PLZ help with seedlings!

[lurch]

Hi to all, have been a member here for years but never took it up then but now am attempting my first hydro grow. plants are going into 2 30l pots in a grow box 1.4x0.8x1.7h under a 600w hps cooltube. strain in blueberry and will be recirc with clay.

 

but anyway i have germinated 4 seeds totally in 40mm rockwool cubes and they are approx 6 day old seedlings. they are being misted with a clone/seedling nutrient booster formula solution and are in a tray in an ablite box atm with the 2 grow fluoro tubes in it. the cubes are sitting in a tray but elevated sitting on a layer of expanded clay.

 

they have there first set of true leaves and the tap root has pushed about 1cm through the bottom of the cubes atm anyway questions are

 

1. how many roots should they have pushing through the rockwool or how big should they be before they'es transplanted into the main system?

 

2. when should they be taken out from fluoros and placed under hps?

 

3. should the cubes first be transplanted into something else first, a bigger rock cube or clay or perlite?

 

4. will it be bad for the plants if the taproot keeps growing down and gets longer while the other roots catch up?

 

any help much much appreciated.

 

cheers

[The Hash Nibbler]

Hey Lurch, just germinated some seeds and did a grow diarytute on a diary called grasshoppers stealth cupboard grow.

but I will endevour to answer your questions now:

1)I just transplant mine when they hit the bottom of the cube/jiffy, transplant the whole cube into about 125mm-150mm pots and leave them in these until they are sexed then take the 2 you want for your pots and transplant those pots into your final container.

2)As soon as they get that first set of leaves they can photosynthesis, I whack them straight under but keep HPS a good 3 ft off them.

3)probably go perlite with rockwool jiffys, they work well together. Use it in the sexing pots and the final ones if you want.

4) better to transplant early than have a root bound plant that will just struggle, tap root grows down to anchor the plant and draw up nutes and water, so let it be free, free the root and you will free your mind.......he-he. have a great grow mate.GH72

[jimbojones5678]

Gday lurch - good to see you doing a diary and having a go at growing

 

It sounds like you are off to a good start - In answer to your q's....

 

1. how many roots should they have pushing through the rockwool or how big should they be before they'es transplanted into the main system?

I usually transplant them once they have the second set of true leaves - they won't need an auto feeding system just yet as you'll most likely drown them, hand water them once, maybe twice a day

 

2. when should they be taken out from fluoros and placed under hps?

There is mixed opinion on this but myself I get them going under a HID light asap, helps keep stretch to a minimum and they love the warmth - just remember to keep that HID at a decent distance so you don't frizzle fry them ok.

 

3. should the cubes first be transplanted into something else first, a bigger rock cube or clay or perlite?

You can transplant them to say 150mm pots then transplant them again to their final destination if space is an issue OR you can do what I do and transplant them straight to the final pot size - I find that you get much better root growth and as you don't need to disrupt them, a much happier plant. It's your choice - there's no rule.

 

4. will it be bad for the plants if the taproot keeps growing down and gets longer while the other roots catch up?

The taproot won't mind being bent during the stage where you have them just starting out, once you see the second set of true leaves they should have a reasonable set of roots developing anyhow. I wouldn't leave them for ages but I wouldn't stress about it either.

 

Hope that helps, and take some pics dude

 

Jimbo