The ultimate germination and aftercare thread

[MrG]

Germination Method 5: Paper Plate Method
One way to germinate seeds is to wet a paper towel and then fold your seeds in it, then leave the paper towel in a warm place.

If you germinate your seeds in a paper towel, there is the risk of hurting the tap root (the little white root that grows out of your seeds) when moving the sprouted seeds so make sure you are careful when you're checking to see if the seeds sprouted.

There is also the possibility of having the towel dry out which will kill your new seeds so I recommend putting your paper towel under an upside down bowl or between two paper plates.


The image above is a section of the*Marijuana Stealth Grower's Cheat Sheet.

Check on germinating seeds once every 12 hours or so (make sure not to disturb them or their roots) and plant any seeds which have sprouted right away.

Cont.....

[MrG]

How to Plant Your Germinated Cannabis Seeds
After you see that your cannabis seeds have sprouted, you should plant them right away.

You don't want to touch the little white taproot with your fingers, so either carefully move the seeds, or use twissors. If you do touch or break the root, the seedling may still survive, but any damage to the root will definitely stunt and slow down growth right in the beginning.

Root down! Plant seeds so that the white root faces downward, about a knuckle deep.

The top of the seed should be just below the surface of your growing medium.

It can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days before you see the young seedling emerge from the soil or growing medium. If your marijuana seedling hasn't sprouted from the soil within 10 days after being placed root-down, it probably died. I'm sorry. Even with the best practices and the best seeds, you will occasionally lose a seed.

Within that 10-day period, you will notice that some seeds germinate right away and others take a little bit longer. The amount of time does not really have anything to do with how healthy your plant will be in the long run. It usually has more to do with the placement of the seed and where its root sprouted.

Avoid letting light touch the roots! Light can be dangerous to young marijuana roots. In fact your seedlings can't even use light until they develop their first set of leaves, called the cotyledons. Until then they are powering themselves based just on the energy and nutrients that were contained in the seed.

Before seedlings get their first leaves, you only want to use your lights as a heating source to maintain a warm environment. The actual light will not help young seedlings grow faster until they've developed their first set of leaves.

If you will be transplanting your seedlings again, avoid transplanting until they are well established and have a couple of sets of leaves (nodes). Some growers will plant seedlings in a growing medium in a solo cup or peat pot, so they can just cut away the cup for easy transplanting.

When you move seedlings around a lot, it stresses them out and potentially stunts their growth. Too much stress can even kill them. So try to plan from the beginning so that you move your seedlings around as little as possible. once they get bigger, they are a lot more hardy and can stand a lot more stress and movement.

Here's some pictures to give you and idea of the timeline to expect

Sprouted seeds planted in Hydrofarm pellets and placed on soil



If you want, you can put bottles on top to help retain extra humidity (like a cheap humidity dome).



It's a steady 85 degrees F in there, no idea about the humidity in the bottles.


Marijuana seedlings under T5 Grow Light

Day 7 from seed


Cont.....

[MrG]

Your Cannabis Seedling's First Few Weeks
During the first few weeks of a young marijuana plant's life, you have to be careful.

Marijuana seedlings, especially seeds from some of the most potent strains, tend to be a bit delicate.

Seedlings definitely won't be able to withstand full-strength grow lights or nutrients. They need to have a moist environment, but also can easily be drowned or overwatered.

If you're planting in soil, start with a balanced potting soil that doesn't contain extra nutrients. I recommend Happy Frog potting soil mix*for young cannabis seedlings, but any plain potting mix from your local garden store will do. Never use*Miracle-Gro soil or any*soil that has "time-released" nutrients already*mixed in.*After your plants have grown a few sets of leaves, you can transfer them to a stronger potting mix that contains higher levels of nutrients like Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil, or you can start supplementing with cannabis soil nutrients.*Don't want to use nutrients?*Learn how to*mix up your own super soil*so it has all the nutrients your cannabis plants will need!*

If you're planting in coco coir, a soilless medium, or hydroponics, only add cannabis nutrients at seedling strength, or 1/4 the regular strength, until your plants have grown a few sets of leaves. Then you can slowly start working your way up to full strength nutrient levels.

Learn more about cannabis nutrients

With young marijuana seedlings, less is more.

You're trying to*give young plants a very small dose of nutrients at first. However, even with young marijuana seedlings, the pH of your water and growing medium is important. Some growers get lucky and happen to have water with the right pH, but if you're noticing deficiencies and problems with your seedlings, definitely take the time to understand about marijuana root pH and how it affects the plant's overall health.

If you plan on eventually putting your marijuana seedlings under high intensity grow lights (such as HPS or MH grow lights), you may want to start them out with less intense flourescent grow lights or compact florescent bulbs (CFLs). Or just keep your high intensity grow lights several feet away at first,*and slowly move lights closer as your seedlings gets older

CFL bulbs (twisty/spiral bulbs as pictured to the right) are a great source of light for young marijuana seedlings

CFLs provide the right types of light for seedlings

CFLs are extremely cheap to buy

CFLs are easy on your electric bill

CFLs can be found almost anywhere, at your local hardware store, supermart, grocery store, or online

Keep CFLs or flourescent lights about 6 inches away from your seedlings. Place your hand where the leaves are to make sure it doesn't feel too hot. If it's hot for your after 10 seconds, it's too hot for your plants.

Once your seedlings have developed their first two sets of leaves, then you can move these lights as close as 2 inches away as long as the lights aren't too hot.

Remember: If grow lights feels too hot to your hand after 10 seconds, they're too hot for your marijuana seedlings

Make sure to keep a close eye on your seedlings to ensure they don't grow too close to the grow lights and burn themselves. Seedlings can grow fast, and many growers have been surprised to find plants have actually grown into the light overnight.

If new seedlings are showing signs of stress, try moving the lights further away and see if that helps.

Once marijuana seedlings are about fourteen days old, they're ready to be start being treated as if they're in the vegetative stage.

Cont.....

[MrG]

This Timeline Will Help Show You What to Expect

Seedling
Two*round cotyledon leaves, then two "real" (serrated) single-finger cannabis leaves



Next, the single-finger leaves expand, and the next set is usually*3-finger leaves



Next, the cannabis plant will start making 5-finger leaves



Finally, most cannabis plants stop at 7-finger leaves



If you look closely at the above plant, you can see that some of the newer leaves on this plant actually have 9 fingers. It is normal for there to be some variation between leaves - some plants will grow leaves with 11 or even 13 fingers. But*the above guide will give you a general idea of what to expect.

Once your cannabis seedling is about fourteen days old, it's*ready to be start being treated as if in the*vegetative stage.

Make sure you learn about plant training techniques to make the most of your time in the vegetative stage!

Cont.....

[MrG]

Wait! My seed is growing upside down with the roots up; what do I do?

As long as the roots of a cannabis seedling are able to grow down, they will. Roots never grow upward on their own.*Seedlings can sense the difference between up and down. Roots always try to grow down. Roots never grow upwards.

So how come sometimes it looks like a cannabis plant is growing with its roots pointing up?

When the seed end is still bent down,*all you see is a U-shaped stem/root

Cannabis seeds can look a bit different when germinating. When in doubt, always wait a few days to see if leaves appear before you try to interfere.

Sometimes the stem of a brand new cannabis seedling can look like the roots growing out the top. But if you wait and watch, you'll see that it's all part of the plan. Hope these pics help someone!



Sometimes you'll see what appears to be roots emerging from your cannabis seed, but this is actually the stem. The stem pushes the seed and leaves up, and the main taproot is currently burrowing down to support the seedling



As the seedling emerges you'll be able to see the leaves (sometimes it will still have the seed stuck on the first leaves, like in the picture above).



The cotyledons (first, round leaves) unfurl, and then the regular cannabis leaves between to grow. Here's another view of that same seedling from above.*Even though it may have looked a bit weird at first, this seedling is completely normal and will grow just fine from now on.


Cont.....

[MrG]

What Size Pot Should I Use?

When growing cannabis plants in a container, you have to choose the size of your pot.

A general guide is to have about*2*gallons per 12" of height. This isn't perfect, since plants often grow differently, but this is a good rule of thumb.

When in*doubt, get a bigger final container size as opposed to a smaller one. Plants that get rootbound from being in a too-small container will grow more slowly and be prone to problems. It's not good to transfer plants during the flowering/budding stage, so you want to have your cannabis plants in their final container at least 2 weeks before the beginning of flowering/budding.*How do I get my cannabis plants to start flowering?

Final Container for Desired Plant Size - General guide

12" ~ 2-3 gallon container

24" ~ 3-5 gallon container

36" ~ 5-7 gallon container

48" ~ 6-10 gallon container

60" ~ 8-10+ gallon container

But what size pot should you use for your seedlings?

For fastest growth rates, it's better to plant young seedlings or clones in a very small container, like a disposable plastic*solo cup.

For new seedlings and clones, use a small container if possible



The reason you want to start with a small container is that your plant's young roots thrive on oxygen. Cannabis plant roots "breathe" oxygen, just like we breathe air, and it's important that young cannabis roots get plenty of oxygen so the plant can grow as fast as possible.

However, young plant roots do not drink much water yet. When you water seedlings or clones*in a very big container, they will use up all the oxygen quickly, and the large size of the container will prevent the growing medium from drying out.

A big plant will drink up all the water quickly, but with seedlings, you're basically waiting for the growing medium to dry out by itself. While you're waiting for the container to dry out, your cannabis roots are sitting in a wet environment and not getting much oxygen, slowing down their growth rates.

Poke holes in the bottom of your cup so water can drain out easily!

By planting young seeds in a small container with holes in the bottom, the growing medium will dry out much more quickly, allowing you to water more often. The young cannabis will get plenty of oxygen and water.

Alternative to Solo Cup: Start plants in seedling cube

If you don't want to have to transplant your young plants, you can start*them in a*seedling*plug or cube*and wait until you start seeing roots come out the bottom. At that point, they will be ready to be transferred to a larger container.

What happens if I plant seeds or clones in a big container?

Your cannabis seedlings and clones will definitely survive in a bigger container;*they just won't grow as fast for the first few days or weeks because they aren't getting as much oxygen.

With*a bigger container, you will need to wait longer between waterings, and during that time your plant roots will be getting reduced oxygen.

If you've planted your young plant in a large container, try to give only a little bit of water at a time (enough to wet the area around the seedling roots) until the plant is growing vigorously. Once the plant has grown a few sets of leaves, you should start watering cannabis normally so that water drains out the bottom.

Learn how to water cannabis properly

One of the*advantages*of starting young plants in a big container is you won't have to transfer them to bigger containers as they get older.

Well that's pretty much it. Hope it helps.

[MrG]

Nice thread mate, another to add to your "Ultimate" collection.

Know it bruvva

[The Aspie Toker]

It deserves to be a sticky.

[Chew]

Brilliant mate

[MrG]

It deserves to be a sticky.

Brilliant mate

Cheers lads