Germinating in perlite!
- Thread starter Kingrow1
- Start date
Bose
Well-Known Member
Will you leave it in there or did you transplant right away?
Stealthstyle
Well-Known Member
i prefer perlite for seedlings. started off that way and was told to go to coco but imo perlite was better
Kingrow1
Well-Known Member
Just an experiment so ill let them die, was easy to do, set up and maintain. The perlite wicks the water from the cup so no need to top water and these have had no nutes just tap water.
Originally i just wanted to see how big i could grow a seedling on water no nutes and opted for perlite as is more inert than coco or rockwool as both those have residual salts to a small extent.
Not very good seedlings by my standards but this is a first for me. If this cup style mini hempy germination gets popular for some reason i want it named after me so i can get all the credit....
Originally i just wanted to see how big i could grow a seedling on water no nutes and opted for perlite as is more inert than coco or rockwool as both those have residual salts to a small extent.
Not very good seedlings by my standards but this is a first for me. If this cup style mini hempy germination gets popular for some reason i want it named after me so i can get all the credit....
Kingrow1
Well-Known Member
Just a test no transplant or growing on, mainly to see how far no nutes just water grows a seedling. I have very low ppm water its almost pure as well.
Stealthstyle
Well-Known Member
oh. complete germination i see. i would transplant from rockwool cubes into perlite. good luck to you i hope it works. imo 100% perlite is under rated
Kingrow1
Well-Known Member
Yer complete, i filled a pot with perlite, ran it under the tap and burried a few seesds in it, six days later and here we are
kiwipaulie
Well-Known Member
I've never added nutes to a seedling. They can grow for weeks without nutes.
Kingrow1
Well-Known Member
I have put this to the test many times, even here but i have to disagree, all my seedlings start better with nutes wether that be coco, peat, rockwool or other.
To be even more accurate id say that the initial germination can be done in pure water but as soon as the cotyledons open nutrients are in play. After this its a steady rise and the deeper and shinier the green the more levels are about right.
Germinating in perlite has made me appreciate the medias particle size and root growth, any obstruction by the root seems costly to growth. This is my main gripe with rockwool and fleximix starter plugs and that is they can have a tendency to inhibit root growth unlike a very fine soil. The roots of the perlite seedlings were more kinked and twisted in the slower growing ones where as the fastest had found an easier route straight down to the res.
If anything this has shown me two things, seedlings appreciate ferts from the off and that a finer particle size soil/media will be better than my lumpy promix. This seems like the reason two seedlings germinated side by side in identical conditions can show vastly different growth rates, even one stunted the other perfect, root obstruction/compaction and not small enough particle size.
