Finally starting my seeds off!

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Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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Because im growing in garage that has no insulation & will be contending with low northeastern temps Im finally starting my seeds. After wks of lows in the 30s & the 40s were finally getting temps in the high 70s & lows in mid 50s. I know thats not optimal but that seems like thats the best its gonna get & I wanna get in time for oct.harvest. In the meantime I figured I could leave plants on heating mats & also ppl.on forum suggested a 24/0 cycle to get some extra heat. If I leave on heating mat will that dry soil out? Also last yr.I started seeds off in rapid rooters in tray without dome on a heating pad. Because of budgeting due to car shopping I didnt get the rooters. I have some jiffy peat pellets with tray & heater but dome is destroyed. I can use plastic wrap for humidity if needed. Do this pellets have high germination success rate or am I better off using paper plate method with heating pad & moving to dixie cups with soil? Also found boards perfect for boxing in light. Will be able to get panda film real soon. In meantime is black plastic okay or am I better of leaving boards as is?
 
quirk

quirk

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I use Jiffys with great success. After I hydrate them, I roll them around to "fluff" up medium then remove netting top and bottom. You're heat mat will be sufficient
until sprout, when it will no longer be required. I also place them in a cut down solo to insulate from direct contact with mat and I place water in the cup and let the pellet wick up moisture. I transfer to final pot day after sprout because the tap root is emerging. Just grower preference. Good luck.

P.S. Lose the dome. Domes are for clones and can cause seedlings to damp off.
 
IMG 20200315 074710276
Remove mesh
Day after sprout
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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Thx,will do! I only considered keeping on mat after sprouting cuz I read seedlings like 75Ā° to 80Ā° & mid 50s looks like the average temp. I looked at 10 day forecast & 58Ā°is max on low temp. Next month shows average of 56Ā° but I know thats subject to change. The weather around here has been crazy this yr. It literally snowed last wk! Usually this time of yr.we'd have lows of upper 60s,its just nuts. But ill take off mat after sprout & just keep light 24/0. If it gets to cold in garage maybe I can use space heater to raise temp a lil.
 
freezeland2

freezeland2

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I just take a solo cup and fill with jiffy seed starter mix, moisten it, make a 1/4ā€
- 1/2ā€ indentation, drop a seed in it, cover the seed and give it a little water. I set the cup in a dark warm spot and let it sit for a few days. Usually by day three or four there is a sprout. Grow it until there are true leaves that will reach the edges of the cup. Then transplant. Easy peezy.
 
GNick55

GNick55

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I just take a solo cup and fill with jiffy seed starter mix, moisten it, make a 1/4ā€
- 1/2ā€ indentation, drop a seed in it, cover the seed and give it a little water. I set the cup in a dark warm spot and let it sit for a few days. Usually by day three or four there is a sprout. Grow it until there are true leaves that will reach the edges of the cup. Then transplant. Easy peezy.
+1
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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I forgot,one more thing. Since im going for extra heat with the 24/0 light cycle should I place seedlings directly under hps light or under fluorescent light 1st? I know the hps puts off more heat so that could help with temps.
 
XxHammer

XxHammer

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I just take a solo cup and fill with jiffy seed starter mix, moisten it, make a 1/4ā€
- 1/2ā€ indentation, drop a seed in it, cover the seed and give it a little water. I set the cup in a dark warm spot and let it sit for a few days. Usually by day three or four there is a sprout. Grow it until there are true leaves that will reach the edges of the cup. Then transplant. Easy peezy.

This is exactly what I do.

Down to the Jiffy Mix
 
XxHammer

XxHammer

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I forgot,one more thing. Since im going for extra heat with the 24/0 light cycle should I place seedlings directly under hps light or under fluorescent light 1st? I know the hps puts off more heat so that could help with temps.

I stuck mine under my HID (CMH) and they did just fine... Just make sure the light is at least 24" away
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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I stuck mine under my HID (CMH) and they did just fine... Just make sure the light is at least 24" away
K,thx. Thats just one less step than too cuz I can throw directly under the hps. Not like it takes alot of effort but one less thing I guess.
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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This is exactly what I do.

Down to the Jiffy Mix
I have some of this seed mix youre talking about Ive just never used cuz I wasnt sure if it was for cannabis seeds. But I have the tray,pellets,seed mix,& heating mat. Never used the jiffy pellets before. Ive always just done paper plates then directly to solo cups with soil. Last yr.I used the rooters & all my seeds sprouted fast.
 
One drop

One drop

Bush Doctor
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24/0 hr is not good for raising seedlings 18/6 or 12/12 then after they have sprouted and are growing you can bang them to 24/0 but I'd stick at 18/6 the plant needs it's sleep as well to keep it healthy . Regards OD.
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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24/0 hr is not good for raising seedlings 18/6 or 12/12 then after they have sprouted and are growing you can bang them to 24/0 but I'd stick at 18/6 the plant needs it's sleep as well to keep it healthy . Regards OD.
K,ill wait til they're outta seedling stage.
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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143
Ok,so I decided to do paper towel method on heating mat then transfer to peat pellets when tap root shows cuz thats what I did with rapid rooters last yr & all sprouted. So far theyve been in paper towel for little over 24 hrs & a few seeds are just starting to crack. One has little tail emerging. I got seeds from ILGM this time which was pricier but they guaranteed 100% germination. I was wondering how long I should leave in paper towel/paper plates before throwing in peat pellets? I had some freebie seeds Id gotten with an order from yrs ago & decided to sprout those also & figured id toss those outdoors & funny thing is those are showing taproots faster than ILGM seeds & those seeds must be 6yrs + old.
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

899
143
Maybe im expecting a lil too much to happen too fast but it seems like these seeds shouldve sprouted by now. Its been 48 hrs now & of these ILGM seeds only 1 has shown tap root & anther cracked but nothings changed since yesterday. Same one that had lil tail showing is same,the tap root hasnt emerged any further. And that other seed that was cracked yesterday but no root chowing as of today. Seems like Ive germinated lots seeds over the yrs & usually when they tail shows by next day you see growth or seed ends up being dud. Am I crazy here or being impatient? Also the way I did paper plate/paper towel method was wrapping plates im plastic wrap then setting on heating mat. Ive read where others put plates in plastic baggy & where some dont wrap plates at all. Did I mess up by sealing the plates in the plastic wrap?
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

899
143
Maybe im expecting a lil too much to happen to fast but it seems like these seeds shouldve sprouted by now. Its been 48 hrs now & of these ILGM seeds only 1 has shown tap root & anther cracked but nothings changed since yesterday. Same one that had lil tail showing is same,the tap root hasnt emerged any further. And that other seeds was cracked yesterday but no root showing as of today. Seems like Ive germinated lots seeds over the yrs & usually when they tail shows by next day you see growth or seed ends up being dud. Am I crazy here or being impatient? Also the way I did paper plate/paper towel method was wrapping plates im plastic wrap then setting on heating mat. Ive read where others put plates in plastic baggy & where some dont wrap plates at all. Did I mess up by sealing the plates in the plastic wrap
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

899
143
whatever way you germinate, least give it a week before the trash.
Im definitely not trashing. Not sure if ill move straight into peat pellets to see if they sprout or give em longer in paper plates but no matter what after a wk.im sending back to ILGM if they dont sprout cuz they guarantee %100 germination. Hopefully they honor tho. They say to not trash & send back seeds for analysis so theyll probably be able to tell they werent germinated in any medium & decide not to replace. They probably dont approve of paper plate method.
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

899
143
Yeah,im invested now. I wouldnt say I have tons of money wrapped in this but still got cash tied up in it so im going for it. I ordered the seeds,soil,nutes,pH kit,new hps bulb,& heating mat. I dont care if I have to grow those old freebie seeds,im growing something.
 

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