Fresh Start

[Smallgrow]

I decided to just start a thread for this grow. As people may know my fall grow was not without problems, although I did get out with 12-15 ounces of bud from 2fast’s Hot Cakes so not exactly a failure.
I couldn’t get the Scarlet Grapes to grow well, I did get one little one to harvest for a taste.
At Christmas after I harvested that I was supposed to start my winter run of 2 Scarlet Grapes and 2 1:1 CBD autos , but once again I had problems in germination and after a month of sickly seedlings and one male plant I pulled the plug.
I was going to leave it at that but I couldn’t not grow, even though my timing is very late in the season and harvest and dry/cure will be more challenging as it will be late spring and much warmer.

So the goal for this grow will be to run a cycle of Photos in as short a time as possible. I have 2 Mango CBD 1:1 and a classic 2 Super Lemon Haze above ground and lookin good. I sprouted at 18/6 but now I’m going to switch to 20/4 light for veg and try to push them along. I’m going to try to FIM them (first time trying FIM) instead of topping with the idea of less stress, and then flip them as soon as possible. Hopefully keeping sprout and veg to about 4 weeks.
The Haze will have a high stretch rate so this should work well.

They were sprouted with 24 hours soak and 24 hours in paper towel then put into soil 9 days ago. I used spring water with 1 part Hydrogen Peroxide 3% to 2 parts water for the soak and PT. They are in ProMix organic seed starter mix in the bud cups and will go into my 7 gallon grow bags with my recycled super soil when they are ready.
Tent is running at 77F and 75 % RH

[Bowhunterwoody]

Man I had the exact same problem starting my winter run. Tiny, sickly sprouts just sitting there. I left one and its flowering now at four weeks and is 4" tall. Looks perfectly healthy but miniature. Your's look like a nice healthy start.

[Gator]

Seems like we're all having issues with germinated this year lol,I hear you guys!!!

[Smallgrow]

It’s not usually a spot I have problems. Historically my germination rates have been above 80% I lost track of how many seed I tried on those runs but it definitely trashed my average.
Im not really against autos but I will say they were all autoflower genetics. They do tend to be more sensitive to hot soil , so I think that may have been part of my problem in this case.
anyhoooo back to photos for a while, I like the control anyway.

[MeowMeow]

Your seedlings look great!

For years I did germination in paper towels with heating mat > germinated seeds into a rapid rooter > in a cup of soil > into the 5-gallon pot. I feel like that gets about 85-90% germination, which I feel is pretty good. I've had some lucky runs with 100%, but usually I lose a few. I think the seed vendor matters, too.

But lately, I've had just as good results soaking seeds for 12-24 hours, then putting them straight in the pot under the grow light. I think that's closer to nature. I'm still getting around good germination, and it's certainly a lot less work and fussing.

The main problem I've had with putting seeds right in a 5 gallon pot is it's easy to overwater them, and at that point it takes forever for the soil to dry out and the seedlings grow slow for the first few weeks. Now I follow a seedling watering schedule made for a 5-gallon pot, which helps keep me from going overboard with water. I keep the soil damp until the sprout comes up, then start day 1 once the leaves open.

One thing I've noticed is that when I give plants a few extra weeks in the vegetative stage to get to half the final desired size, I end up with WAY more weed than flipping them early. Because small plants can't grow much weed, they just don't have enough branches, or long enough branches, for a ton of weed nuggets to grow.

I grew a Super Lemon Haze years ago and it came out great. Stretchy like you said.

[golfnrl]

Germination is one area I need to improve. I soak seeds 24-36 hours, then into a Bud Cup with the coco/perlite blend they will grow in. I recently read that when a seed sinks it has enough moisture to germinate. I'm going to try that the next time I germinate. After the soak I put the seeds under a t5 light with an opaque cover to promote heat and humidity. I found that spritzing the grow medium is far easier than trying to use a syringe to water the coco until the seed pops. One problem with this method is how far down into the grow medium to place the seed. I am prone to plant too shallow with helmet heads as a result. I can vouch for what happens when the cotyledon leaves don't open. I grow in coco/perlite so watering in a sprout into a 5 gallon pot is easy after the transplant. Another problem with this method, and maybe with any germination method, is the chance of a seed not sprouting when trying to sprout multiple seeds at once. Because of the system I use that can throw the timing off for feeding from a rez. It's a PITA.