rdpuck said:
...Having problems getting them to germinate ( paper towel tupper ware)
I have corrected everything I think I am doing wrong. I am sure I am doing something else wrong...
Welcome RD!...or Puck!
Wow! Ok, you're a gear nut, that's evident! I lean far to the gizmo side myself, so I can tooootally dig it. Background in engineering, machining, manufacturing or EE maybe? Sounds like you have a solid grasp on the equipment end, kudos.
If I can share something from my most humble of travels; one of the most valuable lessons I ever learned was to change my energy when interfacing with any and all aspects of a growing thing. There are a million people here who are far more knowledgeable than I will probably ever be regarding the technical aspects of the grow (that's why MP is such a wonderful resource!), and I'll certainly defer to their expertise with respect to technique any day of the week.
My background is one that made good use of my inate ability and talent for systems and machinations, both analytically and practically. I was
really good at this. To my dismay, however, it suited growing living things very, very poorly. I quickly found that I fussed altogether too much over my grows and gained poorly for it. I couldn't understand it! I had read all the literature, asked all the questions. Gotten all the right and timely advice, and had applied this with exacting precision. My operation was nothing short of surgical. It was spectacular, and was constantly having some problem. Again, I simply couldn't understand how such a smart guy, who surely paid closer attention to every single parameter of my grow than the average bear, could possibly be having problems. I had every GreenAir control device known to man, I had CO2, I had excellent light distribution, I had super-efficient on-demand ventilation coordinated perfectly with my CO2 and humidity controls, I had the best nutes, butyric acid, aerosol feminizers, I had top of the line pumps, even my airstones were bionic. No joy. Enter Mrs. Snax.
My wife - a born green-thumb, hero-to-animals, and supermom - counselled me to change my "energy," if you will, to one of a more analog, right-brain, fluid nature. It was weird at first and I didn't understand very well, but I kept at it, even talking to them (Nowadays I carry on huge conversations with my girls, much to the delight of my family who love to rib me about it). It worked like a charm! That was 15 years ago. I'm sold.
I know this sounds pretty woo-woo, and I don't blame you if you're rollin' your eyes, but I'm tellin' you there's something to it. I can't tell you the "how," at least not in an empirical way, but when I "backed-off," from an energetic standpoint, it allowed things to just happen. I believe that people who naturally display a demeanor more towards that end of the spectrum are those who we come to call "green thumbs." It's not magic (but close!) that's just the way they are naturally, where someone like me might be far more left-brain alpha types.
If I've mis-pegged your circumstance, please except my humble apologies. I just thought I might have detected a problem similar to mine, and I wish to help, now and always.
Success in all your growing endeavors my friend, you have certainly chosen the right place to seek knowledge.
~Snax (He Who Lurks)
