Sure fire seed sprouting

[Creeperpark]

I looked at seed prices the other day and one thing I noticed was the prices have gone way up. Good breeder seeds are worth the money, but at those prices, you can't have any failures. I'm going to pop some seeds, using a method that has a 100% success rate, only 2 misses in 10 years with breeder seed. This is for new comers just starting out.

 

[Creeperpark]

I'm using an organic mix right out of the bag. The ingredients are, perlite, coco fiber, peat moss, composted forest material, pumice, worm castings, bat guano, soybean meal, alfalfa meal, fishbone meal, kelp meal, greensand, mycorrhizal fungi. I tumble my bag about 20 or 30 times on the floor to make sure all the fine stuff gets mixed well. I'm"100% organic" .

 

[Creeperpark]

Next, I take 500 ml of distilled water and mix with 250 ml of soil, and let it sit for an hour. This method is called 2:1 pour through.

 

[Creeperpark]

Its so important to know what you have in the very beginning, and its easy find out. After an hour, pour some through a filter and use your meters to get a reading.

 

[Creeperpark]

Next, for a ten pack, I feel up 10 Dixie cups with holes drilled on the bottom for drainage. I never pack the soil in the containers, and keep it loose and airy as I can, and that goes for any size containers. Instead of hand packing the soil, I use the water and water the soil in with every watering.

The next step takes a little time, but it is way worth the trouble, and will help long after the seed popped. After I fill the cups up, I weigh them and write their dry weight on the cup. Dry is the bottom weight and I should never let it get that low with seeds once they sprouted.

 

[Creeperpark]

Since this is a organic substrate, I will only use pure rain water to water with. RO will work, if I couldn't get my hands on any rain because of drought, I would use RO. I never use tap water for seeds and don't recommend taking a chance on losing your good seed. I found some old Mandala seed I will be popping.

 

[Creeperpark]

I pre-soak the cups with 7 ppm rain water and make sure they are saturated well. Then I poke a small hole with a pencil just deep enough to hide the cut wood in the soil. Put one seed in the hole, cover, and then water again lightly with a turkey baster to seat the seed. Then weigh it again to get the wet weight, and write that down beside the dry weight on the cup. Now, I can keep an eye on evaporation and know when to water again. After planting, I put the cups in darkness and wait 2 to 4 days. After 2 days if the seeds are up, or not up, I will turn on the light and heat it up a little.

 

[Creeperpark]

These cups take about 100 grams of water when they are fully watered. I can check the weight everyday, and monitor the water exactly. You would be surprised how many cups don't need watering, when you think they need watering by lifting. Its easy to be fooled and that's where a lot of people lose valuable seed, Ok that's it, they are planted, I will check back in a day or two.

 

[Creeperpark]

Sometimes a little water will leak out of the bottom of the cups after I put them in place. So after sitting 6 or 8 hours, I re-check the weight of the cups and make sure I have the perfect wet weight written down on the cup. I checked the weight this morning and no need to do anything

 

[Switcher56]

These cups take about 100 grams of water when they are fully watered. I can check the weight everyday, and monitor the water exactly. You would be surprised how many cups don't need watering, when you think they need watering by lifting. Its easy to be fooled and that's where a lot of people lose valuable seed, Ok that's it, they are planted, I will check back in a day or two.

Addressing both posts (8-9) You use grams of H2O, I presume later on you are using lbs. I use mls in the beginning I use a flip top sort of bottle, never thought of a turkey baster , and pre measured amounts for the remainder of the run. 1.5l in my almost 5gal cloth pots. (I say almost because, although they are classified as 3gal, they are closer to 5) every 3rd day by weight and moisture content (verification) and only occasionally I have to +/- 200mls or so.

Interesting read... I am pretty successful in germination, but I will employ the "not packing" soil, just allow the natural weight of the soil for optimum compactness. Next run scheduled for 8/23

 

[Creeperpark]

Thanks Switcher56, no need for weighing in larger containers, this method is only for seed sprouting and seedling stage (dixie cups). Please try the no soil packing for a run, and you will see what I'm talking about. I use water to pack the soil on every seed planting and transplant for the fastest root growth. I never smash the soil down with my hands or bang it on the ground! I never let my soil containers hit the floor hard either, because that will pack the soil too. Lay containers down very gently, and the plants will love you!

 

[Creeperpark]

Two days later I check the weight, and find that each cup has lost 10 grams of water weight due to evaporation. One gram of water, equals one ml of water in measurement. To return 10 grams of water, I just give 10 ml of water to each cup with a syringe . So easy, Now I have the original weight that I started with, and can keep from over-watering or under-watering my seeds. With zero water loss, there is no nutrient waste out the bottom..

 

[Switcher56]

You know good buddy, some would call your regimen anal, I know I have been accused of such in the past and not going to those extremes. TBS, I understand what you are doing and support it.

So, I understand this is "seedlings" do you top dress (replenish) your pots (final pots) as you go, after the soil has become compact due to "natural" settling? e.g loss of capacity

 

[Creeperpark]

You know good buddy, some would call your regimen anal, I know I have been accused of such in the past and not going to those extremes. TBS, I understand what you are doing and support it.

So, I understand this is "seedlings" do you top dress (replenish) your pots (final pots) as you go, after the soil has become compact due to "natural" settling? e.g loss of capacity

Switcher56, Seeds are very expensive at about $10.00 per seed. Just weighting the cups can keep them from being over or underwatered. I'm glad you asked what I will be doing with them in the future. I going to talk about something not many people talk about, and thats how to boost the Cation-Exchange Capacity up to 200 %. I'll will do a complete grow showing what I'm talking about. If my health allows.

 

[Creeperpark]

My apologies for the disruption, my internet crashed killing my computer. It’s a bitch having a physical handicap, because everything is so much harder now. Having no passwords, not being able to find what I need and having to set up a new system has been very hard for me, but I did it. Since I’m not allowed to drive anymore, it puts me in a bad place when stuff happens. However, I super cleaned my grow area waiting for Internet service to get here. I’m back after a week and here we grow.

 

[Creeperpark]

The first 10 seeds are Safari Mix , 7 germinated on the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] day the other 3 popped on the 4 th day. I have one empty cup, but one cup, with 2 sprouts, my bad. Now I wanted to germinate 8 Ganesh from Mandala also, because those seed are so very tiny and can be difficult. Making my point, 8 germinated on the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] day and are growing in blue cups. I saved 8 Hashberry seed to demonstrate this no fail-method, since I got knocked back a week. HOLD your seat I’ll do this again in a day to two or before I close the thread. This is a sure fire method that works every time and plants love it.

 

[f-e]

I do a similar weighing thing. I fill them while stood on the scale, so they all weigh the same. Rather than write down individual weights. I also water them on the scale. A Milliliter weighs a Gram, so we can pour from an uncalibrated jug, and know how many ml we are getting. Working with huge numbers.. like 10.. it's nice to put each on the scale looking for the same number. That is the real difference. All my pots have the same weight thresholds.

I'm still weighing them as little shrubs. The one's not drinking so much, are usually the one's I'm not interested in. Though I do have a keeper who's pot is always filled lower, to fit my watering schedule.

Sorry to hear your health isn't great. It seems a lot of us using forums are the older generation. While the kids head to insta.. where I'm happy to see them segregated

 

[Creeperpark]

Thanks f-e, I only use this method because of its "no failure rate", and the plants grow much quicker than over or underwatered plants.

 

[Creeperpark]

Just weigh one cup, because they’re all the same.​

Ok, using this method its important to remember to maintain max water weight for the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 48 hours. Keep the cups in the dark for 48 hours and then turn the lights on the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] day “sprout or not” and set the timer for 12 on 12 off. No more water needed until the water weight gets down to 25% or less. After the seeds have sprouted, then its time to put up Stickies, add a fan, and hang strings. The strings are to monitor wind velocity. Allowing this dry time in the cups will encourage the roots to grow. Note if you see a sprout or two come up before the rest, leave rest alone, because breeder seeds are consistent, and the rest will follow.

 

[Creeperpark]

Using an organic media that has a high EC will allow me to hold, or release the nutrients. Every time I water an organic mix with rainwater, the rain water will charge and release nutrients. If you water a lot you get a heavy dose of nutrients, water lightly, you get a light dose of nutrients. That’s why its important to water lightly at first, and as the sprout grows into a seedling, you can max out water weight later. You don’t have to weigh every cup every day, only one cup every few days, because all have the cups have the same conditions. When one needs water the rest probably will too, so just watch one at a time

Researchers from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and the City University of Hong Kong have been working on a “droplet electricity generator” (DEG) for the past two years. They recently announced that they produced 140 volts of electricity from a single raindrop. Rain water before hitting the ground is super charged catalyst or starter. Rajat Lunawatt, ScienceABC. June 28, 2019