My first attempt at seed starting didn't go so well. Where I went wrong was to pretty much export my dirt seed starting methods to the hydroponic material. It also didn't help that my tap water is 8+ on the PH and I didn't correct it down.
The 2nd try is going much better so far. In fact, I've never seen seeds start this fast or as well before. I'm using rockwool cubes, and I figured out they must be PH corrected before you use them. A few drops of muriatic acid to a gallon of water brought the PH down. I also added some hydroponic fertilizer (diluted to about 1/3rd normal strength) and a product called Rapid Start to give things a jump start. Final PH is 5.5. Mixing up the nutes and correcting the PH is the hard part (it isn't that hard). The rest is pretty simple. I laid down a heating pad, a towel on top of that, and a 1020 tray filled with the water and rockwool cubes, then just dropped a (single) seed in each hole. I covered the tray and placed a light over it set on a timer for 12 hours per day. This was last Sunday and now just 5 days later I am already starting to transplant today. 5 of the 7 bush bean seeds I planted are already 5" tall and have a 4" tap root with the other two not far behind. Practically every single seed has germinated. My tomatoes and lettuce should be ready to transplant pretty soon as they are taking off very fast as well. Most of the pepper seeds are just starting to break the surface and the others are just a bit behind.
The fill and drain system is fully operational with 6 buckets and is filling and draining 3 times per day like clockwork. I have 5 DWC buckets all ready to go with one operational. This weekend I should get about 6 Kratky buckets built which I plan to use for lettuce.
= new reply since forum marked as read
