How to get seeds to sprout

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Cannacobanna

New Member
Hi there I bought some seed from a seed bank and none of them have sprouted I have had success with bag seeds but only in soil now I have a indoor grow room and have tried rockwool and the paper towel method I have a ebb and flow tray system any help would be appreciated
 
Phatlewtz

Phatlewtz

Well-Known Member
Cannacobanna said:
Cheers for that I actually think it may be the strain I was trying first. I put another strain in and they popped today, none of the feminized money makers popped but the feminized motown chunk looks like a goer
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Lightly scuff your seed with some fine grit sandpaper or an emery board...gently along the seed "seem" then throw them in a wet paper towel....usually does the trick on seeds that won't pop....good luck hope that helps :D
 
trippnface

trippnface

Well-Known Member
i just place in shot glass with around ph 7 water for about 12 hours; then place them like a finger nail deep in pro mix ( that i usually wet the night before); that i then lightly moisten soil to seed with squirt bottle; keep moist until sprouted. Usually have pretty good rates :) .

i started in 2 gal pots this time.
 
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Guido88

Active Member
Lots of ways to do this. My goal is minimal stress and more females vs males.

This method is a combination of things acquired over 45 years of growing..

My results are a 99% germ rate and better than 65% female to male ratio.

Using a small matchbox with sand paper inside I lightly scuff the seeds for 20 seconds.
12-20 hour soak in distilled water. Temp as close to 75 degrees as possible.
Then using paper towels soaked with distilled water and put into small snack baggies

Keep baggies in the dark at 75 degrees.

I use gravity to make the sprouts perfectly straight. To do this i align the seeds flat end to the top & pointy end down in the paper towel. and stand the baggies top end up. Works perfectly, no curly pig tail sprouts.

1-3 days later when ready transplant into my medium once again keeping seedlings at 75 degrees. At this time PH is adjusted to 6.4 or so. for the 1st 3 weeks super light on nutrients particularly nitrogen. As long as the seedlings are green and growing quickly the soil mix is plenty for food. With a heat mat soil is kept to 75 degrees as well.

IMHO why this works so well is 1. Some seeds have very hard shells, a light scuff fixes this.
2. 75 degrees is a great temp for soil/air and I believe it increases the female/male
ratio. Want more males? Keep temps in the 80's and use higher nitrogen levels.
3. Straight sprouts are much much easier to plant.
4. Distilled water seems to work better, PH not critical until planting. At planting I switch from distilled water to RO 6.4 ph.

This week I popped 5 strains and the results were 100% germination.

Hope this helps

Guido88
 
Thefarmer12

Thefarmer12

Well-Known Member
Wet a paper towel, stick seeds in, put them inside ziploc and on something warm like a cable tv box. 100% every time.
 
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Angry Pollock

Well-Known Member
I've used a propagation mat and paper towel, over 90% germ rate. Been doing this for 30 years. I've done it without the mat with pretty much the same results before I got the mat.
 
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chuckie86

Well-Known Member
Yea I just put 3 fast buds blackberry 2 Green crack and 3 dark purple autos and one ice kush in a plastic container with lid and put seeds in damp paper towel and put them all on cable box and few have tails and few have crack so it works good
 
C

Cannacobanna

New Member
Phatlewtz said:
Lightly scuff your seed with some fine grit sandpaper or an emery board...gently along the seed "seem" then throw them in a wet paper towel....usually does the trick on seeds that won't pop....good luck hope that helps :D
Click to expand...
Sweet I will try that next time thank you another question I have is my last grow I took some clones of some outdoor bag weed and my yield was not as great indoors as the mother plant I had outdoors. The buds were quite light and fluffy
( not very dense when the dried out)
The roots were a nice creamy white colour so I don't think it had root rot. I wondering if it could be the nutrients I am using or possible something else? To close to the lights? When I switched them to 12/12 the stretched more than I thought they would and I had trouble keeping them away from the light 600w hps the buds looked great when I pulled them, besides the bleaching you can see at the top of this one they were nice a sticky and good smoke image.jpgimage.jpg
 
C

Cannacobanna

New Member
Guido88 said:
Lots of ways to do this. My goal is minimal stress and more females vs males.

This method is a combination of things acquired over 45 years of growing..

My results are a 99% germ rate and better than 65% female to male ratio.

Using a small matchbox with sand paper inside I lightly scuff the seeds for 20 seconds.
12-20 hour soak in distilled water. Temp as close to 75 degrees as possible.
Then using paper towels soaked with distilled water and put into small snack baggies

Keep baggies in the dark at 75 degrees.

I use gravity to make the sprouts perfectly straight. To do this i align the seeds flat end to the top & pointy end down in the paper towel. and stand the baggies top end up. Works perfectly, no curly pig tail sprouts.

1-3 days later when ready transplant into my medium once again keeping seedlings at 75 degrees. At this time PH is adjusted to 6.4 or so. for the 1st 3 weeks super light on nutrients particularly nitrogen. As long as the seedlings are green and growing quickly the soil mix is plenty for food. With a heat mat soil is kept to 75 degrees as well.

IMHO why this works so well is 1. Some seeds have very hard shells, a light scuff fixes this.
2. 75 degrees is a great temp for soil/air and I believe it increases the female/male
ratio. Want more males? Keep temps in the 80's and use higher nitrogen levels.
3. Straight sprouts are much much easier to plant.
4. Distilled water seems to work better, PH not critical until planting. At planting I switch from distilled water to RO 6.4 ph.

This week I popped 5 strains and the results were 100% germination.

Hope this helps

Guido88
Click to expand...
That very informative and in depth thank you does the percentage of female plants stay the same with feminised seeds?
 
Phatlewtz

Phatlewtz

Well-Known Member
Cannacobanna said:
Sweet I will try that next time thank you another question I have is my last grow I took some clones of some outdoor bag weed and my yield was not as great indoors as the mother plant I had outdoors. The buds were quite light and fluffy
( not very dense when the dried out)
The roots were a nice creamy white colour so I don't think it had root rot. I wondering if it could be the nutrients I am using or possible something else? To close to the lights? When I switched them to 12/12 the stretched more than I thought they would and I had trouble keeping them away from the light 600w hps the buds looked great when I pulled them, besides the bleaching you can see at the top of this one they were nice a sticky and good smoke View attachment 3708310View attachment 3708311
Click to expand...
Just to add a lil bit to this info for you, I've found an emory board works the best overall, way more control then rattling the beans around :)

as far as stretch goes, on my first run with a plant indoors, I always assume it will triple in height, not all plants do, but it gives me a good safety net to work with when I use one of my tents.. I try and keep my 600s about 14" or so from the tops with an aircooled hood, if I'm using a wing reflector in a room with a/c I can get them about 18" which seems to work out well
 
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chuckie86

Well-Known Member
I never seen a plant bleach the bud like that also that bud look like it still had a week or 2 to go but that's just my opinion the fluffy buds is usually a light issue but u had good light so not sure y that happened I have some weed hard as hell and sum buds are more fluffy and they are under same light so idk y that is bro
 
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