Thread: Seedling medium
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Old 10-13-2009, 12:07 PM
Undergrounder Undergrounder is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sydney
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Yep it's just S/H with perlite instead of LECA, and with a communal reservoir instead of single pots for ease of watering. I happily keep close to a thousand plants using this method and i spend about 10 mins each week watering, just filling up the reservoirs.

Keep in mind shared water systems are -supposedly- a good way to share virus and bacterial infection. I've never had either problem and you should do better with the physan anyway. But to be sure, i would not introduce older plants, or plants you haven't raised from flask yourself into the system just in case you import a nasty pseudomona or virus. In theory it's possible. Frankly i think the danger is overstated but i wouldn't cut corners.

I use those 50mm square seedling pots because i deflask them individually so i can move them about easier and don't need to repot as quickly. But you could use a larger compot with the same idea, or even a flat seedling tray for even larger scale. Size of pot isn't really important. If you use a pot with large holes, put some fly screen mesh in the bottom to stop the perlite seeping out. Make sure you wash the perlite before use as well to wash out the powder.

Sadly yes i do spend about half an hour every time i deflask in front of the stove with a hot nail and a pair of pliers poking new holes in the pots. I don't think this is absolutely necessary, but a little injection of air right into the heart of the pot can only do the roots good, especially considering the bottom of the pot is sealed off from the air because it's in water.

As you can see i use one and then two T8 fluorescents to grow them under.

Picture of the system on the back wall of my basement:
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Seedling medium-system.jpg  
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