I've been taught that when your plants develop their first set of primary leaves and form a second level internode then when you transplant into larger containers, you should take a sterile razor and some rooting hormone and cut off your cotyledon (tiny green leaves, not true leaves) and apply rooting hormone and cover with dirt up to the first primary leaves... This allows the roots to run deeper and for new roots to form closer to the surface... pictures of my greenhouse will be coming soon... if anyone else has heard of ways to develop sturdier plants, or if this tip has helped, then please post here....
I think that is just adding added stress to a plant. I just let those cotyle leaves do there thing and die. I know lots of air flow from day 1 will make seedlings stronger.
I was taught to give them enough light and let them develop a root system which will then allow them to thicken up
I let my seedlings sprout in a dixie cup then transplant to a 3-5 gal pot When i transplant i bury them all the way down to the cotyledon It gives me an excellent root system and very sturdy stem
[quote name='"TinTizzy"']I was taught to give them enough light and let them develop a root system which will then allow them to thicken up[/quote] Definetly. Well cared for plants will developed a good root system much better than trying to bury a plant all the way down. The only reason to do this in my opinion is to combat stretching, but shouldn't be needed if you have enough light. I will say though, I always leave myself a little extra pot hieght just in case.
Never heard that but I put a fan on high on my plants and that helps considerably. As for roots never have done that method...use airpots here and the whole thing i filled with a giant root mass after harvest. There are many vodoo things people do and shockingly usually they dont do much. Very much like hydro stores and all the genies in the bottle that the nute companies sell. Everyone swears by what they do but another funny thing is usually there is no plant to compare it to that did not have the procedure done so really no one ever knows if it worked.
a fan gently blowin' on em mimics nature as to stregnthin' the stems..i also top dress and bury some stem to add stregnth..up ta an inch
Thanks everyone sounds great... My issue is that i'm doing a greenhouse grow so adjusting my light source isnt really an option... I'm trying to get another fan into the equation... but my greenhouse really isnt that large so circulating air isnt a problem... Unless you mean to blow the fan directly onto my seedlings... then i need to break out my mini fan lol
in nature..wind blowin' on the seedlings act as excersize for the plants..so..yaeh..a gentle breeze directly on seedlings..ocellating is best...make em wiggle...i just plant a bunch and cull for the best plantsgenetics is everything
its hard to get a huge breeze in a small greenhouse... I built it on my own over a 2 day span... if anyone is interested in plans and materials, then let me know and i'd be more than glad to share...
I bury my rockwool below the hydroton so that the hydroton is just under the cotyledons. I let the cotyledons die out naturally and add fans/air flow after the first week that they sprout up. I'm almost into the 2nd week of veg on my grow right now, and the stalks are VERY healthy and thick. I wouldn't take the cotyledons off...