Starting seeds off for Hydroponic System grow

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Growing' started by brandon77, Aug 9, 2017.

  1. Hi, Im brand new to growing and I've just picked up a 3ft grow cabinet called the Ghost Cabinet Stealth. When starting seeds off, every video I come across is people germinating the seeds with the paper towel method then place the seed into the rockwool or other medium, heres where my question is.. Can you put that rockwool with your newly planted seed and place it straight into a net pot in your hydroponic system? Thats what the instructions say..Everyone seems to use a separate germination kit with a tray and humidity dome to get the plant to sprout, then transfer it to there system. What I'm really asking is do I have to do any of that or can i just fill the basin with good ph water and drop the rockwool directly into the net cups and if so how do I arrange the clay pebbles when there are no roots hanging from the rockwool because the seed was just planted. Any help is greatly appreciated! Sorry if i reek of beginner just trying to pick up a new hobby. Thank You!
     
  2. Your strategy seems reasonable to me, but there are a few things to worry about.
    With the paper towel method you will know quickly whether the seed will germinate. With direct planting, you might not know for a week or longer, and the plant might never sprout.
    The germination chambers provide an easier way to control environment than direct planting, but home internet routers can provide heat too.

    Here's one strategy:
    (1) Germinate the seeds using paper towel method, and put each into a pH conditioned rockwool cube.
    (2) Put a 1/2 - 1 inch layer of pellets into the bottoms of the pots
    (3) Set the rockwool cube with sprout on the pellets
    (4) Fill the space between pot and cube with more pellets
    (5) Put a thin layer of pellets on top of the cube, avoiding the plant.

    I've ruined more plants in the seedling stage than any other stage. Feeding them more than 100 ppm or so right after sprouting, wrong rockwool pH, and too strong light too early can do it.
     
  3. Hey I'm on my first grow as well, and I first started with the same cabinet then returned it was smaller than I expected, looked like it could barely pull an ounce out of it, and the guy was a jerk, but I then listened to everyone's suggestion and got a tent, im doing a hempy bucket and I started with some rapid rooter that I just plugged directly into 3 gallon bucket all perlite and water it with plain ol tap water and it sprouted in like 2 days
     
  4. Here's the thing with any sort of rooting plug and DWC and one of the most common causes of plant failure. If the rooted plug is too low in the hydroton then it stays too wet which starves the O2 and the plant first shows overwatering symptoms, deficiencies, damping off at the stem and the plant eventually dies. One solution is to keep the plug sticking 1/2 way up out of the hydroton so that it is enough above the wet line that it can drain. Don't forget, the splashing action gets the hydroton wet well above the fluid level.

    Also, keeping the fluid lower helps - but then you lose useable root mass. Wherever there is an air gap, the roots become big thick ropes which are really just extensions of the stem, and aren't exchanging nutrients - they only transport. So you lose that % of potential root mass.

    Here's what I have learned to do and how I avoid all of that. I made a super cheap bubble bucket and fitted some 2" PVC adapters on the lid and popped a neoprene ring in it. I just use tap water - not even pH'd - and put the seedling or clone in there until the roots are about 6". If it gets to the 3rd set of leaves then I'll add 1/4 nutes. But then I just transplant into the netpot and drape the roots down through the bottom and backfill with hydroton. Now you're good to go with roots already out of the netpot and ready to take up nutes. No rooting plug or those potential headaches, no top watering until roots show through... I also keep my fluid levels 2" above the base of the netpot for the entire grow. This causes lateral fine root growth from the whole sides of the netpot on down. No giant cord roots and much more root area. More root area = more upper growth.

    These pics are clones, but for seedlings I sprout in wet paper towel until the root in maybe an 1 - 1 1/2" - enough that I can stick the taproot through the neoprene ring with the top sticking out. Then grow it out it the bubble bucket.

    IMG_2795 2.JPG IMG_1449.JPG IMG_1492.JPG IMG_1284.JPG
     

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