What to start seedlings in?

Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
image.jpeg Chiller working great with controller to cycle it at 65 image.jpeg getting it dialled in for a marathon grow before spring crowds descend on the lake :(.
 
Alaric

Alaric

Well-Known Member
Budley Doright said:
Hey Alaric, Merry Christmas :). Hope all is well! Yes I've watched how you are doing things and I've been thinking of doing kind of the same thing but using foam discs to support the seedlings in the tray, starting them in the vermiculite is a great idea!!! Getting away from any media might be perfect as I'm thinking the rot started in the cube possibly. I'm back to a flooded root system now so see how this run turns out. Hopefully better than the last one, I'm way behind schedule due to stubborn never quit attitude lol.
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Hey Budley, hope santa was good to you.

I never liked the idea of handling freshly popped seed. That's the main reason I chose the cup method---no disturbance until roots well established.

Yes, I think your root problem may have originated from the rock wool-----no experience using that stuff and don't want any.

The "foam disc" you mentioned, are you referring to the neoprene inserts used in a power cloner? If so, here's what I did.

cloner2.jpg

I ordered a botonicare 2' x 2' lid not drilled----drilled a 1-3/4" hole grid (7x7 grid).

Used 2" neoprene inserts ------fit snugly in the holes.

cloner3.jpg

Using this method allowed me to adjust the plant height some (trying for a flat canopy).

Anyway, something that's worked well for me.


A~~~
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
Alaric said:
Hey Budley, hope santa was good to you.

I never liked the idea of handling freshly popped seed. That's the main reason I chose the cup method---no disturbance until roots well established.

Yes, I think your root problem may have originated from the rock wool-----no experience using that stuff and don't want any.

The "foam disc" you mentioned, are you referring to the neoprene inserts used in a power cloner? If so, here's what I did.

View attachment 3573526

I ordered a botonicare 2' x 2' lid not drilled----drilled a 1-3/4" hole grid (7x7 grid).

Used 2" neoprene inserts ------fit snugly in the holes.

View attachment 3573530

Using this method allowed me to adjust the plant height some (trying for a flat canopy).

Anyway, something that's worked well for me.


A~~~
Click to expand...
Yes Santa was great!!! Yes that's the idea! All my trays but the sprayer have 6" holes in the lids so I was gonna make my own using black etha foam. Gonna make a small bubble cloner and try to get some more OhZone plants going :). Thanks Alaric, nice tray :).
 
guardiangk

guardiangk

Well-Known Member
Major Blazer said:
I've germ'd and sprouted every single seed ever in rockwool with almost perfect success.

I ran into one issue with one strain but they were freebie seeds that came with my seed order and something tells me that they were freebies for a reason, they were such shit.

What I do is soak them for about 30 min in 5.5 pH'd water, then transplant once I see a couple roots trying to bust out of the bottom. This last grow was the first time I drowned the bottom of the netpots using the current culture method and the same kind of net pots and they rooted super fast. Prior to, I was leaving a 1" gap and letting the airstones soak the hydroton.
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That is what I do. Almost always successful. Once I get a tap root which is usually 2-3 days I put it in the larger cube. Within a week there are roots protruding. I put that directly in a net pot and put a handful of stones around it. Bubble the soup about an inch below the net pot. Once the roots hit the soup, fugeddabouddit.



20160101_201652_HDR.jpg
 
Major Blazer

Major Blazer

Well-Known Member
guardiangk said:
That is what I do. Almost always successful. Once I get a tap root which is usually 2-3 days I put it in the larger cube. Within a week there are roots protruding. I put that directly in a net pot and put a handful of stones around it. Bubble the soup about an inch below the net pot. Once the roots hit the soup, fugeddabouddit.
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Nice. I was just running an experiment where i placed the starter cube in the same 2" ones you posted and loved the results too.
 
badtorro

badtorro

Well-Known Member
Budley Doright said:
After an epic battle with root rot and winning (I hope lol) I'm starting a second tray. I've tried many different ways to start my seedlings, rock wool, peat cubes, straight into hydro ton. I am wondering what everyone's preferred method is. I germinate my seeds in paper towel then transfer them into net pots in some thing listed above, I have root riot cubes as well. Just curious as too how others do it. FYI this is not a "how to germinate seeds" thread lol. I've been using paper towel for 30 years and for me it works the best and always have great success but I understand all of the reasons that others have to not use this method and they are all valid. I will be doing a flood and drain to start then run the pump 24/7 once roots are established, I find it seems to work well doing this, kind of like an NFT on overdrive lol.
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Whatever works!

I've been growing in soil & coco.
Tried various methods & prefer to put the seed directly into wet medium & just wait for sprouts. I get germination rate of 100% and it requires least hassle.
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
I fold up a paper towel a few times, get it wet, and squeeze is out like a sponge so it's damp but not soaked.. Then I put the seeds in the middle, add a few drops directly on the seeds, fold the towel, and put it in sealed ziplock bag.

Put the ziplock bag in the LIGHT.
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
Well I do find the PT method is fast with seeds popping in 36 hours every time but yes replanting is a pain in the ass. Soil germ has always been a hit and miss thing for me and honestly I have no clue as to why.
 
intenseneal

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
For clones and seeds i have always used rapid root plugs in a dome. I just started using a diy mini dwc/bubble cloner and my first seed split over night, no roots showing from the clones yet but i cant pull them out if the plugs. I tried the expanding pellets and they worked ok but they take longer to root out.
 
Terry385

Terry385

Well-Known Member
drop seed in rock wool in dwc bucket few drops of water here and there just wanted to test if well grow...
WP_000704.jpg
 
J

jronnn

Well-Known Member
Alaric said:
Hey Budley, hope santa was good to you.

I never liked the idea of handling freshly popped seed. That's the main reason I chose the cup method---no disturbance until roots well established.

Yes, I think your root problem may have originated from the rock wool-----no experience using that stuff and don't want any.

The "foam disc" you mentioned, are you referring to the neoprene inserts used in a power cloner? If so, here's what I did.

View attachment 3573526

I ordered a botonicare 2' x 2' lid not drilled----drilled a 1-3/4" hole grid (7x7 grid).

Used 2" neoprene inserts ------fit snugly in the holes.

View attachment 3573530

Using this method allowed me to adjust the plant height some (trying for a flat canopy).

Anyway, something that's worked well for me.


A~~~
Click to expand...
sorry if this is dumb question but can plants with root rot still flourish and grow out to harvest or are they basically doomed? I've read some places say you should just get rid of the plant and others say that whatever was infected with root rot will be dead for good but you can just focus on new growth instead and they'll be alright, which would you say is more realistic/true? could something like 35% h2o2 help with something like root rot, even though it kills good and bad bacteria? again, sorry if i asked a dumb question
 
Terry385

Terry385

Well-Known Member
jronnn said:
sorry if this is dumb question but can plants with root rot still flourish and grow out to harvest or are they basically doomed? I've read some places say you should just get rid of the plant and others say that whatever was infected with root rot will be dead for good but you can just focus on new growth instead and they'll be alright, which would you say is more realistic/true? could something like 35% h2o2 help with something like root rot, even though it kills good and bad bacteria? again, sorry if i asked a dumb question
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if you in veg. you maybe able to save it but in flower no... smoke taste like shit after fighting root rot tho...
 
J

jronnn

Well-Known Member
Terry385 said:
if you in veg. you maybe able to save it but in flower no... smoke taste like shit after fighting root rot tho...
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damn, really? well i guess i still have some hope.. I'm just worried one of my plants (while the other plant looks healthy) might now have root rot from over watering. i was watering like every 2.5 hours (as suggested by some members) and keeping the rapid rooter moist but one of my plants that are 11 days old total are showing what could be symptoms of overwatering so i just changed my flooding to once every 6 hours for 7minutes and added 1ml per gallon of 35% h2o2. heres a couple pics, what do you think? it sucks because some people suggest flooding once or twice a day and others say flood every hour when the plant is this young and the leaves are so small so its hard to tell if they're wilting or drooping, part of me actually thinks it kind of looks underwatered... any thoughts? any input is appreciated Photo on 1-3-16 at 12.37 AM #2.jpgPhoto on 1-3-16 at 12.37 AM.jpg
 
Terry385

Terry385

Well-Known Member
jronnn said:
damn, really? well i guess i still have some hope.. I'm just worried one of my plants might now have it from over watering. i was watering like every 2.5 hours (as suggested by some members) and keeping the rapid rooter moist but one of my plants that are 11 days old total are showing what could be symptoms of overwatering so i just changed my flooding to once every 6 hours for 7minutes and added 1ml per gallon of 35% h2o2. heres a couple pics, what do you think? it sucks because some people suggest flooding once or twice a day and others say flood every hour when the plant is this young and the leaves are so small so its hard to tell if they're wilting or drooping, any thoughts?View attachment 3577832View attachment 3577833
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O shit you have baby's you be fine
 
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