Plans to germ and grow - Am I thinking right?

[newbiegrwer]

So in less than a week I will be germinating my seeds. Yay. I plan to start with 4 robocrop autoflower seeds from cream of the crop seeds. I have doing extensive searching on this most wonderful forum and have come up with a game plan that I think fits my setup quite nicely. Let me know what you think.

Step 1. Soak in water with a touch of superthrive.
Step 2. Paper plate and paper towel method with the soaking water added to it till damp.
Step 3. Dixie cups with seedling soil until big enough to transplant to cloner for root development.
Step 4. Aeroponic cloning bucket until nice root system.
Step 5. In my dwc container with clay pebbles.

Special request on info. When to introduce nutes and at what rate?

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.

 

[Papageno]

Welcome!!!! Glad you asked first!

I have been growing a long time and I can tell you that a lot of what you have written down is hype that works but is not necessary and can cause issues if done wrong.

First I will explain what I don't like about your plan...then I will explain how I do it.

Step1: Superthrive is an intense blend of chemicals used for something completley different. it is not needed at this stage of growth nor helpful. It could hurt.
Step 2: I stopped using paper towel method back about 1998. It is only useful if you have stale or old seed. Back in the day we all used to get our seeds from the bag we smoked from. You never knew how old that was and it could have been through hell. using the paper towel method is just a way to resuscitate an almost dead seed but it doesn't help with fresh seed. It also has to be done just right although not hard it has a smaller window of "good" temps. It can't handle the temp swing as well as other mediums so it is actually less robust and harder to get it out if the seed is fresh. If you want to do this I would use a bowel not paper plate and cover with clear wrap and stand on its side so the tap root can grow down when it cracks the shell.
*NOTE* When using the paper towel method it is very easy and common to damage the taproot while transferring it. another reason to avoid it.
Step 3: you want to limit the transplanting. What I will explain eliminates all of this. It is dooable but not preferred to start in soil and then go to hydro. A cloner is for cloning. You want to place the sprout in the grow medium as soon as possible unless you can't control your setup properly. By that it depends on what type of growing method you are using but in an aero system you should have no issues going right into the net pot with the sprouted seed. If you do DWC correctly you should also have no problems going right into the DWC net pot. The bubbles should be keeping the basket wet and the medium should be evenly distributing moisture through the basket. you could even have the bottom of the basket in the water for the very earliest of days but that is unnecessary.
Step 4: totally unnecessary


The standard way to start seed is using a sprouting medium. There are 2 main kinds. People use Rockwool cubes or Peat plugs (starter plugs). I prefer Peat for a lot of reasons. If you go with RW get the smallest cubes. RW has some complexities and are very easy to screw up. People tend to soak them incorrectly and burn the plants. They also over water both types. You want them a little moist but not wet. For roots to grow they need to be searching for water. If the plug or cube is soaking it will choke the roots and they may die. Peat plugs come with everything you need but a little pHd water. So you get some good clean water and moisten them and place the seed in there under a sprouting hood in a nice warm corner of the house and they will sprout for you.

After you see the tap root come out the bottom of the plug or cube you take that and transfer it to you net pot and bury it deep enough that you pebbles cover the rooting media completely. this may mean the sprout is back under the pebbles and is fine. It will wind its way out. unlikely for that to be the case though.

As long as the DWC bucket is set up correctly so the basket is being constantly moistened and the medium is decent so the water gets can transfer by wicking from pebble to pebble then you are golden.

Biggest mistake people make is over watering. You want the plug lightly moist not wet.

Nutes are not needed for a long time. The plant can get to 3 sets of leaves easily on the nutes that come in the seed. Until the roots hit the res it wont matter anyway. When they do you start at 1/4 of the program recommendations.

If you really want to know about all this stuff after sprouting I recommend you read through this guys journal. He is a newb and I just walked him through the entire thing. We just started bloom and his grow looks amazing.

ClosetCase420's - RDWC - 600W MH/HPS - Wonder Woman - Grow Journal - 2015

 

[Papageno]

I would add auto flowering plants are a bit more difficult to manage and you really should know more before doing those. After you read through that journal lets talk about what nute program is recommended for an auto as they are not "normal" plants. They don't want a normal nute program.

 

[newbiegrwer]

Welcome!!!! Glad you asked first!

I have been growing a long time and I can tell you that a lot of what you have written down is hype that works but is not necessary and can cause issues if done wrong.

First I will explain what I don't like about your plan...then I will explain how I do it.

Step1: Superthrive is an intense blend of chemicals used for something completley different. it is not needed at this stage of growth nor helpful. It could hurt.
Step 2: I stopped using paper towel method back about 1998. It is only useful if you have stale or old seed. Back in the day we all used to get our seeds from the bag we smoked from. You never knew how old that was and it could have been through hell. using the paper towel method is just a way to resuscitate an almost dead seed but it doesn't help with fresh seed. It also has to be done just right although not hard it has a smaller window of "good" temps. It can't handle the temp swing as well as other mediums so it is actually less robust and harder to get it out if the seed is fresh. If you want to do this I would use a bowel not paper plate and cover with clear wrap and stand on its side so the tap root can grow down when it cracks the shell.
*NOTE* When using the paper towel method it is very easy and common to damage the taproot while transferring it. another reason to avoid it.
Step 3: you want to limit the transplanting. What I will explain eliminates all of this. It is dooable but not preferred to start in soil and then go to hydro. A cloner is for cloning. You want to place the sprout in the grow medium as soon as possible unless you can't control your setup properly. By that it depends on what type of growing method you are using but in an aero system you should have no issues going right into the net pot with the sprouted seed. If you do DWC correctly you should also have no problems going right into the DWC net pot. The bubbles should be keeping the basket wet and the medium should be evenly distributing moisture through the basket. you could even have the bottom of the basket in the water for the very earliest of days but that is unnecessary.
Step 4: totally unnecessary


The standard way to start seed is using a sprouting medium. There are 2 main kinds. People use Rockwool cubes or Peat plugs (starter plugs). I prefer Peat for a lot of reasons. If you go with RW get the smallest cubes. RW has some complexities and are very easy to screw up. People tend to soak them incorrectly and burn the plants. They also over water both types. You want them a little moist but not wet. For roots to grow they need to be searching for water. If the plug or cube is soaking it will choke the roots and they may die. Peat plugs come with everything you need but a little pHd water. So you get some good clean water and moisten them and place the seed in there under a sprouting hood in a nice warm corner of the house and they will sprout for you.

After you see the tap root come out the bottom of the plug or cube you take that and transfer it to you net pot and bury it deep enough that you pebbles cover the rooting media completely. this may mean the sprout is back under the pebbles and is fine. It will wind its way out. unlikely for that to be the case though.

As long as the DWC bucket is set up correctly so the basket is being constantly moistened and the medium is decent so the water gets can transfer by wicking from pebble to pebble then you are golden.

Biggest mistake people make is over watering. You want the plug lightly moist not wet.

Nutes are not needed for a long time. The plant can get to 3 sets of leaves easily on the nutes that come in the seed. Until the roots hit the res it wont matter anyway. When they do you start at 1/4 of the program recommendations.

If you really want to know about all this stuff after sprouting I recommend you read through this guys journal. He is a newb and I just walked him through the entire thing. We just started bloom and his grow looks amazing.

ClosetCase420's - RDWC - 600W MH/HPS - Wonder Woman - Grow Journal - 2015

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely be starting in peat and skipping the cloning bucket. Would you suggest net pot size. I have 3 and 6 in pots.

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.

 

[newbiegrwer]

Would it be okay to germ in the dwc containers with a rockwool cube in the net cup and the grow medium surrounding it? Also do you guys have a preference on medium, ie rockwool pellets vs hydroton vs lava stones etc? I would imagine lava stones would damage the roots though I have read where a few people used them. I did a test with hydroton and didn't like how messy it made the water. Is it the better option or are rockwool pellets just as suitable?

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.

 

[newbiegrwer]

So I did some more searching and reading. I think I will be germinating in a peat plug in a humidity dome and once the roots break through I will place that plug in my dwc net pot surrounded by hydroton and let it grow until harvest. Much easier and much less moving the plant around. And I will use the 6 in net pots. Better to go bigger than necessary rather than too small.

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.

 

[Papageno]

Perfect...

#1 That's how I do it!

#2 I am excited to see you did your own research and came up with the right conclusion.


You have a good future ahead of yourself.


Most people will tell you the pot size doesn't matter and it really doesn't EXCEPT...bigger pots make more stable pots. When lifting up the lid or trying to train the plants or moving around in the tent...having bigger pots makes for safer conditions for the plant.

 

[newbiegrwer]

Perfect...

#1 That's how I do it!

#2 I am excited to see you did your own research and came up with the right conclusion.


You have a good future ahead of yourself.


Most people will tell you the pot size doesn't matter and it really doesn't EXCEPT...bigger pots make more stable pots. When lifting up the lid or trying to train the plants or moving around in the tent...having bigger pots makes for safer conditions for the plant.

Thanks. I planned on doing my own research anyways but always ask the more experienced people just to confirm. I guess before I was just over complicating the process. I work in an industry where less is not more. I guess it's just as the expression goes when it comes to gardening though huh?

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.

 

[Papageno]

The real problem is people do not learn the basics and want to just shoot for the moon. They want to invest as little as possible and turn a profit. They have their whole perspective on this inside out. Too many people don't get into this for the love of weed they get into it to be a criminal and make money tax free. So they are all about turning a profit. No better way to failure then that.

When I started there was only a handful of books you could read on the topic and only a few book stores that sold them and you felt like a criminal just buying it. You could get a subscription to High times but that wasn't enough and then the postman knows you are growing weed. You could go buy High times at 7-11 but then you have to hide your stash of mags like they were you playboys in high school. Things were a lot different before it became accepted as a medical thing and now the whole world has changed. Now most people are not into it for the craft or the hobby and are just trying to make a buck without ever earning it.

Becoming a master gardener is the goal here. If you can't grow tomatoes properly in the sun outside how the hell can you play God in an indoor grow? And the kicker is Cannabis is just another plant that has the exact same requirements and needs as other plants. It is vastly more important to understand how seeds sprout then to understand how cannabis sprouts. It is vastly more important to understand photosynthesis and how the results are used then to understand how cannabis does it because guess what ...it is no different. It is vastly more important to understand how nutrients are used in plants and how they get absorbed and what the various nutes are used for then to understand how cannabis uses them...because again it is exactly the same. If you ask a bunch of pot heads on here you will likely get a lot of uneducated answers but there are tons of websites on both organic gardening indoors and outdoors as well as Hydroponic gardening indoors and outdoors. Those people growing their own sustainable gardens indoors that have blogs on how to do it are much more informed and are a much better source for how things work then here. Come here for help with a problem. But if you want to know how to run DWC then first learn how Eb n Flow works and understand Aeroponics and then you will understand how we accidentally stumbled onto DWC.


Anyway the point is there are those who have grown successfully for years following a recipe and they have no real clue how they get the weed. They just know to add this and that at these times and when there is a problem dump the res. They are so successful that they think they should be giving advice even though they have never picked up and read cover to cover one horticulture book. I see arguments on here all the time about stuff that there is no argument. It is scientific fact and there are Latin names for these things...even in cannabis.

Nothing you need to know is not already written about in great extent by many experts. Everything out there is basically common knowledge. Most people don't know everything and anything they don't know they do not consider common knowledge and then these challenges and arguments ensue but it is all hogwash.

If you want to grow the best weed you can, then do the research, buy some books. Come here to ask specific questions about cannabis that are not something you would ask about anything else or if you have a problem in your grow post a pic and we can fix it.

But if you want to know some common knowledge general horticulture thing like why changing the lights to 12 hours starts blooming....well there are a ton of plants that only bloom in fall so you can search the web for that and read it in a ton of places. Coming here you get all kinds of responses. Even from prominent members with lots of rep points.

I love it when I red someone say "that stuff doesn't work" "Here you can have my bottle I wont use it" for something that is a well understood good thing to use. Instead of asking themselves why it isn't working for them (and understanding it sis their fault) they just assume it is garbage. Another one that cracks me up is blaming the plant or the environment and not the grower. People come on here and make crazy claims like "I did everything right and used good soil and light and I got this rot what is wrong"...well then you obviously didn't do everything right and probably have no idea what you are talking about.

The plants never are to blame and don't do anything wrong. They can not make decisions. They only respond chemically to their surroundings which YOU are responsible for.

 

[newbiegrwer]

Well not that it's really your business but I will be growing for multiple reasons. My wife has extremely high anxiety, my uncle has cancer, I have back pain, and I have multiple friends who will be paying for surplus supply. As far as researching goes I have been trying to read up everywhere I can about everything I can. I have grown a large home garden outside and everything I planted produced. But each of those plants needed different things from water to pruning to light to shade so not all plants need exactly the same thing which is why I am asking for species specific help from people that have grown cannabis because where I live you can't just go down to Barnes and Noble and buy Marijuana for Idiots. If I took what you said out of context and you weren't being rude for no reason then I apologize for my outburst and appreciate your help and time. If I took you exactly as you were then I have said what I needed to.

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.

 

[Papageno]

sorry bro I was complimenting you for not being one of those tards how wants it handed to them. I don't think you understood what I wrote.

 

[newbiegrwer]

sorry bro I was complimenting you for not being one of those tards how wants it handed to them. I don't think you understood what I wrote.

.eace:

Sorry. I guess we both fell victim to the lack of infliction in written text. I appreciate the compliment. You seem to be quite knowledgeable and I admire that and strive to become the guy giving advice. I am about to watch the entire 1-1/2 hr Jorge Cervantes YouTube video that basically covers one of his books.

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.

 

[newbiegrwer]

Well I just finished that video. It was basically everything from how to build a basic grow room and the different types of equipment to the different growing styles from soil to soilless to different hydro setups. Then he went in to germinating and veg state and diagnosing problems to flowering and pest control and cloning and harvesting and curing and how to make hash out of your trimmings. Really good video. Jorge Cervantes Ultimate Marijuana Grow Guide (Full) - YouTube

It's long but I promise you'll learn a lot more than you thought possible in an hour and a half.

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.

 

[Papageno]

If you are into videos this one is great. A lot of people set up there lights wrong. I see it on here every day. These guys make a lot of great videos. This one is a must see before you buy indoor lighting.

 

[arteekay]

I probably spent 72+ hours watching YouTube videos in the first couple of weeks, there are even some members here with some great video grow journals.

 

[newbiegrwer]

I'm watching video after video because I'm so excited to get started.

Knowledge and experience are 2 different things. Strive for both and share it with others.