New Grower Advice for second grow after a miserable failure

[herbaciousgrowth]

Hi guys

Total noob here. So I managed to rot 4/5 of my first seeds with wild temperature fluctuations and overwatering. I learned my (expensive) lesson, but I've now got a couple queries I'd like to pose to you all.

I'm pretty confident that I can tell the difference between moist and soggy soil now. Can you gauge soil moisture with a digital ph/ec meter? If so, what numbers should I be aiming for?

I'm planning on the following seed starting method:
Soak seeds in tap water overnight
Sow seed in jiffy peat cup filled with seed starting soil. Cover with syran wrap.
Keep the pots inside my walmart greenhouse with a space heater set to 75 degrees F (it's good at keeping stable temps)
Once the sprout penetrates the surface,remove syran wrap
Grow seedling, transplant when root bound


I'm using 5l air pots and coco coir. I'm planning on using general organics by the fertilizer schedule. I've seen a couple coco coir threads and it seems like a relatively failsafe way to do things. Any issues I should know about ahead of time?

Thanks
Uncle Herb

 

[phoenix rising]

You won't be able to tell soil moisture content with your ph/ec meter-thats used for measuring your liquid runoff ph/ec,nute strength,etc. As for the rest of your plan it sounds good and should work but i would transplant before they get rootbound or you may risk stunting your plant.

 

[420hydro]

First thing, noobs always over water ! It hard to discipline yourself even if you are a pro.

Second, start small while gaining experience. If you can get one female to start with, you can concentrate on your techniques, gaining skill without overwhelming yourself.

It sounds like you have studied and have made some good choices. Kudos for that!

I've found that water quality and temperature control are key to seed germination.

Good luck !

 

[Mr Piggy]

I'd stay away from those jiffy pots. The roots don't break through the sides like they say and the plants end up stunted. Lost some nice peppers to those things once

 

[The Squid]

Hello hello. First off, already some good info here. Second, go check out my grows. Lol They should make you feel better and teach you a bit from my mistakes.

So far you're just having germination issues it seems. Completely normal. I'll agree with Piggy on the jiffy's. They caaannn be used but it'll take some experience and time getting used to making sure they are loose and just moist enough and not wet, for the initial taproot to easily grow down. You always want a loose airy medium.

I don't have any experience in coco. But you could get some jiffy seed starter mix. Its a loose bag of the same thing the puck is made of..then get some smaller cups or pots to start in. A product called Promix works exceptionally well too and you can grow all the way in the Promix as opposed to the Jiffy mix.

Also, IMO set that heater temp to 80. That is primo. Germination is very important, it's the beginning of its' life.

And by all means, feel free to continue asking questions where you need it. Good luck dude.

 

[The Squid]

Ohp sorry. Read that wrong. You ARE using the starter mix and not the pellets/pucks. Gotcha. I don't like those cups bc they tend to just fall apart and/or mold.

 

[herbaciousgrowth]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Squid, what would you say are the main takeaways from the problems you had?

 

[GoAuto6]

would you like to move this to the new grower's forum......

 

[wbojb]

I believe goauto is correct about the forum placement. That being said, here is some watering rules of thumb. It's a perfect time to do this too since you are starting over. I highly HIGHLY recommend filing two of your pots/containers with your soil or medium while dry. Water one of them . Pick up each one and get a feel for how your pots weight watered vs. dry.
The second way is to shove your finger into the dirt past your first knuckle. If it is dry at that level along with the weight you know it is time to water. I also tend to avoid mediums heavy in peat content because of their insanely long water retention.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents

 

[The Squid]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Squid, what would you say are the main takeaways from the problems you had?

More or less. I had a few issues that were hard to discern in the beginning from lack of experience, but overall I had bad bad ph issues from too many nutes in my starter soil and me just not having a grasp on ph. I got in a bad wreck, got married and moved so I have actually yet to have a real good successful grow as of now, but I definitely know all the basics and some intermediate stuff as well. I'm sorta seasoned here so I've been around a bit. I almost always refer back to one of the Mods or helpers if I am not 100% sure.