Starting Seeds & Cloning
Starting seeds for later use in a hydroponic system is a little different than starting seeds for a soil garden. Seedling must be grown in a proper hydroponic medium which can easily be transplanted into your system when they reach the right size. Rockwool cubes, coconut coir or a perlite/vermiculite soil-less mix are good medium choices for starting seeds.
You want the media to be as clean as possible because the environment needed for seed development is also a perfect environment for bacteria and fungus. Seedlings need a lot of moisture and a warm environment. This can be accomplished by using a clear plastic dome, such as a Tupperware container or specially designed humidity domes, to cover your seeds. You may need to use an electric heating pad or other method to keep the seeds at a consistent temperature of about 72º- 80ºF. Seeds should be planted at the same depth as they would be in soil. This should be in the directions of the printed package. If unsure, a method I use is to plant the seed at a depth of 2 times the size of the seed, I.E. if the seed is about ¼” in size I would plant the seed about a ½” deep. Use a quarter strength mixture of nutrient solution with a 6.0 pH to moisten the starter media. You will want to use soft lighting until most seeds sprout and eventually increase the light to normal levels. Continue feeding plants with a ¼ strength nutrient solution after sprouting. As always, you will want to remove any seedlings that are showing signs of weakness. Once plants develop a second set of true leaves they are ready to be hardened off.
You want the media to be as clean as possible because the environment needed for seed development is also a perfect environment for bacteria and fungus. Seedlings need a lot of moisture and a warm environment. This can be accomplished by using a clear plastic dome, such as a Tupperware container or specially designed humidity domes, to cover your seeds. You may need to use an electric heating pad or other method to keep the seeds at a consistent temperature of about 72º- 80ºF. Seeds should be planted at the same depth as they would be in soil. This should be in the directions of the printed package. If unsure, a method I use is to plant the seed at a depth of 2 times the size of the seed, I.E. if the seed is about ¼” in size I would plant the seed about a ½” deep. Use a quarter strength mixture of nutrient solution with a 6.0 pH to moisten the starter media. You will want to use soft lighting until most seeds sprout and eventually increase the light to normal levels. Continue feeding plants with a ¼ strength nutrient solution after sprouting. As always, you will want to remove any seedlings that are showing signs of weakness. Once plants develop a second set of true leaves they are ready to be hardened off.
A method I use to start seeds is a bit more complicated, but has been very successful in producing plants that can very easily be introduced into a hydroponic system. I build a type of mini aeroponic system out of a small tub. I cut small rockwool cubes from a slab to form a 2x2 square. This is squeezed into a square hole which I've cut into the lid. I build a small air lift pump from a length of ½” tubing which I jam into the center of the rockwool to keep it in place. I can keep the seedlings in the starter system until they reach roughly a foot tall and are ready to transplant into any hydroponic system.
