whole seeds vs. germination in top strains

Hey everybody, long time smoker first time poster :)

First let me say the information i have gathered in this website in such a short amount of time has been invaluable, the links and resources have been such an incredible help.

Anyway, does anybody still plant full whole seeds anymore? It seems like every growguide I read there is a different method for germination, yet I still hear people planting full seeds with mostly good results. Is this a good idea? Especially for high end strains? I have tons of bagweed seeds (chronic no less) I want to try out these and see how prolific my first grow can be, but I still cant find information about the beginning stages of the seeds and sprouts in detail.

Ill be using rockwool as the medium. When your seed is planted and sprouting wether its by using a whole seed method or popped germination, what is the watering and feeding regimen for the little sprouts if any? Will rockwool retain enough moisture from the initial soak that it will provide the sprout enough nutrients to thrive until transplanted to my ebb and flow system?

Say when the seed is not sprouting, and its just hanging out in the rockwool, is any kind of food or water added to the rockwool? At any point?

Should I just use Olivia's Cloning Solution? Does that work as a food/nutrient for seeds and sprouts too, not just clone trimmings?
Sorry if i went into too much detail, its a very stimulating high :D

I don't like to plant into rockwool. Unless you are going hydro, you should not even consider it for a couple reasons... hard to keep moisture correct, and can eventually rot around the stem, killing the plant, if you then transpl;ant into soil.
I pop my seeds in a small vial with a few drops of tap water, then when the root appears, simply plant it into a nursery 6-pack with nice fine potting soil, water in, cover, and place in a warm place until the cotyledons start appearing. At that point, the cover is removed and the tray of seedlings is placed under intense flourescent light.

I'd say especially with high end strains, don't mess with the seeds... plant them whole!! Plant them in dirt unless you are doing hydro and know what you are doing! The risk of messing up the seed is not woth it IMO.

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

I'd say especially with high end strains, don't mess with the seeds... plant them whole!! Plant them in dirt unless you are doing hydro and know what you are doing! The risk of messing up the seed is not woth it IMO.

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Thank you for your kind response! Ill just go into my full system in detail ( I'm maybe going to start a growlog session here soon, for me- a first time grower that THINKS he know quite a bit about it, and see a fruitful yield, key word here is thinks..


I'm going to first initially set up a 8 plant ebb and flow system I found from a link here on the forums, obviously with grow rocks and the rest. This company also makes a high end cloning and seedling system, that uses rockwool supposedly in good conjuction with hydroponics. I have already ordered the hydroponic system along with it so theres no turning back!

I have not heard of any of these problems concerning rockwool initially stinkyattic, and btw I have read your thread and know why thats your alias :) However, are these issues with the rockwool prominent? How often do you see these abnormalities as a whole by using rockwool? I thought its supposed to be a "world popular" growing medium right, perfect for hydro? right? :( :( say its so!

Yeah everyone just loooooves rockwool.
Remember to precondition it with a nice soak in one of the products made specifically for that purpose. The soak acts to buffer the pH and prepare the medium to recieve plants or seeds.
I got away from rockwool after a couple little disasters... one plant I got as a clone that was then potted in dirt; I was keeping her as a mother and her stem rotted from the moisture problems. DAMN it was a clone from a dude who got a visit from the Man too.. irreplaceable.
Ebb and flow is nice and simple and lends itseld to DIY... if/when you decide to expand, you can easily copy what you've got using your own parts!
My fertilizer guy has been messing around with a table that instead of the usual bed of pebbles, has each plant just contained in its own basket, and each basket contained in an oversized black pot of pebbles with the pot slit to allow easier water flow in and out... makes sanitation much easier... fewer bug probs... you can grow multiple varieties at once since you can move plants around. I like it. He does ONLY herbs and vegetables but has at least 209 diff species in the same table, no probs.

Have you looked into rapid-rooter plugs to start seeds? They are soilless tree bark and already prepped. I'm in love wiht those things for rooting cuttings.

anyway I'm not a hydro guru...not even CLOSE... I used to work at an industrial sized hydro facility, NFT styleee, and saw its shortcomings and its benefits. Mostly problems as it was designed over-complicatedly -that's totally not a word,lol.

I'm worried tho that the rapid rooter or lets say organo starter plugs once they break down some of the particles from the irrigation, ive heard nasty problems inside hydro systems from just the smallest bits of soil particles, hell any particles.

Now I know this is not your forte lol but when they mean 100% biodegradable, can i trust that to be effective enough to pass through high velocity water pumps especially in the beginning stages of transplant?

Sticky, when you mentioned the high end seeds ( I just ordered some Hashberry and a femaleseeds 4 pack of easy bud - guess why lol - ) Would that be the process you used to plant them? Germinate using your method by the way where can i get some of those glass vials they are kick ass, and then plant the seed?

And could i get your guys opinion, once you find a mother plant would you want to keep for the rest of your life, would you seperate it away from your say half sized or quater sized clones of her? For some reason I think I need a standalone waterfarm just for a mother for one of those high end seeds or a godsend seed I might or might not have in my collection of bagseeds..they are quite impressive so im just thinking..

Is that overkill?

I notice that last post didnt make too much sense. Sorry lol

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Originally Posted by Hightimes817

I'm worried.....organo starter plugs once they break down .....nasty problems inside hydro systems from just the smallest bits of soil particles,?

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Flood and drain is the most forgiving for clogs... throw the foot of a pantyhose over your tray drain and change the filter every so often... those plugs won't break down in one crop cycle.

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Originally Posted by Hightimes817

....100% biodegradable, ....pass through high velocity water pumps especially ?

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??? I dunno... your pumps should come with a filter sock anyway, plus put the stocking on the drain outflow?

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Originally Posted by Hightimes817

Would that be the process you used to plant them? Germinate using your method by the way where can i get some of those glass vials ....and then plant the seed? ?

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Yeah that's how I do it. The vials come from the garbage at work. You can use the glass tubes that nice cigars come in too. Those work EXCELLENT.

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Originally Posted by Hightimes817

....once you find a mother plant ....would you seperate it away from your say half sized or quater sized clones of her?....standalone waterfarm just for a mother for one of those high end seeds ?

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Standalone waterfarm okay... dirt even better... a dirt mother is harder to kill if you have a power failure or whatnot. 5 gallon bucket=perfect for a big mom.

I know! and having a dirt mother would be way more affordable


Would transplanting the mom right before flowering (i assume this would be the best stage to do it at, since she would be coming from a growrocks system using those organo plugs you talked about, ...wheres the site you get yours from?)

And is Advanced Nutrients Sensi Grow formula as good as they say it is? Ive never seen anybody really use it in a growlog.. but I was looking at the 400G powder 1 part grow + 400G of the bloom 1 part... would this suffice that system or would I need further supplaments like their big bud powder or even the costly tarantula or phirana powders?

Shit who is using that stuff... crap I know this... some nOOb on the boards who has the best noobie op I've ever seen. You might find it by looking around; I made a comment like, just keep doing what youre doing.. I'll post the link if I remember!! But from his results, I'd say it's the cats ass.

Don't transplant hydro to dirt. Too much shock. Survival chances very low. You find a plant you like, clone her into a rapid rooter and use the CLONE as a future mother.

Supplements...you have a lot of choices there... I'm of the KISS school... superthrive, molasses, kelp tea, humic acid, etc... the classics. You want to keep it to a single supplement, I'd say superthrive in veg and TopMax in flower. But read the boards, see what ev eryone swears by.

http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=97659

Killer nOOb grow!

Makes me almost want to go hydro... oh wait... naaawwwwwww! :D