My first Hydoponic grow. My lettuce (Pflücksalat) in the cotton balls came up first 3 days ago…. Basal started coming up yesterday… Dill started coming up today… still waiting for parsley and mangold. I started watering with nutrients of 2 days ago with EC ~700 to 1000 and ph was 6 to 6.5 on each watering. A micro Masterblend mix with rainwater.
My light is a spider farmer light that is pleny bright and on a 13 hour timer. I lowered it today by ~4 cm… just because I am nervous.
I am worried that I will not get true growth leaves… as this happened before when I didn't give the nutrients at this phase.
I put some H202 in the nutrient mix but didn't measure it so I am worried. They look healthy though.
Happy for opinions / experience.
by Inner_Letterhead5871
2 Comments
1) get an app to measure ppfd. Photon or “ppfd meter” on android are good. Take the guesswork out of “good light” bc human eyes are fking awful at guessing what “bright” is.
2) too much moisture. The cotton balls should be damp, not saturated and sitting in water. I give my seedlings like 400 uS/cm solutions but im sure 900 is fine. If you see leaf tips burning you should absolutely reduce it. Truthfully, they dont need food.
3) h202 is ptobably not doing you any good. At best its killing some algae only caused by the fact you have nutrient solution soaked cotton balls, and providing minimal aeration/sterilization benefits. At worst, you damage or kill new roots if its too high a concenration. For comparison usually 3-5 mL of 3% h202 is added per gallon of resevoir to sterilize, 5-15 mL per galon to shock treatment. So for your few mL of water in the seed tray, youd need a drop or less.
First, Cotton balls are not a good grow media. I know it seems to be a trend right now however, cotton provides no structural support. Once roots emerge, they have nowhere to anchor. Cotton collapses and tangles easily, making transplanting a nightmare. They have very poor air flow. That can lead to anaerobic conditions and root rot if you’re not careful. Plus, cotton offers zero nutrition or buffering capacity. It’s just a wet sponge with no long-term value.
That being said, sprouting times vary based on the plant. Lettuce will spout pretty much anywhere there is some water. The average spouting period is from 7 – 14 days with some plants taking 45 days to sprout.
You said you added nutrients. That’s a big no no. Sprouts should not be exposed to nutrients until they’re actually seedlings with true leaves. Exposing them to nutrients before that will stunt growth and slow down progress. Spouts have all the nutrition they need from the cotyledon.
No need for H2O2 at this time either.
You’re also growing in coir. Did you rinse it and buffer it? If you’re using nutrients like [VBX](https://ugf.onl/products/vbx), you won’t need to buffer it. Otherwise, you need to soak it in Cal-Mag.
Here is a [germination guide ](https://ugf.onl/blogs/guides/seedstarting)that might help you.