Starting seeds for Aero.

[JohnGault]

Hi Folks:

Been growing for about 6 years now, and have always started my seeds in 1 inch rock wool cubes. Works fine for DWC, but I've switched to an Aero setup for veg and NFT for flower.

The problem with the RW cubes is that in the Aero system they stay soaked all the time leading to stem rot.

Anyone have a simple way to start seeds for use in an Aero system?

Thx.

JG

 

[zenoonez]

Hi Folks:

Been growing for about 6 years now, and have always started my seeds in 1 inch rock wool cubes. Works fine for DWC, but I've switched to an Aero setup for veg and NFT for flower.

The problem with the RW cubes is that in the Aero system they stay soaked all the time leading to stem rot.

Anyone have a simple way to start seeds for use in an Aero system?

Thx.

JG

Lol at the name, was John Galt taken? I would suggest just using tiny pieces of rockwool. Just take the cubes and cut them into smaller ones then put them in a flood tray to wick up water. That would be my advice.

 

[fatigues]

If you don't have a source of clones, you can use Rapid Rooter plugs in a 2" net pot in the cloner. Add a neoprene puck around the stem and transfer to Aeroponic unit once it's a seedling.

Rapid Rooter is not peat moss and does not break down so much that it will clog your sprayers.

If your Rapid Rooter plug is thoroughly soaked and split, you can attempt to split it open and extricate your seedling from the plug to just run it bare in a neoprene collar like any clone; however, there are apparently issues with letting it go too long before trying this. Too long - too many roots to get out of the plug and it can be very difficult to do. Never tried it - but there are extensive threads on this on RIU (Stinkbud's Aeroponic thread) and on Stinkbud's own forums. Cruzer had problems get his seedling out of a rapid rooter plug after waiting too long.

Another, and probably a better option, is to use the new SuretoGrow inserts. You germinate in a STG cube and then place the cube in the insert in a net pot once rooted. There is a video on STG's site showing their use in this manner in an Aeroflow rig, from seed.

STG inserts are made of plastic and will not break down at all. 100% guaranteed clog free medium for seeds in your aeroponic rig. I have not tried them yet in an Aero rig but plan to. Flat5th is trying them now and will transfer soon to his Aero rig. You can read about his experience here.

The link to the STG site is noted above. This seems like your best bet, to me. That said - Rapid Rooter is tried and proven in Aero/NFT - and I have not yet seen an Aero user verify them other than Flat5th - who should be in a position to do that soon.

 

[JohnGault]

Lol at the name, was John Galt taken? I would suggest just using tiny pieces of rockwool. Just take the cubes and cut them into smaller ones then put them in a flood tray to wick up water. That would be my advice.

I'm already working on a variation of that with pool noodles, and RW cloth.

The name does come from Rand, but actually was my alias as a collection agent many, many moons ago. When they asked me what name I wanted to use I told them, and they spelled it wrong.

JG

 

[JohnGault]

If you don't have a source of clones, you can use Rapid Rooter plugs in a 2" net pot in the cloner. Add a neoprene puck around the stem and transfer to Aeroponic unit once it's a seedling.

Rapid Rooter is not peat moss and does not break down so much that it will clog your sprayers.

If your Rapid Rooter plug is thoroughly soaked and split, you can attempt to split it open and extricate your seedling from the plug to just run it bare in a neoprene collar like any clone; however, there are apparently issues with letting it go too long before trying this. Too long - too many roots to get out of the plug and it can be very difficult to do. Never tried it - but there are extensive threads on this on RIU (Stinkbud's Aeroponic thread) and on Stinkbud's own forums. Cruzer had problems get his seedling out of a rapid rooter plug after waiting too long.

Another, and probably a better option, is to use the new SuretoGrow inserts. You germinate in a STG cube and then place the cube in the insert in a net pot once rooted. There is a video on STG's site showing their use in this manner in an Aeroflow rig, from seed.

STG inserts are made of plastic and will not break down at all. 100% guaranteed clog free medium for seeds in your aeroponic rig. I have not tried them yet in an Aero rig but plan to. Flat5th is trying them now and will transfer soon to his Aero rig. You can read about his experience here.

The link to the STG site is noted above. This seems like your best bet, to me. That said - Rapid Rooter is tried and proven in Aero/NFT - and I have not yet seen an Aero user verify them other than Flat5th - who should be in a position to do that soon.

Thank you very much. Nice site, nice folks.

JG

 

[ubet28]

I use my cloner for veg with neoprene disk and the put in the i be leave they are 3 inch neoprene for the aero.

 

[GreenIsGood]

I am setting up my first aero following pirates guide. I planned to just start my seeds in perlite for a week or so and then wash them off and transfer them. As I said I haven never grown this way before so I am not positive it will work, well I know i can start seeds in perlite just not so positive about the transferring part but I imagine it will work. Just another method you might think about. GIG

 

[zenoonez]

I am setting up my first aero following pirates guide. I planned to just start my seeds in perlite for a week or so and then wash them off and transfer them. As I said I haven never grown this way before so I am not positive it will work, well I know i can start seeds in perlite just not so positive about the transferring part but I imagine it will work. Just another method you might think about. GIG

Should work fine. Just be careful, perlite grows algae like a champ.

 

[Esskie]

Hi there,

JohnGault - If I may add my tuppence worth to your thread re popping seeds in an aero sys

my aerocloner is usually my main method of starting seeds although I do use a glass of water or/and the paper towel method too on occasion

You mentioned stem-rot when using rockwool cubes in your aero, this would indicate the RH% is too high in there

would it be possible for you to remove the lid once they show their heads?, this will help with the humidity?

since rockwool tends to hold water for a long time, I pre-soak them (often as the seeds are soaking) before placing them into the aerocloner with no pump until there are roots showing unless the cubes are looking like they are too dry but that shouldn't be a problem

fatigues - those STG's you linked to seem pretty good, I haven't used em myself but am up for trying new methods and materials, the videos on the site certainly look good

regards, esskie

 

[JohnGault]

The problem does not occur during seed popping, but after when I put the RW cubes into 3" netpots filled with hydroton, and set them into the aero system.

With DWC as the roots get longer I can lower the water level, leaving the RW cubes dry as a bone. With the aero the spray keeps the cubes soaked.

Still looking for a solution.

JG

 

[CANNACO-OP]

had somewhat the same problem, the rockwool was always moist, but i never got any root rot, i peeled back most of the rockwool and packed the hydrotron around it, but still was pretty wet.... any spray really gets obsorbed by the rw cubes. with the aero, unless the spray/mist is positioned not to hit the net cup with the rw cubes in it, they will get wet. the only real solution i had was i moved my misters down slightly in the tubes and less spray hit the net cups and i tried to focus the spray onto the root zone.

for seeds, i have seen the rapid rooters used and then just cut open, in 1/2 and pull out your sprout and then insert into your aero unit, a neuprene collar holding or hydrotron holding it place....

hope that helps......your pics in the album look good....i curious on then if you sex them in the aero and then are going to pull them out into the NFT system... how long are they going to be in veg in the aero unit.....any problems then with root growth together? when you pull them out....

peace..canna.

 

[JohnGault]

I move them from the Aero to the NFT before sexing them, but I'm just finishing a complete refurbishment of my whole grow operation and I'm thinking of switching from two 15 site NFT systems to three 9 site aero tables in the flower room, and changing the veg aero system to 9 sites from 16. That way I can just move the tubes from veg to flower without having to cut the rootmat when moving from room to room.

The whole system is obviously set up to run clones so switching will also give me the room to run a few DWC buckets to sex new strains.


JG

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I have experience with exactly the method you were looking for. Got a peat-coco puck or some seedling soil handy?

Take some hydroton and fill a 7oz cup a little more than halfway up. Add a 1" layer of your soil/coco-peat you're using and gently pack it. Don't worry if some of the dirt drops down into the hydroton, it's not a problem.

Fill the cup with RO water to the bottom of the soil and let it set until the soil is completely damp. Dump the water out carefully, the soil should stay in place with 2 fingers on it as you pour. Wrap the cup with plastic wrap and set it someplace that stays 75F all the time; 6" from a 27w cfl doesn't hurt if the temp is correct.

Scarify your seed and soak it for 12hrs in RO water with a dash of H2O2.

Put a 1/4" layer of RO water in the bottom of the cup with hydroton and soil.

Pop the seed a 1/4" into the soil of the cup, cover and gently tamp with your finger. Re-wrap the cup and put it back under the light at 75F. You should get a seedling within 12-48hrs. Strains that take longer will still root faster than normal this way.

Once the seedling has completely shed the seed hull, peel the plastic wrap off of half the cup and set it back under the light. Within 12hrs or so you should be able to remove the rest of the plastic without the seedling wilting at all.


2-3 hours after you've removed the plastic wrap completely and the seedling hasn't wilted, move it under intense CFL lighting. On my cheapo GH light meter, the needle is nearly off the scale on the lower 50x setting in my veg chamber where the seedling goes.

Check the water level in the bottom of the cup and when it's gone, add a splash of hydro veg nutes and two splashes of RO water. You should have about a 1/4" of nutes in the bottom of the cup again. The next time you have to water it, use half RO and half mixed Vegging nutes. The third time you want to use full strength nutes.

For me, this process takes around 2 weeks. At this point the seedling should be ready to transfer into your vegging setup at full strength. If using HID lighting, please be careful when making the switch from CFL to HID lighting as it takes a few hours for the plants to adjust.

Gently hold the seedling as you dump the soil and hydroton out of the cup. Gently remove the largest clumps of dirt and the clinging hydroton. Rinse the remaining dirt off of the seedling and transplant directly into your aero setup, the roots should already be sufficient for your needs. Best of all, you can throw them right in with other plants since they're already able to process both full light and full nutes.

This works with high intensity lighting and I've yet to see so much as a tiny bit of crisped leaf tip. I love my ladies and they love me for this. Be careful as you work with them and you'll find what you can and cannot do.

Stay Safe!

 

[HossCartwright]

You can grow your seedlings in your aeroponic cloner just like a cuttting. Use the paper towel method to sprout your seeds, and once they have 1.5" tails, just insert them into the neoprene pucks like you would a cutting with the tail exposed to the spray jets and your seedlings will grow aeroponically just like your clones.

 

[CANNACO-OP]

JG - so you are or were cutting the root mass when moving from veg to flower? did you have any ill effects from that? also, how did you prep numbers so that all spots in flower where full? or just cap off unused ones?

and now if i here you, just going to make units "interchangeable" and just transfer the whole tube or chamber from veg room to flower.....i like that idea, that could help with a perputual idea with the aero systems also....

what about a net pot that is just open on the bottom allowing the roots to come down through, but closed on sides so the spray from the aero doesn't even hit the rw cubes.

or...maybe try longer off periods or intervals between sprays or shorter sparys..... so many variables.......i know that in flower, maybe like 30 days, i had good root mass, that i left the sprayers off for like 3 hours while i changed rez and stuff,,,,no wilting @ all....in fact during harvest....it was off for days and left a little one it there and enough humidity and moisture in that root mass that it literally took days for wiliting to occur...... hope that helps....take care....canna

 

[dubdi3mond]

i found this http://gringoloco.webs.com/seedstarter.pdf to be the best way to start seeds in aero, hopefully it will help someone else out with an easier way as well.

 

[PetFlora]

RE: Starting Seeds for Aero

RE: Starting Seeds for Aero

In the past (soil) I used 1" rw cubes with no problems.

I am now an aero convert. In the beginning, I had problems with soaked rw rotting my seedlings in a cloner that only used a bubbler. Thinking back, maybe the water level was too close to the bottom of the 1" nets, but I think it is simply a matter of rw's ability to hold water throughout.

Next batch I cut the rw cubes in half- that helped, but have since investigated S2G products, which I will use for my next grow

 

[HossCartwright]

i found this http://gringoloco.webs.com/seedstarter.pdf to be the best way to start seeds in aero, hopefully it will help someone else out with an easier way as well.

Yeah, that is basically the same way I do it. Net pots are optional though, you can just put the sprouts into the neoprene pucks directly and the roots will grow massive.

 

[Esskie]

A picture speaks a thousand words.....

so this'll be 2000

the neoprene collars are left on until the seed germinates and then removed (I do try and keep the tap root covered)

 

[JohnGault]

We must still be separated by a common language then cuz I don't quite understand your pics.

Whats the white stuff, and the neoprene collars are left on what? I see seedlings in the white stuff, but not the collars. Are you saying you start the seeds in the collars then move them to the white stuff?

JG