Alpha492
Active Member
ok I will start this thread with my germination technique (which has been 100% successful so far) for newbies curious about germination, then end the thread with my newbie questions.
Germination-
I use a combination of the soaking technique, and the paper towel technique with a heat mat.
Step 1;
Place the seeds in jars filled with just enough water to soak the seedling, and just little enough water to make fishing them out easy. Make sure the water is Ph'd between 6.0 and 6.3, and with PPM no higher than 100. Less then 40 PPM is ideal. However very low PPM's make PH testing difficult.
The best strategy I have found to achieve this is to pick up a gallon of DISTILLED water. Make sure it is just distilled water and not filtered drinking water as filtered drinking water will have minerals added. Add a Calmg solution (doesn't matter what brand) to the distilled water till it is about 60 PPM, at this level there is enough conductive dissolved solids to check Ph. Go ahead and balance your Ph place the seeds in the labeled jars and leave them in a dark area with a temp somewhere around 75 degrees for about 16 hours. DO NOT LET THE SEEDS SOAK FOR MORE THEN 24 HOURS.
Step 2;
After about 16 hours find 2 plates that when place with one face up, and the other face down on top of it will seal together well enough to effectively trap a fair amount of humidity. On top of the first plate place 2 layers of paper towel and prepare another 2 layers of paper towel to place on top of the first layer later. Fish your seeds out of the jars and place them on the first layer of paper towel placed on the face up plate. I usually write down the arrangement, and names of the seeds on a notebook somewhere in order to effectively remember which is which (this is only necessary if you are doing multiple strains). Prepare a spray solution similar to how you prepared the water in the previous step. Except this time add about 3 drops of 29% oxidizer H202 to one liter of water. This helps prevent molding in your germination aperture which will be very vulnerable to disease at this point. If you can only get ahold of 3% drug store H2O2 use about 10 drops instead. After your spray is ready place the second layer of paper towel over the paper towel on top of the plate with the seeds on it. Spray the seeds and paper towel liberally with your spray solution till the paper towel becomes nearly clear and you can see the seeds through it. Place the second plate face down over the other plate. Place the aperture on a heat mat set to 80 degrees F. If you don't have a heat mat the top of your fridge will work. However I would recommend cleaning off the top of your fridge first. If you are using the hydrofarm heat mat and temperature monitor, make sure to place the little metal electrode INSIDE the two plates to make sure you are monitoring the temperature of the actual seeds. Make sure your little set up is somewhere dark. The plates hold in humidity fairly well so it should only need to be checked about once a day. If the paper towel looks like it is drying out spray it again. Don't worry at this stage it is next to impossible to overwater. However a puddle around your seeds doesn't help anything.
Step 3;
After a day or two (results may vary) the taproots of the seeds should be showing clearly. Don't let the taproots grow out too much otherwise they will lose their gravitational orientation (advanced growing term), and when finally planted will be a little be confused at first as to which way to grow its roots. This is a waste of the seeds energy, and should be avoided. Once the taproots are showing prepare a medium to plant the seeds into. Rockwool works fine however if you are going to grow in soil I do not recommend it. Sooner or later you will have to transplant and the change of medium from rockwool to soil will induce quite a bit of shock. I use happy frog foxfarm soil mixed with about 10% Vermiculite, and 10% Perlite. If you are using rockwool the guide ends here for you. If you are using soil grab yourself some containers to put your medium in. I highly recommend 2 inch coconut husk pots, these pots can actually be transplanted with the plants as the roots will eventually just go through it. Mix up your soil Verm, and Perlite, put them in your coconut husk containers dent the soil with the same kind of water you prepared for you spray in step 1 then put them either in the sun, under a light, or on top of a heat mat for about an hour to allow them to dry a little bit. After a little bit of moisture has been evaporated away use a pencil to poke a hole in the middle of the pots between 1/4 and 1/2 inch deep. Wash, and dry your hands then gently pick up the seeds and put them into the holes TAPROOT DOWN. Put a very thin layer of soil over the planted seeds then cover the entire pot with a CLEAR plastic party cup. I usually spray the inside of the cup with the water prepared from step one two or three times. Then place the seeds under some kind of light. In my seed/clone set up I use about 4 CFL's two with full spectrum (bluer lights) and two red/orange spectrum lights about 10-12 inches away from the seed containers.
Step 4;
In a few days your seedling should pop up above ground. Immediately remove the party cups from the top of the pots, and provide the seedling with indirect airflow. I use a 6 inch desk fan on the lowest setting possible blowing at the wall behind the seedlings. For the first week (at minimum) use NO FERTILIZER when watering the seedlings. However it is likely that you will not need to water at all for the first week. When you do need to water I recommend using the water from step 1.
Now my question;
When preparing the medium for planting the seedlings I forgot to water the soil. The soil has become fairly dry, and I am worried the plant wont receive enough water. The plants have just sprouted, so they are probably to sensitive to even handle a watering so I'm not sure what to do. Let them grow a little and hope for the best? Or somehow provide them with water.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Germination-
I use a combination of the soaking technique, and the paper towel technique with a heat mat.
Step 1;
Place the seeds in jars filled with just enough water to soak the seedling, and just little enough water to make fishing them out easy. Make sure the water is Ph'd between 6.0 and 6.3, and with PPM no higher than 100. Less then 40 PPM is ideal. However very low PPM's make PH testing difficult.
The best strategy I have found to achieve this is to pick up a gallon of DISTILLED water. Make sure it is just distilled water and not filtered drinking water as filtered drinking water will have minerals added. Add a Calmg solution (doesn't matter what brand) to the distilled water till it is about 60 PPM, at this level there is enough conductive dissolved solids to check Ph. Go ahead and balance your Ph place the seeds in the labeled jars and leave them in a dark area with a temp somewhere around 75 degrees for about 16 hours. DO NOT LET THE SEEDS SOAK FOR MORE THEN 24 HOURS.
Step 2;
After about 16 hours find 2 plates that when place with one face up, and the other face down on top of it will seal together well enough to effectively trap a fair amount of humidity. On top of the first plate place 2 layers of paper towel and prepare another 2 layers of paper towel to place on top of the first layer later. Fish your seeds out of the jars and place them on the first layer of paper towel placed on the face up plate. I usually write down the arrangement, and names of the seeds on a notebook somewhere in order to effectively remember which is which (this is only necessary if you are doing multiple strains). Prepare a spray solution similar to how you prepared the water in the previous step. Except this time add about 3 drops of 29% oxidizer H202 to one liter of water. This helps prevent molding in your germination aperture which will be very vulnerable to disease at this point. If you can only get ahold of 3% drug store H2O2 use about 10 drops instead. After your spray is ready place the second layer of paper towel over the paper towel on top of the plate with the seeds on it. Spray the seeds and paper towel liberally with your spray solution till the paper towel becomes nearly clear and you can see the seeds through it. Place the second plate face down over the other plate. Place the aperture on a heat mat set to 80 degrees F. If you don't have a heat mat the top of your fridge will work. However I would recommend cleaning off the top of your fridge first. If you are using the hydrofarm heat mat and temperature monitor, make sure to place the little metal electrode INSIDE the two plates to make sure you are monitoring the temperature of the actual seeds. Make sure your little set up is somewhere dark. The plates hold in humidity fairly well so it should only need to be checked about once a day. If the paper towel looks like it is drying out spray it again. Don't worry at this stage it is next to impossible to overwater. However a puddle around your seeds doesn't help anything.
Step 3;
After a day or two (results may vary) the taproots of the seeds should be showing clearly. Don't let the taproots grow out too much otherwise they will lose their gravitational orientation (advanced growing term), and when finally planted will be a little be confused at first as to which way to grow its roots. This is a waste of the seeds energy, and should be avoided. Once the taproots are showing prepare a medium to plant the seeds into. Rockwool works fine however if you are going to grow in soil I do not recommend it. Sooner or later you will have to transplant and the change of medium from rockwool to soil will induce quite a bit of shock. I use happy frog foxfarm soil mixed with about 10% Vermiculite, and 10% Perlite. If you are using rockwool the guide ends here for you. If you are using soil grab yourself some containers to put your medium in. I highly recommend 2 inch coconut husk pots, these pots can actually be transplanted with the plants as the roots will eventually just go through it. Mix up your soil Verm, and Perlite, put them in your coconut husk containers dent the soil with the same kind of water you prepared for you spray in step 1 then put them either in the sun, under a light, or on top of a heat mat for about an hour to allow them to dry a little bit. After a little bit of moisture has been evaporated away use a pencil to poke a hole in the middle of the pots between 1/4 and 1/2 inch deep. Wash, and dry your hands then gently pick up the seeds and put them into the holes TAPROOT DOWN. Put a very thin layer of soil over the planted seeds then cover the entire pot with a CLEAR plastic party cup. I usually spray the inside of the cup with the water prepared from step one two or three times. Then place the seeds under some kind of light. In my seed/clone set up I use about 4 CFL's two with full spectrum (bluer lights) and two red/orange spectrum lights about 10-12 inches away from the seed containers.
Step 4;
In a few days your seedling should pop up above ground. Immediately remove the party cups from the top of the pots, and provide the seedling with indirect airflow. I use a 6 inch desk fan on the lowest setting possible blowing at the wall behind the seedlings. For the first week (at minimum) use NO FERTILIZER when watering the seedlings. However it is likely that you will not need to water at all for the first week. When you do need to water I recommend using the water from step 1.
Now my question;
When preparing the medium for planting the seedlings I forgot to water the soil. The soil has become fairly dry, and I am worried the plant wont receive enough water. The plants have just sprouted, so they are probably to sensitive to even handle a watering so I'm not sure what to do. Let them grow a little and hope for the best? Or somehow provide them with water.
Any suggestions are appreciated.