Hi People, I'm having some problems germinating and I could really use some advice from you who know more than me... This time I'm going with a Sativa Mix Pack from Greenhouse Seeds (Super Silver Haze, Arjan's Haze #1, Arjan's Strawberry Haze, Neville's Haze and Hawaiian Snow) plus a freebie from the girl in the headshop, Pipi. It's an indoor grow under a 400w HPS. See photo. I planted the seeds in Jiffy pellets and kept them under the light over night and in darkness through the day. I'm only able to check on them around twice a day which has meant I have had to keep the bottom of the plant pot base I am keeping them in pretty much full of water (bottled water). By the next morning, after a stretch under the lights, most of the water has evaporated but the pellets have not completely dried out. Day-by-day temperature and RH records are below. "Temp." and "RH" are as they were at the time I checked, normally around 10am: Temp.\tMin Temp\tMax Temp\tRH\tMin RH\tMax RH 26.9C\t23.7C\t27.2C\t36%\t25%\t70% 27.2C\t17.0C\t30.2C\t26%\t20%\t70% 26.2C\t16.7C\t36.7C\t25%\t16%\t44% 24.1C\t16.2C\t35.6C\t33%\t20%\t48% 28.5C\t16.3C\t31.7C\t30%\t18%\t44% 26.3C\t15.7C\t28.9C\t48%\t30%\t78% 29.4C\t16.6C\t29.5C\t41%\t33%\t72% 29.9C\t18.0C\t30.5C\t50%\t35%\t75% I'm now on day 8 and only one of them has shown it's face. I have carefully folded back some soil and can see that most of them have developed taproots, but there doesn't seem to have been much change over the last couple of days. So my questions are these: Was keeping the jiffy pellets saturated a bad idea? Was using bottled water a bad idea and Could the mineral build up from the evaporation have caused problems? Is it likely that these plants (if they eventually grow) will be weak and sickly, and should I just give up on these ones, buy a new pack and start from scratch? Any input from anyone would be much appreciated. Thanks, JayF
May have heard if it is real moist, the tap roots don't have as much reason to grow in search of water, no idea. Friend just had one go 8 days before breaking through the soil. He had given up on it, but I told him to keep waiting. Looking GREAT 2 weeks later(Snowryder). (Good luck with them all....... expect to hear how foil is a big no-no, if that is foil-lined in the pic.)
Surely if it were the case that the taproot didn't need to grow so much in search of water, the plant would concentrate on growing foliage (as per hydroponics). My concern is that the roots aren't getting enough oxygen due to the saturated soil, or that the (presumably) high mineral content I have created is in some way disrupting the chemical process of germination / growth. Yeah it is foil. It's covering the 1.2m(w) x 1m(d) x 1.8m(h) room. Walls and floor. I'm intrigued. Why would not wasting the light that is absorbed by non reflective walls and floor be a bad thing? Or are you only referring to during the germination/seedling process? Thanks for your reply.
Not waisting the light is a good thing, with flat-white walls or mylar, but hear foil creates hot spots.... bad for any part of the grow. Personally, I would use a few CFLs (5000K-6500K) for seedlings and through veg, but I am cheap and like to save my HPS bulb, and electricity. Not sure if I would use 400W for seedlings at all. (not saying it's bad to)
It's foil that has thousands of tiny dimples in it to disperse the light and prevent hotspots. I need to straighten it all out a bit. I used cheap chinese duck tape to attach it to the walls and it hasn't really done the job. Me too! So cheap in fact that I could only just about afford the equipment I bought. The seedlings WILL have a 400w bulb and they better like it! I might raise it up a bit though for a while, after your advice.
Actually, you must use the dull side to reflect your light as the shinny side is the side that will produce concentrated hotspots. Using aluminum foil is a cheap alternative to using mylar or white paint, but it does not perform nearly as well. It only reflects about a estimated 60% of light. Also the thing with aluminum foil is that light will promote the oxidation of the metal forming a layer of oxide that is not reflective....But is the utmost cheap alternative to utilize
Thanks MicroGrower. From what I can see there doesn't seem to be any serious hotspots. I think it should be alright. Does anyone have any input on my original questions re. germination, or criticism on the method I used to germinate?
Thanks. Given that I didn't germinate them in paper towel, can anyone advise me as to whether it would be better to persevere with these seeds or leave them and start afresh with a new batch. 8 days seems a long time to be waiting for them to sprout. Previous outdoor grows have sprouted within 4 days. My worries are that these plants may grow weak for some of the reasons in my OP. That said, I've not grown sativa strains before, so maybe this period is normal for these strains. Anyone?
It's quite possible that the humidity just isn't high enough for them, seeds need high humidity to even stimulate sprouting. Try to put them in a dome, with good 80% humidity.
Good advice thanks. I've put them under a large plastic tupperware type box thing. I'll check on them in a few hours to make sure the temperature isn't going through the roof. So you think 8 days is a reasonable amount of time to wait and no damage done? Cheers.
Good advice thanks. I've put them under a large plastic tupperware type box thing. I'll check on them in a few hours to make sure the temperature isn't going through the roof. So you think 8 days is a reasonable amount of time to wait and no damage done? Cheers.