Issues starting

Using rapid rooters in a humidity dome on a heat mat under led
This is about five days after placing seeds into rapid rooters
Looks like mildew on the tip of the cotyldons on the left
Made five air holes 1/2 cm each in clear plastic cover to see if that would help
What am I doing wrong here

Damping off ? They looked drowned

you really don't need a dome for seedlings, and if you do you need to open it a bunch/ make sure it is ventilated

also when you put the seed in try ripping a small piece of the rapid rooter off and put it in the center to fill the air hole

It's hard to see the moisture level in the photos but I use rapid rooters and I've killed a few seedlings because of too much water. You can try damp but not wet RRs and put a little water in the tray to let the RR sponge up a little water. Or, start with damp RRs and only mist the tops of the RRs every day or so.

Thanks for the replies guys, I angled the dome so air can get in there, no more moisture, ripped off pieces to create a tighter seal

There are two more on the top in slits made by knife on the underside of the rapid rooter

Does it matter which way the seeds are pointed?

Relative humidity around 20%

You might just want to stick with soil.

The heat mat and leds in a greenhouse cooked them.

Never had luck with rapid rooters either to wet or to dry and killed em. Try going seed straight to medium or paper towel then medium.

Those are now worthless, don't waste time on them. Start with new seeds and follow the advice given here. No domes, no heating mats. those are for cloning.

simplespa said:

Thanks for the replies guys, I angled the dome so air can get in there, no more moisture, ripped off pieces to create a tighter seal
There are two more on the top in slits made by knife on the underside of the rapid rooter
Does it matter which way the seeds are pointed?
Relative humidity around 20%

Click to expand...

No dome .......... no extra water.
Keep them covered in the dark, no water, until the head pops up, take them out and in the light after that.
I don't use domes for cloning either.

use paper towels and a plastic bag to germ seeds. Save the rooters for clones

I’ve also lost seeds using those and peat pellets..I just soak them for 24 hours, once they split, drop them in some seedling loose soil..mist the area and wait.. I mist again as head pops up..if seed hull is still attached, mist lightly... place under lights and let her go...a girl starts growing in 3 days....

simplespa said:

Thanks for the replies guys, I angled the dome so air can get in there, no more moisture, ripped off pieces to create a tighter seal

There are two more on the top in slits made by knife on the underside of the rapid rooter

Does it matter which way the seeds are pointed?

Relative humidity around 20%

Click to expand...

To your seed orientation question, for germination purposes, it does not matter. For minimizing seed cover sticking to cotyledons
during sprout it does matter. Moot if started in paper towel. The one in the last pic is salvageable.

Dixie cups with your choice of medium. I would recommend pro-mix.