A. Straight Pro-Mix HPCC (it has a coir and peat base rather than just peat)
B. 1/2 Fox Farm Ocean Foreat and 1/2 Pro-Mix
C. 1/2 Roots Organic Original Soil and 1/2 FFOF
D. Straight FFOF
E. Straight Roots Original
Good morning everyone, I am starting up my second grow, and I am popping seeds for the first time. I have some Guptilla seeds from the Colorado Seed Company it is a cross between Gorilla Glue number 4 and Gupta Kush. I have already soaked the seeds in a glass of water and all the seeds except for one have cracked their shell with a little bit of the Taproot sticking out. I will be transplanting to Solo cups or 1 gallon Smart Pots. Please make your personal choice A-E. I cannot wait to see how beautiful these plants are going to be. It is supposed to be a high yielder.
I can remember reading some threads and hearing that fox farm ocean Forest is too hot for seedlings but Roots organic original soil is not even though they are somewhat similar in composition.
I use a cheap, mass produced, sterile soilless mix and I’ve never had any germination issues. At home, or in the production greenhouse that starts about 2M seeds a year.
Same. KISS rules with seed. Simple potting soil mix, no extra ferts or amendments, 3.5 inch square pots in a prop tray. No dome usually unless its too warm and dry to maintain a moist substrate for 24 hours. Spray mist with plain water to til the sprouts pop and shed seed coats, then gentle watering with plain water til second set of true leaves.
Seeds need: 1) lightweight, moist not soaked, soil 2) warmth, from 75-85F; 3) veg-level light from the day they break soil 4) some air movement, which is why I usually don’t use a dome.
That’s it folks. All the rest is folklore, that at best won’t hurt anything but at worst will stunt or kill your seedlings. I cringe at some of the techs I see on the boards, paper towels, kelp teas, peroxide, peat pots (!), floating in a glass of water, point up, point down, etc., etc. These techs are for the benefit of anxious humans who can’t wait 3 or 4 days for their bean$ to sit out of sight underground, doing what seeds are designed to do. Seedlings just want warmth, water, soil and light.
Domes are fine if they help maintain temps and moisture, but they restrict air movement which can increase the incidence of damp-off and seed-rot where the environment is too wet.
Edit to original post you quoted, temps should be Fahrenheit, not centigrade - that would be for the stir-frying with cannabis sprouts thread…
I have used ProMix BX (to which I add perlite and vermiculite), as well as seed starting mixes such as Jiffy Mix, Hoffman Seed Starter and Epsoma Seed Starter.
These all work quite well.
I also put my seeds directly into moistened mix, I make sure to keep the mix moist, either by using a very fine mist from spray bottle or a loose covering of clear plastic wrap. If using the plastic wrap, I remove it as soon as I see the mix begin to bulge from the imminent emergence of the sprouting seedling.
Simple.
I don’t mean peat pots filled with soil. I am referring to the peat starter pucks. Pure peat is a poor growing medium. Too acidic, holds too much water. Would you grow out a plant in pure peat? Then why grow seeds in it? Peat pots were poor gardening technology in the 70s, and still are imo. Yet I still see people drowning their seeds in them, and wondering why they have poor success rates.
Re: peat pucks, I’ve waited for years for someone to re-do this idea in coir. Not having much experience with the material, any reason why coir pucks wouldn’t work? Does anyone germinate in coir?
Yeah sometimes I germ in coir, but you really have to keep up on moisture I just thought soil is easier, and I’m trying to inoculate with bennies as it germinates.
There are coco cubes these days, I’m looking at it for propagation. Its uncommon locally.
