them is still kicking but the other two are in dire straits; They are none of them able to be pulled from their root systems, usually a final sign of The End, SO I added about 3 ounces, a VERY loose guess, of H2O and that was when the alivest-looking one started...or continued...to 'perk up' - It could be MY own Placebo Effect - My optimism that they will recover. Thankfully, I have another experiment in the works. Stay tuned! ..........Ummm, Hello?...lo...?lo...?lo...?lol......eg   Thursday, March 6 View Page Here is that 42 Gerry FP from a couple weeks ago; It has been doing better than any seedling in recent memory, fueled only by reused SS Mix with Myco in it already and currently, Miracle-Grow Tomato Food; I believe its layout is 18-18-21, at regular strength. It has even gained another 6 inches out the top of my end table light SINCE this pic was taken and I wonder what'll happen since the lighting is from below its growing tip, now; I also wonder if the plant's rapid growth is from the tendrils doing their thing and if they in any way trigger rapid growth once they attach to things or what. eg