# sptouting seeds



## brushybill (May 3, 2008)

i know this is not the right forum for this, but im not getting any response elsewhere, after germinating seeds,  once in rockwool do i  turn the light on or leave it off, i am getting both  reccomendations every where i look .
   my seeds have been in rockwool for 5 days now and no shoots


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## gagjababy (May 3, 2008)

did you adjust the pH of the rockwool cubes?


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## brushybill (May 3, 2008)

yes, i adjusted it to 6.0, am using distilled water, my temps are between 72- 82 degrees


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## 0b1kinsmokey (May 3, 2008)

germination in rockwool is tricky and most definetely Not the recomended method.

take a piece of string and wrap it around the sides of each cupe, make it nice and cozy.

u need to be misting the cubes as well- not keeping them wet by pouring water fyi

in the future u should not germinate in rockwool- often times when ur seeds finally pop they are unhealthy because of the constant fluctuation in ph, this can, and will in most cases make for a 'less than vigorous' vegetive growth, as well as herming. 

ph stability during germination is the most important part, and is damn near impossible to keep consistant in rockwool, especially if u have any kind of other responsibilities that are taking your time as well. 

but misting with warm water will make a huge difference if u arent already

good luck


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## smokybear (May 3, 2008)

I would just germinate your seeds in a wet paper towel and then move to your medium. Just my thoughts. Good luck. Take care and be safe.


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## brushybill (May 3, 2008)

well, i germinated the seeds in paper towels without a hitch, but when i moved them into the rockwool everything just stopped, it's been 5 days , i should be seeing some growth by now should'nt i? also i still need to know , lights on or off?


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## 0b1kinsmokey (May 4, 2008)

on, regular vegetive light cycle



you should use peat cups instead of rockwool.

peat cups are awesome, and can easily be put inside a large rockwool cube. i guarentee you'll solve ur problem if u do that.

if they germed already, and nothin is happening you know the rockwool is the problem. i would be weighing the pro's and con's of taking those seedlings out, and into something more stable (peat cup, or little soil cup)


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## Ilikebigbuds (May 4, 2008)

I had trouble at first with this also but I talked to a couple of local grow houses around my area and this is what i do now:

I soak my cubes in ph balanced water for a day
remove from water and put into my little plastic grown tray (with lid)
place a seed in each cube add a little water (ph balanced) put lid on and then I cover it with a dark towel and sit on a heating pad.

then once a day there after I open it all up to give air and make sure all is staying wet. and usually in 4 days I have sprouts.

I then move the sprouted ones to a plastic tub I  have installed a florecent light in and also covered the sides and top with mylar reflected sheets & and a very little fan is built into on side. I light them here for 17-18 hours a day.

Ive included a couple of pics of the tub I use it is green and dark 

my grow trays fit inside of this tub easy, and I leave the lids on even inside this tub until the seedling gets to tall, by then they usually have a few little roots coming out the bottom of  cube, they are ready for the farm. I move them to blue lights and bigger buckets.
this works for me, because each seed does its own thing at it own rate and I can move them independently as needed.
hope this helps or gives you an idea (planets a seed) of your own.


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## trillions of atoms (May 4, 2008)

4 out of 5 sprouted in one day- warm water/ shot glass + one night= tap roots.

How much easier can it be?


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## nickname (May 4, 2008)

trillions of atoms said:
			
		

> 4 out of 5 sprouted in one day- warm water/ shot glass + one night= tap roots.
> 
> How much easier can it be?


sorry to contradict the mvp, but your talking about germination and not sprouting, sprouting is when it pops out from the medium


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## brushybill (May 4, 2008)

hey guys 
 thanks for all your help, it's pretty clear to me know that my problem is that after i transplanted the germinated seeds to the rockwool cubes that i did'nt turn my lights on, im going to try again . 
   wish me luck


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## trillions of atoms (May 4, 2008)

I gave him a link to sprouting. To get them to sprout you have to germ them properly. This was half of the discussion is why Iposted the germ method.

i understand the difference my friend- heres the thread i made for brushy  if your interested nickname....


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## massproducer (May 4, 2008)

I do not usually have too many problems with rockwool but it sure can be a pain at times, i now am starting to use oasis cubes.  They are great, they are kind of like rockwool but hold more air and have a nutreul PH, which means no soaking.  Check em out.


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## The Hemp Goddess (May 4, 2008)

brushybill said:
			
		

> hey guys
> thanks for all your help, it's pretty clear to me know that my problem is that after i transplanted the germinated seeds to the rockwool cubes that i did'nt turn my lights on, im going to try again .
> wish me luck



How in the world did you come to that conclusion?  Not one single person here said that they believed that it was the lack of lighting.  I am pretty certain that your problem was not the lights being left off--seedlings don't really need any light until they poke their heads up out of the growing medium.  I would recommend rereading all the responses here....


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## G_48911 (May 4, 2008)

you might wanna check one of these out.I imagine they work pretty good.
http://www.hhydro.com/cgi-bin/hhydro/HH00363.html


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## 0b1kinsmokey (May 4, 2008)

trillions of atoms said:
			
		

> 4 out of 5 sprouted in one day- warm water/ shot glass + one night= tap roots.
> 
> How much easier can it be?


 
LoL, exactly ^

i dont even remember the last time i had a seed not sprout 

but hey whatever makes ur jolly's sing


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## wedginfool (May 14, 2008)

0b1kinsmokey said:
			
		

> on, regular vegetive light cycle
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I have always had very bad luck with peat pellets and if i'm not mistaken i have read on this site somewhere that they are to be avoided too. anyway the last batch i germinated in peat pellets i didn't even get 50 percent to survive. I wound up gently opening them up and checking them. seems they germinated but never done anything else after that. 

i am going to germinate in [paper towels from now on and then straight into the dirt or other medium......I'm thinking about after the germination putting a little potting soil into the hole in a rockwell cube and using them that way, then there won't be anymore transplanting either.  

anyway i know that regular dirt will be ten times better than any peat pellet will ever be

i will NEVER use peat pellets again my seeds cost way to much to kill half of them with peat pellets

just my opinion

thanks


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## trillions of atoms (May 14, 2008)

probibly because you overwatered them, and/or planted them to deep. i wait till taproot grows out then i plant with leaves above soil. if they still dont grow then your doing something wrong because ive had nothing but success with this method. you dont even have to wait for them to poke ground 

click the link my earlier post. couldnt be any easier than that.


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## 0b1kinsmokey (May 14, 2008)

lol yep. ya win some you loose some.

its all in the flick of the wrist 

the trick to germinating any seed in soil,or peatmoss (the natural way ) is keeping it compact for the first couple days.

i have been using peat pellets for years now, and soil before that to germinate. 

in one room ive got 14 out of 15 seeds popped just since i planted them on sunday. i havent even seen a paper towel in 3 years 

but thats why theres so many ways of doing things right?

we all do what works best for us , no way is the wrong way, as long as its *green *:aok:


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## wedginfool (May 14, 2008)

trillions of atoms said:
			
		

> probibly because you overwatered them, and/or planted them to deep. i wait till taproot grows out then i plant with leaves above soil. if they still dont grow then your doing something wrong because ive had nothing but success with this method. you dont even have to wait for them to poke ground
> 
> click the link my earlier post. couldnt be any easier than that.



are you just talking about popping them in the shot glass?? and then planting them in the peat pellets

i have a hard time planting them shllow enough it seems you always wind up with them right on top of the soil or 1/;2 inch deep which is too deep
i imagine right on top might work if you covered them with plastic to keep them from drying out


and yes i did have them too wet

i did some in spaghnum moss which is way course and it has better drainage than peat pellets and they did very good

what ever works guys 
i like reading and hearing about all the different methods
thanks guys


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## trillions of atoms (May 16, 2008)

yes, pop them in a glas of warm water, wait til tap root is an inch er so long and then plant with leaves out of soil... foolproof!


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## wedginfool (May 17, 2008)

thanks trill i just looked at your post and it does look fool proof .........i always germed them and planted 1/2 to 1/4 inch deep when the root had just split the seed hull  or not at all just planted them in the pellet no germination   but have always had poor success rates


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