help germinating seeds

[the image reaper]

if you want really easy 100% germinating, try pre-soaking seeds for about an hour in plain tapwater ... put the seed growing-tip down, into a dampened Rapid-Rooter plug ... tear off a tiny bit of the plug, to 'gently' stuff into the hole above the seed ... put ONE drop of Superthrive per gallon of tapwater (chlorine is your friend here, it will help prevent fungus, etc) ... put the RapidRooter plugs into a simple bubble-cloner box, with only faint light, and come back in a couple days, the seedling will be growing already ... I copied Opie Yutts' design for a bubble-cloner, and happily discovered it is AMAZING for starting seeds ... (I had too much water in one of those photos, you don't want the plugs kept that wet, only damp) ... :thumbsup:

[chrisdl805]

if you want really easy 100% germinating, try pre-soaking seeds for about an hour in plain tapwater ... put the seed growing-tip down, into a dampened Rapid-Rooter plug ... tear off a tiny bit of the plug, to 'gently' stuff into the hole above the seed ... put ONE drop of Superthrive per gallon of tapwater (chlorine is your friend here, it will help prevent fungus, etc) ... put the RapidRooter plugs into a simple bubble-cloner box, with only faint light, and come back in a couple days, the seedling will be growing already ... I copied Opie Yutts' design for a bubble-cloner, and happily discovered it is AMAZING for starting seeds ... (I had too much water in one of those photos, you don't want the plugs kept that wet, only damp) ... :thumbsup:

How did you make your clone/seed bubbler? Where did you get the reservoir and lid with dome? I have some air stones and air pumps from my old hydro set-up...I have some seeds i wanna germinate and would love to try your set-up...

thanks

[the image reaper]

(Opie Yutts gets the credit for this project):thumbsup: ... buy two cheap, plastic storage bins at WalMart, etc.. - using hole-saw, cut holes in one lid, small enough to support Rapid-Rooter plugs ... paint the outside of one black, with Krylon Fusion spray paint (made to stick to plastic) ...if light illuminates your reservoir, algae will start growing ... the remaining clear 'bottom' will be flipped upside-down, and used as the humidity dome ... install a small aquarium heater, this is important ... install an airstone (I like those flexible-tubing 'bubble-curtain' types) ... run the heater 24/7, I give the airstone a 'break' every now and then ... put ONE DROP of Superthrive per gallon of water, then throw away the rest of the bottle ... (I use tapwater, I like the chlorine for algae/fungus protection, even if only lasts for the first few hours) ... keep water level 3"-4" below the bottoms of the plugs, you don't want them to dry out, but you don't want them kept wet, either ... leave lights OFF first 2 days, then illuminate the clones with soft, indirect lights ... about day 8, you should see rooting thru the plugs, and can then transplant ... easy, no touch ... (I have had poor results when using normal lighting on the clones, darkness and very dim light has given me almost 100% results) ... :smokin:

[chrisdl805]

cool, thanks for the info. will the aquarium heater have a thermostat or you just turn it on? Does this supplement say a heating pad when used with cloning trays? I too have had very little success with cloning so I think this will make it a lot easier. For seeds, would you just soak them in some water and then plant them in a rapid rooter and fill with the same mixture of water and superthrive?