good germination techniques

m420p said:

hmmm... alright thanks, I read somewhere pointy end up but you can't always trust what you hear on the net.

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I think common knowledge says pointy end up because the tap root does a curl down and uses forces to pop the first leaves up through the soil.

But really what does it matter, which way do the seeds fall and get sown when mother nature does it.

regards,

m420p said:

dude, I am high as shit and confused. so your saying pointy end down is right?

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pointy end UP, UP

Manually dip the rw cubes in your water , let them drain a bit, and set them on top of a warm reflector.I think mine is around 82f. Dip them twice a day.

I'm using aquaponic water with nutes at1000ppm. And seedlings are thriving.

In nature, few seeds drop into 0ec/ppm , pure, sterile water.they usually fall into soil with nutrients and microbes. I can't say for sure, but i think the aquaponic water takes credit, because I've tried many other methods and i suck at germinating seeds.

Try aquarium water if you have one, justbe sure to ph it first. I'm a assuming that the nitrogen is in a more natural form. I also have all kinds of naturally occurring nitro bacteria in the water with endomyco spores that i added.no cloning gels or hormones added but a little superthrive added a few days before germ.

Rockwool or Rapid Rooters work well and pretty much work the same way. The worst thing you can do to your seeds is over water them, if you follow the directions on the rapid rooters in regards to soaking them they will work well. Also with rockwool it works the same way, soak them and then fling the excess moisture out. Keep them damp until you have roots coming out of the bottom, usually a few days to a week. I like to just add water to the tray that my cubes or rooters are in and keep them covered so the humidity is right, usually I use the tray and lid my rapid rooters come in for cubes and the rooters alike. You can use pH'd tap water or RO water as long as the TDS of the water source is not too high you should be fine either way.

Once you have roots coming out of the bottom you can place them in your DWC site but make sure that the water level is close to the bottom of the medium. Really you want to make sure that water is popping up on the roots and the bottom of your medium. You want to make sure that the rockwool or rooters don't get soaked themselves once they are transplanted though because this can cause stem rot. It is really simple once you have done it a few times, and honestly you will ask yourself how did I make this so complicated.

Also IME the way to plant the seed in the cubes or rooters is to simply drop it in, don't worry about which end is up. Nature will fix things so don't worry about that part, and one other thing is to make sure you're not smashing or pinching your cubes or rooters. Allowing them to stay spongy allows room for much needed oxygen and water flow so just make sure to lightly close up the top. Good luck and happy growing.
KnB

kushnotbush said:

Rockwool or Rapid Rooters work well and pretty much work the same way. The worst thing you can do to your seeds is over water them, if you follow the directions on the rapid rooters in regards to soaking them they will work well. Also with rockwool it works the same way, soak them and then fling the excess moisture out. Keep them damp until you have roots coming out of the bottom, usually a few days to a week. I like to just add water to the tray that my cubes or rooters are in and keep them covered so the humidity is right, usually I use the tray and lid my rapid rooters come in for cubes and the rooters alike. You can use pH'd tap water or RO water as long as the TDS of the water source is not too high you should be fine either way. Once you have roots coming out of the bottom you can place them in your DWC site but make sure that the water level is close to the bottom of the medium. Really you want to make sure that water is popping up on the roots and the bottom of your medium. You want to make sure that the rockwool or rooters don't get soaked themselves once they are transplanted though because this can cause stem rot. It is really simple once you have done it a few times, and honestly you will ask yourself how did I make this so complicated. Also IME the way to plant the seed in the cubes or rooters is to simply drop it in, don't worry about which end is up. Nature will fix things so don't worry about that part, and one other thing is to make sure you're not smashing or pinching your cubes or rooters. Allowing them to stay spongy allows room for much needed oxygen and water flow so just make sure to lightly close up the top. Good luck and happy growing. KnB

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Good info, I've been growing in RDWC hydro for quite a while now but have only used clones in rockwool. I have Sannies Jack Herer F7 on the way for my first indoor seed grow. Like I said, i have always had great success germinating using paper towel method and then into soil for my outdoor plants. But, I'm probably just going to put the seed into the rockwool, put them in my humidome(little water in the bottom of the tray and lightly spray the dome) in my empty veg room in complete darkness and set the heater to 85. Then once I see leaves, put my fluorescent grow light over them until I see roots, then put them into dwc and under my 400 watt MH. I don't think I'll have a problem. Just wanted to be on the safe side when spending money on top grade seeds.

hydrohomer said:

I'm not trying to fan the flames of opinion by any stretch, but simply stating that for the buck and simplicity, cubes can't be beat. I'm batting 100% on week old Skunk #1 booted up in rockwool.

Aside from blind and subsequently retracted hatred, @Cues, help me understand why this is so bad?

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Sure, IMO, rockwool holds too much water. In hydro, once germinated, you then have a soaking wet rockwool block around the bottom of the stem for the rest of the grow, encouraging basal rot. This probably applies most in the case of flood/drain in a fast draining media such as hydroton.
For certain plants prone to basal rot (basil springs to mind), I won't even use root riot cubes but germinate in soil, wash off and plant into hydroton bare-rooted.

cues said:

Sure, IMO, rockwool holds too much water. In hydro, once germinated, you then have a soaking wet rockwool block around the bottom of the stem for the rest of the grow, encouraging basal rot. This probably applies most in the case of flood/drain in a fast draining media such as hydroton. For certain plants prone to basal rot (basil springs to mind), I won't even use root riot cubes but germinate in soil, wash off and plant into hydroton bare-rooted.

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"This probably applies most in the case of flood/drain in a fast draining media such as hydroton." I can see that in a flood/drain but in RDWC the rockwool is far from "soaking wet"(also depends on how low you put the cube in the net pot) so I don't think that makes sense in a DWC. I like your last sentence, I might try that with some freebies.

dudeman222 said:

pointy end up, forget that guy

the root comes out the pointy end, goes up THEN goes down, if the pointy end is down it has to find it's way up then go back down again

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Stay classy dudeman222... pretty douchie way of dealing with people.

The irony is leading to this post, I have planted 5 seeds, 2 pointy up, 3 pointy down. The result is exactly as you describe. The pointy end up ones have the tap root wrapped over the top of the seed, stuck 3mm into the rockwool (and yes, eventually they'll pop), the others, pointy end down, have sprouts that are 2 or 3 inches tall.

So, if its alright with you, I'll continue to live in my substantiated fantasy world where my upside-down seeds work just fine and are quantifiably more advanced in growth than those oriented the "correct" way.

thanks for all the help guys!

The advice about the rockwool getting too damp applies in any application, I flood and drain and when you use rockwool you should only water during lights on. Also you should water less than with a media such as hydroton or perlite that doesn't hold water. For DWC or RDWC you just need to make sure that if your using cubes or rooters that they are not getting wet and only the roots coming out of them are indeed getting wet. This is truly why so many people run an "air gap" between the bottom of their net pots. You can avoid the air gap problem by placing the cube or rooter higher in the net pot with gravel or hydroton under it. Also this eliminates the need to flush your media often, helping to avoid stem rot.
KnB

lol, my seeds in my girls panties popped first, ones in full watter are just starting to show the root. Hopping the ones in rockwool sprout up first

kushnotbush said:

The advice about the rockwool getting too damp applies in any application, I flood and drain and when you use rockwool you should only water during lights on. Also you should water less than with a media such as hydroton or perlite that doesn't hold water. For DWC or RDWC you just need to make sure that if your using cubes or rooters that they are not getting wet and only the roots coming out of them are indeed getting wet. This is truly why so many people run an "air gap" between the bottom of their net pots. You can avoid the air gap problem by placing the cube or rooter higher in the net pot with gravel or hydroton under it. Also this eliminates the need to flush your media often, helping to avoid stem rot. KnB

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Anyone stupid enough to put their rockwool cubes at the bottom of their net pot deserves to get stem rot. I have always used hydroton clay pebbles with about 3 inches of them under my cube in the net pot and to me that was just common sense.