Growing in cotton!?

I haven't grown before. I hope I don't get too much negative feedback on this thread. Last week I put some seeds in a small pot with cotton by my window & watered a few times. I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips for an effective first time, if it's even possible to work with cotton.
Thanks!

Hi I have never ever heard of this being able to work and if they do sprout they will be looking for food and will only find cotton and most likely die

I bet it will work for seedlings but after they start vegging its not gonna work im gonna go out on a limb and say that the roots will out grow the cotton fairly fast as well as the cotton most likely will break down after a short time. It might be ok for now but your gonna need soil or something. If i where you i would go spend a couple bucks on a half gallon plastic pot and a large bag of soil as you will need the rest later for transplanting. At most it will cost you 15 bucks at a home depot lowes or even walmart. That being said if you have never grown before they get big fast after 1 month you are going to be running around like a chicken with your head cut off, but this site here is a great place to learn, almost everything has been done before and the do'd and donts can be learned here for sure. Good luck welcome and happy growing

ImSoCuteAndDying5150 said:

Hi I have never ever heard of this being able to work and if they do sprout they will be looking for food and will only find cotton and most likely die

Click to expand...

Untrue, thats like saying putting plants in rockwool cubes wouldnt work. All they would find is rockwool right?...wrong they just need water at first and not that much.

As for the original question i think it could work if the cotton retains water good enough or there are not to many air pockets. Im not sure but it seems like the cotton would break down after a while, maybe not though. Either way keep it up id personally like to know if this works just out of curiosity.

I might test the seedling in cotton thing it interest me and i have plenty of bagseed to waste crappy genetics seedling most of the time will not need any nutes for 2 or 3 weeks. Although i have had to feed 1 nutes after a week or so it was stunted until i fed that to them dunno why it was weird. Again best of luck to you fine gent or lady

Ok as a beginner and first-timer, I know I can provide it with enough water through the cotton and sunlight but what else should I do?
How often?
Nutes?
Excuse my ignorance in the area but it just interested me trying it out with cotton so I went ahead and gave it a shot.
Thanx @Twizzlor

Twizzlor said:

I might test the seedling in cotton thing it interest me and i have plenty of bagseed to waste crappy genetics seedling most of the time will not need any nutes for 2 or 3 weeks. Although i have had to feed 1 nutes after a week or so it was stunted until i fed that to them dunno why it was weird. Again best of luck to you fine gent or lady

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Previous response was for you, Twizzlor.
New to this thread posting and replying too -.-
Apologies.
-Bruno

MarsManRising said:

Untrue, thats like saying putting plants in rockwool cubes wouldnt work. All they would find is rockwool right?...wrong they just need water at first and not that much.

As for the original question i think it could work if the cotton retains water good enough or there are not to many air pockets. Im not sure but it seems like the cotton would break down after a while, maybe not though. Either way keep it up id personally like to know if this works just out of curiosity.

Click to expand...

Thanx MarsMan, will surely let ya know my outcome.!

Like I said "I" have never heard of this working the best of luck with your grow

I would think it will not retain enough water.

If it were a proven medium you would no doubt see more people doing it and more products "engineered for cotton"

Go for it though. Let us know how it turn out.

so I read this thread and I thought it probably wouldn't work, however I went to the google and apparently it does
http://www.aerogardengrowers.com/index.php?topic=3490.0
https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/130686-hydroponics-cotton.html
https://www.rollitup.org/aerogardeners/349641-cotton-ball-medium.html
go figure

MarsManRising said:

ImSoCuteAndDying5150 said:

Hi I have never ever heard of this being able to work and if they do sprout they will be looking for food and will only find cotton and most likely die

Click to expand...

Untrue, thats like saying putting plants in rockwool cubes wouldnt work. All they would find is rockwool right?...wrong they just need water at first and not that much.

As for the original question i think it could work if the cotton retains water good enough or there are not to many air pockets. Im not sure but it seems like the cotton would break down after a while, maybe not though. Either way keep it up id personally like to know if this works just out of curiosity.

Click to expand...

Using Cotton Balls as a Growing Medium
« on: March 09, 2010, 07:38:06 AM »

I used cotton balls instead of grow sponges in a Classic 7 unit to grow mesclun greens. It works.

However, I learned the hard way that you must either use your finger to make a hole for your seeds or lay them on top of the cotton balls. If you try to cover your seeds, they cannot make their way out through the cotton strands.

Advantages:

- Cheap
- Easy to find
- Completely biodegradable

Disadvantages:

- No nutrients in growing medium
- Nothing acidic to bring down PH

I have been using General Hydroponics nutrients, and the greens are growing like crazy.
Logged
Kathy ... Falling in love with gardening again.

http://1stratearticles.com/Articles/Aerogarden_and_Hydroponics/

Im sorry bruno but other then using the cotton for the first 3 weeks after the seeds pop i do not know how to go further. If you can keep the cotton moist and have enough to keep adding im assuming you might be able to go further maybe into veg. If you added nutrients i would go as little as possible once the 2 round looking leaves turn yellow and look like they are about to fall off, which they will its what the plants do. Id say give them 1/4 strength and see what happens. I am new myself and just going off of. My thinking which sometimes is logical lol. I havnt medicated in a few days so maybe google and research it. I dont want to lead you down the wrong path. Check out the links adjorr and imsocute posted. I dont have enough under my belt to be 100 % sure. Im going to germ a seed tonight in a cotton ball and see just how far i can grow a plant like it was in soil but with cotton balls just to document it. If it seems to work ill make a journal about it. If not ill make a post saying i failed for others to know not to try it.

couldnt you just mix in dolomite pellets with the cotton in advance to stabilize ph?

you would think this would work with a bottom feed hempy

personaly I would just use the tried and true method of growing, sitck a seed in soil add light and water and hope for the best. I wouldn't recommend growing in cotton even if it will in theory work as there are much better much more reliable methods that will most definatly yield more and be easier to do

It's possible that it might work, would be interesting to see how it does, however water will not be enough, you've got to give it some very mild nutrients to feed it, and I mean mild for the first one or two weeks, then you could increese the dosage as it gets bigger, which is what I do after the seed has popped in rockwool 2 to 3 days later, good luck and keep us posted.

ps: growing in cotton would be the same as hydro, you must maintain your water and nutrient ph at 5.8, that's important, and make sure you have good drainage, don't want the cotton to be soaked, just moist.

what about a polyester fill the plastic cotton stuff i wonder what the ph is on that stuff

Im gonna make a journal on the progression bruno, but if you want to actually grow a plant that has a better chance of survival like 80% unlike the cotton method which i will give a 35% chance i would use soil like adjorr has suggested just my personal feelings on that. Unless you are not worried of your plant dying from alot of unforseen issues that could arise

you might run into problems with how the cotton reacts when it gets wet.
The cotton might not allow enough air to get to the root system.

First grow beginner, your just asking for problems. IMO

But, good luck on your Grow.