Starting seedlings with grow cubes

Grow Cubes for seedlings are a great invention for the hydroponic gardener. They are small cubes in which you germinate a seed and then transplant the entire cube with seedling directly into a hydroponics system.

I use 2 brands; Jiffy-7 and Grodan. Jiffy-7's are small round, compressed discs of mainly peat moss wrapped in a plastic mesh. When the cube is watered it expands (you loosen the mesh) and you place a seed into the center for germination.

Grodan cubes are made of compressed rockwool pressed into sheets. A seed is pressed into a ready-made hole in the center of the cube for germination.

Cubes can be placed directly into hydroponic systems for germination or they can be used 'stand-alone' for germination and later transplanted to a hydroponics garden.

So there is no more need of separate flower pots or trays for germination - just use a cube and place cube and seedling directly into any kind of hydroponics system. Rockwool is marketed mainly for NFT and drip while Jiffy-7's seem to work best with systems using growing medium.

I have had mainly a good experience with both types of grow cubes but prefer Jiffy-7s at the moment. Grodan cubes seem to have a super water retention ability which caused many of my seedlings to die of 'damping-off' disease.

This was not Grodan's fault, it was mine - I have always had a tendency to overwater... whereas Jiffy-7's seem to fit very well into how I germinate and water. I would heartily recommend both brands so if you have not tried them out yet, you are missing out!

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