Hi all,
First time grower and not sure if this is a silly couple of questions…
Been told that you germinate the seeds in a damp paper towel and then once they sprout you place the seed with the sprout down into the rockwool, is this then it’s ‘tap root’ and the plant grows upwards?
Also been told to not use any grow formula for first 4-5 weeks???
I’ve never used rock wool cubes myself. There are different ways in which you can germinate the seeds. I myself use the paper towel method. I put the seed in a moist paper towel and mist it every once and a while to keep it moist I place the paper towel on a paper plate and take another paper plate and put it over the top like a cover. Once it sprouts I plant the root down in some seedling soil using tweezers. I have had %100 success using this method.
And you are correct the root that sprouts out of the seed is the tap root.
I usually don’t feed mine any nutes until it at least has 3 nodes. (Or 3 sets of true leafs)
Some people only use distilled water in seedlings. If you want to use tap water I would recommend investing in a PH meter to test the PH level of your water. Also if I’m not mistaken you will want to soak the rock wool cubes in PH balanced water prior to putting the seed in, another member who has used the rock wool cubes might be able to chyme in on that just to clarify.
Happy growing! And welcome to ILGM
soak the rock wool in water pH’ed to 5.5 for a few hours to overnight.
tear a piece of rock wool off to cover the seed after it’s placed inside.
wrap the side of the rock wool in foil
your plant shouldn’t be fed until like @Jmesser80 said, the third or fourth set of true leaves.