DWC germinating?

D

dank daisy

New Member
So I ordered some sweet red poison seeds. They are autos and I had some bad luck germinating in the past. Used the paper towel trick and I ended up breaking the tip of the root off transplanting because the seeds starting to root into paper towel. Is it possible to germinate in dwc 5 gal bucket? I would fill it up with water almost to bottom of net cup and let the bubbles splash onto the seed. I would also use a temp controlled aquarium heater set at around 73 degrees. With absolutely no light. I used something similar last time I successfully germinated my lemon kush. I just want to eliminate transplanting
 
If you used something similar the last time and it worked out then yes it is possible :)
 
Well I was hoping someone has tried it before. Last time I used a 10 gal tote half filled with water at 73 degrees. Seeds were inside a rockwool cube soaked with water and floating around on top of the water inside a plastic tuber ware container. Was very fast at sprouting. Don't want to waste a seed trying another way. I ran into same problem using rockwool to germinate. Tap roots are delicate!
 
I did this and it is a bad idea. I have lots of experience in soil but never done hydro. I started a hydro setup recently and got loads of bad advice from the grow store...one of them was to do this. I have a DWC style with a top drip. I use those recycled glass grow stones. I was told it would work just fine to put them in there. Not the case. I first did paper towel which I have done for years fine. I transferred into net pots with grow stones after the tap root was 1/8-1/4 inch. I got most of them to come around after lots of work but I had to do a lot of tricks. I also lost a few in the process (a few got up and made the first leafs and even one made an attempt at a fan leaf before stopping). Basically without a medium the sprouts just curled up in the open space between the rocks and did not originally grow down. Also the top didn't really grow up. I lost at least a month getting seeds to do what normally takes a few days.

I got better advice from a better DWC guy who says just to use the peat plugs. Then you can drop those in the rocks and be fine. Peat is better for a few reasons then spun rock wool but there I just opened up a religious debate. :) Also starting them in the peat not paper towel is easier on the seed and tap root and you will not break them.

In any case... Yes it can work...yes it will take a lot longer and you have a good chance of some failures.

I have done paper towel hundreds of times. It is just plain stupid really. If you have fresh seeds and are doing it in soil just plant them in the final container so you never have to transplant a root bound plant...and water very little. It will come up in no time at all. For either soil or hydro peat plugs by Mad Farmer or General Hydro Rapid Rooter plugs work great. They are PH balanced and have just the right starter nutes. Again light water. It also doesn't hurt to soak first in water for a few hours but if you have the correct moisture in the plug it wont help either.

I also found when trying to sprout some very old seeds in paper towels recently that the water quality maters a lot. I put some in towels with a bit of tap water and I did some in water I had de-chlorinated and balanced. Maybe just because it was old stuff so they were sensitive but that chlorine sure don't help from the tap. Just make sure for all of this that you are using the best water you can, maybe distilled from the store, as seeds are sensitive. Once you transfer to your DWC well of course that has to be the good stuff.
 
VilliageIdiot said:
I did this and it is a bad idea. I have lots of experience in soil but never done hydro. I started a hydro setup recently and got loads of bad advice from the grow store...one of them was to do this. I have a DWC style with a top drip. I use those recycled glass grow stones. I was told it would work just fine to put them in there. Not the case. I first did paper towel which I have done for years fine. I transferred into net pots with grow stones after the tap root was 1/8-1/4 inch. I got most of them to come around after lots of work but I had to do a lot of tricks. I also lost a few in the process (a few got up and made the first leafs and even one made an attempt at a fan leaf before stopping). Basically without a medium the sprouts just curled up in the open space between the rocks and did not originally grow down. Also the top didn't really grow up. I lost at least a month getting seeds to do what normally takes a few days.

I got better advice from a better DWC guy who says just to use the peat plugs. Then you can drop those in the rocks and be fine. Peat is better for a few reasons then spun rock wool but there I just opened up a religious debate. :) Also starting them in the peat not paper towel is easier on the seed and tap root and you will not break them.

In any case... Yes it can work...yes it will take a lot longer and you have a good chance of some failures.

I have done paper towel hundreds of times. It is just plain stupid really. If you have fresh seeds and are doing it in soil just plant them in the final container so you never have to transplant a root bound plant...and water very little. It will come up in no time at all. For either soil or hydro peat plugs by Mad Farmer or General Hydro Rapid Rooter plugs work great. They are PH balanced and have just the right starter nutes. Again light water. It also doesn't hurt to soak first in water for a few hours but if you have the correct moisture in the plug it wont help either.

I also found when trying to sprout some very old seeds in paper towels recently that the water quality maters a lot. I put some in towels with a bit of tap water and I did some in water I had de-chlorinated and balanced. Maybe just because it was old stuff so they were sensitive but that chlorine sure don't help from the tap. Just make sure for all of this that you are using the best water you can, maybe distilled from the store, as seeds are sensitive. Once you transfer to your DWC well of course that has to be the good stuff.
Click to expand...
Just the response I was looking for. Thank you. I thought about just sticking a rockwool cube into some hydroton but I have heard of it causing root rot from rockwool staying too wet all the time. I am gonna do dwc. Have nutrients left from ebb and flow so I wanna stay hydro. I'm gonna look for some peat and give it a try. Any issues at all using peat? It hold moisture like rockwool? Thanks!
 
Stealthboat said:
I'd just pop the seeds in a glass of distilled water for a day or two and the root should come out by day 2. Keep it room temp and this should be the easiest method
Click to expand...

Yeah I tried it that way before as well. Made me nervous because I was afraid the hydroton would crush the root while transplanting. Maybe I just need to suck it up and not be afraid to break them. Thanks for your reply!
 
Im growing in a DWC right now, started my auto seeds using the papertowel method but as soon as the tap roots showed on the second day I put them in rockwool cubes soaked for 10 seconds in PH5.8 water and set them in my net pots with hydrotron surrounding them...after a day or two the sprouts come up. The first few days I keep the water level up to about a inch above the bottom of the net pots after a week or so start dropping the level back down a little at a time till its about a inch or so below the pots to let the new roots get some air....works really good, just have to keep a close eye of the ph of the water to make sure the plants is able to take up the goodies it needs to grow....
After just a few days...
DSCN60992.JPG
 
I had the same question. I usually start plants off in soil the first few weeks. Then rinse the dirt of the roots and transfer to DWC. It has worked great for phenos but i heard it maybe bad for autos
 
Id like to say thanks to everyone too, its kind of hard to find good info on growing Autos in a DWC set up and I can use all the help I can get! Good to find others who are growing the same way!
 
I just changed from black 5 gallon buckets to 10 gallon totes. I place the totes in black plastic bags. My thinking is they would be cheaper and less time consuming that tape.
 
I went with the 10 gallon totes too, I fashioned each to have 2 holes for netpots (see pic below) but I use the second hole for easy access checking the PH in the res.... I would say the bag idea is cheaper but the taping gives me something to do while I keep the babies company! LOL
DSCN6180.JPG
 
How well does the lid of the tote hold on when the plant is fully mature. Those lids are usually pretty flimsy. You use the totes over buckets because of roots?
 
dank daisy said:
How well does the lid of the tote hold on when the plant is fully mature. Those lids are usually pretty flimsy. You use the totes over buckets because of roots?
Click to expand...

The lids on the totes snap on so they work really good, the only problem I have had is with net pots tilting and that didn't happen until the plant was about 5'...then it was all up to the yarn from my wifes knitting bag, a few strands tied at the right points solved the problem! :-D
 
I use 6 inch net pots instead of 10. I've had much better success with the smaller pot. I also think taping the container would be better than trash bags in the long run. I just needed a quick fix.
 

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