- Thread starter
- #181
Thank you Old G. It's the oil heater that's chewing the juice. Once the seedlings are up and growing I will reduce the heat and then turn it off altogether
Carmen's Winter Autos With ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro!
- Thread starter Carmen Ray
- Start date
Feeding the electric co is getting hard! It's brutalizing us!
Hmmm. Got dropped from notification back in April apparently. 
All caught up now, and looks like just in time! Good luck with the grow Carmen!
If your heat is on mostly for the seedlings, couldn't you put them on a heating mat until they pop? I'd think a small mat would use a lot less electricity than that big 'ol heater.
All caught up now, and looks like just in time! Good luck with the grow Carmen!
If your heat is on mostly for the seedlings, couldn't you put them on a heating mat until they pop? I'd think a small mat would use a lot less electricity than that big 'ol heater.
Wot Azi said! I don’t think they even sell them here from the brand we have for most stuff. Just can’t see anyone needing them here. Electric hand warmers or sock warmers (I learned about these from Bill - apparently they’re a thing!)
But to be fair I think Azi’s idea is somewhat neater!
Nick
But to be fair I think Azi’s idea is somewhat neater!
Nick
- Thread starter
- #185
Hey Azi, thank you for being here. I have the little blighters on SWICKS, would the heating from the mat penetrate the soil via the perlite res do you think? I remember looking into heating mats a while back and I'm sure someone said that the reptile mats are not ideal? I'm doing a low budget grow with high end lights and with that I am hoping to show people who have relatively mild climate that it is entirely possible to grow excellent weed on a shoestring.Hmmm. Got dropped from notification back in April apparently.
All caught up now, and looks like just in time! Good luck with the grow Carmen!
If your heat is on mostly for the seedlings, couldn't you put them on a heating mat until they pop? I'd think a small mat would use a lot less electricity than that big 'ol heater.
Amazeballs! lol!
If a reptile heating mat will warm a SWICK then I will go that route!
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
I run an oil convection heater during germination, too. Not the whole house/apartment, just a small room. Takes a lot less energy than heating a large room! even a closet will warm up quickly and once the beans pop and emerge they can soon tolerate a cooler room temp. Hope you find a solution there @Carmen Ray
- Thread starter
- #187
Thanks @Emeraldo. The difficulty heating my space is that there is a lot of glass and it is not double glazed, so the cold is coming in faster than the heat can counter it, and so the heater is perpetually heating. I am hoping heat mats might work with SWICK. That'll be a great saving.
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
You might want to look into a clear plastic cover of some kind -- to keep that the ambient temperature around the seedlings warmed to about 25C. I'd think a heating mat would do the trick.
I recon you will be fine with just inside Temps. I've got seeds popping from my last grow. As soon. As the rain hit, there are about 20 germinating now outside. Good luck
- Thread starter
- #190
MaestroGrowm, thank you
I appreciate your input on these things from a local perspective very much! I still think if the perlite can conduct the heat efficiently to the soil the heat mats might be good to have.- Thread starter
- #191
I use a reptile heat mat, 20 something watts I think with a little dial to turn it up and down. No thermostat so I monitor the soil temp with a thermometer a couple of times a day and adjust as necessary. But my small seedlings go in small, starter pots until they germinate and start growing well so I only need to heat a very small container.
I'd think you'd need a much bigger heat mat to keep all the perlite and final soil container warm, which is totally unnecessary since there aren't any roots in the bag anyway.
For me, in my SIPs, I don't even start them on the constant bottom watering until they show some decent growth. Do you start them right off in their final Swick container? I do it my way in part because of space concerns. I only have 5 square feet for everything veg including seedlings/clones, pre-veg and veg for flower and I run a perpetual grow so I have to be pretty space efficient.
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
@Carmen Ray maybe I missed it, but what is your indoor temperature in the growing area?
- Thread starter
- #194
It's hovering at about 23 C / 73.4 F with the heat on. I left the oven on the entire afternoon can you believe it?! After making muffins that turned out to be quite horrible! I'm down to 2 days worth of electricity left on the meter so I have to turn off the heat now. We'll know later what the temp is without heat.
I don't have a big bag to heat. I start mine out straight away on the SWICK. Here is one from last grow to show you scale.
Oh, in case the reptile mat or seedling heat mat would work great.It's hovering at about 23 C / 73.4 F with the heat on. I left the oven on the entire afternoon can you believe it?! After making muffins that turned out to be quite horrible! I'm down to 2 days worth of electricity left on the meter so I have to turn off the heat now. We'll know later what the temp is without heat.
I don't have a big bag to heat. I start mine out straight away on the SWICK. Here is one from last grow to show you scale.
- Thread starter
- #196
I lost my second sprout. It just didn't have the oomph required to get going. This is what it looks like after 5 days (sorry for our of focus pic). I tried to remove the helmet head and instead partially beheaded it. However judging from the way the root was developing, it was not displaying vigorous growth or survival instincts. Perhaps I am lucky that it didn't grow out.
My third seed has sprouted a tail but I am leaving it in the paper towel longer this time, so that the radicle has more chance to get going before it goes into the soil.
I have put a fourth seed into paper towel today, so judging by the timing of the first three, I hope to see some reasonable and promising life by the weekend. I am so impatient for this grow to get underway!
I've never had trouble germinating seed before I started with autos. I wonder if it is an auto sensitivity thing or whether I have lost my germination mojo.
Heating update: I turned the heater off last night and the internal temp still reads 19 C / 66,2 F at 07h00 today. That will be fine and due to budgetary considerations, the heat mat will have to wait until another grow (it all adds up I'm afraid). I'm also encouraged that @Lerugged has winter seeds popping like mad in the cold rain.
My third seed has sprouted a tail but I am leaving it in the paper towel longer this time, so that the radicle has more chance to get going before it goes into the soil.
I have put a fourth seed into paper towel today, so judging by the timing of the first three, I hope to see some reasonable and promising life by the weekend. I am so impatient for this grow to get underway!
I've never had trouble germinating seed before I started with autos. I wonder if it is an auto sensitivity thing or whether I have lost my germination mojo.
Heating update: I turned the heater off last night and the internal temp still reads 19 C / 66,2 F at 07h00 today. That will be fine and due to budgetary considerations, the heat mat will have to wait until another grow (it all adds up I'm afraid). I'm also encouraged that @Lerugged has winter seeds popping like mad in the cold rain.
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
Condolences. I tried to germinate an auto once and failed miserably. I guess it can be pretty tricky.
With regulars things would start pushing out at 19C. Maybe not as fast as one would like, but... it is what it is.
Last year my germination was just horrible. I'd mixed up soil that wasn't quite right and caused K def, plus the weather in late April was not warm and the seedlings grew v e r y s l o w l y. These were regulars, and the seeds popped nicely but had trouble getting past the seedling phase into veg. Then, about the end of May things warmed up suddenly and everything just took off.
Temperature. So critical. I've read that below 15C is very slow growth. An overall ambient temp of 19C should be ok but may require patience. Inside your domes it would be warmer than the ambient room. And isn't your water swick warmed? Every little helps.
Cheers
With regulars things would start pushing out at 19C. Maybe not as fast as one would like, but... it is what it is.
Last year my germination was just horrible. I'd mixed up soil that wasn't quite right and caused K def, plus the weather in late April was not warm and the seedlings grew v e r y s l o w l y. These were regulars, and the seeds popped nicely but had trouble getting past the seedling phase into veg. Then, about the end of May things warmed up suddenly and everything just took off.
Temperature. So critical. I've read that below 15C is very slow growth. An overall ambient temp of 19C should be ok but may require patience. Inside your domes it would be warmer than the ambient room. And isn't your water swick warmed? Every little helps.
Cheers
With the lights on too, that’ll help.
Nick
Nick
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
Had an idea for you @Carmen Ray.
When I was in high school -- long, long ago! -- we'd save the seeds from that 1 oz bag they called a lid, weed imported from Mexico. This was not your sinsemilla, and I didn't even know what that was. It was bag weed, consemilla.
So anyway, my older brother and I used a 40 watt light bulb strung through a hole in the top of a fairly small box, it was maybe 1 foot square around and 18 inches tall. Because the box could be closed, the heat the light bulb produced could accumulate. Germination was a breeze in this box. Whether it's paper towels or soil in small pots, it's moisture plus the right temperature (25C/79F) that makes germination happen, not light. Light really becomes important only after the bean has popped and the cotyledons have opened.
If germination at your room temperature is too slow, you might improvise such a box. It would give you the warmth you need in a very small space so heating it will cost very little. After sprouting, the seedlings will enjoy the warmth and light for a week or so. At some point you can easily transplant to your perlite or soil and put them under your grow lamps. Just a thought.
When I was in high school -- long, long ago! -- we'd save the seeds from that 1 oz bag they called a lid, weed imported from Mexico. This was not your sinsemilla, and I didn't even know what that was. It was bag weed, consemilla.
So anyway, my older brother and I used a 40 watt light bulb strung through a hole in the top of a fairly small box, it was maybe 1 foot square around and 18 inches tall. Because the box could be closed, the heat the light bulb produced could accumulate. Germination was a breeze in this box. Whether it's paper towels or soil in small pots, it's moisture plus the right temperature (25C/79F) that makes germination happen, not light. Light really becomes important only after the bean has popped and the cotyledons have opened.
If germination at your room temperature is too slow, you might improvise such a box. It would give you the warmth you need in a very small space so heating it will cost very little. After sprouting, the seedlings will enjoy the warmth and light for a week or so. At some point you can easily transplant to your perlite or soil and put them under your grow lamps. Just a thought.
- Thread starter
- #200
Oooh I like the word "lid". We used to buy "slopes" ( 1g folded with brown paper)
That's a great idea! I could get a box that will fit a small standing lamp and work with that. Thank you. This afternoon I will go to the shop for a packing box and 40 watt light bulb.
Today is warm and I have the seeds in paper towel cd cases, wrapped in a woolen scarf, sitting in the mild sun. Outside temp is 16 C / 60 F, and sunny. Indoors I am getting a reading on the hygrometer of 21.1 C / 69.98 F. In the early hours it will drop to 9 C / 48.2 F and the lamp will come in handy then! I'll build it and do it!
The tail is growing on the 3rd seed, dated 4 June. I feel hopeful and confident, and will take it slow. I'd rather have longer radicle's going into the soil. Judging from the first three seeds, the fourth seed started today will likely crack by Thursday.