Germinating Seeds the Hydroponic Way
Hydroponically germinating seeds has several advantages over
using soil to do the same job. This is
the best way to avoid many common diseases because the hydroponic medium is
clean. Soil may contain insects or fungus
that can harm vulnerable seedlings.
Using a good hydroponic growing system is also a good way to avoid root
rot. The area where hydroponic growing
is better than using soil is the control of the growing environment. The gardener is not at the mercy of the
soil's nutrients or water content with hydroponics. This will help to assure that the grower
alone will control every aspect of the plant's growing conditions. This can be a major advantage for young
seedlings as they will get the proper nutrients right from the start of their
life and will lead to much healthier plants in the long run.
Seeds require both oxygen and water to sprout while
germinating. The growing medium must
then provide sufficient amounts of both to the seed or it will not germinate. Mediums that are more porous, such as
Rockwool, perlite, or vermiculite, will do this and have great drainage
capabilities. Perlite makes another good
growing medium for germinating seeds as its porosity allows for good drainage
and oxygen availability. Many seeds
contain nutrients within their shell to provide initial nourishment to
jumpstart the germination process. This
is not true for all species of plants, however.
To avoid stressing the seed at a vulnerable point, the
gardener should use a medium that is pre-prepared with a low concentration of
nutrients. The first few initial times
the plants are watered will give the seeds a small dose of nutrients until it
is ready to absorb more. After a few
days the gardener should switch to a regular nutrient solution in the water and
keep it at a lower dose than normal until the seed shows significant
growth. After the plants have developed
strong and healthy stalks, they can be changed over to a normal feeding and
water program.
After the seeds have been planted, they should be watered
once a day with nutrient water. There
are a variety of opinions on the strength of the nutrient water. Many seeds have stored nutrients in their
tissues and do not need any additional hydroponic nutrients until they have
fully sprouted. Other seeds are very
small and have almost no stored materials.
In the production of hydroponic seed starting, the plants should start
out with a nutrient drenched media and add nutrient water every day. This water is a nutrient that is mixed half
strength to the nutrient that will be used in more mature plants. The hydroponic nutrient is mixed at half the
strength recommended by the manufacturer.
This is kept until the seedlings are about three inches tall and are
ready for transplant. Once the grower is
set up, the entire growing media's should be watered down with the hydroponic
nutrient. The seeds are then planted and
re-watered every day.
Some gardeners recommend soaking the seeds in water prior to
germinating them. This allows the seed
coat to become saturated with water to break open. However, presoaking is not recommended except
for seeds that actually require this before they will germinate. Some seeds have an extra strong seed coat
that inhibits germination. This is
common in larger seeds of plant fruits that expect to be eaten by an animal or
bird to disperse their seeds. Other
species, such as sea beans, expect to be pounded along a sea surface. To mimic
the natural processes, these types of seeds can be damaged in some way to break
the strong seed coat. Seeds are filed
with a metal file, rubbed with sandpaper, or cracked with a hamper to weaken
the seat coat. These forms of seed abuse
are necessary to get the seed to germinate.
These seeds should be planted after the process because they do not
store well.
