How do I start seeds in coco?

scurred · Feb 7, 2010

Im going to sound like a beginner, and I am to hydro/coco, but have a couple years of soil experience.

In soil I would get some foxfarm soil, flush it a bit to get rid of some of the nutrients (since it comes kind of hot for seedlings) and then make sure it is moist and plant a seed about 1/2" deep and wait a few days and that worked perfectly everytime.

Now when it comes to starting a seed in CoCo for handwatering I am lost.

I was thinking about using RapidRooters for clones once I get to that point, can these be used to start seeds too?

Can someone walk me through the process of starting seeds so I can put them directly into pure CoCo! THANKS!

Also, I plan to use Canna Coco A/B with PK13/14 and maybe some rhizotonic and cannazym. I will be using tap water which I run through a brita and let sit out overnight, is that ok to use tap water? I will get a TDS meter, how do I know how much to feed? In soil I never measured my TDS, I just fed em a little here and there.

Zygomatic Major · Feb 7, 2010

Firstly flushing fresh soil doesn't get rid of any nutrients, flushing soil only works like that when you've been feeding with chemical ferts and there's a build up of salts. If you want to make soil less hot mix it with perlite or some other inert medium.

Just start seeds straight in wet coco, no need to feed the first few days just water then start with low nutes after a week gradually raising the amount as the plant gets bigger. I water every other day when the roots are developing but every day after that.

The End Is Near · Feb 7, 2010

I'm new to coco, and I've been getting great results watering full strength nutes every watering, which is whenever the coco loses its dampness. Plants look perfect, and the growth rate reminds me of when I was brave enough to do DWC. I use GH Flora @ 6ml micro/9ml bloom per gallon simply because there's lots of guides and info on this seemingly standardized formula. Watering to runoff or not doesn't seem to matter, as people do both with success, but flushing may be necessary if salt buildup occurs.

You want to use tap water over rainwater/distilled because tap has trace elements like calcium and magnesium, which should help guard agaisnt deficiencies. Tap water is fine straight out the tap unfiltered, and though I use it that way, letting it sit out does get rid of chlorine. I don't know if filtering does anything. I checked the PPM before and after and it was unchanged.

And be careful of the PK 13/14. I was considering it in the past but after doing some research people say that while it does increase yield it gives a harsh taste that is hard to flush.

The End Is Near · Feb 7, 2010

I'd like to add, if I could do it again I would try full strength, or at least 75% strength nutes on small plants/week old seedlings. They did well on half strength but shot up when I gave them full strength. Made me feel like they could take more than I gave them at that small size.

And make sure the seeds are warm in their coco in these cold times.

getsome5o · Feb 7, 2010

I have always done it with a rapid rooter, rock wool can be used too, drop it in pull a bit off the bottom and put it to cover the whole. and into the dome. Once it pops and roots show into the coco and off u go. Like i said rock wool works too but ive always used rapid rooters. Hope that helps.

scurred · Feb 8, 2010

Firstly flushing fresh soil doesn't get rid of any nutrients, flushing soil only works like that when you've been feeding with chemical ferts and there's a build up of salts. If you want to make soil less hot mix it with perlite or some other inert medium.

Just start seeds straight in wet coco, no need to feed the first few days just water then start with low nutes after a week gradually raising the amount as the plant gets bigger. I water every other day when the roots are developing but every day after that.

You're probably right about the soil, all I know is with FFOF I started them w/out doing anything to the soil one time and they basically didn't grow right, and I remember reading something on here about how it is too hot for seedlings. So I began flushing it a bit in a beer cup and they grew perfect.

@ The End Is Near: I plan to use the Canna A&B, I think they recommend you use their PK13/14 during flowering, I will have to run some tests and see for myself.

So far I have been told I can use rockwool cubes, rapidrooters, or just plant the seed directly in the coco (similar to my soil method). Do any of these methods require I use the paper towel method until the taproot shows and then plant it into the medium? I really hate the paper towel method... I always had a lot of slow growing plants when I did that, I believe it'd because you can damage the taproot when taking it from the towel to the medium.

Love to hear what anyone else does, some good ideas so far, I might try planting directly in the coco AND rapidrooters just to see what I like best.

MerryPrankstr · Feb 8, 2010

You can do the paper towel thing if you like, but it's an optional step.
I drop the seeds into a cup of water (room temperature) and cover them with a small plate. The seeds will float on top. Between 12-24 hrs later the taproot will be 1/2 - 3/4 long and sticking out of the seed. I then plant them in coco with the taproot sicking up. The seedlings usually break to the top of the coco in about another 24hrs. That's 48 hrs from initial germination to growing and showing the 1st sun leaves.

Just as an aside, you can clone in coco too.

M.P.

cannaboy · Feb 8, 2010

I say germinate seeds in soil/coco 50/50 mate or in jiffi pellets. I soak jiffi's in PH'd 6.0 water as they are a bit acidic I would start under a 400w halide or bigger in this seedling soil mix this way you get the best from your hard earned money and seeds they won't be lankey and willhave a diluted food supply and you can feed PH'd water for a month then repot into coco,, I know the 50/50 has soil in it and you are trying to get away from that proberbaly. No soil no soil flies ect but the proof is in the seed as they say and you reap what you sow..

I like to REAP.

Cuttings in coco are easy too just fill a cell tray with it, mix 1 ltr of water with 4ml or riz and 1 ml of a&b and do as you do I find ph'd water in a spray bottel speeds up the process as you don't confuse things with a inert matireal.. coco is good soilm coco 50/50 is GOLDEN...

look at the e.c of you soil bag
I use ATaMI Kilo mix its 2.2 way to strong for anything I don't feed that high but It dilutes well

scurred · Feb 8, 2010

MerryPrankstr said:
You can do the paper towel thing if you like, but it's an optional step.
I drop the seeds into a cup of water (room temperature) and cover them with a small plate. The seeds will float on top. Between 12-24 hrs later the taproot will be 1/2 - 3/4 long and sticking out of the seed. I then plant them in coco with the taproot sicking up. The seedlings usually break to the top of the coco in about another 24hrs. That's 48 hrs from initial germination to growing and showing the 1st sun leaves.

Just as an aside, you can clone in coco too.

M.P.

See this is another method I have been told not to do. Both the paper towel and the soaking seeds in water. Also, why would you plant it with the taproot sticking up? That seems backwards... shouldn't the root be sticking down? I seem to remember reading that was pretty important because if the taproot gets planted sticking up then the plant has to work harder to get above the soil/coco. Or am I thinking of something different?

Since you plant the seed directly into coco after the taproot shows, couldn't you just skip the whole water soak step and just plant the seed directly into moist coco and keep the coco very moist - wouldn't the seed germinate and show above the coco in a few days? Then you'd be doing it more like it happens in nature, and avoiding any possible damage to the seedling while moving it from the towel or cup of water.

And I just checked Mandala's website, they advise against the two methods mentioned. I remember once I began following their advice I had 90-100% success in germination.

Have you found the water soak method more reilable for you? Have you ever tried skipping this step?

scurred · Feb 8, 2010

cannaboy said:
I say germinate seeds in soil/coco 50/50 mate or in jiffi pellets. I soak jiffi's in PH'd 6.0 water as they are a bit acidic I would start under a 400w halide or bigger in this seedling soil mix this way you get the best from your hard earned money and seeds they won't be lankey and willhave a diluted food supply and you can feed PH'd water for a month then repot into coco,, I know the 50/50 has soil in it and you are trying to get away from that proberbaly. No soil no soil flies ect but the proof is in the seed as they say and you reap what you sow..

I like to REAP.

Cuttings in coco are easy too just fill a cell tray with it, mix 1 ltr of water with 4ml or riz and 1 ml of a&b and do as you do I find ph'd water in a spray bottel speeds up the process as you don't confuse things with a inert matireal.. coco is good soilm coco 50/50 is GOLDEN...

look at the e.c of you soil bag
I use ATaMI Kilo mix its 2.2 way to strong for anything I don't feed that high but It dilutes well

I don't know if I want to mix coco with soil, I've heard a lot of people do this with good results but I'd like to try and do it without soil. I'll have quite a few seeds, so I will most likely start with 2 seeds for a couple weeks and if everything goes normal I will go from there.

I am seeing amazing growth in very little time in almost every coco grow I see on this site, honestly some people are claiming to get the kind of growth in 2 weeks that I barely saw in 6 weeks in previous soil setups of mine. It will be worth the frustration and struggle in the beginning if I can get it going like the grows I see here.

I know plenty of growers start from seed in hydro, they don't all start with clones. And that's what coco is...hydro, so hopefully it will work.

Still undecided on whether to plant directly into the coco or use something like rapidrooters or those rockwool cube things.

robbiedublu · Feb 8, 2010

Just stick em into wet coco and barely cover them, if you don't want to make sure they crack first. I usually pop them on wet paper towels first but stick them into the coco as soon as they crack, before the root gets very long. I cover the tops of the cups with plastic wrap to keep it moist until the seedling pops up. I like to make sure my seeds are gonna pop before I put them under any medium where I can't see whats happening.
You never said anything about checking your nute mix PH. I think that is way more important than checking TDS. If I mix 10ml/gallon of a and b then the TDS is what it is. As long as my plants do well I can go up more later if I want to. You can always add a bit more each time you mix nutes until you see some tip burn, and then back off a bit. You've got to get your PH between about 5.8- 6, maybe 6.2 though.

scurred · Feb 8, 2010

I check pH too, that's just such a common practice I didn't think to mention it

Sn@tcher420 · Feb 8, 2010

bump...

FatBlunt420 · Feb 8, 2010

def, tap root down. the leaves pop out of the seed when it breaks...

scurred · Feb 8, 2010

FatBlunt420 said:
def, tap root down. the leaves pop out of the seed when it breaks...

I know, lol... Some of the information people pass around here is really incorrect. I almost think some of them do it intentionally because it isn't even logical :icon_banned:

Just goes to show you sometimes need to figure things out for yourself, the internet is a great source of information, but it's also 100% public and anyone can publish anything whether it be accurate or inaccurate information.

scurred · Feb 8, 2010

Sn@tcher420 said:
I like to keep it simple...straight coco,2 drops of peroxide,3 drops of Gh Flora bloom to a cup of water. After rinsing fresh coco saturated with above mix and put seeds straight into coco,half inch deep. place in germ tray on heat mat..48 to 72 hrs they're all above medium.

edit..have never checked ph. Use tap water with gh flora nova grow , bloom and liquid koolbloom. No problems ever.

FloraNova? Good stuff, used it on my last soil and it was actually a really good success, best once I ever had with soil.

Have you ever used any coco specific nutes like Canna Coco A&B? Or another brand.

What is the peroxide for?

FatBlunt420 · Feb 8, 2010

i currently use GH 3 part flora series. non nova. flora: grow, mirco, and bloom. i grow in canna coco, and ive read alot on it. everyone says the canna line of nutes is way better matched up then GH nutes.
im in the process of switching to all canna nutes... they recently came out w a "bio" line, which is all organic.

MerryPrankstr · Feb 8, 2010

I did say here's another method, not here's what's best...

I did say here's another method, not here's what's best...

Hey you can do whatever you want.
I've been doing it that way for 30+ years with 99% germination rate.
M.P.

lordbudly · Feb 14, 2010

planting taproot up is more conventional farming then canna farming but either will work, the taproot senses gravity and makes a loop downward, then the resulting seed is pushed upwards almost like a flip, reportedly has increased the ability for the seedling to shed the seed and the film along with it better

Chimney · Feb 14, 2010

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How do I start seeds in coco?

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