Which way is up?

[herbaltivo]

OK, I've done a TON of reading, more than I probably should...and I have a question that I haven't found a definitive answer to.

Once you've germinated the seeds and had them sprout, what is that white appendage sticking out of the seed, is it the root or is it the plant? Which end should be planted up? Does it even matter?

I've got 8 that germinated and they are in 2 gal containers already since I don't want to transplant. I know that I overwatered the hell out of the pots right after I planted the little sprouts, so they moved from 1/4 inch below the soil to way more than 1/2 inch (I am impatient when I can't see anything so I dug around for them to make sure they were still viable and they are all growing. I repositioned them so they were right below the surface of the soil again.

I already would do things differently, but this is a first time, learning experience.

I have 1 175w MH and another that needs a new ballast, so sometime in the next week or two I'll have a total of 350w MH. I built a medium sized closet in the garage and plan on a 24/0 veg cycle, mostly because it's cold where I live and I don't have good temperature control for the night-time cycle. I'll deal with that when I'm 12/12.

I'm growing in some soil with a reported ph of 5.5-6.5 on the container, with some very low nutes in the soil (I think).

0.14% N
0.09% Phos
0.02% Potash
0.25% Fe

I suppose that is too much info for the original question, but I'm happy to get suggestions.

Thanks!

Herbaltivo

herbaltivo Reviewed by herbaltivo on 01-01-2007. Which way is up? OK, I've done a TON of reading, more than I probably should...and I have a question that I haven't found a definitive answer to. Once you've germinated the seeds and had them sprout, what is that white appendage sticking out of the seed, is it the root or is it the plant? Which end should be planted up? Does it even matter? I've got 8 that germinated and they are in 2 gal containers already since I don't want to transplant. I know that I overwatered the hell out of the pots right after I Rating: 5

[Villui]

tap root

[herbaltivo]

Thx dude!

[mc-blaze21]

the tap root should be faceing down but i guess u have all ready figured that one out now lol. any way the mh on its own should be enough for now but the more the merrier lol. is there no way u can move your grow inside to control the temps better coz wen u go 12/12 ur gonna run into problems. have you got any pic's then i can make some propper suggestions? hope its all going ok for you peace!!

[Abattoir Dream]

the taproot will go downwards whether you plant it upside down or not, and once its got a good place, it will push to seed upwards and off... good luck

[mc-blaze21]

i didnt know that ab's i thought the tap root had to be faceing down as it only has enough energy to push the seed up but i guess u learn summing new every day init nice one man!!

[herbaltivo]

I have 8 of 8 poking through the surface in one way or another. I'm sure that if I'd waited a few more days I'd have had the same result, but I have an impatient streak.

I do have some pics and will post some now. The first two will be of two of the sprouts just poking through the surface. The next one will be a close-up of the leaf development now, and the last two are the room, as much of it as I can get with this camera.

I have hot and cold water in the room, not tapped, but you'll see the copper running through there. Could this be used at some point or is the chlorine just too much. I'm using RO water from the refill can for the aquarium now.

Enjoy!

[herbaltivo]

I screwed up the attachments part. Better go blow up another bag...

[mc-blaze21]

looking gd man what sort of light's are u useing?and its probably me just being pickie and i do have o,c,d but i would sweep up in there any germ's or bacteria will cause u problem's down the line it's really important to keep every thing sterile in ur grow room like i say just probably me being pickie lol didnt mean no offence. but apart from that its all looking really gd might wanna get the temp's up a notch as well 69 i think is a bit too low if u can get the temp to about 78-80 ur all gd laters man take care and keep us up-dated peace"!!

[herbaltivo]

I need to sweep up in there, I was surprised by the speed of germination, so I was a day or two behind in finishing the room. That weird looking light is a 175w MH that I used to use with a marine reef aquarium. I got tired of all the algae and other issues (read:work) that went with the reef so I switched to just marine fish, so I have these 2 175w MH pendant lights and tons of bulbs so I'm just going to use them for now. One of the ballasts is bad, but I'm going to try to order a replacement today, so I should be able to veg under 350w.

My plan is to pick up a 400w hps for flowering cheap on eBay. If I got that light early would it screw things up to use it 24-7 too?

I can easily increase the temp in the room, but I read somewhere that a lower temp the first few days encourages female development. I'll probably crank it up tomorrow or the next day.

BTW, 7 of the 8 little sprouts are about 1" to 1&1/2" high right now, and those pics were taken yesterday. I'll take more in an hour or so.

Enjoy!