Got these seeds and don't know what to do.....

[blink_inc]

Hey all,

I've been reading a lot about germinating seeds and there are so many different ways. Enough to confuse a newb.

I have this bag of about 100 seeds and am not sure how to get them going.

I took out about 15 yesterday and soaked a papertowell in some boiled (then cooled) water. I put them in a tupperware container and into the cupboard. Have I done anything wrong here???

I am off to the local store to pick up some vermiculite and perlite to mix with some potting soil and will try fifteen seeds this way under some flourescents.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

My wife is all over me to get this going and I don't want to be dissapointed with my first attempt.

Thanks,
Will//

[freewheelinfrank]

read the Grow FAQs section, and do a bit of reading in the Forum categories that suit you, all the answers are already here for you - if you can't find an answer, just ask, and someone will be sure to help :)

[PharmaCan]

What frank said.

[Storm Crow]

1) Don't use "Miracle Grow" anything! It may be great for some plants, but it is wrong for pot. And get some epsom salts to add to your grow -pot is very hungry for magnesium! Read the grow FAQs for more info.

2) Start them in paper drink cups with a drainage hole. Let them grow for a while, when the cups start getting "soggy" looking, it's transplant time! Just
take some scissors and cut the rim. The rest of the cup should be simple to tear off and it is easy to transplant them. Then they go to 1 gallon pots to finish vegging and from there to whatever sized pots- I grow a couple plants in each of my 19 gallon Wal-mart tubs ($4).

3) Grow organically as you can manage- you are going to smoke the results.

4) Keep a record of planting dates, transplanting dates, etc. It makes thing easier! And get a microscope (try Radio Shack- $10) to check the trichs!

5) When you finally top your babies, take a 2 to 3 inch long piece. Then set the tops in a foil covered jar of water- I use a pencil to make the holes in the top for the clones- and put them under 12/12 lighting. These will "sex out" earlier than your plants, so you can get rid of the males before they start spreading pollen AND with a little luck, you get rooted clones of your females. Just remember to label them all! Just stick the females back under 24/7 to continue rooting and revegging. Very nice if you get a real "keeper"- you already have a mom in veg! At the worst, you have an all female group of clones as a head start on your next crop! Oh, and males usually show first, so don't get discouraged if the first 3 or 4 are males- I once had a run of 7 males before the first female showed!:wtf:

6) Watch for pests! Mites (aka "the borg") are very tiny, but very bad!

7) There is some controversy about "veg" lighting- some prefer 18/6 and others go 24/7. Everyone agrees that to flower, you need 12/12. And fluoros work fine! Wal mart has these big flattened cone-shaped CFLs that give off a blueish light ($8), nice for vegging. The cylinder-shaped ones are a warmer color, better for buds. If you are using tube-style fluoros, go with cool whites for veg and GE's "Kitchen and Bath"s for bud. Keep them close to your plants and more is better!

8) READ!!! and enjoy your new hobby! - Granny:hippy:

[mythin]

I dont know what I can say that storm crow hasnt said. The only thing i can comment on is the lighting, Id reccomend that maybe for the first week or two 24/7 lighting might be ok. But plants do need a dark period, and 18/6 seems to give bigger yields since the roots grow more during dark periods.

[blink_inc]

36 hours after moist paper towell in a dark cupboard and several have sprouted.

Onward we go.....

[PharmaCan]

36 hours after moist paper towell in a dark cupboard and several have sprouted.

Onward we go.....

Bury those babies and yer on yer way - whooopppeeeee!!! :rastasmoke:

[blink_inc]

A total of 13 out of 16 popped and gave me nice 1/4 inch sprouts.

I have now put these in straight vermiculite in coffee cups with holes in the bottom. Into a rubbermaid and lid on in the dark.
A few days from now I may be able to start putting the light to them.

Hoping for growth......

[blink_inc]

12 of the 13 are now 1/4 inch above ground....
24 hours and I will be moving them to lights...

[freewheelinfrank]

be sure to get those into soil ASAP - vermiculite and perlite are added for providing drainage and aeration to the roots, but they don't support the plant for shit - roots need a stable grip to support the weight of the growing plant - sounds like you're doing very well so far - now, the part that defeats so many (including myself), don't OVERWATER - seedlings are very susceptible to Pythium Wilt, caused by too damp soil - let the soil dry out between waterings - TIP: plants 'droop' from both over-watering, and under-watering - takes a bit of time to 'read' your young plants - be patient, and don't 'over-love' them - they do best without a lot of human help - they're WEEDS ! - :smokin:

[blink_inc]

Great little piece of advice. Thanks.
I will be putting them in potting soil today.
They are under 4 100watt cfm's and 16/8 for another week at least.

[palerider7777]

what do u mean by topping them ?i have an idea on it but just want to make sure and i have also been reading a ton of stuff and another? is how long do u sprout and im talking about for dwc not soil how big should plants get b4 u put them into the dwc im growing 5 each of watermelon,bell peppers,toms,carrots i would just rather start with vegs to see how things work im just a lil cautious to start out but anyways i have a lil greenhouse box with the tray and clear dome type under 2 of the new curled lights u see around now that saves on watts anyways 2 of the bigger ones and they sprout in 1 & 1/2 days i started on june 12 and on the 17th they were about 3 to 4 inches tall with white thick furry roots coming out the bottem of the jiffy plugs from gh around 5 to 8 roots for the watermelon and 1 root each of the others about an inch out so i put into 5 inch pots with the clay balls and i have them under 1000 watt mh about 2 ft above my ? any advice on what to do next/or need to correct b4 i move on and 1 more thing im pretty sure i have hard water as it is coming from a well is there anything wrong with that or is it ok? my nutes are at 550 to 600 ppm and i have my ph at 6.2 to 6.4 im using advance grow with enngy's f1 and growzime or something like that also when i put the nutes in yesterday today i check and everything looks fine but the water smells maybe the nutes+well water cause this or ? i know this is alot of stuff im asking and i have read for about 2 mo now just about everything in here and more but i guess it sounds better when someone responds back to u with info to let u know hey u f'd up or hey ur on the right track thanks

[palerider7777]

also the 1000watt mh i have i have a big light housing with a 1000 watt hps in the middle and to extra spots on each side to install more lights so i put a 1000 watt mh on one side and a 400 wattmh on the other im just using the 1000mh right now the idea was to run the 1000 w mh and 400w mh to start and then the 1000w hps for the flowering or a combo of the 3 but not all at once would the 1400w be ok to run??

[palerider7777]

opps sorry it's a 3x5 ft area

[blink_inc]

too much lights...the heat will become unmanageable..
I will be runnning 2 400w HPS in a 4 x 8 box that is only 4ft high and I am already worried about managing the heat and ventilation. The addition of a squirrel cage fan and oscilating fan inside should help to keep the air moving.

[palerider7777]

well i have an ac unit that is about a ft away from the light and blows right on it and i have a duct system hooked to a carbon filter thats running through the lite box i can put my hand about a ft away under the lite and start to feel the heat i would have to put my hand about 4 to 6 inches away to really fell it and i can take the duct off the end by the ac unit and the ac blows right into the hole in the side of the light box when i do that theres like no heat at all my room is 7x7 but i have 3x7 for the light and dwc and then a lil area for the seedlings i have 32 plants veggies i don't think the 400 would be enough or it might be just enough

[palerider7777]

besides i was online looking for the ballest lite hood and everything and found this guy on cl an online trade site and a guy had a 400wmh set up (ballest lite 2 bulbs lite hood with 4inch duct and a box of air stones about 5 with 5 air pumps 3 inline fans for the ducting then 2 set ups of the 1000w mh and one a 1000w hps/mh set up with a ballest box and hood each and a bunch of other stuff like a tds tri meter ph ppm temp and other stuff he was wanting 2300 for all that was a good deal in it's self so i went to meet him at his storage cause he was moving up north and had it in storage i had to travel a good ways out of town to meet him but he had me waiting for awhile so when he got there he was way behind so i told him i would help him pack his stuff up if he would give me a better deal so i did i did most of the work i might ad at the end he just gave me all the stuff for free well i help him move but no money so thats why i have all this stuff and was trying to put it to good use all the stuff for the lites are from diamond anyone know of that type of lite?? they seem good to me i like um

[good ol daze]

1) Don't use "Miracle Grow" anything! :

Another MG hater...that is misleading. Some say avoid MG potting soil for seedlings...too many nutrients to burn young-ins...but water-soluble Miracle Grow works wonders for plants older than 3 weeks. I've seen it work time and again.

[blink_inc]

Damn, I'm using the MG potting soil..no other additives though and watering with distilled water. We'll see what happens..

[good ol daze]

Yes, keep us posted on MG potting soil. There are always other variables to mess up young plants...and I get the feeling no one here is posting results from a botany lab.

[SeaOGreenies]

I used MG from seeds and it was bad news all the way. Get some foxfarm, I have noticed faster sprouting and veg with foxfarm. Fuck MG!

[50ul }{4ck3r]

i have used mg moisture control soil every grow....they grow good....i had used fox farm....its good soil but my choice is mg....with fox farm nutes