Germinating Seeds the Hydroponic Way
Dreaming of growing success? Don’t be at the mercy of starting your seeds in soil. Common soils frequently contain insects or fungi that can devastate little seedlings. Luckily, sprouting seeds hydroponically wins out over traditional germinating methods every time. For one thing, because you’ll begin with a clean hydroponic growing medium, your plants are far less likely to fall prey to pests and diseases. And if you hate weeding, you’ll be in hydroponic heaven. Your plants will be healthy and hale because everything they need in terms of nutrition is formulated specifically, easy to target, and readily-available from seed-time to table or market. Hydroponic growing systems help to prevent root rot, a common problem caused by overwatering. Using hydroponic growing mediums also ensures the nutritional balance healthy plants require. If you’re just starting out, you’ll be amazed at the amount of control you can now exert over both germinating and growing from seed to ready to harvest plants when compared to growing in soil.
In hydroponics, growers use nutrient solutions in place of plain water and conventional fertilizers. When growing hydroponically, you’ll need to add all of the nutrients the plant needs to the water. Some growers say you should use only distilled water. As far as purity is concerned, however, filtered tap water or rain water generally work fine. Steer clear of soft water that may have high salt content that slows growth or mineral water which can tend to foster algae bloom. You can find a wide variety of nutrient mixes for specific crops and growth cycles at a hydroponics supply store.
Seeds need two more things to sprout successfully – oxygen and water. The growing medium must provide just the right amounts of each, or the seed will wither or rot and die. The best germinating materials have spongy, porous characteristics. They include rockwool cubes, perlite, Styrofoam and vermiculite or a combination. These make for great drainage and oxygenation, helping growers to avoid deterioration and disease. Once seeds have sprouted, growing mediums also include expanded clay, sand, pea gravel, and others. Some seeds, but not all, contain nutrients within their tissues to jumpstart successful germination. This isn’t true for all plant species, so often growers must supplement with additional nutrients to achieve success. It’s crucial to get the proportions of these just right. To avoid stress to seeds at critically vulnerable points, gardeners should use growing mediums preprepared with a low concentration of nutrients. The first few waterings deliver very small nutrient doses. This helps ensure that young seedlings don’t “burn.”
After several days, growers should switch to a standard nutritional solution, but keep it at around half of the manufacturer’s recommended strength until the sprouts reach about 3 inches tall and begin to look hardy. At that point, growers transplant the seedlings. Once the grower is set up, the entire growing mediums need a dose of hydroponic nutrient. At that point, gardeners can begin using the manufacturer’s recommended daily allowance of nutrients. Some growers suggest soaking seeds in water prior to germinating. They feel that this allows permeation of the seed’s coat to enable the sprout to emerge more easily. With hydroponics, we don’t recommend pre-soaking seeds unless the particular plant species specifically requires it for germination. For example, some fruit plant seeds have evolved extra strong shells. This is because they rely on birds carrying them in their beaks to more hospitable growing conditions or animals eating and dispersing them as they, uh, poop. And on that note… Let’s see whether you’re ready to impress a hydroponics party crowd yet. Check your knowlage read our next article.
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