Different seed houses - different germination methods?

Redland

Redland

Active Member
Have been growing once a year outside for years. Finding it difficult to get seeds to germinate this year. Have just ordered an electric propagator for Vision Northern Lights autos. Wildly differing schools of thoughts on soaking (and for how long), paper towel or direct to soil. Or a combination of these. Any thoughts?
 
Schwagstock

Schwagstock

Active Member
I like to put them in a paper towel, the type that you can choose the size, or use a half a paper towel fold it multiple times, use bottle water to soak it and put the seeds in and cover with a bowl over a paper plate, this allows the paper towel the dry out decently and not get any fungal issues. Done it this way for many many years without any issues, so long as you dont get the paper towel to wet for to long (multiple days without drying out a bit) Doing it this way it usually pops for me within 24 hours and I plant round 28 hours, sometimes up to 48. I usually dont see anything pop past 48 hrs in my experience if it hasnt at that point may be a dud <--just in my experience. I have done it many other routes, (putting right in soil and watering, rockwool, coco coir, plain water float, etc.) I should also say when I do finally take the germed seeds and plant, they always sprout up from the dirt within 10-24 hrs if there healthy strong genetics using the route I go. Anytime I have found im having problems with the seeds not germing ive either let it go way to dry at some point, kept it far to wet throughout the process, or its a fungal issue from the damp and length of time it took that attacked the little root. If it takes a long time using the paper towel method I would personally change out the paper towel every few days so that you can be assured your doing the best ya can at keeping things clean and attack free on the little root. Sorry for the ramble:o Wow:bigjoint:
 
racerboy71

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
there's a million ways to skin a cat, and everyone has an opinion and a way that over the years they germ, none are any better than any other imo..
find one that works for you and stick to it.. i always just do wet paper towels in a plastic bag on something warm, top of the tv, cable box, w/e. once i see they're cracked and have a very small tail, into the soil they go, about a 1/4 deep, or into rapid rooters, if i have any, which i don't right now.. or people use rock wool..
 
vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
Redland said:
Have been growing once a year outside for years. Finding it difficult to get seeds to germinate this year. Have just ordered an electric propagator for Vision Northern Lights autos. Wildly differing schools of thoughts on soaking (and for how long), paper towel or direct to soil. Or a combination of these. Any thoughts?
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The vast majority of new growers like to use the common paper towel method, thats fine, ...it works!!
but really what is needed is a proper understanding of what is actually happening in the seed, bottom line is with fresh seeds, under 5 years old, water and temperature is used to stimulate the radicle which emerges from the seed shell, as the perianth extends, so does the cotyledons, and shoot apex, once the plant is about 1/2 an inch the root cap is very prominent, and searches down for the soil to sink into ..easy!!
Many guys who are comfortable with their own DIY seeds prefer to drop straight to soil, as these home made seeds are no more than 2-3 years old at best and as such highly fertile, but should you be buying seeds from half a world away from some very dodgy bastards indeed who call themselves breeders and even the more dodgy seed agents and banks, you just never know what you are gonna get, hence the paper towel method is a great method of quarantining your samples before actually inserting to your medium, in other words soaking in towels you can actually see if your seeds are viable or not.(noobies are very tempted to fuck around with the shell here this is to be prevented at all costs)

If you are new or very cautious you may go as far as adding a teaspoon of bleach to a glass of water, allow the seeds to soak overnite at 70f and in the morning to the damp paper towels, and place to a plate then on top of my modem, the bleach knocking of anything like fungi spores(damping off) or TMV?...and or a host of other bugs that attach themselves to seed kernels, I've been told that adding bleach also makes it highly female too, tho I cannot prove this, and doubt its viability

Stratification or roughing up the outer shell of the seed to allow water to penetrate, I've only had to do 2-3 times with very old or precious seeds, to make certain that water has soaked thru the seed itself, with care here as it can cause more damage than its worth
I prefer to store my seeds in a jar of rice in the freezer, best to use in under 5 years
 
Schwagstock

Schwagstock

Active Member
racerboy71 said:
there's a million ways to skin a cat, and everyone has an opinion and a way that over the years they germ, none are any better than any other imo..
find one that works for you and stick to it.. i always just do wet paper towels in a plastic bag on something warm, top of the tv, cable box, w/e. once i see they're cracked and have a very small tail, into the soil they go, about a 1/4 deep, or into rapid rooters, if i have any, which i don't right now.. or people use rock wool..
Click to expand...
Said like a spartan warrior;)
 
Redland

Redland

Active Member
A wealth of knowledge - cheers all. Question is though, do you soak in a glass of water (previously boiled and then cooled) - or not?
 
Schwagstock

Schwagstock

Active Member
Ive never boiled just use a glass of bottled water. I suppose you could use tap with the chlorine taken out, ive just found bottled water is usually perfect in mineral and nutrient content for the seeds to maintain healthy when the root comes out, also use it with great success on clones for misting, never add anything else to my clones just spray/water with bottled water and 10 days later wala
 
bird dog

bird dog

Well-Known Member
vostok said:
The vast majority of new growers like to use the common paper towel method, thats fine, ...it works!!
but really what is needed is a proper understanding of what is actually happening in the seed, bottom line is with fresh seeds, under 5 years old, water and temperature is used to stimulate the radicle which emerges from the seed shell, as the perianth extends, so does the cotyledons, and shoot apex, once the plant is about 1/2 an inch the root cap is very prominent, and searches down for the soil to sink into ..easy!!
Many guys who are comfortable with their own DIY seeds prefer to drop straight to soil, as these home made seeds are no more than 2-3 years old at best and as such highly fertile, but should you be buying seeds from half a world away from some very dodgy bastards indeed who call themselves breeders and even the more dodgy seed agents and banks, you just never know what you are gonna get, hence the paper towel method is a great method of quarantining your samples before actually inserting to your medium, in other words soaking in towels you can actually see if your seeds are viable or not.(noobies are very tempted to fuck around with the shell here this is to be prevented at all costs)

If you are new or very cautious you may go as far as adding a teaspoon of bleach to a glass of water, allow the seeds to soak overnite at 70f and in the morning to the damp paper towels, and place to a plate then on top of my modem, the bleach knocking of anything like fungi spores(damping off) or TMV?...and or a host of other bugs that attach themselves to seed kernels, I've been told that adding bleach also makes it highly female too, tho I cannot prove this, and doubt its viability

Stratification or roughing up the outer shell of the seed to allow water to penetrate, I've only had to do 2-3 times with very old or precious seeds, to make certain that water has soaked thru the seed itself, with care here as it can cause more damage than its worth
I prefer to store my seeds in a jar of rice in the freezer, best to use in under 5 years
Click to expand...
What he said ^^^
 
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