How do you guys get big seedlings in solo cups?

'Boogieman' · May 4, 2020

I always have seedlings stall after the first set of true leaves in solo cups. Once I transplant into a bigger pot they take off but I always see pictures here of people achieving 3 sets of leaves or more in solo cups and I'm just wondering how? Is my seedling mix to light allowing the plant to get root bound faster? If I leave them in the solo cup they just stall until transplanting. Any tips on achieving bigger plants in solo cups?

nickman · May 4, 2020

I seem to have some problems as well in solo cups...

Mine usually last about a month or so and then they start to yellow out...!!!... I notice if I use the light warrior soil mix from fox farm they stall very quickly so I switched to using fox farm ocean forest mixed with their happy frog at a 50/50 ratio but they still end up stalling out at about a month or so...!!!...

I then usually transplant them into a one gallon grow bag...!!!...

Shit, I see some people growing plants that are relatively big in their solo cups...!!!... they must be feeding the plants when they water... I only use water at all times... I amend the soil once they get into the one gallon grow bags...

big315smooth · May 4, 2020

12-15 inches then they slow for me. one year did put outside in solos to harden off they shot up to 25-30 inches super root bound

El Timbo · May 4, 2020

Big seedlings in small pots? Have a look at the first post of this thread https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=316836

BOMBAYCAT · May 4, 2020

You need to know your seed starting soil less mix. Too strong and it will burn, but too weak they will yellow out from not enough N, and have some Cal Mag defs. At the moment I am feeding some fish emulsion to keep them green for a couple weeks before I transplant them outside. I tried a new brand of soil less that is a bit weaker in ferts then I planned.

'Boogieman' · May 4, 2020

I use wormcastings, sphagnum peat moss, and perlite.

Dropped Cat · May 5, 2020

Here's some after 15 days, 3oz cups.

Start feeding sooner than later.

Cannavore · May 5, 2020

usually its the coco growers i see with trees in solo cups

growingcrazy · May 5, 2020

'Boogieman' said:
I use wormcastings, sphagnum peat moss, and perlite.

If that is all your using, you can start with a hotter soil, especially if your using organic inputs.

Take 1000 grams of this mix and add whatever balanced veg fert you would like.

An example of 100 ppm N with something like a 5-3-3 is 2 grams/1000 gr soil.

Mix up a couple small test batches at varying levels of N and see what works best for you.

NEW ENGLAND · May 5, 2020

Throw coco in the solos and feed daily to twice daily and you wouldny believe what you can do,after a month or so you'll have to set the solo in a home depot bucket because it's so top heavy

troutman · May 5, 2020

If you're going to use solo cups make sure you fill them up with grow medium. :tiphat:

bsgospel · May 5, 2020

I really push watering schedules and I barely water. You ride a really fine line between wilting and encouraging roots to seek and seek and seek. My veg's regularly have some form of droopiness at least once. One part laziness and one part torturer...But hey, nothing but roots. Then, when you DO have those roots, shit- water at will. Especially in coco. I'm not going to say its impossible to overwater but you would really have to work at if you have good roots.

imakandi · May 5, 2020

NEW ENGLAND said:
Throw coco in the solos and feed daily to twice daily and you wouldny believe what you can do,after a month or so you'll have to set the solo in a home depot bucket because it's so top heavy

exactly what he say

i only get this
because lazy lazy
can't be bother with transplant

in soil is another story
and much more difficult
it is all about
available air

best luck

xavier7995 · May 5, 2020

Cannavore said:
usually its the coco growers i see with trees in solo cups

I was going to suggest this, I can get them pretty big in solos using coco with salts.

Cannavore · May 5, 2020

xavier7995 said:
I was going to suggest this, I can get them pretty big in solos using coco with salts.

yep i usually mix coco into my organic peat mix but can't acheive anything like pure coco in solos

F2F · May 7, 2020

bsgospel said:
I really push watering schedules and I barely water. You ride a really fine line between wilting and encouraging roots to seek and seek and seek. My veg's regularly have some form of droopiness at least once. One part laziness and one part torturer...But hey, nothing but roots. Then, when you DO have those roots, shit- water at will. Especially in coco. I'm not going to say its impossible to overwater but you would really have to work at if you have good roots.

Great post here BSG,

This thread has me thinking differently now, especially ^^this perspective. Next time around I think I’ll apply this concept and start my seeds in soilless. This should help drive maximum wet-dry cycles for frequent air exchange to promote root development, and use liquid nutes to push feed rates.

Is this maybe Coco + perlite in micro/small airpots?

Thanks guys! Good thread indeed.

Peace,
F2F

Pinball Wizard · May 7, 2020

xavier7995 · May 7, 2020

Cannavore said:
yep i usually mix coco into my organic peat mix but can't acheive anything like pure coco in solos

I tend to keep them the cups until I can't keep up with watering them anymore, just a big root ball, and then drop into slightly larger containers with a bit more coco to flower. I have flowered in like a 20oz cup, it was fine...but yeah the plants fall over all the damn time due to being so top heavy. If I automated more stuff I could see using cups the whole way through if I could run say 10-20 small waterings and throw up a net.

MindEater · May 7, 2020

You can get 3 sets of leaves with zero nutes so "nutes too light" isn't the issue. I had the same problem in fertile soil, so switched to zero amendments in solos, feed weak nutes at 1.5 weeks until they are solid enough to transplant to 1 gallons of amended soil.

The question remains, what causes a plant to stall out at 1 week, when it should be good for 2-3 weeks off seed/cote power?

F2F · May 21, 2020

In case it helps anyone else out, or triggers advice to me from others...

With my setup (T5’s, tiny airpots, 75C root zone) straight coco doesn’t dry fast enough. Going to try cutting with 50% perlite to encourage more wet-dry cycles.

Cheers,
F2F

How do you guys get big seedlings in solo cups?

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