I am going to grow outdoors in 30 gallon smart pots, notill soil, and I am curious about 2 methods of beginning things off that I have been told about:
Germinate in jiffy pellets indoors. When they sprout, transplant immediately to the big 30gal pots outside.
Weeks earlier than method #1 - Germinate in 4" pots indoors. When they sprout, continue growing indoors, under light, until 6-8 inches. Then harden off and transplant to the 30gal pots outside.
Will both of these methods work fine, and if so, is the only benefit of #2 increased plant size in the end? I actually don’t need the plants to be huge, I’ll be very happy with “good” to “very good” yields So the easier the start the better for me.
Personally I like the idea of germinating indoors and establishing good growth indoors because of the ability to better control conditions. So option 2 with the modification I sprout in water with a little hydrogen peroxide.
First of all welcome to the forum. Great bunch with some great knowledge .
I’m with @beardless on this one, indoors to provide the best start then outdoors if that’s your thing. Not a fan of the peat plugs as they’re either too wet or dry out completely. Both methods will work but indoors you have more control
Thank you both, appreciate the opinions! I will definitely go ahead and start indoor then.
And thank you for the welcome. I have definitely noticed the high level of positivity and helpfulness on this forum after reading for only a few days. Nice to see.
That’s the truth I haven’t seen such a bunch of positive people on the internet in 20 years. That was the shroomery back in the day…wonder if that’s still around.
@greenblood I’m new too, welcome. I have one harvest under my belt and seedlings going. I use the wet paper towel between 2 plates method. I’ve only had one dude. Then into a solo cup with a dampened dome. When there are a couple of layers, into the final growing pot. The reason I have used the plates is that I can see when they germinate. Good luck, have fun, be careful!
Well seems #2 is certainly unanimous. Thank you all! I will also check out the paper towel method before planting in the 4" pots.
So am I right in thinking that the easiest way to do this is to buy myself a small propagation tent (at least just big enough to hold my 4 x 4" pots and grow them tall enough for transplant) with a light?
You know… some of the best plants I have ever grown were a seed dropped into a hole 1/2 deep directly into vegetable garden soil, a little water and some patience and BAM! Marijauna plants! It actually works.
You don’t specifically need a tent or really anything to germinate seeds and veg them for a little while. As long as you can keep them warm enough you can but them on a table in the corner if you want. But if a tent makes sense, certainly doesn’t hurt.
I agree with others too, never really liked the peat pellets.
Fair enough, that sounds cool. I just read in a few places to germinate indoors and then grow indoors to 8 inches (roughly) before hardening them off and transplanting to my 30 gallons outside. I just didn’t think you could grow them that tall indoors without some artificial light help. I am very new to this
Hi, I’m a first time grower. I don’t think you mentioned whether your seeds are autoloader or not but that might make a difference in how to germinate. Mine were Northern Lights, Amnesia Haze, and Blueberry…all auto flowers. Growing all three outdoors in 5 gallon buckets. Started all indoors directly in small peat pots and they all germinated in 2 days without pre-soaking or hydrogen peroxide etc. Transplanted all when they had second set of true leaves.
The plants are all 7 weeks old today and doing well but all very different in their development. NL and BB both 4 feet tall. The AH stopped growing vertically at 22" but has more developed flowers so far. The BB was originally a runt…very small but it had a huge growth spurt but is lagging with flower development.
You’re spot on, I did forget to specify. All my seeds are fem’d photoperiod. From my understanding, I could germinate early spring for a longer veg phase = bigger plants, or a bit later for shorter veg phase = smaller plants… but I’m not 100% on that.
The only think I remember reading was that autoflowers don’t like to be transplanted as well as photo period so I was very careful about it. I transplanted mine in the peat pots but carefully removed the bottom not to disturb the roots. One thing I would do differently in my next grow would be not to leave as much room in the top of my buckets but I have occasionally backfilled as necessary.
You will want some decent (at least) artificial lighting to get to said eight inches. You will end up with some super lanky girls if you try the windowsill method.
So the easier the start the better for me.
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