Germinating

I have to toss my dumb ass back into noob section because I simply cannot grow a damn nirvana white widow seedling in Rockwool.

It is frustrating as hell and i have already gone off several times. I started 2 seeds in pH 5.8 Gro-Dan 1" Rockwool. They died. Second 2 grew to point of 4 serrated leaves and the cotyledons had been consumed, but after they fell off, the plants died of lack of moisture. Third set of 2 I just killed one because I just got a new dog and let the seeds germinate for 3 days. Well, Nirvana seeds sprout a 4" taproot within 3 days they grow so ridiculously fast. I was fiddling with one seedling, and accidentally let the wet paper towel fall on the second and it broke the leaves right off. I was pissed.

So after 30 minutes pissed off going sociopath before work, I stuffed the remaining one in a mcdonalds cup with miracle gro. Ill just transplant the fucker directly into 5g hydroton buckets whenever they are ready.

Question is:

How the fuck do I keep this thing alive that long? It is simply a fucking miracle that my current grow lived through all the torture I had put them through. They look great, but I know exactly what I did wrong, and why they arent going to reach their potential. However, these seedlings are wearing me out, and they cost big money for the little damn seeds. Not to mention anxiety waiting for them to arrive. I have 25 feminized seeds left and I want to keep a number of them in case of bugout emergency, for medicinal purposes.

I cannot for the life of me clone plants either. I already did a small test run of 5 clones and they didnt even make it one day. I had cut from the bottom of the plant, angled the cut, scraped the stem, used clonex, and planted in a 5.8pH 1" Rockwool cube that weighed 26g with water that had 50ppm of Superthrive + Dutch Master Gold A+B.

*sigh*

I have read many many many posts, however, does anyone know of a great step-by-step process or flowchart for daily germination tasks? I understand the ebb and flow design, but I dont understand how you could set a flow to occur any more than one time per day. Why? Because when I dip my 1" cubes, they get sopping wet and hold a lot of water for like days. So how can you flood a tray of cubes twice a day or more? This would cause mine to be overwatered and it will kill them. That is the part I dont understand.

I also bought red spray nozzles, would these be good for watering seedlings? I habe 2 pumps, one 633gph and other 500 or something. I use two ball valves to control my water pressure, and it seems that under no pressure do they ever spray correctly. Do I need a bigger pump?

wait are you using nutrients on them?? id do germinate for 3 days then palnt them in the rock wool. make sure the roclwool never drys completly on top i water em 2 a day once in the morning once at night, besides that no nutes, and dont touch them! they are very fragile at this point sorry i cant be more help im still workgighjkng on my first grow

Humidity dome?

Is your air to dry?

StreetRider said:

Humidity dome?

Is your air to dry?

Click to expand...

Should I just put the seed, pointed side down, directly into the rockwool? It is easy if they are just germinated and you can see the taproot under 1/2". However, when they are long it is nearly impossible without screwing something up.

I have a Hydrofarm Humidity dome with a Hydrofarm seedling warming mat

i have actually ahd pretty good seedling luck i think temperature has a lot to do with it and just not fucking with it i soak them in luke warm water over night or until the shell cracks so that i know its viable then drop it into your medium of choice send a prayer to mother earth and let nature do its thing

I just sprouted 4 of 5 successfully by putting them into a rapidrooter and/or soil mix as soon AS THE TAP ROOT IS APPROX 1/8" LONG. If you let that tap root get longer, there's much more risk for drying out & damage. As soon as it pops it's little root out, I stick them in the medium and keep it moist, (not wet) and warm. It works.

qptyqpty said:

Should I just put the seed, pointed side down, directly into the rockwool? It is easy if they are just germinated and you can see the taproot under 1/2". However, when they are long it is nearly impossible without screwing something up.

I have a Hydrofarm Humidity dome with a Hydrofarm seedling warming mat

Click to expand...

the one seedling that I put in dirt is doing well, but I am now going to have to transplant to hydroton later -- a process I was hoping to avoid this grow. I am going to have to sprout some shitseeds in rockwool a few times just to waste some weak plants so that the important ones can be lavished with the right attention.

Right now, because in my supreme angered state at the breaking of the other seedling, I just stomped downstairs, swiped the mcdonalds cup into miracle gro, jammed my finger in, put the seedling in, then watered til it was a little heavy. I have the bottom of a 16oz water bottle with reflective insulation wrapped on the upper 1" portion, which when inverted makes a small humidity dome with light reflecting onto the bottom of the cotyledons and first true leaves. I have one 26w cool blue CFL nearly touching the humidity dome, while the entire kit is on a warm air vent.

Most of the bagseed takes about 7-8 days to germinate, while the Nirvana seeds sprout MUCH faster, pop within 8 hours, 4" root in 2 days. I guess I need to pay very close attention and watch intermittently, rather than once every day or two.

With the rockwool, I have been making the mistake of using some water with 50ppm of nutes, weighed out to .25g. If I need to quench my plants thirst with nothing more than unadulterated water, how long until I need to start giving nutrients?