Red starts some seeds

[guest 77721]

Hey guys,

I'm just starting up a grow from seed and can pass along a few pointers.

Starting from seed is the hardest part of growing because the seedling is very delicate. It takes some skill and the right stuff to be able to sucessfully get the seeds going.

The first thing you need is a good seedling soil mix. Try to find seedling starter if you can. I'm using the Miracle Grow seedling starter with good results and usually use Promix.

Avoid using potting soil because it has too much fertilizer and will burn up seedlings. This happened to me on my Red's Lodge thread, second last grow.

My seedling starter soil mix is 1 part Miracle Grow Seedling Starter and 1 part Perlite. Perlite is puffed up volcanic rock and is used to improve the drainage of the soil.

I mix up my soil and fill my starter cups with soil at the same time as I prepare the seeds. The starter cups are watered and placed in the grow box so they drain and are at the right temperature. I cover the soil with saran to keep it from drying out.

I saved some starter cups from when I bought flowers for my flowerbed this summer. They look about the right size. I've had good luck with peat pots and the single serving yoghurt cups. I've used beercups quite a few times now and am happier with something a bit smaller.

For the seeds, I get a saucer and a paper napkin. Wet the paper napkin and squeeze dry. I just open the napkin in half and spread out the seeds and cover. The saucer is covered with saran wrap.

The trick to getting a good germination rate is to place the saucer somewhere warm. I found the top of my hot water heater with the saucer under a towel works fine. Other people find on top of a computer or VCR is a nice warm spot.

I check the seeds every 8 to 12 hours for germination and that the napkin doesn't dry out. Seeds need moisture + warmth to trigger germination which should occur in 24-48 hours.

When the seeds germinate, I plant them 1" deep in the starter cup which goes on top of the hot water heater. I check on these every 12 hours and will transfer to the grow box when the seedling has popped out of the soil.

I get the seedlings within 4 to 6 inches of the lights.

The seedlings are under 25 W/sqft in my growbox which has 4 x 13W CFL in 2 square feet. Seedlings don't need much light and around 30W/sqft is recommended.

I will mist the seedlings lightly if I see the top of the soil is drying out, very lightly because I'm not trying to water them.

There are 3 things with seedlings that newbies struggle with
1. Fertilizer
2. Overwatering
3. Temps/Too much light

So far I am
1. Using unfertilized seedling starter mix
2. Prewatered and drained my soil and am keeping just the top of the soil misted
3. 30 w/sq ft and temps 70-80 *f range in the growbox and 90*F on the hot water heater

 

[Shady Smoka]

Nice tutorial man. I'm sure lots of people will be helped by this. I love to use the top of my cable box to germ seeds. There's vents all over the top of it that keep it nice and warm. I also second the use of unferted starter mix.
Good write-up

 

[someotherguy]

high man, good to see you sharing more of your knowledge.

oh, ...and have a terrific new year too!

peace, SOG

 

[sman]

cool red, ima grab a front row seat!

 

[guest 77721]

Here's a day 2 shot of my seedlings.

The seedling comes out of the seed and opens up a set of seed leaves called cotyledons. The first pair of true leaves are developing and are nearly the same size now as the cotlydons.

[/url]

As the leaves are developing on top, so is the roots. At this time there is just a taproot working it's way down to the bottom of the pot.

It's very important to hold off watering at this stage. Imagine that this little plant is a coconut tree on an island. Look how big the island is with respect to this one tree. It's gonna take a while for that tree to drink up the whole island.

If you're worried about knowing when to water, the best thing to do is fill a second container with dry soil and use it to compare the weight.

The reason to be careful about adding water is that the roots will grow to find water and have a big container to work on. If you keep the soil wet, the roots won't grow.

This is where newbies begin to have trouble with seedlings. When the roots develop slower than the leaves which ends up showing deficiencies. So we are going to wait and let the seedling develop roots and leaves.

 

[guest 77721]

Here's my Ultimate Thai seedlings at the end of day 4. The first true leaves are as big as the cotyledons now. You can see the beginning of the next set of leaves. The first pair are single bladed and the next will have 3 blades.

The starter cups were very light so I gave them a watering. I put 1 tsp in about 1/2 litre of water of Muskie Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1 to make a mild fertilizer. There's nothing in the seedling starter mix so I don't mind putting a bit in once the seedlings look like they are starting good.

 

[guest 77721]

My day 5 seedlings look super. The single leaves are larger than the cotyledons now and they seemed to like the mild fish ferts.

 

[supermanlives]

awww aint they cute LOL seedlings are so boring

 

[sman]

awww aint they cute LOL seedlings are so boring

i hope i never get to the point where i think seedlings are boring.... considering my 1st grow, i cant wait to have more seedlings to care for and turn into lovey monstrous mind altering, appetite increasing, intellectual aspiring out of body, sometimes panic attack inducing euphoria machines

 

[SOTF420]

Awesome thread this is gonna be very helpful to alot of people and I will be the first to admit that even after all these years it does not hurt to watch how others do it because you can always learn something. Your seedlings are adorable, and they are never boring to me you gotta be a real quack to not appreciate how cute and precious they are!

Great thread.

 

[el clandestino]

Tagged. Good Start amigo.

 

[guest 77721]

Hi guys,
my seedlings are now at day 8 and are developing the second set of true leaves. This set will develop three blades.

When I checked today, they were ready for watering because the starter cups felt very light. If you can't tell by weight, use a similar pot full of dry soil. We want to let the seedling grow new roots to search for water.

The last time that I watered was three days ago. It is important
to start tracking the water cycles which will get shorter as the plant gets bigger.

When the water cycle gets down to 1 day, then it's time to transplant to a larger pot.

I mixed up 1 tsp in 1/2 litre of Muskie fish emulsion 5-1-1. This is a very mild fertilizer that I've found won't burn seedlings.

On the subject of fertilizing, it's very important to be able to read the signs of deficiencies and buildups.

I look at the bottom leaves of the plant for deficiencies. The signs are yellowing, spots or a zigzag pattern. Deficiencies take a long time to show up and happen more when the plant becomes rootbound.

I look to the top leaves for tip burning which is the sign of nute buildup.

When buildup occurs for a long time, the nutes that the plant can take up easily will lockout the harder to take up nutes and the plant will show both buildup and deficiency at the same time. This can trick you into feeding when it's not needed which will result worsening the condition.

Overwater causes the root system to be under developed with respect to the growing top leaves so the plant can't get enough nutrients to keep up. Fertilizing at this point will promote a growth spurt in the leaves but watering the plant keeps the roots stunted.

Here's the checklist of things to do at this point.
1. Don't water every day
2. Use a mild nute mixuture no more than 1/4 full strength
3. Look to the tips for signs of burning.

 

[sman]

lookin good man!

hey man im wonderin if youd help me out over on my thread in my siggy. i might be headin downhill

 

[guest 77721]

It's day 10 now and the seedlings are chugging right along. I had to water them this morning and that's only two days from the last watering. They just got plain water today. I usually feed once and water once or twice in a row before feeding again. Larger plants get fed once a week.

In today's picture the leaves look a bit droopy because they were watered earlier and haven't dried out the soil yet. The leaves will tell you when to water and will actually raise up.

 

[guest 77721]

Day 11, seedlings still moving right along. I bumped up my lighting today from 13w cfls to 26w cfls. I've noticed that my seedlings should be moving a bit faster and could use the extra warmth. My growbox is down the basement in an unheated utility room next to the hot water heater.

If you check out this pic, the largest plant has it's leaves raised up while the other plants are looking a bit droopy, not much but it is noticiable.

This leaves up is the early sign that the plant is clearing the soil of water and will usually take a growth spurt when it's roots can take up oxygen.

If you ever transplant several plants together and one is a bit bigger than the others, there is a tendency to water them all when the largest thirstiest plant needs water. This isn't much of a problem when the plants are all in small containers but it can cause stunting and overwatering problems when the plants are recently transplanted.

I like the look of these seedlings in the starter cups now. They look like a tree in their own backyard compared to a single coconut tree on an island a few days ago. The seedlings are changing at such a rate that these comparisons of scale come into play. This is why watering and soil drainage is most important for seedlings.