Seeds directly in growing medium?

Azimuth said:
You can, but germinating a seed into that big a pot is going to make proper watering a real challenge, especially for a new grower. Better to germinate in something much smaller, like a solo cup with drainage holes and then transplant as the plant grows larger as it is  much easier to control the watering that way.

I prefer to germinate directly in soil, especially for an organic grow. What are you planning to use for nutes?
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Def follow Azimuth's recommendations on starting in a smaller container. It will make your life easier!
 
CBDbud said:
@Keffka , how do you make these hole in your cups? They look so nice and smooth.

Thank you... :smokin:
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Soldering iron. I picked up a cheap one just for the plastic stuff. This way the cup isn’t weakened by having holes punched in or cuts made and it’s really quick.
 
Keffka said:
Soldering iron. I picked up a cheap one just for the plastic stuff. This way the cup isn’t weakened by having holes punched in or cuts made and it’s really quick.
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And, because it melts the plastic on the way thru, rather than ripping holes with a drill bit, the holes actually strengthen the cup rather than weaken it.
 
Trump said:
Paper clip and a Bic lighter will also do the job if you don't have a soldering iron.....

Next time you fill your solos fill them to the top. The new roots are probably sitting in drenched soil and drowning.
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To be fair, you can get a decent soldering iron for 10$. Every adult should own one, especially if you’re going to be hobbying, they make DIYing stuff very easy

However yes, in a pinch, the paper clip and lighter works. Before I would just use a cigarette to melt holes in the bottom. Then I wanted more holes and it was already a pain keeping a cigarette going for the bottom holes without inhaling melted plastic 😂
 
Keffka said:
Soldering iron. I picked up a cheap one just for the plastic stuff. This way the cup isn’t weakened by having holes punched in or cuts made and it’s really quick.
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That's a neat hack! :thanks:
Azimuth said:
And, because it melts the plastic on the way thru, rather than ripping holes with a drill bit, the holes actually strengthen the cup rather than weaken it.
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I never realized this until you pointed it out. It makes so much sense, now that I think about it. :thanks:

I Love My Girls... :smokin:
 
I would add more dirt to those cups.
I sow directly on soil into a tall 16oz pot that was treated for gnats and place on a heating mat for 2 days before planting. After 10-14 days the seedling starts to drink water faster, signaling it’s time for repotting. I repot directly into a 7 gallon fabric pot. Ive been doing this for 3 years now with success every time.

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Maybe someone already mentioned this way, if not,

My technique is to soak the seeds in water a few hours and then place the seeds apart from each other, don't let them touch, on a wet doubled sheet of paper towel, which is setting on a dinner plate.
Place another wet sheet of paper towel over the seeds and put the plate in a dark place, the kitchen cabnet is what I use.

This way you can peek at them every day of so by raising the top sheet of paper towel. Make sure the towel stay dampened, not emerged in water.

Eventually, usually 3 days or so, you can watch the tap root emerge from the seeds. After a few days, after the tap root is roughtly 2" long, carefully pick her up (I use a tweezer) and put her in your dampened potting soil, tap root down.

Good luck on your grow and keep us in touch on your progress.
 
garybo said:
Maybe someone already mentioned this way, if not,

My technique is to soak the seeds in water a few hours and then place the seeds apart from each other, don't let them touch, on a wet doubled sheet of paper towel, which is setting on a dinner plate.
Place another wet sheet of paper towel over the seeds and put the plate in a dark place, the kitchen cabnet is what I use.

This way you can peek at them every day of so by raising the top sheet of paper towel. Make sure the towel stay dampened, not emerged in water.

Eventually, usually 3 days or so, you can watch the tap root emerge from the seeds. After a few days, after the tap root is roughtly 2" long, carefully pick her up (I use a tweezer) and put her in your dampened potting soil, tap root down.

Good luck on your grow and keep us in touch on your progress.
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This is what I do too... Only exception: I don't let the root get more than 0.5 inches.

I Love My Girls... :smokin:
 
Keffka said:
I never germinate lower than 78F and that’s kind of pushing it. I like to keep it 80-85F. I do those temps though because I run my entire grow at 85 so it’s a smooth transition. I think anything below 70-75 and you’re looking for problems as you said.



Wow.. old socks, that’s brilliant. Currently I use a ton of holes in solos like this

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If you document your attempt please tag me if you remember. I love fabric. Plastic is really useful for trying to make tight root balls or making plants root bound.
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Seems like sock would inhibit root growth initially. What effect does that have on the rootball?
 
For outdoors I feel up-potting is the way to go, build a strong rootball before going into the soil or huge can.
For indoors with a fast turn around straight into final medium, pre-water the medium and then you kinda don't have to touch it for the first weeks, you can drop feed a little if it makes you feel better and have the idea you're giving it water, but the roots of the plant will go hunt for the available moisture in the pot.
 
I soak my seeds in a shotglass in 80⁰ filtered water with a touch of aloe vera flakes, I keep the glass on top of my internet router which keeps it right at 80⁰
Soak overnight about 12 hours.
Transfer onto a moist paper towel using the same warm aloe vera water and place into a sandwich baggie and put that between a folded washcloth and place on top of router.
With seeds under 2 years old they usually crack within 12 hours.

I plant them when the taproot just starts peaking out.

plant 1/8th inch deep in seedling soil packed full to the brim in a solo cup And I soak the seedling soil with aloe vera and coconut water until its field capacity prior to planting the seed and I use warm 85⁰ water so everything starts nice and warm.

Now the sole reason that I even bother with planting in the solo cup for about 7 days is simply because my soil is pretty lively with worms and rove beetles etc.
The worms don't eat the seedlings but they have a tendency to undermine the roots which causes the seedling to lean or just fall over.
Also the cotyledons when they are 1 to 4 days old are rove beetle candy, won't touch any other part of the plant but will chomp down on a young cotyledon.
So for me 7-ish days in the solocup works best.
Otherwise I would just drop the germinated seed directly into my 20+ gallon fabric pots, there is zero problem watering LOS.

There shouldn't be a problem watering in a 3 gallon fabric pot either as long as your soil is properly aerated and frankly if you're bottle feeding then save yourself some trouble and just use coco with maybe a handful of biochar and pumice mixed in then water it everyday with a weak nutrient solution.
 
CBDbud said:
That's a neat hack! :thanks:

I never realized this until you pointed it out. It makes so much sense, now that I think about it. :thanks:

I Love My Girls... :smokin:
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Yeah I started using the soldering iron years ago on other projects and it just seemed to lend itself to making the holes so I started using it . Works better on the thin cups than on say 5 gallon buckets where the plastic is thicker. For those I just go with a drill bit. Faster and easier for those.
 
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