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What are your tips on seedling care?
- Thread starter angelgoob
- Start date
master kusher
Active member
IMO seedling don't take well to the suns direct strong rays, or any strong rays. They'd rather be in the shade or not too close to a light. They need frequent watering(at least once a day), and don't need any supplemental nutrients. I use 16 oz solo cups for mine as they are cheap and many can be fit into a small area.
troutman
Seed Whore
This is what I've done for over a decade now with no issues:
- Grow them in a good potting soil.
- Start them under fluorescent lighting with my old T-12's and the newer T5's.
- Don't feed them until they make their 3rd set of real leaves.
flourscents vegg well.
Potting soil is usually high drainage.
I just fed them on their 3rd set. Good old organic piss. Swear to god I did.
Those floodlight LED full spectrum also work good for vegging. Lil expensive thought. $12 for a 1200 lumen 15 watt. But hey now I have extra light.
Potting soil is usually high drainage.
I just fed them on their 3rd set. Good old organic piss. Swear to god I did.
Those floodlight LED full spectrum also work good for vegging. Lil expensive thought. $12 for a 1200 lumen 15 watt. But hey now I have extra light.
One of the best tips I can add is to water them with a spray bottle. With soil or coco you want the keep the media slightly moist and allow dry cycles. Avoid getting your media saturated. With coco after they have their third set of leaves you can feed everyday and you can now top feed. With soil, depending on how hot it is, you can go up to three weeks with no food
jaybodankly
Member
All good tips. I add some dried seaweed in the bottom of the cup. Nice and easy first nutes.
If they won't stand up strong on their own. Cull them and start over with another seed. Don't waste your time on weak plant. Peace
Sometimes leggy seedlings can be the result of insufficient lighting. I’ve had seedlings that needed support and eventually strengthened when put under stronger lights and they turned out to be great plants and smoke.
I do agree with you about wasting time and space on dud plants though, many times I have nursed them along to only be disappointed in the end.
Everyone is different in their opinions.
As far as too strong of light, a myth. Ever germinated seed under the sun? Yep it works. I use a 1000hps.
Too hot of a soil, depends what's in it. I germinate in straight worm castings and perlite.
The key to healthy seedlings is to not over water, have good air circulation, decent humidity, and good light.
As far as too strong of light, a myth. Ever germinated seed under the sun? Yep it works. I use a 1000hps.
Too hot of a soil, depends what's in it. I germinate in straight worm castings and perlite.
The key to healthy seedlings is to not over water, have good air circulation, decent humidity, and good light.
all about balance- soil er medium, water, lighting
Snook
Still Learning
Germing is a mine field of mishaps and heartbreaks, too much water is probably the worst culprit, then, too much wind with no protection (dome of some sort)for the first 7-10 days, after that, let them dry out some, if they wilt a little they'll come back just dont get excited and drown them. or not enough wind and too close a light and fry the little darlins'... my shit goes well at 76*F day, 71*F night, 50%RH, many combinations will work.
If soaking seeds first, when the seed first germs and the little white root tip emerges 1/8" or less if you can, plant that bitch so that that little tail horizontally tip down toward the bottom of the container taking care not to touch or disturb that little root-tip.. dont know about soil guess if one sows directly into media/soil its a crap shoot..
wish i had the space, and thats all it takes, to veg under even 400w, let alone 1K..
If soaking seeds first, when the seed first germs and the little white root tip emerges 1/8" or less if you can, plant that bitch so that that little tail horizontally tip down toward the bottom of the container taking care not to touch or disturb that little root-tip.. dont know about soil guess if one sows directly into media/soil its a crap shoot..
wish i had the space, and thats all it takes, to veg under even 400w, let alone 1K..
Ever body has their methods and I’ve always said whatever works best for you is the key. I like to plant my seeds horizontal so the root tip is sideways after they crack. This seems to help with the seed shedding its seed coat.
@Snook…is this what you meant? You mentioned planting horizontal but with the seed tip facing down.
Snook
Still Learning
Side ways, down.. either but I've had 3 in the past that when not paying attention, the tap root looped up, then down and tied a knot around the base of the seedling and cut it off
Here's a good thread on seedlings with lots of pics:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=295935&highlight=Seedling+Feed+Experiment
Dave Coulier's Seedling Feed Rate Experiment
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=295935&highlight=Seedling+Feed+Experiment
Dave Coulier's Seedling Feed Rate Experiment
paradoxlost
Member
My buddy plants six to eight seeds in 20 gallon pots, waits for them to sprout than carpets it in cover crops. Makes them fight it out for light.
T
thesloppy
My biggest problem with seedlings is always damping off, so my tip is to always water seedlings with peroxide or enzymes (specifically, I use Hydroguard or Subculture-B).
Snook
Still Learning
I would think that peroxide would kill of any beneficial bacteria, no?
T
thesloppy
Indeed, which is why I only water with one or the other*, but I suppose I could've made that more clear, rather than confusingly implying I use both at the same time.
I prefer to use enzyme products as they're less likely to shock the system, but peroxide is cheap and readily available, and has filled in the blank effectively for me a few times.
*in truth I actually HAVE watered with both when I was extra paranoid about particularly expensive seeds, figuring that they might knock each other out, but the 'winner' of that conflict was still going to protect my seedlings from damping off.
