Today is the day

[zx12r]

After 2+ months of reading, researching countless forums, and letting my room run with no plants in it to monitor temps and RH, I am finally ready to plant my seeds and put them in the room. I plan to just plant them right in the soil (Pro-Mix BX) in the 3 gallon pots that they will call home. Should I "scratch" the seeds in the sand paper tube before putting them in the soil? And just to make sure I'm doing this right, when I fill my pots with soil, do I water the soil and then put in the seed or should I plant the seed in dry soil and then water?

And fyi, I will be growing Seedsman Auto Great White, Auto Blue, and Auto Kush. Anyone have any experience with these?

 

[MountainWalker]

Two months running with no plants? that's dedication. No need to scuff seeds. Always soak your potting soil before putting the transplant in.

 

[Melvan]

I would recommend you start the seeds in solo cups then transplant them to the larger buckets once they show alternating nodes.

If you put them in the big buckets it will be almost impossible to keep the proper moisture level and provide the wet/dry cycle that is so important for a developing root system.

Once they sprout you'll want to get right onto the wet/dry cycle to force those roots to grow out in search of water. You'll also want to tent the cup the seed is in until you see the colydons, for humidity. Just use a plastic sandwich bag. If you insist on using the big buckets to start, cut off the bottoms of 12oz plastic soda bottles and use those as domes.

MW is right, make sure the soil is full saturated and settled before you plant the seed. I've scuffed the seed, then planted and I've done the paper towel method, and I've soaked my seeds for 24 hrs in RO water before putting in Pro-Mix, I've seen no difference in germ time.

You sound like you're prepared, and that is great. You're going to have a lot fewer bumps in the road having taken the time to get to know and regulate your grow space. Can't wait to see your results.

Good luck.

 

[zx12r]

Thanks for the advice Melvan. I never took in to consideration the whole wet/dry cycle. Guess I better go get some cups.

 

[smokestack23]

In hydroponic setups (no medium or even soiless like COCO) we don't do a dry period. In fact, you DON'T want coco to dry out. In DWC, Aero, RDWC, UC...we don't let the roots dry out either.
Now that might be different with promix but...

Another reason to start in smaller containers is to save on water and nutes. No point saturating 3gals of medium if the roots only fill a shotglass.

Once you get decent sized plants installed all your RH and temp readings will pretty much go out the window. Not saying that running your system to get the bugs out is a bad thing...just don't be too surprized when your numbers don't jive once you get good growth happening.

Now..just so no one gets MAD again..
These are solely my opinions. These opinions may not be shared by others and do not necessarily represent the views/opinions of thcfarmer.com.

 

[Melvan]

Funny. I agree with everything you said, but at least he'll be familiar with what needs to be done to correct things, he won't be floundering around blind. He's running Pro-Mix, but what you say about coco is 100% correct.

 

[snkrhd23]

In hydroponic setups (no medium or even soiless like COCO) we don't do a dry period. In fact, you DON'T want coco to dry out. In DWC, Aero, RDWC, UC...we don't let the roots dry out either.
Now that might be different with promix but...

Another reason to start in smaller containers is to save on water and nutes. No point saturating 3gals of medium if the roots only fill a shotglass.

Once you get decent sized plants installed all your RH and temp readings will pretty much go out the window. Not saying that running your system to get the bugs out is a bad thing...just don't be too surprized when your numbers don't jive once you get good growth happening.

Now..just so no one gets MAD again..
These are solely my opinions. These opinions may not be shared by others and do not necessarily represent the views/opinions of thcfarmer.com.

He wasnt meaning let the roots dry out. In hydroponics you have oxygen being fed right into the root system so there is no need to let the roots have periods of "dry"(not fully saturated). with pro mix or any kind of soil you want to water and let your plants drink up some of that water before you water again, so its not soaking wet all the time. pretty sure this is common practice with any hand watered setups.

 

[zx12r]

Again, all great useful info that I'm soaking up like a sponge. If anyone else has anymore advice, tips, hints, or tricks please throw them at me.

 

[smokestack23]

True dat. With a lot of mediums you gotta let em get pretty dry...at least the top bit of the medium. You will get better root structure that way and you'll be less likely to overwater.

With hydro (including coco) overwatering isn't an issue...or really even possible..well...I guess it's possible but...either way, we aren't talking about coco or "hydro" so you're right. That doesn't really apply in this case. sorry. Didn't mean to steer anyone wrong.

For a lot of mediums like soil, peat, sunshine mix and promix, and blends...you DO want to let them dry out quite a bit before re-saturating them...you know..dry a couple of knuckles deep kind of thing.
Overwatering is not only bad for the plants but it also makes conditions better for nasties like fungus gnats and all sorts of stuff.