Hydroponics Made Easy

CHAPTER 9
PROPAGATION AND SEEDLING RAISING
Raising your own seedlings is easy, inexpensive and effective.
There are significant advantages to raising your own seedlings. You can make relatively sure that you raise plants that do not have a genetic disposition towards disease and pest infestation. This applies particularly to the soil borne diseases that are apt to affect tomatoes. You get to select the variety which gives you the chance to select plant stock on its merit as regards taste, texture and all round edible appeal rather than on potential yield. Most stores have many times the range of seed compared to the range of seedlings and specialist stored have an even greater selection. You can select seed types that have been shown to be suited to local conditions. A product from Autopot, a capillary action propagator makes the job of raising healthy, vigorous seedling about as easy as it could be. It is equally suited to producing seedlings indoors or outdoors.

A tomato seedling in an Oasis propagating cube.

Propagating with the Autopot propagator

Sowing seed can be so easy. Place a single seed in a Jiffy Pot, growool cube or a small container filled with perlite. There are lots of containers that are suitable. They should be as small as possible. The single serve plastic disposable yoghurt containers are very good. Make sure that they have adequate holes in the bottom rim. Holes about 2mm across big enough to allow water to get in easily, smaller than the perlite particles. You can even recycle your egg cartons, which are excellent for the job. Gently flood water into the pot, cube or container so that you neither wash the seed out nor wash the perlite out. It is easier if you have a large diameter container to put about 30mm of water in the container and then sit the cubes or pots in this until they are thoroughly saturated. The purpose of this is to get the media completely saturated so that it will maintain future absorption by capillary action. This is the first and only time that you need to carry out this procedure. Place the cubes or containers in the propagator on the mat and leave them until they are growing vigorously and ready for transplanting
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The Jiffy pellet on the right swells to the size on the left after absorbing water. .

Tomato seedlings raised on heated Autopot Capillary beds.

Hydroponics Made Easy

The propagating tray does all the rest. No daily watering. No maintenance, and great results.

Direct Sowing.

Seasonal influences
Apart from mid winter when it is advisable to have your propagator indoors, the only mandatory requirements is for a good supply of light. In mid winter the normal house warming is ample, but make sure you have the Propagator near a window or use artificial growlights.

Sow direct into growing containers

There are many plants that are easy and practical to sow direct into their intended growing containers. Beans, capsicums, chillies and even potatoes are good candidates for this. Half fill the growing container with your selected growing medium and direct plant???? as you would in any conventional situation. As the plant starts to grow, back fill the pot with more medium. Placing medium around the stem is not a problem as it would be in garden soil. Direct sowing is recommended for warm to hot seasons or areas and less suited to cold seasons or areas.

Plants with large seeds can be sown directly into the pot. Beans and peas are good examples. Watering from below by capillary action is recommended.Glass sheet is needed as

Sowing fine seeds.

Glass sheet.

Sowing very fine seeds

Plants like begonias that have seed as fine as dust and other very small seed plants require a different technique. Use small containers that have adequate drainage and fill them with a medium, perlite being the preferred medium. Slightly firm the perlite then sprinkle a little of the seed over the surface and cover with a further 5mm layer of perlite. Sit the container in water and allow time for the perlite to become saturated. If all the water is absorbed into the perlite add more. Do not water from the top as this will displace the seeds. When you are sure that the perlite is fully saturated, place the containers into the propagator and leave them there until they are ready to transplant.

Perlite/ Vermiculite Mix

Watering from below.

Use a mixture of 70/30 perlite and vermiculite mix. Sow the fine seeds on top of the mix and cover with a sheet of glass. Stand the pot in a shallow disc of water. Open the cover once a day to aerate the pot. Once the seedlings are about an inch tall, you do not need the cover anymore. Feeding can start immediately after germination by adding nutrients at half strength to the water.

Growing from cuttings

Take cuttings in the normal way. Place them in a growool cube or perlite filled pot. Water lightly once form the top and sit the containers on the mat in the propagator until they are growing vigorously then transplant. Did you know that you can grow tomatoes from cuttings ? We do this regularly and it is all too easy. Simply snip a nice, disease free three inch section from a growing tip and follow the above procedure. How easy could it be ?
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Hydroponics Made Easy

Bottom Heating

Autopot Capillary Propagator

Autopot CapPlus watering trays are ideal for raising seedlings and propagating cuttings. Just place the germination trays or pots on the CapPlus tables and the matting below with take care of the watering. Excellent results have been achieved without the need for misting for most plants. You can use a wide range of propagating media with good success. 100% perlite or mix with different quantities of vermiculite, or a mix of perlite with different proportions of potting mix or peat moss. *****

Bottom heating, particularly when night temperatures fall below 20 deg. C, will make a huge difference in the speed and success rate of propagation. Cuttings are struck and seedlings raised in half the time.

How Does The CapPlus Tables

Pot plant Channel Capillary mat

Picture shows a heat pad that caters for a single standard seedling tray.

Water

- Water from the channel is drawn up the capillary matting and into the pot by capillary action. This creates a good level of moisture in the pot. As the plant uses up the water, the growing media gradually dries up. As more water is drawn from the tray, a time will come when the water in the channels of the CapPlus tray dries out completely. At this point, even though the there is no water in the channels, the capillary matting and the potting mix still hold some moisture, sufficient to prevent wilting, it never dries out completely. At the same time, the Smart-valve which has the capacity to detect the absence of water in the channels, automatically releases another consignment of water to fill the channels to their original level. This completes one watering cycle. - The valve can be fed from a tank by gravity or from the water main via a pressure reduction valve.

Sectional View

1260 mm

750 mm

Channels for distribution of water

Healthy tomato seedlings being raised on a slab of rockwool.

Smart-valve

Interlocking grip

Top view of a CapPlus tray

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Standard propagation tray in use for striking cuttings.

Hydroponics Made Easy

Setting up a CapPlus Tray

Water supply can be connected to the water mains using a pressure reduction valve.
Seedling trays

Heat pad

Tap permanently turned on.

Y tap connector

CapPlus Tray with bottom heating option

Pressure regulator - maintains a constant low working pressure.

Bottom heating speeds up rooting of cuttings and germination of seeds. This 1260 x 750 mm (4ft x 2.5ft) heat pad can be attached to the bottom of the CapPlus table.

Hydrotank 35L nutrient can be added.

Filter

Seedling trays

Marix Root control mat

Capillary matting 600

Leg

CapPlus tray

Smart-valve Mk2 Adjustable footing

Sectional View of a Working CapPlus Unit