Best way to germinate single seeds?

I was just wondering, with the proliferation of banks selling single female seeds, what is the best way to germinate them?

I mean, if you had 10 of the same variety, and 7 popped, that would be fine. But if you have single seeds from several different varieties, you would really have to have a full proof way to germinate, or you waste your money and get nothing.

Best practices? Anyone?

Wet paper towel in a plastic bag, on top of your cable box.

Dirtfree said:

Wet paper towel in a plastic bag, on top of your cable box.

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beat me to it haha.. wet paper towl in a plastic bag.. needs to be somewhere warm around 80 degrees if you can

Dirtfree said:

Wet paper towel in a plastic bag, on top of your cable box.

Click to expand...

word - 100% germination - cable box is optional

i have much better results using terrycloth strip instead of soggy towel. soak seeds for 20 hours in distilled water till it's clearly got enough water, seed sinks, then incubate in terrycloth on 78 degree to 85, be careful tempwise...
when the germination tip emerges, i use 2 micro hooks made with stick-pins to pop off the seed coat, then i mist and gently use paper towel to work off the coating that protects new leaves.
Then i bare-root that germinated micro plant into the soil WITH LEAVES ABOVE SOIL, using drops of water to fill in fine soil around the root.. add air flow and temp and humidity right and that plant is good to go, no loss of plants with this technique. use dark to stretch plant or promote germination, use light to green the leaves. a good cfl bulb-set and a fan will set up that plant.
Tie a small thread around the base of a new sprout to stress it, will make the stalk denser by far.. use 10% ethanol+water on foliage helps amazingly, but don't get ethanol on roots/soil, will build that plant huge in no time. the foliar feeding makes my plants much more productive. it's a big impact. early careful stress makes seedlings get stronger

soak seeds for 20 hours

mine are normally splitting by then in the good old simple method, wet towel, bag abd warmth. you dont need light for germinating initially, and dont thread your plants!!!!

josephcecil said:

i have much better results using terrycloth strip instead of soggy towel. soak seeds for 20 hours or so till it's clearly got enough water, then incubate when the germination tip emerges, i use 2 micro hooks made with stick-pins to pop off the seed coat, then i mist and gently use paper towel to work off the coating that protects new leaves.
Then i bare-root that micro germinated plant into the soil WITH LEAVES ABOVE SOIL.. now get air flow and temp and humidity right and that plant is good to go, no loss of plants with this technique. germination temps are 78 degrees ave, use dark to stretch plant or promote germination, use light to green the leaves. a good cfl bulb-set and a fan will set up that plant for good.
Tie a small thread around the base of a new sprout to stress it, will make the stalk denser by far.. use 10% ethanol+water to foliage NOT roots, will build that plant huge in no time.

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now thats over working it

yes agreed more work than some methods, but the owner of a big dispensary in California has given me over 70 seeds to germinate for him due to the success rate i have with them... the last one, a really special one from amsterdam needed 100% success, and it's doing amazing. overworked but it's weeks old and about to give off about 4 clones.
it's much easier and faster than normal germination, plant is above ground in about 30 hours or a bit over from the time of soaking, leaves green in a few hours, and the growth begins.

tying a small thread helps a lot, but must untie it carefully and adjust. i'm making the latest seed into a clone mother using threads, and it's just like if i topped it, but leaving the top, tie below/above node, the plant puts out side arms in response to the tie-stress.

tying plants, bending them, growing at different angles over different weeks, can have huge impact.
adventitious roots can develop from the tie zones by making them into air-layers on flowering branches, then at the end of flowering, there's a rootball to cure with, and yet the mama plant can remain, goes to veg a bit and flower again.. two months is way long enough to develop a good air layer/root system from the tie zones.. and making them early starts the plant building up callous tissue fast, so i vote for the ties, with care of course. the stress makes plants stronger..

also, i spray a 10% ethanol+distilled water foliar spray.. it's amazing how it helps the plant strengthen against the tie.. so it's a combination technique, the ethanol is rocketfuel for photosynthesis, plants use every aspect of the substance to increase carbon fixation, supply electrons for photosynthesis, probably more. but if you try it, do not get ethanol into the root system, foliage only, daytime phase. roots are harmed by ethanol so put a reflective cover over soil to protect from spray. if i didn't use the ethanol chemistries, the tie wouldn't work as well.

to help illustrate, i will post photos of current seedlings using these methods in coming days..