Help on germinating

Hello everyone, I am a total newbie when it comes to growing, so bare with me
I have germinated seeds before in soil, and I got it to work! But in my aerogarden I have no clue. The plants keep getting their stem too weak and thin they fall over. With the soil, I used to put the seed in and just put it in a dark room until it sprouts. But every time I do this method now, they die What am I doing wrong? Should I start giving them lights as soon as the roots pop out of the seed in the germinating stage? Well I guess my question would be, when should I put the seed under lights.

PS: I got seeds from attitude and I think they ripped me off, about 90% of the seeds are tiny, my friend said they looked low quality, any suggestions?

.

Junnk download the Germination chapter of Weed Science, link below. Don't worry about the seed size - it varies by strain.

.

best process i have found for germinating seeds is as follows:
1. fold 2 paper towels in half 2 times
2. put paper towels on glass/plastic/ceramic (not paper) plate
3. soak the paper towels in water
4. put your seeds on top of the paper towels
5. fold 2 more paper towels in half 2 times
6. put those paper towels on top of the seeds
7. put plate in plastic bag
8. put plastic bag with plate in it in a dark space for 24 hrs.
9. once your seeds have popped a root, stick them in water soaked rockwool cubes with the root pointing down
10. plant the rockwool cube in dry soil leaving the top of the cube flush with the soil
11. soak the entire pot with ph 7.0 pure water
12. sprinkle a small pinch of soil over the hole in the rockwool where the seed is
13. put it under the lights (cfl's and tubes work very well for clones and seedlings) wait for it to grow

as for weak stems that could be from a number of things. having a fan blow on your plants helps strengthen stems. what kind of soil are you using? where are you getting your water from? whats the ph of your water? the more information you can give us about your grow, the better we can help you!! good luck.

youre friends an idiot. if he knew SO MUCH about seeds. he would know how to germinate it properly. i suggest you dont take anymore tips or advice from him.

Soplain said:

youre friends an idiot. if he knew SO MUCH about seeds. he would know how to germinate it properly. i suggest you dont take anymore tips or advice from him.

Click to expand...

His friend isn't any more of an idiot than you are. He just needs to join RIU and get an education.

Soplain said:

youre friends an idiot. if he knew SO MUCH about seeds. he would know how to germinate it properly. i suggest you dont take anymore tips or advice from him.

Click to expand...

someone didnt get their bongload this morning.....

I'm using the aerogarden and the medium that comes with it, its like spongy. Ph is at 6.5. I use bottled water. Could it be nutes? When should I start giving them low doses of nutes? Also, its short stuff strain, don't know if that helps.

Soplain said:

youre friends an idiot. if he knew SO MUCH about seeds. he would know how to germinate it properly. i suggest you dont take anymore tips or advice from him.

Click to expand...

I gotta agree

That spongy stuff isn't a medium, it holds the plant stem and allows the portion of the stem that you want to root to hang below it. The tip of the cutting mneeds to be a couple of inches below the sponges holder, not in it.

View attachment 1199057View attachment 1199056View attachment 1199055

Hey bro, I grow aero-hydro, using rockwool/hydrotrons. I soak my 2"x2" rockwool in distilled water w/PH at 6.0-6.5 Let the rockwool soak for several hours, then squeeze excess water out, leaving the cube still very wet, not drenched. Place seed point down, I know the seeds basically look pointed on both ends, at least they do w/me. Place the seed a good 1/4 into the cube, put in clear cover pan/tray, place cover over it, then a dark towel, no light. Place your pan on a heating pad set for low. This works for me, however I have some seeds take as long as 20 days, others 24 hours before they pop thru. Once the seed pops, place it in a separate tray w/clear cover w/cfls over it.
In regards of the strech, sometimes you need to put a support stick tied w/yarn to keep them from falling over. Otherwise it could be bad beans as well. I've been ripped off as well, this grow it took 17 days for a Red Dragon strain to pop.

I think I might have to do that. The problem is that the holes inthe aerogarden are a certain size, and so are the sponges. But I could take the sponge out and replace it with a customized rockwool
Thanks for the tips.

faderharley said:

View attachment 1199057View attachment 1199056View attachment 1199055View attachment 1199054View attachment 1199053

Hey bro, I grow aero-hydro, using rockwool/hydrotrons. I soak my 2"x2" rockwool in distilled water w/PH at 6.0-6.5 Let the rockwool soak for several hours, then squeeze excess water out, leaving the cube still very wet, not drenched. Place seed point down, I know the seeds basically look pointed on both ends, at least they do w/me. Place the seed a good 1/4 into the cube, put in clear cover pan/tray, place cover over it, then a dark towel, no light. Place your pan on a heating pad set for low. This works for me, however I have some seeds take as long as 20 days, others 24 hours before they pop thru. Once the seed pops, place it in a separate tray w/clear cover w/cfls over it.
In regards of the strech, sometimes you need to put a support stick tied w/yarn to keep them from falling over. Otherwise it could be bad beans as well. I've been ripped off as well, this grow it took 17 days for a Red Dragon strain to pop.

Click to expand...

When it comes to seedlings you need at least 80watts flouresent and you would get best results with grow and show type bulbs because they are designed to give off the proper light spectrum. Direct sunlight works good too. In my grow room I put seedlings directly into the op, after they get their first adult leaves. I find this helps to prevent runting.