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desertprep
- Newly Registered
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- Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2022 6:05 am
Not wanting to transplant seedlings...
I have seen a lot of videos about sprouting seeds and all of them require transplanting the seedling - usually removing it from whatever it was sprouted in. I am concerned that I will lose some seedlings doing that. I have some sponge material. It is round and cut in half so that can open it and put a seed in the middle of it. If I put the seed in the sponge, and then put the sponge in a pot full of clay balls, etc can I sprout the seed that way? Maybe keep the water level up to the bottom of the sponge all of the time.
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pepperhead212
- Super Green Thumb
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- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b
Welcome to the forum!
Update - I got distracted, and I didn't even realize that you were talking about hydroponics! imafan26 pretty much covered what you need to know, but I will repeat what I said about not removing started seeds from the sponge - it could damage the roots.
What kind of system do you have? If you have a deep water system, like I have, you do need the water well up to the bottom of the sponge. Eventually, the roots will be well into the water, so the level going down won't matter as much, except when planting new pots - old plants in the tubs lower the level faster, so you have to keep it filled, until they get well rooted. I start my seeds in about 2" of coir in some netting, over clay balls - my variation of the sponge.
Update - I got distracted, and I didn't even realize that you were talking about hydroponics! imafan26 pretty much covered what you need to know, but I will repeat what I said about not removing started seeds from the sponge - it could damage the roots.
What kind of system do you have? If you have a deep water system, like I have, you do need the water well up to the bottom of the sponge. Eventually, the roots will be well into the water, so the level going down won't matter as much, except when planting new pots - old plants in the tubs lower the level faster, so you have to keep it filled, until they get well rooted. I start my seeds in about 2" of coir in some netting, over clay balls - my variation of the sponge.
Last edited by pepperhead212 on Mon Feb 21, 2022 4:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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applestar
- Mod
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I’m not familiar with hydro and materials, but in general seed starting terms, whether you could start seeds in sponge material folded in half to sandwich the seed would depend, it seems to me, on size of seed and sprouted root, hypocotyl stem, and cotyldons vs. size of sponge pores, plus whether the seeds need light or darkness to germinate.
Optimum germination temperatures and moisture levels vary with the plant as well.
Seedlings need strong light at the start and appropriate moisture levels to grow sturdy healthy stem and roots.
Assuming the seeds have successfully sprouted and could grow leaves and roots without getting tangled up or strangled in the sponge, then it should be possible to set them up in hydro grow system. You may need to add a second supporting sponge for the stem depending on how the seedlings grew?
I’ve watched videos in which pre-germinated and sprouted seedlings were sandwiched in folding sponge like you described, in such a way that the roots are protruding from the bottom and seed leaves (and true leaves) are protruding from the top …then they were positioned in flood/drain hydrotron/shale gravel aquaponics bed, hinged rain gutter hydro system, or aeroponic barrel system.
Optimum germination temperatures and moisture levels vary with the plant as well.
Seedlings need strong light at the start and appropriate moisture levels to grow sturdy healthy stem and roots.
Assuming the seeds have successfully sprouted and could grow leaves and roots without getting tangled up or strangled in the sponge, then it should be possible to set them up in hydro grow system. You may need to add a second supporting sponge for the stem depending on how the seedlings grew?
I’ve watched videos in which pre-germinated and sprouted seedlings were sandwiched in folding sponge like you described, in such a way that the roots are protruding from the bottom and seed leaves (and true leaves) are protruding from the top …then they were positioned in flood/drain hydrotron/shale gravel aquaponics bed, hinged rain gutter hydro system, or aeroponic barrel system.
If you are talking about rock wool or oasis blocks. You can seed them directly one seed per block and when they have sprouted you can transfer the foam plugs to the hydro system. You will have to bottom water them. Usually, they are started separately because if you are doing successive cropping in your hydro system, you want to maximize yield. To do that you pretty much have to harvest your plants and stick the next set in after that. If you want to seed your hydro system directly it will take longer to harvest just because of the length of time seeds take to germinate. It also depends on the system you have. For ebb and flow systems, kratky, and dutch buckets, you may get away with directly seeding the plugs in the system, but for aeroponics, and flow by systems. I don't know anyone who has tried that. There is more air in those systems so root mass is important.