Help Starting a Seed in Root Riot Plugs

[fortphoenix]

Hey guys these questions may sound stupid because apparently they're already known since i can find the answers anywhere. theres a million threads on starting seeds but none on really taking care of them or watering them once they're planted, well none on the root riot plugs lol but any ways, heres the questions, any help is greatly appreciated

do i just literally just put the seed (pointy side up and put a tiny chunk of the plug over the hole) in the plug and throw a humidity dome in it without watering it because its already moist?

once the plugs dry out what do i do, do i just put some water at the bottom of a second tray and just dip the tray with the plugs in the water tray real quick? how much water would i put? could someone please go into detail for me on this please?

i already know about ph, temps, rh and transplanting and stuff but I'm just really confused with the watering part and can't figure it out, how to water and when/howmuch if you can please help me id really appreciate it

 

[fortphoenix]

so no one can help me out?

 

[Emilya Green]

Hey guys these questions may sound stupid because apparently they’re already known since i can find the answers anywhere. theres a million threads on starting seeds but none on really taking care of them or watering them once they're planted, well none on the root riot plugs lol but any ways, heres the questions, any help is greatly appreciated

do i just literally just put the seed (pointy side up and put a tiny chunk of the plug over the hole) in the plug and throw a humidity dome in it without watering it because its already moist?

once the plugs dry out what do i do, do i just put some water at the bottom of a second tray and just dip the tray with the plugs in the water tray real quick? how much water would i put? could someone please go into detail for me on this please?

i already know about ph, temps, rh and transplanting and stuff but I’m just really confused with the watering part and can’t figure it out, how to water and when/howmuch if you can please help me id really appreciate it

sometimes you don't get immediate answers online... but be patient... someone usually gets back to you.

When I germinate seeds i simply put them in some starter soil (the equivalent of your RRplugs) and I water the medium really good to soak the seed. Every day I water again, keeping it moist, until I see the seedling pop the surface. In your case with the plugs, you will water every day until you see the roots coming out of the plug, and then it will be time to plop the whole thing down into a solo cup of good soil. At this point you will water the solo cup of soil completely, saturating the soil and the plug, until run off comes out of the bottom of the cup. Then, using the lift method, you need to wait until all the water in the cup has been used... until the cup is light as a feather and you can feel no water weight at all... and then you repeat the process, and water the soil completely to run off again. Every time that you successfully complete the wet/dry cycle, it will shorten in time, and when the plant is finally able to drain all the water you can give it, in 24 hours, or you start seeing signs of distress in your lowest leaves, it will be time to transplant to a 1 gallon container. Again, repeat the entire process.

Watering correctly is the secret to growing weeds. Practice the lift method or get a scale... it really is important to allow the bottom of your container to dry out to correctly grow a weed.

 

[maillady929]

i germinate my seeds in plugs all the time. you don't need to put the seeds in any special way the root always grow down and the leaves always come up. keep the plugs moist with a spray bottle if you have one and cover them over with a dome. it's easier to control the humidity if the bottom tray is not full of water.

 

[fortphoenix]

In your case with the plugs, you will water every day until you see the roots coming out of the plug,

thank you for the response!! but how would i water the plugs?, with a medicine dripper or syringe or spray bottle or water at the bottom of a clone tray? also i will be transplanting the root riot cube into hydroton f&d. I'm also wondering how i would water the plug once some roots start sticking out because I plan on doing perpetual and they need to be in the clone tray 2 weeks even if the roots are profuse in say, 10-12 days, they still need to stay in the clone tray

 

[fortphoenix]

i germinate my seeds in plugs all the time. you don't need to put the seeds in any special way the root always grow down and the leaves always come up. keep the plugs moist with a spray bottle if you have one and cover them over with a dome. it's easier to control the humidity if the bottom tray is not full of water.

thank you very much for your response but i have to ask... do you pre soak then squeeze the plugs before planting the seeds in the plug or do you just put the seeds in the plugs right from the bag? with no plug preparation... also, how do you water once roots are sticking out, you still water with a spray bottle?

 

[Emilya Green]

thank you for the response!! but how would i water the plugs?, with a medicine dripper or syringe or spray bottle or water at the bottom of a clone tray? also i will be transplanting the root riot cube into hydroton f&d. I'm also wondering how i would water the plug once some roots start sticking out because I plan on doing perpetual and they need to be in the clone tray 2 weeks even if the roots are profuse in say, 10-12 days, they still need to stay in the clone tray

I do it with a nifty 3 cup watering pitcher where i can just dribble a little on the top... some use misters so as to not disturb the position of the seedling until it can establish its roots, but in that plug, it ain't going anywhere... just water it. You actually have it more solidly in place in that thing than I do in soil. That is the second time you mentioned watering from the bottom... I dont recommend it. Make the water flow down from the top and the root system have to chase that water downward.

Forcing your rooted seedlings to have their roots exposed to light for 10-12 days is going to be counter productive, you may easily lose them playing around with them like this. You need to get roots protected from the light and not exposed to air for long enough to dry out or they will die. To do the perpetual, I would have started them at 2 week intervals instead of all at the same time. Maybe I am not understanding what you are trying to do... definitely sounds ambitious, and I am intrigued.

 

[fortphoenix]

I do it with a nifty 3 cup watering pitcher where i can just dribble a little on the top... some use misters so as to not disturb the position of the seedling until it can establish its roots, but in that plug, it ain't going anywhere... just water it. You actually have it more solidly in place in that thing than I do in soil. That is the second time you mentioned watering from the bottom... I dont recommend it. Make the water flow down from the top and the root system have to chase that water downward.

Forcing your rooted seedlings to have their roots exposed to light for 10-12 days is going to be counter productive, you may easily lose them playing around with them like this. You need to get roots protected from the light and not exposed to air for long enough to dry out or they will die. To do the perpetual, I would have started them at 2 week intervals instead of all at the same time. Maybe I am not understanding what you are trying to do... definitely sounds ambitious, and I am intrigued.

yeah i was thinking of using one of those decent sized syringes so theres no possible way i can add a certain amount of water that i deem as too much but I'm sorry idk why i was talking about the perpetual stuff with the seeds... once the seed roots its going straight to the f&d tray cause its going to be a mother plant. the whole 2 week i was talking about was with clones (cloning in root riottoo btw), i got them mixed up sorry... but now that were on the topic, how would i water clones that have just rooted that need to stay in the clone tray for another like 5 days? would i get one of those dual clone trays that have like a 1/4" of open space between them with holes at the bottom of each plug holder in put water in the bottom tray or would i still feed from the top? thanks for your help Emilya

 

[Emilya Green]

yeah i was thinking of using one of those decent sized syringes so theres no possible way i can add a certain amount of water that i deem as too much but I'm sorry idk why i was talking about the perpetual stuff with the seeds... once the seed roots its going straight to the f&d tray cause its going to be a mother plant. the whole 2 week i was talking about was with clones (cloning in root riottoo btw), i got them mixed up sorry... but now that were on the topic, how would i water clones that have just rooted that need to stay in the clone tray for another like 5 days? would i get one of those dual clone trays that have like a 1/4" of open space between them with holes at the bottom of each plug holder in put water in the bottom tray or would i still feed from the top? thanks for your help Emilya

sounds like a plan!