Plants have passed the germination stage, when they are extremely sensitive and have reached the growth stage, where they prepare the infrastructure to begin flowering. Simple principles will be explained in this article, whose observance will ensure a transition into the truly exciting stage - blossoming.
Congratulations, the germination stage is over, you now ready to plant the seedlings.
What are the next steps?
Three types of growing media exist: soil, coconut, and Hydroton (clay pebbles). Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Coconut or soil are good choices for beginners.
Substrates like these can absorb mistakes made by beginners and, in most cases, the damage won't be irreversible, unlike Hydroton, a substrate that does not forgive and requires constant water testing.
Growing in a Hydroton while following all the conditions will yield excellent fruits, but growing on a coconut substrate will yield almost the same amount of good fruits and will be simpler for the grower.
Fill the new pot with the growing medium until half of it is full. Put the substrate in water with an acidity of 5.5 - 6.0 maximum. Make sure you have another dry-growing medium nearby.
As you turn the glass, carefully place your palm on the surface where the seedling is located with the stem between your fingers and slide the medium and seedling into your palm as a lump.
Slowly and gently invert (while supporting) the seedling into the center of the new pot after removing the cup. Fill the rest of the pot gently with the dry substrate. The substrate should not be compressed or pressed - it should remain airy.
Best acidity (PH) is 5.5 - 6.0
Ideally, choose a pot that does not exceed (approximately) 3.5 liters. Although the size of the pot will determine the maximum size of the plant, under no circumstances should a small plant be transferred to a pot that is too large - excessive water will cause the roots to rot if the plant cannot absorb all the water the substrate has absorbed.
If you use the Hydroshop complete kits, you can transfer the plant to a big pot from the start, because we control the water. The smart controller is designed to do this.
The seedling will now be transferred to the larger pot.
Be especially careful at this stage - the roots of the seedling are extremely delicate, and damage to them could lead to its death.
It is recommended not to water the plants before moving so that all roots are in one block at the time of the move.
You should balance the irrigation water to 5.5 - 6.0 pH before adding fertilizer or turning on any Hydroshop kits' Fertigation dosing pump.
If you are using chemical (mineral) fertilization and you are not measuring the E.C values, add the fertilizers one at a time with light mixing in between, do not exceed 50% of the dose indicated in the table. This is especially true if you are using tap water rather than filtered (osmosis) water.
Make sure the PH level is balanced again.
Recommendation:
The plant will be allowed to break down what is in the soil if the growing medium is soil (even if it is a light mixture) without fertilizer during the 3-5 days.
From day 4-6, start with 50% of the recommended fertilizer.
If there are no problems after a week, you can increase the dose to 75%, but never higher unless you use osmosis water.
Growers divided into 2 - the ones prefer organic fertilizer and the one's using regular fertilizer. With our experience, the regular fertilizer is better, if of course you know how to mix it into a solutions. Using our Fertigation unit, is possible with regular fertilizers or organic fertilizer based on water (NOT OIL). Hydroshop fertilizer solution is included with all our kits, and can be purchased additionally upon demand HERE.
A yellowing of the leaves or folds on the edges of the leaves indicates an excess of fertilizer or a problem with the soil's pH.
To solve this problem, we must do the "washing" process:
Take an amount of water three times the volume of the pot (example: if the pot is 3.5 liters - take 3.5X3=10.5 liters), balance it (add the correct PH and EC levels), and water the plant finishing the solution.
The purpose of this process is to remove unwanted salts from the plant's root zone. Dry the substrate and fertilize as usual, but reduce the amount by 20-25%.
The pH of osmosis water can vary greatly from that of tap water or mineral water. The balancing material should therefore be used at about a tenth of its original amount! You should not use clean osmosis water to wash your plants.
The ideal pH balance in watering plants is 5.5 - 6.0.
At this stage, plants need 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness per day. The lighting you have should be connected to an electricity timer or the Hydroshop timer designed for this purpose.
During plant growth, plants need "blue" lighting - either LED, fluorescent, or metal halide.
It is recommended to place the bulb a few inches below the top of the plant, and to gradually raise it as the plant grows. In order to make sure that metal halide bulbs do not create too much heat, you must do A/B testing - place them 60 cm from the top of the plant and lower them by 10 cm every day to a maximum of 30 cm - and only if the bulb is enclosed in a closed reflector.
It is essential that the plant is adequately ventilated.
When a plant is overheated, its leaves can turn yellow or fold upwards.
It is recommended to keep breeding spaces between 22 and 28 degrees. Also it is necessary to check the temperature using a thermometer, preferably a laser thermometer.
It is recommended that growth spaces be relatively humid, around 50%.
Ensure proper ventilation and air circulation in the growth space.
Plants require fresh air to survive, just like humans.
It is mature enough to flower when it reaches 6-7 "levels" or more and is about 30 cm in height.
The plant advances to this stage by extending its night to 12 hours. Lighting times should be changed from 6/18 to 12/12. After a few days to two weeks, the plant will show its species.
Recommendation:
Don't transfer low and underdeveloped plants to flowering, and don't transfer plants taller than 30 cm to flowering.
Change the light time to 12/12 at flowering stage