When to start feeding nutes to seedlings?

[altaholic]

So I have some seeds that I germinated in rockwool (soaked in ph 5.6 h20 with some aqua shield added) and they have all sprouted and looking good but now Im wondering when to start feeding them nutes? they all just have that single little leaf node. They are going straight into a aeroponics system so just leaving them in the rockwool until they are totally established? thanks for any input

altaholic Reviewed by altaholic on 10-09-2009. When to start feeding nutes to seedlings? So I have some seeds that I germinated in rockwool (soaked in ph 5.6 h20 with some aqua shield added) and they have all sprouted and looking good but now Im wondering when to start feeding them nutes? they all just have that single little leaf node. They are going straight into a aeroponics system so just leaving them in the rockwool until they are totally established? thanks for any input Rating: 5

[FreeDaHerb]

The rockwool is totally inert, so there are not really any nutrients and the seedling only has enough in the embryo to support germination and a set of cotelydon leaves...so once they will have their first set of true leaves you should be giving them a very mild complete balanced nutrient containing n/p/k and all trace elements. I recommend 1/4 strength General Hydroponics Flora series in a 1/1/1 ratio. I would also add some Technaflora Root 66 or Advanced Nutrients Jump Start at half strength to really get them well established prior to going in the system and for the first week in the system. :thumbsup:

[Weedologist]

Lets say one were using Ocean Forrest, which has some nutes in it and perlite 4:1 ratio, when would you start nuting then?

[FreeDaHerb]

Lets say one were using Ocean Forrest, which has some nutes in it and perlite 4:1 ratio, when would you start nuting then?

Pretty hot mix that FF soil, I would be careful germinating seedlings in it actually as it's very easy to burn them if they are the sensitive type. Usually in soil with nutes (if it was me) I would not give them anything until they had at least 3-5 true sets of fan leaves and were growing vigorously and out of the seedling stage because it's really easy to give them too much when they are very small and young, and then the root tips burn and plants become stunted and leaves curl downwards and get crispy, burnt on edges, yucky.

As far as when to supplement, you can tell when they switch because the very bottom stem under the cotelydon leaves (water leaves) starts expanding and "peeling" a clear fiber like skin off or splitting a little so you can see the 2 layers and true nodes start developing with a real stem above the water leaves and stretching out a bit in between the new sets of leaves. Plus the plant just starts getting bigger really fast and using more water, of course if they need anything you can easily tell because the lower leaves will normally start showing signs of an early nitrogen deficiency and turn a pale yellow and/or have reddish/purple stems, or a Mg deficiency such as yellowish new growth, etc. (most common issues I think)

If I was going to germinate seeds in something it would be a mix of fine coir 50% & some perlite 25% & fine vermiculite 25% in platic solo cups (poke holes in bottom) with a very dilute balanced nutrient like GH flora series at 1/1/1 ratio at like 1/8 strength from the very start with a few drops of superthrive per gallon in RO water and adjusted to a PH of like low 6ish as there are not really nutes in that mix unlike FF soil that has everything you need basically nutrient wise. Then from there into your 1 or 3 gallon pots, normal fertilizer program, etc. Hope this helps! :rastasmoke:

[Weedologist]

WOW, yes that helps loads. I've noticed(also the guy at the store told me) FF is a hot mix for young plants, but the afghanXmazaar is doing ok. I'll try to get some pics up soon.