The Rapid Rooters, says Worm's Way Store Manager Ryan Tenuta, are their favorite seed-starting medium because they're alive, with large populations of the beneficial microbes called Mycorrhizal fungi that colonize the roots, helping plants maximize nutrient uptake and resist disease. And they're very simple to use - the plugs come in trays so gardeners just add seeds and water.
For gardeners who expect to transplant their seedlings to a traditional garden, hydroponic seed starting offers a series of benefits, including ease of use, a minimum of mess and a sterile medium that helps protect vulnerable seedlings from soil-borne diseases like damping off. "They're idiot-proof," quips Doug Millar, sales and marketing manager for General Hydroponics which manufactures the Rapid Rooter.
Other Options
Along with the new Rapid Rooters, other hydroponic options include rockwool, coir or coconut fiber, rockwool, peat and Oasis cubes - the same material used to arrange flowers. Peat, Oasis and coir hold the least amount of water, while Rapid Rooters hold the most, notes Evan Townsley, President of International Growers Supply in Los Angeles. "You can't water them all the same amount or some will be too wet and others will be too dry," he said.
Rockwool, a natural substance created using a process similar to the one that turns sugar into cotton candy, is more challenging for newbie hydroponic growers because it has a high pH that must be treated, Millar adds. "If you put seedlings or cuttings in untreated rockwool, they'll struggle." Once treated, however, rockwool is a mainstay of hydroponic gardening because it holds large quantities of both water and air.
source : hydroponicsearch
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