:Holy Moly:From my recent 1 year seedling experience in about 2 months ive decided to share alot of issues which can either drastically stunt your seedlings growth or can make them flourish and thrive.
I feel that preparation and prevention is always the best cure so hope that new growers will take on board some of these tips.TaNg's Thang
Germination technique with 99% Success rate.
:key
ut in a cup of water half full - swish the water round in a circular motion every 2-4 hours untill the seeds have sunk. (This will encourage any dry top parts of the seed to soak up faster)
In my experience with doing this seedlings can sink anywhere between 6-12 hours, without this swirling motion every 2 hours ive noticed they take alot longer to sink.(Normally 24hours)
:Red Dragon:As soon as they have sunk its very important to now give them air - my favourite method is straight into a jiffy peat pellet but now i am using root riot cubes but any type of seedling starting medium like rockwool etc will be fine (Ensure to never use a potting soil for seedlings, you can find specially composted soils with adequate levels of moisture/aeration/nutrients for seedling stage and anything else could burn your babies and kill them)
Riding the DragonBy air i mean they need a air/water environment some people like the paper towell method but for me this just adds an extra stage of work which i feel isn't essential and actually can increase your chances of killing a seedling if not done correctly
I like to soak a peat pellet or root riot - with root riot i soak untill drench and then squeeze the excess out and when releasing the squeeze naturally the cube will pull in air
With peat pellets i just let them drain for a good 4 hours before planting the seed in so that it will not be waterlogged.
If planting straight in seedling starter soil plant twice the depth of the width of the seed, two shallow can kill a seedling as it will just uproot itself and die if you are not watching it every 4 hours, also too deep and you will bury your seedlings chances
:dig:
Create a hole about twice the size of the width of your seedling and then cover with soil, press lightly but enough to allow the soil to enclose the seedling so it has contact to medium, air and moisture 360
Keep in a highly humid environment 80-100% untill the seedlings sprout, shed the seed shell and have cotyledons (Keeping the humidity high keeps the seed shell from drying out and sticking on the cotyledons) Unless you can ensure you are only removing the seed shell from a tiny part of the leaf ie. its not completely attached, you can remove but the strength of the cotyledons will pop it off via growing:karma Cloud:
Temperatures for seedlings should not rise above 80F:hot:
65F Is the lowest the temperature should go but keeping between 70-78F is optimum.
Below 60F can cause shock and will stunt growth."SG1"
Seedling care
After seedlings have the first set of true leaves humidity should be kept above 60% preferably between 60-80% and no lower than 50% - This allows the leaves to uptake water and allows the roots to focus on growing more feeder roots/and lengthening the taproot rather than uptaking water.
Ensure airflow is adequate with higher humidity to prevent mould. If using a humidity dome/propagator remove the lid/dome atleast one to two times a day to ensure a full recirculation of fresh air. Ensure if using a humidity dome of anykind that its size is in good relation to the plant - even seedlings will quickly use up all the co2 in the air especially with higher temperatures in an enclosed environment.:karma Cloud:
Humidity is very important as it can take up to 21 days for a seedling to develop a true root network and exposing to low humidity before this is developed can cause dramatic shock to a fragile seedling as it will transpire the water the roots are uptaking before it can even use it and this is very detrimental and can lead to aload of watering issues which in turn kill your plant.
I suggest a good rule to follow is 80-100% untill seed has shed its shell.
First 7 days to keep between 60-80%
7-14 days to reduce slightly to 60-70%
14-21 days to reduce to 55-65%
:GoooAuto:
once a true root system has been developed it should be maintained between 40-60% during vegetation and 40-50% in flowering
I think the most important thing for seedlings to flourish is to never let temperatures get above 80F and to never let the humidity get below 60% in the first 21 Days. After that the plants will be much more tolerant to hardening off.
:dance:
I feel that preparation and prevention is always the best cure so hope that new growers will take on board some of these tips.TaNg's Thang
Germination technique with 99% Success rate.
:key
ut in a cup of water half full - swish the water round in a circular motion every 2-4 hours untill the seeds have sunk. (This will encourage any dry top parts of the seed to soak up faster)In my experience with doing this seedlings can sink anywhere between 6-12 hours, without this swirling motion every 2 hours ive noticed they take alot longer to sink.(Normally 24hours)
:Red Dragon:As soon as they have sunk its very important to now give them air - my favourite method is straight into a jiffy peat pellet but now i am using root riot cubes but any type of seedling starting medium like rockwool etc will be fine (Ensure to never use a potting soil for seedlings, you can find specially composted soils with adequate levels of moisture/aeration/nutrients for seedling stage and anything else could burn your babies and kill them)
Riding the DragonBy air i mean they need a air/water environment some people like the paper towell method but for me this just adds an extra stage of work which i feel isn't essential and actually can increase your chances of killing a seedling if not done correctly
I like to soak a peat pellet or root riot - with root riot i soak untill drench and then squeeze the excess out and when releasing the squeeze naturally the cube will pull in air
With peat pellets i just let them drain for a good 4 hours before planting the seed in so that it will not be waterlogged.
If planting straight in seedling starter soil plant twice the depth of the width of the seed, two shallow can kill a seedling as it will just uproot itself and die if you are not watching it every 4 hours, also too deep and you will bury your seedlings chances
:dig:
Create a hole about twice the size of the width of your seedling and then cover with soil, press lightly but enough to allow the soil to enclose the seedling so it has contact to medium, air and moisture 360
Keep in a highly humid environment 80-100% untill the seedlings sprout, shed the seed shell and have cotyledons (Keeping the humidity high keeps the seed shell from drying out and sticking on the cotyledons) Unless you can ensure you are only removing the seed shell from a tiny part of the leaf ie. its not completely attached, you can remove but the strength of the cotyledons will pop it off via growing:karma Cloud:
Temperatures for seedlings should not rise above 80F:hot:
65F Is the lowest the temperature should go but keeping between 70-78F is optimum.
Below 60F can cause shock and will stunt growth."SG1"
Seedling care
After seedlings have the first set of true leaves humidity should be kept above 60% preferably between 60-80% and no lower than 50% - This allows the leaves to uptake water and allows the roots to focus on growing more feeder roots/and lengthening the taproot rather than uptaking water.
Ensure airflow is adequate with higher humidity to prevent mould. If using a humidity dome/propagator remove the lid/dome atleast one to two times a day to ensure a full recirculation of fresh air. Ensure if using a humidity dome of anykind that its size is in good relation to the plant - even seedlings will quickly use up all the co2 in the air especially with higher temperatures in an enclosed environment.:karma Cloud:
Humidity is very important as it can take up to 21 days for a seedling to develop a true root network and exposing to low humidity before this is developed can cause dramatic shock to a fragile seedling as it will transpire the water the roots are uptaking before it can even use it and this is very detrimental and can lead to aload of watering issues which in turn kill your plant.
I suggest a good rule to follow is 80-100% untill seed has shed its shell.
First 7 days to keep between 60-80%
7-14 days to reduce slightly to 60-70%
14-21 days to reduce to 55-65%
:GoooAuto:
once a true root system has been developed it should be maintained between 40-60% during vegetation and 40-50% in flowering
I think the most important thing for seedlings to flourish is to never let temperatures get above 80F and to never let the humidity get below 60% in the first 21 Days. After that the plants will be much more tolerant to hardening off.
:dance:
Last edited:
:dig:
