Trying experiment

[Nuttyneddy]

I thought of putting seeds rolled up inside paper towel in the shape of a cigarette. This is in the centre of a piece of pool noodle. The bottom of the paper is in a nutrient solution acting as a wick. As the seeds germinate they can drop roots down into solution through the centre of paper and is clear to send leaf sprouts up into the air through the paper as well. As I said it's experimental I will keep it in a dark warm place and see what happens.

[Nuttyneddy]

Picture

[pepperhead212]

Good idea! I'll be curious to see how this works out. Possible idea to use stuck in some clay pebbles, instead of making a layer of coir, which is how I have to start seeds.

[Nuttyneddy]

I thought by trying this it might mean the plant stays in the one spot from sewing seed to maturity.

[pepperhead212]

Here's something that I thought of, that you might find useful - don't use BOUNTY paper towels! I use Bounty for most things in my house, and on the rare occasion that I leave one in a pocket, when they get washed, they don't decompose, and come out of the dryer in one piece! However, every other brand this has happened with has decomposed, into many small pieces, filtered out by the dryer, but still a problem. But since I am looking for this "cigarette" to break down eventually, for the roots to grow through, I'll use one of my other brands, to see how it works. I'm trying it tonight, with some lettuce and basil, just to see.

[pepperhead212]

Here's my experiment set up. I rolled a PT up, then cut it to length - ended up expanding lengthwise, so now I know it does that, and will cut shorter. I unrolled them, and put 3 seeds in each - basil and lettuce - about 1/4" from the end, rolled them up again, and soaked them with some hydroponics water. Then I held them where I wanted them, and gradually dropped the clay pellets in around them, until held in place, then put the rest in, to fill the basket. Then I put in in the DW setup, and the PT should wick the water up enough to sprout the seeds.
Getting the rolls of PTs holding the seeds, in place adding the clay pellets gradually. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Both rolls in place, with all of the pellets in the basket. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Nuttyneddy]

It might stop air getting to roots. I trimmed the wick section lengthwise on one side making it very narrow below the seed level. This would allow roots more open to air.
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[Nuttyneddy]

Here's a video using the same princable

https://youtu.be/hwovEZkSd3c

[pepperhead212]

Here's the same idea used in my deepwater hydroponics.
Seeds starting tube of PT, stuck in a basket in the DW system. Lettuce sprouted first. by pepperhead212, on Flickr