My advice would be to get the germination working before you try germinating your top quality seeds, most peoples problems with germinating are as follows :-
1 - starting in too bigger pot, this causes the soil to stay wet for too long and allows for mold to form (brown stem that goes either slushy or thin) this is called damping off; small pots dry out quicker and although require more frequent watering, seedlings don't need much.
2 - Not using seed compost, feed in the soil is not necessary for seedlings; also people feed seedlings too soon and with the wrong nutrients, seedlings only need a small amount of phosphorus to promote root development; Nitrogen actually inhibits root development.
3 - High power lights for seedlings, although many people have success with 400w lamps, your seedlings don't need 400 watts, a few CFL or Fluorescent lamps of cool white (6400K) color temperature is ample; the problem with 400w metal halide or sodium lights is they radiate a lot of heat, just having a thermometer in the same room is not a good enough measure of heat as this only measures the air temperature.
The problem occurs with radiated heat which is why you do the hand test (if you can hold your hand there then it's not too hot).
3 - Seedlings don't need a massive fan on them either, I don't actually have any fans on my seedlings and they do fine; having said that my seedlings are open to the air in a room with a stable temperature; people sometimes have a massive light then need a massive fan to cool the light down, this doesn't cool the radiated heat and can dry you pots out too fast.
4 - Allowing the seedling to completely dry right out; never let the seedling dry right out because it will die, so if your seedlings will be unattended for a few days then you need to either get someone to look after them for you, or adopt other moisture control strategies.
5 - Allowing them to get too cold; don't let your seedlings get too cold during lights out period, if your seedlings get cold at night then not only does it slow down the metabolic rate of your seedlings, but also puts them in danger of being attacked by mold.
Some things you can do to help:-
Some people have success with 24 hour lighting however studies have shown that root development is best under an 18 hour on / 6 hour off light cycle.
If you wish to improve the production of roots in your seedlings, then there are other products which can help, like mycorrhizal fungi but if you use an organic seed compost then you shouldn't need this product, however there are other additives you can use like root stimulators that contain IBA (Indole-3 butyric Acid) and do improve root development.
Also before you plant your expensive seeds you would be wise to learn how to clone which will allow you to keep your expensive strain for as long as you can keep cloning; remember although your seeds seem expensive to you, what you're really paying for is the strain, and if you can keep the strain for ten years and get a thousand clones from it, then the cost seems like a small amount in the grand scheme of things.
1 - starting in too bigger pot, this causes the soil to stay wet for too long and allows for mold to form (brown stem that goes either slushy or thin) this is called damping off; small pots dry out quicker and although require more frequent watering, seedlings don't need much.
2 - Not using seed compost, feed in the soil is not necessary for seedlings; also people feed seedlings too soon and with the wrong nutrients, seedlings only need a small amount of phosphorus to promote root development; Nitrogen actually inhibits root development.
3 - High power lights for seedlings, although many people have success with 400w lamps, your seedlings don't need 400 watts, a few CFL or Fluorescent lamps of cool white (6400K) color temperature is ample; the problem with 400w metal halide or sodium lights is they radiate a lot of heat, just having a thermometer in the same room is not a good enough measure of heat as this only measures the air temperature.
The problem occurs with radiated heat which is why you do the hand test (if you can hold your hand there then it's not too hot).
3 - Seedlings don't need a massive fan on them either, I don't actually have any fans on my seedlings and they do fine; having said that my seedlings are open to the air in a room with a stable temperature; people sometimes have a massive light then need a massive fan to cool the light down, this doesn't cool the radiated heat and can dry you pots out too fast.
4 - Allowing the seedling to completely dry right out; never let the seedling dry right out because it will die, so if your seedlings will be unattended for a few days then you need to either get someone to look after them for you, or adopt other moisture control strategies.
5 - Allowing them to get too cold; don't let your seedlings get too cold during lights out period, if your seedlings get cold at night then not only does it slow down the metabolic rate of your seedlings, but also puts them in danger of being attacked by mold.
Some things you can do to help:-
Some people have success with 24 hour lighting however studies have shown that root development is best under an 18 hour on / 6 hour off light cycle.
If you wish to improve the production of roots in your seedlings, then there are other products which can help, like mycorrhizal fungi but if you use an organic seed compost then you shouldn't need this product, however there are other additives you can use like root stimulators that contain IBA (Indole-3 butyric Acid) and do improve root development.
Also before you plant your expensive seeds you would be wise to learn how to clone which will allow you to keep your expensive strain for as long as you can keep cloning; remember although your seeds seem expensive to you, what you're really paying for is the strain, and if you can keep the strain for ten years and get a thousand clones from it, then the cost seems like a small amount in the grand scheme of things.
