100% germination, every time ... EASY !

[bobhead]

3 days for those results. I'm gonna give this a shot.

I have a question though, do you soak the rapid rooter plugs first.
I know the water will splash them but it seems like it won't be enough to make it to the seed.

I've been working with other growing medium and have been failing.

Alright, I'm gonna go construct my germination station.

[bobhead]

Alright, I constructed mine out of a bucket. I popped a dry seed in the rapid rooter; Came back 72 hours later and I got a sprout!
Not the results you got, but I'm very impressed with this.

[Eln0mbre]

this i have to try, i have some seeds that i can`t get to sprout, tried like 20 of them in wet soil and the papertowel metod. :thumbsup:

[clongo]

can I use plugged tubing running underneath two plants with holes in it instead of the airstone and can I use oasis foam instead of rapid rooters for clones going into soil? thank you

peace

longo:rastasmoke:

[leftreartire]

what do you feel is the cost of your germinator/cloner? one thing i would highly recommed when germinations is to try and get your seedling into their perminate home as soon as possible. if you just get them there you eliminate alot of human facts that could cause stress and damage to your young seedlings. i start all my seeds right in the pots i am going to grow them in. that tap root/anchor root is on of the most important part of the seedling that is very highly over looked

[Slevinkal]

Keep in mind that growing seedling in large containers is not all good, my friend.

A lot of times the moisture sinks to the bottom and outruns the roots of young plants causing un-needed stress and extra watering to keep the soil damp where the roots are. Keeping the bottom of the pot saturated just to keep moisture near the roots will cause other problems in return...

[bobhead]

It's been awhile since I've posted. Starting seedling seem to be the scariest part about growing LOL. I would like to update some information on this method. This is what I've learned throughout my growing journey. Actually I'm still on my first grow, but almost finished!

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1) Soak your seeds in water 24hrs prior to using them, this increased my germination by 1 day. Not required.

2) Keep your reservoir level only half ways full, or turn down your air pump. I've noticed the rapid rooters get soaking wet. If this is the case, don't plant the seed to deep. The roots like being suspended and misted with water.

3) Make sure your reservoir is light proof, especially if using super thrive. Algae loves super thrive and it will rape your roots. I stopped using super thrive and switched to thrive alive b-1. Bring your ppm up to 100-120 once your seedling has 2 sets of leaves.

4) Allow some space between your seedlings, my roots grew vigorously and began tangling up with one another. I ended up pulling some apart when transplanting.

5) Only transplant when the roots have those little hairs on the sides of them. Allow some of it to poke through the net pot and have most of the roots near the bottom of the hydroton.

6) Keep PH between 5.8 & 6.8. Drop it to 5.8-6.0 once you start nutrients.
I germinated with success at various ph levels, it didn't seem to make a difference at this early stage. If your ph is above 7 or below 5.5, their may be some problems.

7) Keep the humidity very high when germinating. Find something to cover them with, spray it with water.
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I'm sure using other growing medium would work just fine, you will have to gauge how the medium holds water and make adjustments accordingly.

The basic concept of this is that it eliminates the need to manually check and water them.

You can just as easily throw your seeds in a rapid rooter, put them in a tray and keep them moist.

Many growers seem to stress how fragile this stage is. However, seedlings can actually overcome a lot of stress. I've screwed up a lot my first attempts. I tore apart a seedling in rock wool one time and found all dried rotting brown roots, there was a small piece of white root. I tore the brown roots off and put it in a new growing medium, and sure enough it grew nice and healthy.
Another seedling wasn't sprouting, I dug into the hole and seen that it was kind of starting and went ahead and ripped it's shell of while it was still in the dirt! It sprouted and it is looking good.
I've also had seedlings suffer an onslaught of algae! Stunted their growth for like 2 weeks. I rinsed them used h202, changed my reservoir and they are growing nice.

So don't be discouraged if things aren't going well. If it's a seed from a reputable breeder, than it will surely be forgiving.

[b1growsgreen]

hahaha i just started doing something similar, but with rockwool

[GrowingInGeorgia]

can I use plugged tubing running underneath two plants with holes in it instead of the airstone

You won't get the fine bubbles that are so turbulent without the airstone. You'll get bubbles, yes, but a good airstone with enough air moving through it will really move the water. I learned this back in my aquarium days. HUGE difference.

[wg420]

This is great, can I use this setup to grow plants to maturity. By adding more lights?