Here are some of my seedlings of different skin color. These are all under 6 months and you can see their true color already. Also note the slower growth on these as opposed to those i have growing in the tent. They are contending with elements that my pampered babies don't ever have to deal with.

That is so cool. I love the color hope it stay's dark like that. Is this darker color popping up in some of the Thaisoco Chada petch Or other TS's too?

I like the weathered look to that color.

My red colored ones are Soco hybrids (unnamed). The browner smaller ones are RCN (Arabicum).

Tracy. you are doing very good, like a Pro. I planted an obesum in pure coconut chunks and it`s doing better than all other growing media. Maybe i should repot the CP`s into pure coconut chunks? Or will the transplanting disturb them?

CP`s in the rain. The dirt on the skins is chicken pellets, it is acting like a foliar fetilizer?

If by chicken pellets you mean chicken poo, this could burn the skin Stuart especially in the sunlight. I would wash them off immediately and only apply fertilizer to the soil.

Tracy

For the coir chunks I would do a mixture, not just coir because you need some aeration to help it dry faster. Add pumice or a similar aggregate if you have access.

Tracy. Thank you for these tips. I started using chicken pellets two years ago and it never burnt any plants.

The husk/chips are holding less water then the coir, don't you think? The coconut shell i cut in pieces from 0.5 to 1 cm. Right now i have two DR in coconut husk chips and no sign of root rot. Here pumice, perlite, grow stone etc.. are not available.

Yes the husk chips are definitely the way to go. Avoid the finer coir since you don't have access to an aggregate. Also occasionally check the roots on them to compare. I know this disturbs them but it also teaches us valuable lessons about what we are growing. Looking great Stuart, good growing.

Tracy

Tracy. Why are the Thai's are using biochar cocnut husk and rice husk?

I can not stop watching them every day and night. I think maybe they will grow a bit faster if i do not cut the leaves to often off.

Aren't the leaves cut to supposedly make the caudex thicker? I love to observe a lot too.

To make the sun reach every branch

The leaves removed will do both. The longer branches if the leaves are removed, it will allow more light to get to the shorter ones in hope for them to catch up.

Making sure that the plant is not in too small of a pot will also help with branches not becoming elongated.

Rick

Rick. Thanks for the tip

my CP

JP. yours is growing faster.

I would think the weather in Suriname would be similar to HI, Stuart might have more rain.?

Stuart I know they are out now but did you have yours under lights. I think JP has them out all year.

No never have lights for plants

Nine months old. Repotted my biggest CP into a bigger pot on July 23, 2016. Any suggestions for faster grow?

Tracy. How are your CP seedlings doing? They must be fatter than my CP's.

Stuart, you and JP should have similar growth. Your weather is a little wetter then his at times. He has had such fantastic growth. PM him

Thanks Marica. JP is using extra lights. That's the different. I am using only sun light 12 hrs a day.

the things i grow inside is my hydroponics experiments, i grow all my cp outside 24/7. this is my cp this picture is from 7.20.16

she was planted 8.6.15, so as of today shes 1yr old now

and here she is now 08.23.16

JP. Unbelievable!!! Are there fast and slow growing CP's hybrids or am I doing something wrong?

Stuart unless you feed them a lot of fertilizers...yours wont thicken as much as JP's, and not that fast too!

Here is one of mine, which picked up some growth this monsoon

Sinha. Thank you. How thick is it and no branching yet?

stuart i grow organic, in my yard, and never fed them with chemicals or even spray chemical insecticides.

i have a black giant also it was planted 7.15.15 its getting big and its starting to branch out and fat. ill try post pic later .

Thank you JP. I would love to see it

@Jerricson, for thick caudex, u give ur plans more p and k instead of n? Some how i get branching but not thick caudexes.... Was wondering what component i need to increase

Stuart, apologies for late reply. It is about an inch thick at the bottom and six inches tall, but no branching yet... it will be a year old on 23rd sep, so I cant say that it grew fast.

Jericson, your plants are par excellence. Mine did not respond very well to organics but definitely to inorganics...so long as they grow I have no issues, the idea is to make them grow happily.

Stuart, I feel they definitely respond to bottom heat and their growth has improved tremendously since I started to keep them on the floor (acts like a heat mat). I was earlier keeping them off ground on small tables.

both of them are black giant

Lovely specimens Jericson!!as always!Real Giants...how old are they please?

They are real giants JP

sinha they were planted 07.15.15 and that picture was form yesterday 08.29.16, and after this picture i just realized that both of them are bulging up on the sides so i transplanted both of them but forgot to take picture of the their bottoms, roots are going crazy underneath lots of big ones, ill just let it grow the way it is without messing with them to have a natural look when they get bigger..

thanks stuart, was gonna transplant some more but, we got cat 2 and cat 3 storm arriving tomorrow and thursday, dont wanna risk any rots this year.

Almost 1 year old. It`s really fun watching them grow and being impatient!!!

Those are all looking fabulous, Stuart. Nice growth and going to be some nice plants for you.

Rick

Great looking plants Stuart, they have the makings of some very nice caudexes. The one in the green pot has some good looking branches giving it a nice balanced outline, it's lovely.

I don't know how Jericson gets such massive growth on his plants, do you? To get a plant to that size in a year is crazy! They're like plants on steroids!

Gill

Guinea pig poop is doing wonders.

I'm just off out to buy myself a couple of guinea pigs Stuart! Great recycling idea :-)

Gill

You know that i was complaining for the slow growht, i don't know if it is the poop or it is the time for the plant to speed up growht?

Probably a combination of both factors Stuart :-)

Gill

Good. I don't have to buy anymore fertiliser.

Jericson does all of his Organic and has quite a nice complete soil he mixes. I believe it is in one of the threads here. He has the right temperatures, light and good natural soil w lots of microbes in the soil.

In Thailand and in Australia, they use a lot or Aged Chicken manure that is pelletized.

Rick

I see that dr Dimit and All Tapla are right about a high nitrogen fertiliser.

heres my cp now stuart, and rick is right i do all organic in my yard and make my own mixes, took me several years to find my own mix. i use the same mix on everything from vegtables to other plants and to adeniums,

my backyard as of nov1

diamond king

Thank you JP. now i an using organic fertilisers. very nice plants!!!!!

are you still using rabbit poop?

yep im still using them, thats their cage beside my adeniums lol

Supprise for Marica!!!! i did some repotting today and...