Some not quite newb q's

No flamming here guy!!
(Well... Hopefully not on this thread) lol


1. I've read about testing seeds by flotation (good seeds will sink?). It would not be too late to do this would it?
Never tried it but will read up on more, My guess is yes.. Warmn doesnt mean hot... Hopefully they aren't frying!

2. Is there a minimum size growroom/box for my 600w light? I am currently designing a stealth like grow box and as I only want a few plants and want to use LST (for yield and space reasons). At the moment it looks like I will have about 10,000 lumens per sq ft or just over, I will make sure that the light/box is sufficiently cooled.
People will tell you 6 square feet, but you could get away with more... and in a confined space, works magic... BTW, vent system my be just your second most expensive part of the whole thing.

3. I haven't found a lot of information on humidity. It is coming out of winter here in southern hemisphere. Am I right in saying the seeds need more humidity to germinate than the planted seedling?
You are right!! Be during flower... you want to keep it as low as possible.

4. I know not to fertilize until flowering time. I have about 500mL ea of Dutchfest hydro part A and part B. Come flowering time would I be able to dilute this with water and feed the plant that way?
Jes jes... follow instructions on back... its like 1TBlSP per gallon or something...

 

1. I've read about testing seeds by flotation (good seeds will sink?). It would not be too late to do this would it?

you could do that as long as they havent cracked. drop em in a little bit of water and once they drop drain it and leave em in there with a little bit of water. theyll be fine.

2. Is there a minimum size growroom/box for my 600w light? I am currently designing a stealth like grow box and as I only want a few plants and want to use LST (for yield and space reasons). At the moment it looks like I will have about 10,000 lumens per sq ft or just over, I will make sure that the light/box is sufficiently cooled.

LST will be good with your 600 hps. it all dpends on how many plants youll have. you can cover 6 plants easy with that light. even push it to 8 since its LST

3. I haven't found a lot of information on humidity. It is coming out of winter here in southern hemisphere. Am I right in saying the seeds need more humidity to germinate than the planted seedling?

you can put your seeds in a tupper wear with a wet napkin over and on top of the seeds. wet both papers and make sure its in a dark place.

humidity is ok for the seeds but not a huge thing. youll be fine with the water and the darkness.

4. I know not to fertilize until flowering time. I have about 500mL ea

 

1. I've read about testing seeds by flotation (good seeds will sink?). It would not be too late to do this would it?

I personally don't like this method, because soaking can cause seeds to rot if you're not careful. Instead, give the seeds 5 days or so in the towel, and if the shells still haven't split, line a small matchbox with fine grain sandpaper, place the seeds inside, and shake them around a bit. This can help a taproot to break out of an otherwise too-tough shell.

2. Is there a minimum size growroom/box for my 600w light? I am currently designing a stealth like grow box and as I only want a few plants and want to use LST (for yield and space reasons). At the moment it looks like I will have about 10,000 lumens per sq ft or just over, I will make sure that the light/box is sufficiently cooled.

As long as you can mitigate the heat buildup in a small space, you'll be fine. Just be careful, because plants can double or even triple in size during flowering.

3. I haven't found a lot of information on humidity. It is coming out of winter here in southern hemisphere. Am I right in saying the seeds need more humidity to germinate than the planted seedling?

Ideal humidity is between 50 and 70 percent.

4. I know not to fertilize until flowering time. I have about 500mL ea of Dutchfest hydro part A and part B. Come flowering time would I be able to dilute this with water and feed the plant that way?

You can generally follow the instructions on the box without any problems, although some people like to only fertilize at half the recommended amount for the first couple of feedings.

 

1. Never used this method. What kind of water are you using for the paper towel soak? Tap water could have negative effects on the germ process. I buy natural spring water for my seeds, seedlings, and newly rooted clones. If you are gonnna use tap make sure it sits out un-capped over night before use.

2. 10,000 lumens per square ft is about what the sun is at high noon out in your front yard. Perfect for Mary, trust she will reward you hansomly with all that light. As long as you keep it below 85F growth will be phenomenal. Learning the many methods of training will be a must if you put that much light in a cabenet or some sort of stealth box. Also look in to the SOG and SCROG methods as they to will keep plants short.

3. Humidity: You have a pretty wide range to work with here. Mine fluctuates between 40-80% in my veg room. And 40-60% in flower area. My only humidity worries are in the plants late flowering stage when buds become susceptible to molds and fungus, thus the lower numbers in flower.

4. I dont know the nutes your using but do make sure to go light. Much easier to add more than to deal with burnt up plants. Most nutes should be added to water before feeding.

Thats my 2 cents hope it helped. Good luck with the grow, and keep us updated! IMO Much Love.

 

Glad to hear that some more of them germinated for you! But when you say tissue paper, do you mean a tissue (like a kleenex) or actual tissue paper, or something else? Because I don't recommend using either of those. I always use paper towels (two layers on bottom, one on top of the seeds), both thoroughly moistened but not dripping wet.

 

floating or sinking in a glass of water doesnt mean a thing i had the same question when i germinated some seeds, all of my seeds floated in the water so i used the paper towel method and all of them have germinated and are now growing well so it doesnt matter weather they sink or float. i also used toilet paper to germinate them

 

Yes, paper towels just like in a kitchen. They hold moisture better and don't shred or dissolve in water, plus there's no chance of having lotions or chemicals for adding scent in them (like in facial tissue).

I don't recommend putting seeds directly in soil, and I don't really recommend putting them in water at all. Some people swear by it, but waiting for the seed shells to crack in the water never really worked for me. The big disadvantage of putting a seed directly in soil is that you can't tell when it's germinated (if it has), and so you might be waiting a long time on a seed that never cracked, or jump the gun and throw out a plant that was just a day or two away from breaking the surface of the soil. Handling seeds does have some risk, but if you're careful the risk is very low.

 

I soak my seeds in water for 24 hours, no more. As stated above those that sink are likely to be viable, but this can take quite a few hours. Any still floating after 24 are liable to be sterile husks.

Many have absorbed water and the cases split after this - they are obviously viable seeds.

Seeds need warmth and moisture to germinate, so I then plant them in my soil mix about a quarter " deep, keep them warm and moist. The ´sinkers´go one to a pot, any ´floaters´ all go in a pot together, just in case there is a viable one there. They will pop in 1 to 5 days - any not come up after a week, won´t - recycle that pot of soil.

Heresy coming up. I have never seen any point whatever in putting them in paper towels just to germinate them, it is just an unnecessary extra step that confers no advantage whatever. I can in fact list a number of disadvantages.

More heresy. I fert my babies as soon as they appear, with liquid organics - my own kick-ass Russian comfrey fert. They seem to do well on it, and do not collapse and die as is popularly imagined. Certainly do not wait until flowering, and during vegging they get loads of fert. I only use one soil mix, which contains horse shit and rich garden compost.

The only problem I ever had with ferts was once, a long time ago, I tried those chemical sticks of solid fert. Got root burn and one lady died.

These are just the results of methods that work for me - other folks will surely have different experiences.

 

hi greenmachine - yes, if yours have all sunk I would plant them in soil, keep them warm and moist.

 

hey catharis good info here man, nice to see you not pissed

when your seedlings are young they are fragile, i wouldnt stick them under a 600 yet.
let them turn into toddlers before you hit them with that kind of sun, I know notthing about soil but it seems catharis does and hes helping you so your good there...
get your flouro's down about 5" or so above your babies and try to keep them reaching for the light(leaves up) a good sign your on the right track. if your leaves start dropping its a sign somthing is wrong.
Welcome to your new favorite hobby,

Keeping it green...... budslinger

 

If your nutes are chemicals, don't feed them please. Cantharis may be able to get away with it because his mix is purely organic and slow acting, but chemical hydro nutes will burn and possibly kill your seedlings. Also, 2 T8 tubes will work for a little while, so it will depend how many plants you'll have under it and how tall you want them to get. I'd get the tubes a lot closer than 5" too, since you want the least stretch possible, and tubes run pretty cool so it doesn't hurt if your ladies bump into them.