New Grower Seedling questions and introduction

[Autoflowerpower420]

Hello AFN!

I have a question about germination and light schedules for seedlings and when the term "seedling" is discontinued. My plan for germination is to wet a paper towel and place it on a plate put seeds down, place another moist paper towel over top and then another plate on top of that and then to plastic wrap and put on top of satellite receiver. 1st question, do I put seeds in the ground AS SOON as I see the tail pop out? 2nd question, what light schedule do I keep them on and what should the temperature be? 3rd question, when do I introduce them into the 18/6 light schedule? Any other tips would help! Also I'm new to the forum, go checkout the grow box I built! And feel free to criticize constructively and I'll do the best I can to make it as good as I possibly can.

Stay blazed

 

[Larky.Derry]

hey bro welcome to the site, 1. i would put them in the dirt as quickly as possible when the tap root shows. 2. you can keep them on 18/6 for the whole grow from start to finish. as for the temps i think around 25c is about rite for autos. good luck bro

 

[wwwillie]

Hey and Welcome!
Larky has the right of it. You want to get that just popped bean into the dirt ASAP. You don't want the root to develop over much, they start to put out tiny rootlets that will cling to the paper toweling and you don't want to stress them by damaging anything.
Be patient, don't overwater, have fun!
Peace and happy growing.

 

[az2000]

I did the paper towel method on my first grow. To me it satisfied my newbie nature to be actively involved, see what was happening, etc.

On my second grow, I soaked for up to 36 hours and put the seed directly in soil when it cracked. I put in soil as soon as I could see the white innards. I didn't wait for a tap root to emerge. But, sometimes there was a long enough gap between me examining the shot glasses that 2mm of tap root would emerge. I never went longer than 2mm.

I ended up not liking the paper towel method because I felt I was handling/moving the seeds too much. I ended up liking soaking because I use a 0.5% hydrogen peroxide (h202) solution which disinfects the seed and also attaches oxygen bubbles to the seed, reducing the risk of "drowning."

What I do is

1. Line a matchbox with 220-grit (fine) sandpaper. Shake the seeds for 60-90 seconds to scarify the seed surface.
2. Aerate 107 oz of reverse-osmosis water for a few hours. (I remove 21 oz from a gallon, which is 128 oz.).
3. Add 1/2 drop SuperThrive. (I put one drop in 10ml of water, discard 5ml and that's a half drop).
4. Add 21 oz of ordinary 3% hydrogen peroxide. This works out to 5 parts water, 1 part 3% h202 -- which produces 0.5% h202. You want to add this *after* aeration. You don't want to aerate h202. I think it would boil away the unstable oxygen molecule which is valuable.
5. PH it to 6.4. A number I pulled out of thin air, but seems to work.
6. Fill a shot glass(es). Drop seed(s) in shot glass.
7. Let soak up to 36 hours, but plant anything that cracks to the extent you can see the white flesh inside.
8. Use a thermostat grow mat (reptile mat?) to maintain 78F. Place shot glasses in dark cabinet.
9. Use the gallon of germination water to wet/soak your soil. The h202 will disinfect the soil (to some extent). This seems to be good for the seedling, but not something you want to do later in life when microbial action is beneficial to nutrient uptake. I use Liquid Karma to reintroduce microbial activity, spraying 2ml/gal dilution on the seedling after it breaks the soil.

Everyone's got their own way. I like my way because I feel like I'm not messing with the seeds too much. And, h202 seems like some kind of miracle "juice." The additional unstable oxygen molecule seems to give the seeds a boost. Disinfecting the seed might also allow the seed to use its stored energy growing rather than resisting disease. (Just my theory.).

Regarding lighting, you can start at what appears to be the typical 18/6. The only thing you want to do is keep the light distant. I can only speak for T5 light. I've found I need to slowly move the light from 20" to 4" over the first week. If I go too close too soon it seems to stress/shock the seedling. (Not sure how that correlates to HPS or LED. I imagine you might have to shade a seedling the first 2-4 days.).