germination prob/question...

old thread pointless

mr.purplesensi said:

alright, soo I am having some problems here I am currently on day 5 not a sign or any taproots on anything none have cracked on there own or anything. soo a few days ago I put 12 seeds in some paper towels and soaked them in water and put them in a plastic bag for two days in the sun in some medium grass... I'm prtty sure i might have fry'd them so I even try'd to put them in fresh paper and give them more water and let them go overnight. Nothing has changed so I scratched up a few and opened a couple very gently with a fingernail. now they are sitting 5 cm under some perfect starting medium an nothing has happened for a while now I've been keeping everything moist but idk what too do anymore if i should just wait see what happens or just start over... please feel free to give me some suggestion currently have my seeds in my medium sitting behind my ps3 at about 65-75 F. P.S. I added a few growing nutes to the paper towels for less than 12 hours wondering if that ruined anything. please help me anyway possible i feel like a dumb ass for doing soo but I never knew it should be in the dark... not one has even sprouted yet need help!!!greetz, sensi

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This is how I germinate my seeds. I use the wet paper towel method. I place the seeds covered with paper towel in the dark. I make sure every 12 hours to check the paper towel to check if it is moist still. If the towel is dry add water. Some seed companies have seeds that ca germinate 1-8 days. My rule of thumb if I cannot germinate a seed within 6 days then i remove them from the paper towel and transfer in a cup of water. Handle your seeds with clean hands and use tweezers.

I wouldn't put them in the sun until they have actually sprouted and even then seedlings don't need too much sun. I am growing some bagseed that took less than 48 hours to break open. The first one was open by the next morning. They are 3+ years old. Scratched them up first by shaking them in a tube made by rolling up some sand paper. Then just like calicat had said I put them between 2 sheets of folded paper towel in distilled water. But I didn't put it in the sun. I left it high up on a shelf since all the warm air would be going up there and in the dark. Direct light on the roots can damage them so its really important to actually keep it out of light until they are planted in the grow median. Also I recently read a thread on how to properly germinate. I say properly because while the paper towel method is successful, even with complete sterility you are at risk of some sort of infection from day 1 that may affect your grow later down the road. With that being said, the proper method would be just to plant them in the grow median like nature intended and letting it germinate in the soil or whatever. Using this method it wouldn't hurt to use a little light for when they pop out of the soil.

Also you really shouldn't add any nutes right off the bat like that. Could also contribute to them not sprouting. You would have to use so so little to even make that viable which even then its not needed. I am currently using Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil as my grow median and it already has a lot of nutrients in it so I wouldn't even feed them until maybe between week 2 and 3. I keep forgetting if you said what your median was. Sorry kind of stoned/sleepy atm.

And did I just read correct you pryed open some closed seeds that hadn't cracked yet?

When I germinated mine I was actually counting on the age of them so that only one would sprout but all 3 ended up sprouting. I have more bagseeds to mess around with after these before I get started on my bought ones. They are resilient little things. I've never used or heard of using hydrogen peroxide for germing but then again I'm a new grower as well. I've heard of it being great for disinfecting and getting rid of infections later down the line though. I hope your next few end up sprouting. Keep in mind that some seeds might not be able to germ to begin with even if they are mature enough.

you probably fucked them up. I would probably just leave them in the medium, keep it moist, and start a new batch attempt to germinate because chances are those ones arent going to come up. Don't put the paper towel in the sun, keep it in a dark warm place and check on it once a day to make sure if theyve popped and to make sure its still damp. thats if you do it that way. I just use the glass of water method. They say use distilled water, but I just used water straight from the tap...just drop the seeds in it and let them soak. You dont have to put them in a dark place but dont keep them in direct sunlight. I just put the seeds in the water then put it on a shelf. in a day the seeds will likely sink to the bottom, this is a good thing. Then in another day or two you will see the tap root sprout out...at that point put them in the soil or rockwool root down and your good to go...and no, you shouldnt give them nutes so young. probably no nutes until they are weeks old, like three weeks. this last time I put ten seeds in the water, and 9 of them popped, and the one that didnt probably would not have through any method. I have had a better ratio using the glass of water over the paper towel, however paper towel does work...just dont put it in the sun. warm dark place.

oh, i havent had a seed that took longer than three days to show its taproot, so if you're already on day 5 your odds are slim. id def. start some new germs.

Well we all gotta start somewhere. I only wish I hung around my grandma more was I was younger cause she was always gardening in the spring/summer.

Its all good, really all you need is a few. I mean if you have the space go for it. Scratching them up on the surface is good because it lets more moisture in when germinating. If a taproot is showing already I would suggest planting them now. Less of a chance of it dying off or getting any sort of disease. They have a certain amount of energy and its spent on breaking out and sprouting so the less work it has to do the better. Also as a suggestion I noticed 2 things when planting my bagseed. I read that you have to plant them about twice the width of the seed so I did so with my first 2. But my 3rd seed I had read somewhere that you should bury it so deep so I tried just sticking the taproot in the median and only putting enough soil over the seed itself. It sprouted the fastest since it was near the surface and for some reason thats my biggest baby right now . I don't know if there is a relation between them. But also its my least stable one, kinda tipping and starting to grow sideways a little so I staked it with a toothpick.

I don't use the paper towel method at all, I think thats rough as fuck method that increases the risk of contamination and excess handling (but to each their own, thats cool). I use the dark glass soaking method, never had a failed germ yet that way. I think many people fook up the germination without realising it, the seeds need DARKNESS and lots of moisture. The moisture creeps into the seed, and when there is enough that is what triggers the cells to start dividing, and the seed to spring into life. Thats it, many people keep poking them, digging looking for action, not realising they need to leave them be. If you keep poking a baby, it'll cry (and you have to turn the tv up, pmsl).

Propogate them indoors, let them grow strength, weather them and then plant them outdoors. Outside can be really rough environment for a new seed, and while in the wild they thrive, many of the seeds nature creates and drops don't take hold, hence why so many seeds are created by a pollenated female.

You are correct and that is why I leave mine in a paper towel while in a blown up zip lock. Then I leave that up in my closet with just darkness. Really with whatever method you are using you should just leave them be for at least a day I'd say before checking them. And when you check you just take a peek and then put em away.

Agreed. I just picture someone rolling up a seed in a wet paper towel and then sitting it on a kitchen counter. Whatever method is used, people will either do it right, or get it so badly wrong. But hey, thats how we all learn

Lol for my first grow I was hoping only 1 or maybe 2 would sprout but woo all 3...-__-. Its supposed to be a small stealth grow so my first grow is going to be confined to 3 small pots rather than 2 larger ones.