What's up my fellow Cannabis Lovers and Enthusiasts!? Another week has come and gone, and you know what that means! :) It's time to welcome you all back to another edition of:

Gardening with The Anarchist's: After Hours!

It's definitely been a week of questions and what I hope will be learning experiences for the future here at "The Anarchist's Alcove", but we are determined in our attempt to help these beauties to thrive!

But without further ado, let start out with the highlights from last week's Special Edition of "After Hours"!

Last Week's Highlights!

Last week was a pretty good week here at the "Alcove", and all the plants seemed to pick up a little besides Plant 5, which seems to have reacted poorly to the miracle grow that was added the week prior.

The heat also seemed to play a huge role this week, not only in drying out the substrate in each planter, but I also think it may have been the cause of the plants starting to turn yellow!

Plant 4 did suffer a burnt leaf that I could never quite figure out the cause, but again, I believe it may have been due partially to the heat. My watering schedule may have also played a role in that as well, but only time will tell on that front!

I also noticed a moss-like film growing between the soil and milk jug planter walls, which I believe is due to the planters' thin plastic walls moving and causing air gaps between the settling soil and the planter itself!

So, branching off of that, let's talk about what I've learned from the last few weeks!

Learning Experiences!

I can't lie, I feel like I've learned a lot so far from this first grow! And I know I will continue to learn throughout this and my future grows!

First of all, I should have kept a better eye on the sprouts when they were first starting, and I also should have transplanted them once they had fully popped from the soil like I originally intended instead of waiting an extra day and a half.

Secondly, I should have allowed the soil to settle in my homemade planters for a few days before we transplanted our seedlings, and possibly should have added some sand or something similar to help aerate the soil and prevent it from settling as much as it has!

As for the homemade planters, I should have made the drainage holes either bigger, or just opened them up a little bit more than what I did to allow for more water flow. Also, the ventilation was an issue at first, which means I needed, and will have to be mindful of next time I make homemade planters, to cut the top off of the jugs completely instead of leaving the handle like I originally did.

Also, I think I may have been overwatering, or watering at the wrong times during the day. There have been a few times that I've watered in the middle of the day, thinking this would help cool the plants, but I think that since I'm using the milk and water jugs as planters, it's causing the soil to heat up more it should, which could be causing the wilting and yellowing of the plants!

Other than that, I believe I may have added the organic fertilizers too soon, but hopefully I didn't add too much to harm these growing beauties!

The Week 5 Update!

Picking up on Monday, June the 20th, I watered all the plants when I got home from work. I definitely need to figure out something for more water retention because all the substrate has been drying out. All the plants look really good, although Plant 5 seems to be stunted, possibly due to the miracle grow that was added? I'll continue to monitor to see how it goes!

_{While all the other plants seem to be getting bushier, Plant 5 seems to be stunted, which I have to assume is due to the miracle grow!}

Moving right along into Tuesday, June the 21st, the substrate was dry again in all the planters, so I watered again as soon as I got home. I did notice that Plant 5 is turning more yellow, which must be due to the miracle grow that was added to the planter. Either that, or it may have been receiving too much water due to the water retention of said miracle grow.

Out of the rest of the plants, Plant 1 is by far the most improved! I'm so excited to see how it continues to progress! Although Plant 6 still looks amazing, I've noticed that the leaves are starting to fold into themselves. The first set of leaves on Plant 2 have also started to slightly turn yellow, which I will have to continue to monitor. Plant 3 and Plant 4 look like they are doing well, with no notable changes. Also, the substrate in the milk jug planters has started to settle a lot more, leaving it about two inches lower than it was after adding my homemade substrate mix from Week 2.

_{You can start to see in this picture that Plant 6's leaves are started to fold. I'm not quiet sure of the cause!}

Once I got home the following evening, Wednesday, June the 22nd, I watered them again because I do believe they need more water than normal plants, or am I wrong in that assumption? Plant 5 looks about the same size and color, and I'm wondering if it is being overwatered? I'll have to continue to monitor and possible start keeping a record of exactly how much I am watering the plants! Do any of the experienced growers out there keep watering records?

_{Plant 5 still seems about the same, and the leaves on Plant 6 seem to be folding more.}

I got off really early on Thursday, June the 23rd, around 11 AM, and I watered all the plants immediately with cold water, with hopes that this would cool down the soil a little bit. All plants are looking really good today; except Plant 5, which still looks about the same. And I am now wondering, after a comment from @canna-curate, if the soil is getting too hot? Maybe I should cut back on watering when I get home, and start watering later in the evening?

_{You can reply start to see the color during the daytime shots, Plant 5 still not getting any better.}

I didn't end up watering on Friday, June the 24th, because I was going to water in the evening, but I fell asleep rocking Junior before I got the opportunity. Plants are definitely looking a little more yellow as well, which leaves me wondering if the soil is in fact too hot for them? I absolutely need to transplant them all soon, preferably this coming week!

_{Here, you can see the plants are a little more yellow than they should be, and I hope that they will recover if I can figure out a way to lower the soil temperature!}

Luckily, temperatures were only in the high 70's on Saturday, June the 25th, which I thought was the perfect chance to water the plants and see how they do! After seeing how they were yellowing the day before, I'm really hoping they will start to recover! Again, since this is an extremely budgeted first grow, I haven't had the spare funds available to purchase buckets for the transplant yet, but hopefully soon! :)

_{These babies are definitely in need of a transplant soon! Any suggestions on a budget substrate? Other than my garden soil?}

_{Plant 1 is growing a new set of leaves! :)}

After raining in the middle of the night on Sunday, June the 26th, I checked them in the morning to see how they were all doing! Plant 5 doesn't seem to be doing any better as of yet, but as I'm trying to figure out the best time to water, I hope I can get this little one to make a comeback! Plant 1 is still looking phenomenal and is by far the best looking plant at this time! Plant 6 still looks like the leaves are folding in on themselves, but I hope that a new watering schedule will help that as well! After seeing how the plants have done this week, I think it's definitely time to perform a transplant!

_{I know it's only been a week, but Plant 5 still hasn't started to recover. I hope that after a transplant and a new watering schedule, each of the plants will recover and start to thrive!}

So what do you guys think? Not a bad week by any means, but I'm definitely starting to question some things now that the plants are starting to yellow. And also, now that Plant 6's leaves are starting to fold, I'm unsure of what I'm doing wrong or what I need to change!

But sadly, that about wraps up this update, thank you all for joining us here at "The Anarchist's Alcove"!

I hope you all have a great week, and don't forget to tune-in next week for another "After Hours" Update!

Stay Trippy, My Little Hippies! ✌️💚

---

• As always, the pictures used in this Update were taken on the old reliable Moto G Stylus
• Signature provided by @doze! Check out his profile for more cool