Welcome to the weekly overview, the place you will find a brief description of the week ahead along with any notifications that will be sent.
Your seed is tucked into it’s dampened coco pod and should be dangling above the water, allowing the airstone to send it’s bubbles to the surface, keeping the coco pod at the perfect moisture/oxygen mix to allow your seed to pop.
Your Grobo is helping your seedling germinate!
Seeds are prompted to germinate by 3 things.
Water: Soaking seeds in water allows moisture to penetrate the protective seed shell within minutes. Once inside, moisture continues to wick in to activate the dominant hormones. In a few days, hormones activate and send enough signals to produce an initial root tip. The white radicle (rootlet) emerges to bring a new plant into the world. Once a seed is moist, it must receive a constant flow of moisture to transport nutrients, hormones, and water so that it can carry on life processes. Some seeds need lots of moisture to wash out the dormancy hormones in the seed coat, and if they do not get enough moisture, they do not germinate. Conversely, too much water deprives the seed of oxygen, reducing its quality or destroying it. If fragile germinated seeds are allowed to suffer moisture stress now, seedling growth will be stunted. Soaking most seeds in water for 12 to 24 hours is all they need to initiate germination. All the nourishment for a seed’s initial growth requirement is pulled from the fleshy cotyledons, or seed leaves. Some gardeners prefer to germinate seeds using distilled or purified water that contains virtually no dissolved solids.
Temperature: Overall, cannabis seeds germinate in temperatures from 70°F–90°F (21°C–32°C) and grow best at 78°F (26°C). Temperatures below 70°F (21°C) and above 90°F (32°C) impair germination. Low temperatures delay germination. High temperatures upset seed chemistry causing poor germination. Seeds germinate best under the native conditions and temperature ranges where they were grown.
Air & Oxygen: Sow seeds twice as deep as the width of the seed. For example, 0.125-inch (3 mm) seeds should be planted 0.25 inches (6 mm) deep. Adequate oxygen is unavailable for seeds planted too deeply, and tender seedlings have insufficient stored energy to drive through deep layers of soil or crusty hard soil when sprouting."
Your seed should be popping soon!
Cannabis seeds need only water, heat, and air to break dormancy and germinate. Seeds sprout without light in a range of temperatures. Strong, viable, properly nurtured seeds germinate in 2 to 7 days. At germination, the outside protective shell of the seed splits, and a tiny, white sprout (radicle) pops out. This sprout is the root, or taproot. Cotyledon, or seed, leaves emerge on a stem from within the shell as they push upward in search of light.
At 36 to 96 hours – Water is absorbed, root tip (radicle) pops through outer shell and is visible.
At 10 to 14 days – First roots and root hairs become visible.
At 21 to 30 days – At least half of seeds are rooted by day 21. Seeds not rooted by day 30 will probably grow slowly.
Your Grobo needs more water.
During germination it is important to keep your Coco Pod moist, to ensure your seed will pop. You may notice there are several different water levels the Grobo can utilize. During the first 10 days we are filling to the high water level. You can simply add more water now to replace any lost from evaporation, no need for a drain yet.
Using the best water for your plant?
Water quality is an important aspect when growing cannabis and plays an essential role in your cannabis’ health and development. When using hydroponics to grow plants you have three options: tap water, reverse osmosis (RO) water or distilled water. For now, we will combine RO and distilled into the same category.
Using RO or distilled water in the Grobo puts your cannabis at an advantage, as these waters have no chemicals or contaminants that can harm your plant. It provides your Grobo a clean slate which allows the system to know what’s in the water and to deliver the precise amount of nutrients needed for your plant to thrive.
Compared to growing with tap water, which is not recommended as many cities treat the water with a number of chemicals to eliminate contaminants, you are introducing many of these chemicals that could harm your plant’s health and growth. For example, chlorine that is used in tap water has properties that kill off the beneficial fungi and bacteria found in plants that could stunt plant growth and reduce harvest weight. Similarly, because the baseline for your water starts at a higher concentration from the random particulates, your Grobo system is more likely to use more of the nutrients to create the perfect environment for your plant to thrive by balancing out the water. However, as a general rule, if you do not drink water from the tap, then your plants should not either—use reverse osmosis water to grow your cannabis.
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Your Grobo’s water needs to be replaced.
When growing in a DWC system, it is important to completely change out the nutrient solution. This helps you have less chance of getting root rot and also ensures you are always feeding FRESH nutrient rich solution to your plants.