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4.5
100% seed germination rate for me by using these. I'll never again go back to using a wet paper towel or glass of water and then planting a seed with a short taproot under soil.My process is moistening the rooter, putting the seed in, and tearing off a small piece of the rooter and placing it on top the hole to keep the inside dark. I place the rooter inside a transparent egg carton to maintain humidity and to be able to see its top and bottom, and place the carton on a window sill inside where temperature is approximately 73-75F. I open the egg carton once a day to give it a splash of water. After exactly 4-5 days every time (see attached photo from a day 4), the seedling pushes through the top piece to reach for the sun, and a white taproot pokes through the bottom of the rooter. At that point I plant the seedling and rooter in a pot of moist soil.I keep the leftover rooters in the freezer in the provided zipped bag to preserve, and when it comes time to germinate another seed I simply defrost the bag, pull out a rooter, and repeat the process.While in the past I've had germination success using the paper towel and glass of water methods, often times shortly after planting in soil, the seedling would die because it was still too young and fragile to be able to handle the elements. These rooters provide a safe, comfortable environment for seedlings to grow beyond only sprouting a short taproot. With these rooters, after the seedling has sprouted above the hole and the white taproot pokes through the bottom, it can handle being planted directly in moist soil without fear of the seedling dying beneath the soil.Might not be the cheapest option, but starting seeds in these things for my NFT is super easy. I can start directly in my 2 inch net cup, which means an easy transfer from seeding try to larger system. I wish they were just a bit bigger around, but I suspect they fit tightly in 1 inch cups, and loosely in 2 inch cups.At first I thought these were the best thing ever. Now that I have more time at the helm, I realize it was my inexperience. All you need to clone is a bit of a clone jell, rooter, aspirin, mild acid, OR as ive discovered...nothing. 9 of 10 cuttings take anyway nowadays.. You have to be mean to them. withhold spray but keep it humid, dont mist after day4 unless they are dieing!, stop being nice, smack them into line, they will respond and root.I'm really happy with these plugs. I have only used it for cuttings but my success rate went way up over using potting medium. I rooted this after about 2 weeks. I know this plant (don't know the name...got it from my neighbor) is supposed to grow very vigorously but was surprised at how it works. I have also used it for bouganvillea cuttings with good success.I do a lot of starter plants and these work really well. I don't have to add any nutrients, which is a bonus for me.Glad I did not go with the rockwool.Holds lots of water completely as long as it is kept wet. Like a sponge, it can be shaped into its grow cell easily. Some seeds like the soaking media if it’s always kept in water.just what i was looking forThese grew beautifully. HOWEVER, I dumped all of my plants (two months of work), when I found out that each plug was contaminated with heavy metal LEAD (Pb). See the photos. Lead causes irreversible damage in all ages.Why knowingly eat something that has lead in it?I asked for a refund but did not receive unless I returned the plugs.The retailer says it stood by its refund policy. I stand by my review.Will search for something without heavy metal LEAD in it.I bought these along with some rockwool when starting my hydroponic hobby. I wanted to see how these compared to the rock wool in terms of germination, rooting and overall plant health. So I planted the same seeds in Rapid Rooter and rockwool. I placed them in the same germination setup with a controlled temperature of 75 degrees. For this experiment Lettuce and Swiss Chard was used. After the first 48 hours both media had sprouts. The Rapid Rooter group had small roots already forming. With another 48 hours the roots in the rapid rooter group EXPLODED. The root growth was unbelievable. The rockwool still had none. The rapid rooter group is now ready to be moved to their DWC to continue growing while the rock wool roots are barely visible.I would recommend this product to anyone looking to germinate their seeds quickly and healthy.I was looking for some kind of medium to start my own seedlings in my Click & Grow but I found their medium to expensive ($3.25 cad for an empty germinating pod). I decided to give these a try. Although they are smaller than the cup, they have bulked up after a few days in the Click & Grow cups and my seedlings have started germinating.*** UPDATE *** 4 months laterAfter using these pods for months now I can definitely confirm that although all my lettuce has grown perfectly well, I have experienced a serious problem with thrips which have damaged my hydroponic crops. From further investigation, I found out that thrip eggs could be found in coco coir which is the medium used for these pods. I baked the remaining pods at 200F for 30 minutes, however that did not resolve the problem in my subsequent planting. I'm very disappointed and can no longer recommend these pods and will have to look for an alternative medium.Got these to replace my old plugs from the Rapid Rooter tray, which I am using to clone a LOT of roses. I am happy to report that this magic material is like heaven to plants, and they basically don’t even notice they are no longer attached to the parent plant—they just keep on growing.I actually have a few with buds already. They are a few inches tall, and ready to bloom!These Rapid Rooter plugs have totally changed my garden game, and they are going to save me thousands of dollars in buying roses and other perennials.The neighbors are going to be very, very jealous.These work excellent for rooting clones. I just used one as a test and it rooted way faster than with a jiffy pellet. Some people say they mold up because they are moist in the bag. I am not going to go through the whole bag any time soon so I just froze them so they don’t get funky and will take them out as I need them. I am sure they will be fine after freezing.
