good2bkind
Well-Known Member
So I got this Ferry-Morse seed-starter system that is supposed to be for total noobs.
I got it at Lowe's.
When I unpack it, it has a shitty copy of instructions, one page long, and they are not very clear. Both visually and otherwise.
This is a plug-in package with pellets and a cover, where I guess it warms it up appropriately, you put your seeds in the pellets, they start seedlings, and you transplant them to a bigger environment.
But it's very unclear in which order you carry out your 'work'.
It says:
"Add warm water to expand Peat Pellet. Pour off excess water when pellets are fully expanded. (about 1-1.5" tall and dark brown)
Gently pull back netting on top of pellets. Fluff and level surface peat. Sow 2-3 seeds per pellet (NOT! For cannabis, I'm planting one seed per pellet!). Cover lightly with peat. Place dome on tray.
Okay, obviously they don't say if these pellets are supposed to be in the tray when I do this. Do I water them outside the tray and then place them in the tray?
It doesn't say.
I just boiled some water, I'll mix a little of it (by feel) with some room-temp water I've been saving in a pitcher (to get off all the stuff in tap water).
I'll try adding this water to a pellet and see what happens.
Sorry no pics for now, couldn't find my camera but took some with my cell phone.
Anyways, on the box, the first thing it says (yes, I have to use the box along with the crappy instructions) 1-- add water to expand pellets.
I just now did that. They show it on a clay plate. Now I know why Lowe's sells those clay plates.
I don't have that, I put mine on a paper plate (took 2 pics).
I basically had almost half a gallon standing water (sitting for the past couple days to dissipate chlorine in tap water) and added visually probably 1/5 to 1/4 of that with boiled water, which I know will be high in minerals which is probably bad... anyways, added that to make warm water, poured it over the little nug on a paper plate to expand it. It's been a few minutes, let me go see if it expanded.
Okay, it DID expand, but I think my water wasn't warm enough, I was being conservative.
They said let it expand 1-1.5" and it appears to be about 1 inch on the high mark, 3/4" on the low (didn't expand equally, but that's to be expected what with the physics I'm using).
Now my question is...
Okay, I did that, if I place a seed in it, and put it in the "incubator"... am I supposed to do this with all the pellets?
Thinking if so, I should put these pellets in the sink and add more hot water... the sink will be cold but I can fit more than on a paper plate....
The holder has room for something like 72 pellets... I only want to start 4...
May be in over my head? I put 15 pellets in, not thinking... I only have 28 seeds and I only want to germinate 4, for starters...
Should I put some tomato and chile seeds in the other ones?
Hmmm...
Well I've had a few drinks and I'm thinking of getting all crazy.
Asks self: will you be able to tell the difference between the cannabis plants and the others?
Uh DER...
The pellet I tested has now expanded to a righteously perfect 1.25"
I am very excited.
The paper plate worked so well, I ask myself...
Should I use it again?
Or go with the sink?
I'll remove some of the 15 pellets and add 3 more.
Seems so small, in a thing that can carry 72.
I have another idea.
Use all 15, but first warm up the bottom of the sink, this was bothering me, how cold it would be.
Place all in the sink, pour warm water on them, maybe piss on them? Is that too much nutes at first ha ha?
And basically I guess when it's expanded to it's perfect size (as this one has), you put it back in the carrier, put your seeds in, plug it in, and wait.
The directions are not this specific.
The next thing they say is "Gently pull back netting on top of pellets." (I have one, right now, which I've warmed and expanded and it looks gorgeous, sitting on it's paper plate. But I need to set up 15, I'm committed to that-- I figure 4-8 for cannabis, the rest for some tomato and chile seeds which I have laying around).
"Fluff and level surface peat."
What the hell does that mean? I guess I'll squish it around to get it ready for the seed.
This is sorta like foreplay.
I'll think of this as the massage that you do to melt your lover?
Massage this thing, get it warm and wet.
That seems intuitive, and natural.
Massage, warm and wet, plant the seed.
Nice.
Then they say (and this is only step 2 out of
"Sow 2-3 seeds per pellet (umm... that pellet is getting one seed, byotch... I ain't wastin' no seeds)
"Cover lightly with peat..." whatever this means... I guess I massage the peat to cover the seed? MMM.... massage.... seed...
"Place dome on tray"
Okay, I'm going to go do that, using the "sink" method.
Basically, I'm going to take the 14 remaining peats, put them in the sink (after I've warmed up the porcelain of the sink with hot/warm water), water them, let them expand in the sink, and then place them back in the holder.
Then I'm going to put my seeds in (doesn't it seem like this is really sexual? I guess it is), and follow the rest of the directions, reading forward to see if this is something I can do and still go to work, ha ha.
Okay,
So I ran warmish water over my sink to warm it up, I just gauged this by feel, and then I proceeded to take all remaining 14 pellets, place them in the sink while warm water ran gently down the side of the sink, not hitting the pellets directly.
They already started expanding.
Then I took my standing water/waiting water from my pitcher, poured some out, and added what I thought would be the right amount of hot water from the kettle which I had boiled at the beginning of this, to make what I thought would be a good temp water to pour over the 14 peats.
The water from the kettle had cooled down some, and I added it to the standing water, testing it with my pinkie finger to see what seemed to be the right heat amount.
I layed all the pellets in the sink and poured the warm pinkie-water over them, and they expanded pretty quickly.
As I come back here to write this, they have all expanded to the 1.25-1.50 mark and are ready, apparently, to be seeded.
Now, my understanding, is at this point I massage a seed into each, put it back in the matrix (the holding bin which holds up to 72 peat pellets), put the lid on, and plug the thing in.
Let's read the next part of the directions:
"Place seed starter greenhouse on heat mat and place in a warm location [even though it's plugged in? WTF?] away from direct sunlight."
Nowhere before was this referred to as "seed starter greenhouse" but I guess they mean the thing that I bought, their product, though it cracks me up they say "place in a warm location" since the damn thing plugs into the wall... isn't that the warming source?
And what the hell is heat mat? I assume that's the thing that came with it, which it sits on.
Somebody hire someone at this company who can actually write some frickin directions.
"Place the heat mat on well-drained surface (without standing water) and plug the mat [there is no diagram showing you what the hell the mat is... I'll assume it's the thing that plugs in] into a 120 volt power source..."
Okay, hold on, I'll do these steps.
I took all the expanded pellets out of the sink and placed them on the paper plate.
They were all at least 1" high, the highest being 1.5 inches. I guess all you're doing is warming them to expand them to place the seeds in.
I'm guessing now per previous instructions I'll massage them and place the seeds/beans in them and place them in the holder/incubator, plug it in, and place the lid on.
Let's do that now.
I'm thinking I'll use a cannabis seed every other pellet with the remaining to be a chile/pepper or tomato.
Should be fun.
Let's do this.
Okay, for Cannabis I have over 10 Super Bud from HGS (High Quality Seeds) and Monster Bud from the same.
Not sure what the difference is. We'll save Monster Bud for later.
So I kinda squeezed/massaged the little pellet and dropped the seed in, covered it over lightly.
I will do this every odd position (starting with 1, from the left-most side) and plant tomatoes or chiles every even position, starting with 2, from the left-most side).
Okay, so I put one seed each of Super Bud (these seeds look pretty lame, I must admit), in 1-3-5 etc positions, with chiles in even (2-4-6) positions.
For the chiles I put Hungarian something, "early and spicy," doesn't matter, I put 2-3 in every pouch, or pellet, and yes the seeds look exactly like the seeds in the peppers we eat.
Sometimes when you're massaging the pellet it breaks up a little. We'll see how this translates. One of them broke pretty bad and I separated it from the rest.
I was a little more careful with the canabis seeds, understandably. Sometimes I used a finger, sometimes I used a knife, to break down into the stuff, create a little hole for the seed. I covered all of them over very lightly.
Even though this thing is plugged in and supposed to be idiot-proof (the reason I bought it) they say to place on an insulating surface (they don't explain what this may be) rather than a cold floor.
Well, I'm placing it on my counter, which is akin to a cold floor. I will close the window near the counter to maintain a better temperature.
They say, "This mat is designed to raise root temperature approximately 10-20 degrees farenheit above ambient. For more precise temperature maintenance, use a temperature controller."
More freakin hardware.
I live in California.
It's April.
I think I'll be okay.
Here's what they say for point number 5:
"To harden off plants [wtf does this mean?], place in shade outside for several days (bring plants in at night). Gradually expose to full sunlight."
Then point number 6 is,
"When first seeds sprout, prop dome open. (notice that in the directive above, they don't say, "Make sure the dome is on"-- I don't think these people are high, I think they're retarded and drunk)
"When all seeds have sprouted, remove dome and place in a sunny location. After first true leaves appear [what are first true leaves? You mean I wait till after the fake leaves? WTF?] snip back all except strongest seedling in each pellet."
What the hell does "snip back all" mean?
Wow, what a shitty guide. I recommend you not go with this company if your research shows you a better one. I think I'll be able to make it through this but their assumptions leave me offended.
"Add water to tray when pellets turn light brown. Do not over water [whatever the hell that means]."
"To transplant, dig holes deep enough to cover top of pellets. Gently firm soil around pellet. Water."
There's other stuff, but it's just as crappy.
I guess I'll plug this thing in, put the top on, and see what happens.
Lends a whole new meaning to starting a seed in a paper towel.
If this is dummy proof, you'll see further postings.
If not, you'll see me starting again with the paper towel.
Onward and upward...
I got it at Lowe's.
When I unpack it, it has a shitty copy of instructions, one page long, and they are not very clear. Both visually and otherwise.
This is a plug-in package with pellets and a cover, where I guess it warms it up appropriately, you put your seeds in the pellets, they start seedlings, and you transplant them to a bigger environment.
But it's very unclear in which order you carry out your 'work'.
It says:
"Add warm water to expand Peat Pellet. Pour off excess water when pellets are fully expanded. (about 1-1.5" tall and dark brown)
Gently pull back netting on top of pellets. Fluff and level surface peat. Sow 2-3 seeds per pellet (NOT! For cannabis, I'm planting one seed per pellet!). Cover lightly with peat. Place dome on tray.
Okay, obviously they don't say if these pellets are supposed to be in the tray when I do this. Do I water them outside the tray and then place them in the tray?
It doesn't say.
I just boiled some water, I'll mix a little of it (by feel) with some room-temp water I've been saving in a pitcher (to get off all the stuff in tap water).
I'll try adding this water to a pellet and see what happens.
Sorry no pics for now, couldn't find my camera but took some with my cell phone.
Anyways, on the box, the first thing it says (yes, I have to use the box along with the crappy instructions) 1-- add water to expand pellets.
I just now did that. They show it on a clay plate. Now I know why Lowe's sells those clay plates.
I don't have that, I put mine on a paper plate (took 2 pics).
I basically had almost half a gallon standing water (sitting for the past couple days to dissipate chlorine in tap water) and added visually probably 1/5 to 1/4 of that with boiled water, which I know will be high in minerals which is probably bad... anyways, added that to make warm water, poured it over the little nug on a paper plate to expand it. It's been a few minutes, let me go see if it expanded.
Okay, it DID expand, but I think my water wasn't warm enough, I was being conservative.
They said let it expand 1-1.5" and it appears to be about 1 inch on the high mark, 3/4" on the low (didn't expand equally, but that's to be expected what with the physics I'm using).
Now my question is...
Okay, I did that, if I place a seed in it, and put it in the "incubator"... am I supposed to do this with all the pellets?
Thinking if so, I should put these pellets in the sink and add more hot water... the sink will be cold but I can fit more than on a paper plate....
The holder has room for something like 72 pellets... I only want to start 4...
May be in over my head? I put 15 pellets in, not thinking... I only have 28 seeds and I only want to germinate 4, for starters...
Should I put some tomato and chile seeds in the other ones?
Hmmm...
Well I've had a few drinks and I'm thinking of getting all crazy.
Asks self: will you be able to tell the difference between the cannabis plants and the others?
Uh DER...
The pellet I tested has now expanded to a righteously perfect 1.25"
I am very excited.
The paper plate worked so well, I ask myself...
Should I use it again?
Or go with the sink?
I'll remove some of the 15 pellets and add 3 more.
Seems so small, in a thing that can carry 72.
I have another idea.
Use all 15, but first warm up the bottom of the sink, this was bothering me, how cold it would be.
Place all in the sink, pour warm water on them, maybe piss on them? Is that too much nutes at first ha ha?
And basically I guess when it's expanded to it's perfect size (as this one has), you put it back in the carrier, put your seeds in, plug it in, and wait.
The directions are not this specific.
The next thing they say is "Gently pull back netting on top of pellets." (I have one, right now, which I've warmed and expanded and it looks gorgeous, sitting on it's paper plate. But I need to set up 15, I'm committed to that-- I figure 4-8 for cannabis, the rest for some tomato and chile seeds which I have laying around).
"Fluff and level surface peat."
What the hell does that mean? I guess I'll squish it around to get it ready for the seed.
This is sorta like foreplay.
I'll think of this as the massage that you do to melt your lover?
Massage this thing, get it warm and wet.
That seems intuitive, and natural.
Massage, warm and wet, plant the seed.
Nice.
Then they say (and this is only step 2 out of
"Sow 2-3 seeds per pellet (umm... that pellet is getting one seed, byotch... I ain't wastin' no seeds)"Cover lightly with peat..." whatever this means... I guess I massage the peat to cover the seed? MMM.... massage.... seed...
"Place dome on tray"
Okay, I'm going to go do that, using the "sink" method.
Basically, I'm going to take the 14 remaining peats, put them in the sink (after I've warmed up the porcelain of the sink with hot/warm water), water them, let them expand in the sink, and then place them back in the holder.
Then I'm going to put my seeds in (doesn't it seem like this is really sexual? I guess it is), and follow the rest of the directions, reading forward to see if this is something I can do and still go to work, ha ha.
Okay,
So I ran warmish water over my sink to warm it up, I just gauged this by feel, and then I proceeded to take all remaining 14 pellets, place them in the sink while warm water ran gently down the side of the sink, not hitting the pellets directly.
They already started expanding.
Then I took my standing water/waiting water from my pitcher, poured some out, and added what I thought would be the right amount of hot water from the kettle which I had boiled at the beginning of this, to make what I thought would be a good temp water to pour over the 14 peats.
The water from the kettle had cooled down some, and I added it to the standing water, testing it with my pinkie finger to see what seemed to be the right heat amount.
I layed all the pellets in the sink and poured the warm pinkie-water over them, and they expanded pretty quickly.
As I come back here to write this, they have all expanded to the 1.25-1.50 mark and are ready, apparently, to be seeded.
Now, my understanding, is at this point I massage a seed into each, put it back in the matrix (the holding bin which holds up to 72 peat pellets), put the lid on, and plug the thing in.
Let's read the next part of the directions:
"Place seed starter greenhouse on heat mat and place in a warm location [even though it's plugged in? WTF?] away from direct sunlight."
Nowhere before was this referred to as "seed starter greenhouse" but I guess they mean the thing that I bought, their product, though it cracks me up they say "place in a warm location" since the damn thing plugs into the wall... isn't that the warming source?
And what the hell is heat mat? I assume that's the thing that came with it, which it sits on.
Somebody hire someone at this company who can actually write some frickin directions.
"Place the heat mat on well-drained surface (without standing water) and plug the mat [there is no diagram showing you what the hell the mat is... I'll assume it's the thing that plugs in] into a 120 volt power source..."
Okay, hold on, I'll do these steps.
I took all the expanded pellets out of the sink and placed them on the paper plate.
They were all at least 1" high, the highest being 1.5 inches. I guess all you're doing is warming them to expand them to place the seeds in.
I'm guessing now per previous instructions I'll massage them and place the seeds/beans in them and place them in the holder/incubator, plug it in, and place the lid on.
Let's do that now.
I'm thinking I'll use a cannabis seed every other pellet with the remaining to be a chile/pepper or tomato.
Should be fun.
Let's do this.
Okay, for Cannabis I have over 10 Super Bud from HGS (High Quality Seeds) and Monster Bud from the same.
Not sure what the difference is. We'll save Monster Bud for later.
So I kinda squeezed/massaged the little pellet and dropped the seed in, covered it over lightly.
I will do this every odd position (starting with 1, from the left-most side) and plant tomatoes or chiles every even position, starting with 2, from the left-most side).
Okay, so I put one seed each of Super Bud (these seeds look pretty lame, I must admit), in 1-3-5 etc positions, with chiles in even (2-4-6) positions.
For the chiles I put Hungarian something, "early and spicy," doesn't matter, I put 2-3 in every pouch, or pellet, and yes the seeds look exactly like the seeds in the peppers we eat.
Sometimes when you're massaging the pellet it breaks up a little. We'll see how this translates. One of them broke pretty bad and I separated it from the rest.
I was a little more careful with the canabis seeds, understandably. Sometimes I used a finger, sometimes I used a knife, to break down into the stuff, create a little hole for the seed. I covered all of them over very lightly.
Even though this thing is plugged in and supposed to be idiot-proof (the reason I bought it) they say to place on an insulating surface (they don't explain what this may be) rather than a cold floor.
Well, I'm placing it on my counter, which is akin to a cold floor. I will close the window near the counter to maintain a better temperature.
They say, "This mat is designed to raise root temperature approximately 10-20 degrees farenheit above ambient. For more precise temperature maintenance, use a temperature controller."
More freakin hardware.
I live in California.
It's April.
I think I'll be okay.
Here's what they say for point number 5:
"To harden off plants [wtf does this mean?], place in shade outside for several days (bring plants in at night). Gradually expose to full sunlight."
Then point number 6 is,
"When first seeds sprout, prop dome open. (notice that in the directive above, they don't say, "Make sure the dome is on"-- I don't think these people are high, I think they're retarded and drunk)
"When all seeds have sprouted, remove dome and place in a sunny location. After first true leaves appear [what are first true leaves? You mean I wait till after the fake leaves? WTF?] snip back all except strongest seedling in each pellet."
What the hell does "snip back all" mean?
Wow, what a shitty guide. I recommend you not go with this company if your research shows you a better one. I think I'll be able to make it through this but their assumptions leave me offended.
"Add water to tray when pellets turn light brown. Do not over water [whatever the hell that means]."
"To transplant, dig holes deep enough to cover top of pellets. Gently firm soil around pellet. Water."
There's other stuff, but it's just as crappy.
I guess I'll plug this thing in, put the top on, and see what happens.
Lends a whole new meaning to starting a seed in a paper towel.
If this is dummy proof, you'll see further postings.
If not, you'll see me starting again with the paper towel.
Onward and upward...