Planting seeds - Is this all correct? A few questions..

Im planning to use 2x2 rockwool cubes, and eventually move them into hydroton in buckets (hydro).

First i plan on soaking the cubes in water for about an hour.
Then i plan on placing the seed about 1/4" deep into the rockwool cube.
Then i plan on putting the cube in a humidity dome, under a fluorescent, til it sprouts.

QUESTIONS:
- Should i use tap water, or filtered water (through my smallboy filter)?
- Should i use a humidity dome? or just put the cube in a tray without the dome?
- Should i put it under my T5 teklight, or under a lower output T12 shoplight?

Just wanna make sure i have everything perfect, because these seeds were expensive!!
Thanks.

Tap water in most US cities is fine for all phases of growing straight out of the tap. Use a humidity dome and the seedling heat mats work. Too bad the jackasses can charge $50 for them but . . . .. T5. Hard to put too much light on them. Well not hard but the expense will limit that usually. Good luck. Be sure to read up thoroughly on prepping rockwool for use.

Well how should i prep the rockwool for use? Just soak it in pH'd water first? or is there something else i should be doing?

Depends on the rockwool you are using. Some people say you dont have to soak it for more then 15 minutes, other soak for 12-24 hours, over night or whatever method they have found works for them. I am not lucky enough to have quality rockool meant for seeds, so i have to prep mine different and it has hurt big time. Check the videos below.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLyYY72mGKM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s446R_eKNn4

I soak my rockwool cubes in 6.0 ph'd water for at least and hour or more. Let the water sit for 24 hrs to alow for the chlorine to evaporate. A dome? yes, lighting? don't need the best 'till they sprout, then change to T5's. A propagation matte ( heating matte ) works best, keep it around 75 to 80 degs. Not sure if you do this but once the seed is in the cube add a little potting soil to cover the seed.

hotrodharley said:

Tap water in most US cities is fine for all phases of growing straight out of the tap.

Click to expand...

Wrong, there are allot of municipalities all over the country that add chlorine to the water that comes out of your tap. Chlorine is bad for your plants, it will kill an organic setup. ie mirco oganisms. Good news is that chlorine will evaporate after 24 hours of sitting out in your container.

Tap water is not a static commodity and will vary from region to region. Hard water for example has super high levels of cal/ma

I would run my small boy, although unless you have a catalytic carbon insert with it, you will still have chlorine and chrolimines remaining in the water.

This months Max Yield is all about water.... it was helpful.

Also I ph my Rockwool at 5.7-5.8 and soak them for a hour at least, generally in a super light/low dose clone solution or mute mix for seedling or transplanting.

Otherwise, a humidity dome might be needed, I would try without it makes for hardy plants from the start, also t5 or t12 both will work.

We used to veg solely under t12 fixtures with daylight deluxe bulbs and people where shocked that it worked and worked as well as it did too..... just recently have 1 returned to running a 400 m.h.

I ran my smallboy filter and ph'd to 5.6-5.8, soaked cubes a little over an hour, gave each one a light squeeze, and pushed the seeds in... Ill be starting a grow journal soon so you all can follow my progress.. 6x white russian, 5x g13haze, 1x purplewreck. Look for the journal coming soon!

For seeds I would go without the dome. High humidity and warmth provide good conditions for damping off and other early fungal infections which can potentially occur, and can kill the seed.