[paradoxlost]

How come people think you can't start seeds in large containers? The biggest container of them all is the ground where weed comes from. I don't get it. Same with clones. I get monitoring the development, but wtf guys. .

Sometimes this conventional wisdom from long time growers with no formal education is fucking stupid.

[troutman]

Why would you use large amounts of soil to germinate seeds?

With smaller amounts it's easier to start more seeds and the environment they are in is easier to control.

I would hate to germinate seeds in 10 plus gallon pots and they don't germinate.

Are you going to germinate seeds in huge pots?

Pics or it didn't happen.

[Phaeton]

Fresh rockwool does not hold water well. A ten inch deep rockwool container has all the moisture in the bottom three inches until the root mass gets large enough to hold more water.

A smaller shallower container puts more moisture on the seed or clone and the success rate is doubled.
On the very few occasions when dirt is used the the seed does go directly into the final container. With Poppies (no transplants) this is the only way and several seeds are planted in the same area to guarantee a sprout where it is wanted.

Gardening procedures are governed by results and if artificial media grows the best producing plants but has a hard time getting started then methods will be used to produce the strongest seedlings.
Trial and error finds smaller containers have a better survival rates and stronger seedlings. Long time growers have been growing a long time and have learned things that ignorant folks have not.

Nothing fucking stupid about learning, not at all.
Stupid is assuming you can read folk's minds when you really do not have a clue about whether or not they think it is impossible to germinate in a large container.
That is quite a leap and since you include me in the statement, well, you are full of shit past your eyebrows.

[Jack T.Ripper]

Get lost, Parasite!

Go work on a commercial farm that starts 10's of thousands of seeds for transplant a year.

Then come back with a different attitude and perspective then the shit one you have now.

[iTarzan]

In the ground a seedling can shoot a tap root down as far as it wants and branch as far as it wants. It doesn't matter if the top part of the soil has minimal roots.

In a large pot the seedling shoots a tap root down as far as it wants and then branches out. You are losing the root space of much of the soil in the pot because the roots grow down and not up. When you start them in a small pot the root hits bottom and starts to grow around. You restrict it for a bit in a small container. When you up-pot the roots now can brach out and fill the next size container. When you finally up-pot to the large container you speak of that big pot has roots from top to bottom and the yield will be much bigger due to a larger rootmass than if you just started the seed in the large container to begin with.

That is the reason for up-potting.

[paradoxlost]

Originally Posted by troutman

Why would you use large amounts of soil to germinate seeds?

With smaller amounts it's easier to start more seeds and the environment they are in is easier to control.

I would hate to germinate seeds in 10 plus gallon pots and they don't germinate.

Are you going to germinate seeds in huge pots?

Pics or it didn't happen.

Yea the past couple go's we started 5 or so seeds in twenty gallons with cover crops. About to pop some beans in a 25 gallon

[MedResearcher]

Imo, just depends on what you have to work with and your goals. If you want to start 200 seeds in a 8x8 room you have to use small pots.

Outdoors with tons of space, it actually saves a lot of work starting in bigger if not final homes.

I think a good grower can start in as small or as big of a container as they like. Just a test of keeping the substrate moist enough but not to wet. Slowly coaching the roots outward and downward with water.

We may just run clones this year, if we were gonna run seed stock though I was planning to directly plant the seed in the final in ground mounds. Less work, better roots. We have seeds to burn to, so lowering the germinating % is not a big deal. Plant maybe 6 seeds in each mound, chop and drop the males, then choose the best female 1 per mound.


I am pretty decent at starting seeds in larger pots, from time to time though I can loose a few to dampening off compared to small pots that is very uncommon. Smaller pots though, the health can decline faster if not potted up in time, while a decent size pot with some nice strong healthy dirt can grow a pretty amazing sized plant in amazing time.

Mr^^

[thejact55]

Originally Posted by paradoxlost

Sometimes this conventional wisdom from long time growers with no formal education is fucking stupid.

It seems with a comment like this, why are you asking? You should know it all is seems.

[1God777]

I prefer to start in big pots its way better you follow everything everybody says fuck that. Transplanting lot of times slows an or stunts growth.I take some advice from people i like theres no one correct way of growing. There's many ways

[paradoxlost]

Originally Posted by thejact55

It seems with a comment like this, why are you asking? You should know it all is seems.

Trying to see where everyone's head is at and how they got that way, ya know