seedling care in hydro-system

[tryguy2011]

Im in coco is it okay to hook my brand new seedlings up to the drip system 2 times a day, or does the coco need to dry out some?

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

I'm such a noob, don't take what I say as "final".. but.. I believe for the first few weeks of veg, you only turn it on once a day or even every other day. Feel the weight and judge it, you really can tell the difference. Also, use a spray bottle to get the tops very gently.

With that said, wait until someone that actually knows what they are talking about to come in here and elaborate or even correct what I just said

Green mojo to you!

 

[Hushpuppy]

What Ellis said isn't wrong, but coco drains really well and doesn't need to dry out much as it will dry quickly. If you want to hook up a watering system, that is not a problem, just make sure the water that you are using isn't nuted for the first 2weeks of the seedling's life and make sure that the water is thoroughly aerated so that the seedlings' roots don't drown. watering twice a day for like 3 minutes, or just enough to thoroughly wet the coco is good.

 

[tryguy2011]

Ive been watering seedlings with 250ppm of grow solution ph to 6.0 for root growth.

 

[tryguy2011]

I use 18 gallon rez with a circ pump for aeration

 

[Hushpuppy]

I wouldn't use any nutrients for seedlings as they are in the process of growing roots which are very tender and susceptable to nutrient burn. Coco is very good for holding nutrients and could possibly burn the seedlings(but maybe not). You don't have to feed seedlings as they have built-in nutrients in the form of the little round "seed-leaves" called cotyledons. Those will feed the seedling for about 2-3 weeks depending on how fast the plant grows. I just give them water at 6.5PH until I see the cotyledons begin to turn yellow, then I begin the 250ppm with a little root stimulator for the first week. Then I raise the ppm to 400-500 for the second and 3rd weeks depending on how vigorous they are growing.

I would also get an air pump and air stone from the pet store(the kind that is used for an aquarium). Having a circulation pump is good but if the rez is closed to keep light and dust/debris out then there is no fresh air getting in there to areate the water. If you don't have a lid on it to keep light out, you need to get one so that you don't have algae grow in it.