Seed Germination for Aeroponic Use Experiment

So I have been trying for a while to figure out the best way to germinate seeds with the intent to transplant the seedlings into an aero cloner e.g. EZ-Clopner, Turboklone etc... The problem I encountered was that seedlings are quite fragile for the first week or two. So in the beginning, the two methods I attempted were the paper towel and simple water submersion techniques. Both work well for actually getting the seeds to germinate and begin sprouting seedlings. Sadly, when I took these fragile seedlings and attempted to insert them into neoprene collars and grow them in a cloner, they all died. Either the taproot wasn't absorbing the nutrients, or the stem wasn't strong enough to handle the collar which might have squeezed and choked the stems preventing any water transport.

The next method I tried was germinating and sprouting in pure perlite. I had seen youtube videos of people doing this successfully, and it seemed ideal because the perlite would be easy to dislodge from the roots once the seedling was strong enough to handle transplant. It worked well for the first 3 or four days. The seeds would germinate and seedlings would pop up and grow, but then around day 4, they would all wilt and die. I tried it with and without a humidity dome and got the same results. I was watering some seedling and not others to see if it was an issue of too much water or too little. It seemed to make no difference. Then I decided to try a mix of 50/50 perlite/vermiculite and a separate attempt with vermiculite only. It's been a week, and so far both seem to be doing very well. I had saturated the media just proir to germination but haven't had to add water since. Both are being done in plastic party cups. I spray the surface of the media each day just to prevent drying out, but nothing else has been done. In a day or two I will pull the seedlings and attempt to clean off the roots to transplant into the areo cloner. I'm not sure if I should water extremely lightly with a very weak nutrient solution, or just wait until they go into the cloner, but that's part of the experiment. The cloner is filled with a weak nutrient solution.

I thought I'd do this little writeup because there seems to be little to no information on this topic out there, and though most people either use rockwool or plugs for germinating and initiating the grow, there may be a small group of people out there that want to do the same thing but aren't sure how, just as I wasn't. So I will update this with information based on this experiment. In the meantime, I welcome anyone to add to this, comment, or describe their own methods.

PostScript: Some might ask, why not just germinate in a root plug or rockwool? The reason is that ultimately the plant is destined for an aeroponic system which cannot accommodate these substance which may flake off and clog pumps and fine misting heads. Also they grow so much faster in an aero cloner. I don't even use hydroton. The plant is supported entirely by a neoprene collar, net cup and cup lid. It is very nice not to have to repeatedly buy, media, and also clean it up afterwards. Also it is one less vector for infection.

A plain old glass of tap water if no rockwool. Tape a large drink glass with Gorilla tape to block light. Fill with tap water. Place in warm spot like kitchen or wherever. Transplant when roots show. No nutrients, no geegaws, no whistles and it works.

cool info bro. you're right, there isnt enough info out there on this

Interesting method hotrod, thanks for laying that out there! A few questions: Do you also tape over the top of the glass leaving only a small hole for the sprout? And how do you secure the sprout, meaning, how does it rest without slipping into the glass? That's a very good and easy method, I'll be trying that one starting tomorrow.

cool info bro. you're right, there isnt enough info out there on this

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Thanks beer! I just assumed that there might be others wondering if this method were possible, because starting from seeds is a slow process, then you also have to sex them. So anything that can speed things up is usually ideal. For me, I am completely media-less the whole way through, but I've always had to germinate and grow seedlings the old fashioned way, in soil, otherwise they'd die. Many people may never have even considered going from seed directly into aero cloner just because no one really does it, and like myself, didn't think it was even an option. It can be vary useful in many ways though, even if you intend to eventually end up in conventional hydro, DWC, NFT, hydroton, or even soil or soiless.

Redoctober said:

Interesting method hotrod, thanks for laying that out there! A few questions: Do you also tape over the top of the glass leaving only a small hole for the sprout? And how do you secure the sprout, meaning, how does it rest without slipping into the glass? That's a very good and easy method, I'll be trying that one starting tomorrow.


Thanks beer! I just assumed that there might be others wondering if this method were possible, because starting from seeds is a slow process, then you also have to sex them. So anything that can speed things up is usually ideal. For me, I am completely media-less the whole way through, but I've always had to germinate and grow seedlings the old fashioned way, in soil, otherwise they'd die. Many people may never have even considered going from seed directly into aero cloner just because no one really does it, and like myself, didn't think it was even an option. It can be vary useful in many ways though, even if you intend to eventually end up in conventional hydro, DWC, NFT, hydroton, or even soil or soiless.

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Yes I do tape over the tops. I'm a cheap bastard so I buy a big drink at some fast food place with big heavy duty plastic cup giveaways (McDs etc for movies and so on) and take extra tops when I fill my drink. I hate soda so I pour it out. I know you can buy at Wally supposedly but . . . ..

I Gorilla Tape the cups and the tops too leaving a spot big enough to insert the stem. Then I just cut to them with scissors from both sides and toss the top when that clone is rooting. More tops in the cupboard!

And I have done the Clonex or Schultz or magic jizz etc. My first wife taught me to clone that way. She was not awed by pot at all as she didn't smoke. I know others will argue and they have success their way but mine is so easy and cheap.

Hotrod, my version of your method is that I took 2 plastic, blue cups that you'd buy at the local supermarket for beerpong, stacked them inside one another so no light gets through. Then I took a double layer of tinfoil and folded it over the top of the cup. I just couldn't help myself and I put in literally 2 or three drops of nutrient solution with a drop of root exelerator from H&G. That stuff really does work. Then I poked a stem sized hole with a dental scraper tool in the tinfoil and fed a seedling through. The only part I'm iffy on is that I fed the seedling almost all the way through the tinfoil. The only thing supporting it and keeping it from falling in completely is that it's being held by its small set of initial leaves. The entire stem is below the tinfoil. I'm not sure this is ideal...I think the stem may need some light but I'm not sure. I am germinating a seed to use just for this method. The current seedling was not doing very well in the vermiculite so I transferred it to the cup method. I don't expect it to make it but I know it's not the cups fault.

Update: the seedling in the plain vermiculite began to shrivel. The point of weakness, as in almost all other cases, was the stem. The stem began to shrivel in one spot, and once that happens, the whole water transport system collapses and the seedling dies. The seedling in the 50/50 perlite/vermiculite mix is still looking good. I have transferred the sickly seedling into a cup of water as described above. I am germinating an additional seed to go directly into the cup of water, but still trying to decide on the best way to hold it in place. What I think I understand from Hotrods' method, and please correct me if this is wrong, is that he tapes completely over the top of the cup and then cuts a small "X" into the tape. Then pushes the stem of the seedling through into the water below, but the tape basically holds the stem in place, almost the same way a really thin neoprene collar would. Do I have that right?

when you tried the perlite method and perlite/vermiculite, did you use an air stone?

beer316 said:

when you tried the perlite method and perlite/vermiculite, did you use an air stone?

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No air stones, all I did was put the mixes into plastic beer pong cups, plant the seeds, and water with distilled H2O