the straight dope on starting seeds using rockwool and a heating pad

zingzang

Active Member
It's been a while sense I've started sprouted seeds and with a hundred bucks worth of seeds (10) I wanna make sure I so it correctly.

I have soaked the cubes for 24 hours with the PH at at 5
gently squeezed the excess water out of them
dropped the seeds into the cubes about an eighth of an inch down or so
set the cubes on a tray with a dome
set the pad for 87 degrees with the thermometer stuck into a cube
covered the dome with a towel to keep them dark while they sprout

Is there something really obvious that I've missed here or done wrong?
thanks!
zz
 

zingzang

Active Member
I've been told that the roots are less likely to get damaged, no handling them etc. I have had success using this method but it's been well over a year
 

guanoman

Well-Known Member
Your set up sounds very similar to mine and I have had great success with this method. I do use the paper towel method after soaking in a shot glass for 24 hours - but I put the paper towel in the humidity dome which is on the heating mat and find it speeds things up compared to just leaving the paper towel in a container on a cool counter. Once sprouted, I transfer to the rock wool and leave in the dome until they start sprouting leaves.
 

djlifeline

Well-Known Member
Well if it works for you then fair dos man :) just most people seem to use paper towel method with 100% germ rate.
 

zingzang

Active Member
The guy at my hydro store told me that he preferred this method and it worked like a champ last time. :blsmoke:
He's a really great guy and I got the feeling that he was a real germophob in life in general as well as his grows.
He said there would be less chance of the roots getting contaminated using this method in addition to the roots being damaged transferring them from a paper towel to the rockwool
I mainly wanted to make sure that the PH was right and that the heating pad temp was right.... and that I hadn't forgotten something really really obvious

I'll hit the dome light when I see some leaves
thanks!
 
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