Always overwatering seeds in hydro

[SamWE19]

I germinate by putting seeds in rapid rooters directly in my media ( hydro ton). I also had issues early on with tap roots drying out or seedlings being over watered. You need to set the water level just enough that the peat moss is saturated, but not fully. the water level here is criticsl. I also drop water from the top occasionally if I'm concerned there isn't enough moisture. Gradually as the taproot develops downward into the media, you'll need to lower the water level do it doesn't drown. You'll pick up on it just like I did. You need to be careful and check on it a few times a day. Keeping a cup/dome over the seedlings helps keep the peat moss moist too.

can you achieve the same thing without hydroton though? I am wanting to germinate into these rapid rooters and then placing directly into a flood and drain with no media in my new system I’m building. I want to rid myself of all the hydroton.
My aim was to have the seeds growing in a RR for 2 weeks or so fully root it out and then place it directly into my flood and drain at 2 weeks but it doesn’t look like a promising method atm

 

[rkymtnman]

can you achieve the same thing without hydroton though? I am wanting to germinate into these rapid rooters and then placing directly into a flood and drain with no media in my new system I’m building. I want to rid myself of all the hydroton.
My aim was to have the seeds growing in a RR for 2 weeks or so fully root it out and then place it directly into my flood and drain at 2 weeks but it doesn’t look like a promising method atm

you could cut the plant gently out of the RR. you might lose some of the roots but there should be plenty of roots after 2 wks

 

[SamWE19]

you could cut the plant gently out of the RR. you might lose some of the roots but there should be plenty of roots after 2 wks

I would think so too but it’s a joke how my rapid rooters always cause overwatering and the growth rate of seedlings is so slow.

I don’t know what I’m doing wrong
people say they leave their rapid rooters saturated and don’t get droopy leaves..

I water whenever I see the colour change and I’m barely growing a first true leaf which droops at 2 weeks

 

[rkymtnman]

are you in the US?

 

[SamWE19]

are you in the US?

Europe mate why?

 

[rkymtnman]

Europe mate why?

i have 4 of these that i found on ebay. a rapid rooter fits in perfectly. my germ rate close to 100% with this setup.

see if you might have something similar over there?

 

[ҖҗlegilizeitҗҖ]

In dwc you are physically adding oxygen to the water with the air pump. Standing water wouldn’t have any.
doesn’t make sense to me...

I’m gonna pop a seed in a rapid rooter today and put it in 1/4 inch of standing water and I’ll take a pic in a week or two showing the drooping leaves

Cool water holds DO for awhile, and on top of that, the rockwool itself holds oxygen.
I promise this is not the issue, like you discussed before, its probably too much light.
Here is how I start all my vegtables too, all these cubes are sitting on about 1/4" of water

 

[BBQtoast]

Overwatering in plugs is because they don't dry quick enough here. Commercially they want watering everyday and are placed in a warm well ventilated area.

Indoors I need my room to be warm, 25c and not stuffy. It's costing me a lot but the room I grow in feels warm in t-shirt and shorts.

Plugs need to dry at a good rate, I've had them unders lights in colder air and they do stall and seem to take a while to need water.

Plugs are easy, there's only a couple reasons why the fuck up.

 

[SamWE19]

i have 4 of these that i found on ebay. a rapid rooter fits in perfectly. my germ rate close to 100% with this setup.

see if you might have something similar over there?

I don’t quite understand how that works from that video? Is there just a pump flowing water of the sponge?

 

[SamWE19]

Cool water holds DO for awhile, and on top of that, the rockwool itself holds oxygen.
I promise this is not the issue, like you discussed before, its probably too much light.
Here is how I start all my vegtables too, all these cubes are sitting on about 1/4" of water
View attachment 4786958

for my seed starts in the rapid rooter only though I am using a shitty light and at the moment it’s not even been pointing at the plants as I havnt made a hanger for this area. It’s literally on the floor pointing at a reflective surface to bounce the light at the seeds as I’ve been lazy and havnt had time to sort it.

par meter shows less than 200ppfd on the seedlings

possibly the rapid rooters are too cold? My room is around 25c and I’m not using a heat mat. Do you reckon rockwool would be better than a rapid rooter?

 

[rkymtnman]

I don’t quite understand how that works from that video? Is there just a pump flowing water of the sponge?

yep, it's basically just a small aeroponics unit. it runs 24/7, keeps the rooters constantly soaking wet and like i said, works almost 100% for me. you take the sponge thing out and the rooters fit in those 3 holes.

 

[SamWE19]

yep, it's basically just a small aeroponics unit. it runs 24/7, keeps the rooters constantly soaking wet and like i said, works almost 100% for me. you take the sponge thing out and the rooters fit in those 3 holes.

So I have an ez cloner.

your saying I can just put rapid rooters in there in net pots leave the sprayers on 24/7 and it shouldn’t overwater?

 

[rkymtnman]

So I have an ez cloner.

your saying I can just put rapid rooters in there in net pots leave the sprayers on 24/7 and it shouldn’t overwater?

mine are soaking wet 24/7 and never had a problem with germing. i think because the water is very well oxygenated as it sprays on each rooter.
try it out and see how it works for you.