Going to be honest here I started this grow off on the wrong foot. Not really sure what I was thinking (maybe just high from the Nana Glue I grew) but instead of using Fox Farm Happy Frog to start my seedlings, I used recycled soil from my previous Auto-flower run in the starter pots. This soil had not been amended yet and was pretty much washed of all its nutrients. Seed was planted directly in the soil and watered in which successfully sprouted however there the trouble began. After sprouting and opening the seedling pretty much slowed down to a creep. I’ve never seen a seedling grow so slow during the first 10 days. Pretty much all I could think of was this thing is just going to die and I should just yank it and start over. Well I decided to see if I could salvage it, but as a back-up started another seedling in the Happy Frog soil like I’ve successfully done in the past.
Seedling 2 is 2 days post sprout and is growing at a rate I’m more used to seeing and much happier with.
For germinating Seeds directly in substrate I will moisten the entire solo cup of soil (Moisten not soak, there is a difference). Once moistened I put an indentation into the soil about a finger nail deep and place my pre soaked seed (I pre soak my seeds in spring water for 6-12 hours) directly in the hole and lightly cover the seed. I then will take the same spring water and spray the soil and my plastic humidity dome down with 5-6 sprays. I leave the humidity dome over the solo cup until the seedling breaks ground and then will remove it and begin my watering. I’ve had the same germination rate as directly in soil as I have in the paper towel method and I feel you save yourself a couple of days over the paper towel method. Also at this stage I turn my light down to about 50% as I don’t want to burn the seedlings and as they get bigger/older I will slowly increase the light intensity. (this is where a dimmable grow light comes in handy)
***I do plan on entering this diary into a bunch of contests come harvest Nov.-Dec. so I will be as detailed as possible and will include lot of photos of the setup, plants and my process.***