Am I doing this right - Direct planting in coco

[Forum Member]

Hi, long time reader first time poster here. I'm working with quite old seeds (some are 6+ years old) so they are likely to take an extra long time to sprout. So to avoid wasting a lot of time, I wanted to check if I've messed anything up so far - my first coco grow:

First I soaked my coco (coco/perlite 70/30 mix) in water with about a 1/10th dose of nutes, then left for 24 hours. Meanwhile, I put my seeds in a glass of water for 12 hours until the sunk. Then I planted them straight into the, now damp, coco. I'm using a 600 watt duel spectrum in the tent where the pots are, which isn't ideal I know, but it is about 1.2 meter above the pots and temps are all good.

That was about 48 hours ago, and I was trying to dribble a small amount of (nute-free) water onto the coco regularly to keep dampness (it is pretty airy in my tent so it dries fast). However, when I woke up this morning my coco had dried up, all crumbly and dry to the touch down past an inch. So I just watered again, not soaking but a more heavy water than I was doing previously.

Do you think this period of being in dry coco for several hours has killed off the seeds? I'm used to direct planting in soil, which is very forgiving, but I'm worried I ruined my seeds by letting the coco dry out like that. What do you think?

Thanks for any help,

 

[JBUptown]

As always, photos help, but without I would guess yes, the seedlings may be done. Taproots don't last long without moisture,maybe an hour or two at most if not moist. I have much experience growing lots of different plants from seed, lack of moisture in the first 72 hours after the seed pops is usually the end of that germination. Keep it wet for a week or longer, seeds that old may just be slow enough to not have cracked yet. Best of luck, I hope you get a few going.

Best of Buds

JB

 

[Forum Member]

Damn. I guess all I can do is keep watering for a week and see what sprouts. I still have more seeds so I'll try germinating them in paper towels to replace any that don't sprout - at least then I'll know when the root shows.. I'm honestly surprised by how fast the coco dried out, as I thought it retained moisture a lot better than soil. I guess I was too scared of drowning the seeds and didn't water enough. But yeah, hopefully these old seeds hadn't cracked yet, I'm tripling my watering from now on and will wait and see. Thanks,

 

[Weaselcracker]

Coco retains much less water than soil. It can't be overwatered as it's always aerated and fluffy- no matter how much water you pour in the pot of coco, it will run out the bottom leaving the coco as fluffy as ever.

 

[BrodyNitro]

If you want to plant directly into coco you will want to keep your container covered with a baggie or cling wrap to trap moisture, or if you go to KFC and get a side of mashed potatoes you have a container with a lid to start seeds in. Just started a Deathstar(?) seed myself in one of them last week!

After though:

Leave the cup on a saucer with a little water on it, but let the container drain out all the way first. The coco will wick up the water and keep it from drying out so fast

 

[Foodeefish]

No nutes for first two weeks!!