Dean Moriarty

Trying to go Hydro this time and make a bubbler. Everything is assembled but I'm just germinating my seeds now. I've read that the paper towel method is pretty bad for hydro so I attempted this. Are there any foreseeable problems? Any flaws in my methodology? Thanks!

Rockwool cubes were soaked for 24 hours in distilled water adjusted to the pH 5-6 range. Cubes were then shaken out and placed on the rack to drain (I had a pan about two inches deep that includes a grate and lid, which seemed like an ideal place to germinate as the excess water could run off and there would also be room for root growth should the cubes get dry). Seeds were placed in the rockwool about a day and a half ago and the holes were pinched closed.

In order to maintain a warm, humid climate while simultaneously giving the sprouts exposure to light immediately after germination and roots room to develop, the pan was placed in the grow cabinet (not currently ventilated but this will be fixed before vegetation) with some fluorescents on). An airstone attached to a pump was placed in the water-filled pan. After 24 hours, I noticed the water level in the pan was at about the half-way mark so I topped it off with a pH-adjusted "seedling mix" of 2.5 mL each of Grow, Bloom, and Vigor nutrients dissolved in a gallon of distilled water.

It has now been just shy of two days and I have not yet noticed any growth. There are three Master Kush, two feminized AK-48, one each of feminized Ice and Northern Lights, and three beefsteak tomato seeds.

farmergiles

As long as the seeds are kept in or on a moist (not wet) medium and at a warm temperature (25-30C say) they should germinate.

I never saw the point in paper towels, better to germinate straight into whatever medium you're using imo.
Rockwool should be fine, it's difficult to over water.

Don't use nutrients yet, they won't help germination. Why give them bloom nutrients in any case? Read the instructions on your nutes carefully if you're going to go soilless.

Not quite sure what you're up to with the pan and stuff, just keep the cubes moist and warm. Leaving the light on is fine as long as things don't get too hot.

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Dean Moriarty

Thanks, farmegiles! This is pretty much the culmination of advice and tutorials from numerous sources.

The cubes, unfortunately, were wet - I soaked them overnight in pH adjusted water and then shook them out a bit to remove some of the excess water and create air pockets, and left them on the grate for a few hours to drain out above the pan.

The bloom nutrients are only in because of all the tutorials I've read that suggest instead of the 5 mL Grow and 5 mL Vigor the bottle suggests for early veg/seedlings, that 2.5mL of each and 2.5 mL of bloom is better. This solution has been diluted even further since it was mixed with an equal part of pH adjusted distilled water.

I have the pan with solution and bubble stone in place so that when the tap root breaks through, the root has somewhere to go and won't hit, say, the bottom of a tupperware container (which was what I was originally thinking about using). The pan is about two and a half inches tall, half inch down it has a spot for the grate to rest and the two inches below is basically a mini-bubbler filled with pH adjusted water and very dilute nutrient. It will also keep the rockwool from drying out as the bubbles are splashing against the bottom of the cubes.

Does this seem like coherent logic and a viable idea to an experienced grower? I'm a bit of a noob and have been reading and researching a lot.

farmergiles

When the seed germinates the first two leaves will unfold upwards in search of light. The seed uses gravity to work out which way to grow.

You'll see the leaves and stem days before the roots come out of the cube.

As far as the nutes go they are only seedlings once they have germinated, until then they are just seeds .

You might use a root promoting supplement like rhizotonic or something in a very dilute solution for germinating but I'd just go with plain water tbh. It works fine.

When you do hit the seedlings with some nutes start with a very dilute solution- easy to scorch them.

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Dean Moriarty

Thanks...so, I'm okay so far, right, with the current conditions and a 25% dilute, highly aerated solution for them to dip their roots into?

I was worried about root growth simply because I had sprouted a single AK-48 in a cube in a tupperware, keeping it in my car so it got nice and toasty warm...then promptly dropped it and snapped the stem in half. Not wanting it to be a TOTAL waste, I took a nice, sharp knife and cut the rockwool cube in half to take a cross section - despite the cotyledon and stem being less than a centimeter tall, the taproot had taken up the entire height of the rockwool cube.

So if root growth is going to happen that quickly I want to be as prepared as possible for it.

farmergiles

By all means have everything ready .

25% should be ok, certainly don't start off any stronger.

It's surprising how long plants can live with just water, air and light. Don't feel you have to pump them full of nutes before they form a decent root mass.

Aeration is good.

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Dean Moriarty

Damn you are awesome.

Two last questions:

1: Is 6 inches too shallow for a bubbler? Its a 34 qt. 26.5 x 16 x 6.625 inch Sterlite. I figure six 5" netpots can fit comfortably, each about an inch below the lid, at least until flowering. I can always just raise the lid or move to another container, right?

2: I have two pumps, both Tetra Whispers, a 10-30 gallon one and a 60 gallon one. I have four airstones, two tiny little cylinders and two 12" rectangles. The 60 gallon has two outputs (currently linked and pumping air into the frying pan setup lol) and the 10-30 has one. The current plan is the 60gal gets the two 12" airstones that go in the middle of the 34Qt tub. The little pump with a little stone goes in a smaller 5-gal unit for tomato plants. Is this enough aeration for each? Too little, just enough, or plently? Overkill and a waste of power? Too much it can harm? I've heard there's no such thing as too much, but I want to make sure before it goes live (and make sure I accommodate future fixtures correctly without wasting money).

farmergiles

Cheers.

Yes, whenever necessary.

Yes that should be enough and yes you can't over aerate your water. Roots love oxygen.


Oh- if the water isn't kept away from light you'll get algae.
Lightproofing the containers will pay off big time.

You might want to make some kind of lid with rockwool cube sized holes in to keep the light out.

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stoneric

Just curious about the germinating part. I germinate my seeds in a glass of distilled water kept in a warm dark place and have a tail in 48 hours almost 100% of the time. Is that not wet?

farmergiles

That's pretty wet!

I find that if soil or rockwool is saturated though, the seedlings have problems rooting.

Good point though, I might try the glass of water in the dark trick sometime.

I like starting them in soil.

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stoneric

Ah, I missed the word "medium". Stoned again.

Dean Moriarty

Shoot...its been five days now and nothing. I also soaked some seeds in water with a tiny bit of Superthrive over about 36 hours, it looked like some white was showing where the taproot would be emerging so I put them into soaked-and-drained wet rockwool about 12 hours ago. Nothing new at all today. Is this completely boned?

Dean Moriarty

Shoot. The sprouts I have are beginning to wilt. One directly under the 26W CFL looks lightly toasted. I came home to find the resevoir 3/4 depleted (it only holds
about half a gallon) and most of the seedlings laying on their sides. I topped it off with 1/4 gallon of distiller water, a splash of already half strength nutes, and a drop of superthrive.

Any suggestions? They're only a few days old and in rockwool.

Dean Moriarty

Lighting is 2 26w cfls and two 12" fluoro tubes, one stock and one with an ecolux
bulb.