Growin' hydro - no peat pellets etc.

I've decided to go hydro as I've gotten a new (bigger) space and the materials should be easier for me to get except for the pellets.

When you first germinate the seeds your supposed to put them in peat pellets or something similar, right? If I don't have any of them can I put the seedling straight into the hydroton or does it need something to retain water? Also, when do I put the light on the little bugger? During germination?

Thanks,
S.

hey seachmall, first off seeds strait in hydrotone is a bad idea no water retention , hydrotone dries in freakin minutes trust me i know, if you want to use a good medium go rockwool its the best one i find, your seeds wont need light until they have leaves , and then you can think about puttin light in, look at tit like you were mother nature, when a seed falls in the ground it gets no sunlight, it germinates and then sticks its nose out to get some sun to grow , same at home, no light until you see its nose stickin out and then bring in the cfl or whatever you use . humble opinion here but it works for me.

Well put malachi

Hank.

i put my seeds in a wet paper towel and in a plastic bag under 2 CFLs and they germ very fast. I then plant them in my rockwool under lights and they came up in about 2 days... i put plastic cups over them to keep it humid for the seeds to grow but they shot right up