Oh no!!

I placed four seeds inside a damp paper towel, and then put that inside a zip-lock bag and sealed it. I then put the zip-lock bag on top of my cable box (nice and warm). Well, three of the seeds germinated and one didn't. The ones that germinated had two little flowers on top, and then the prominent taproot sticking down. I took them and transported them into pots with dirt, so only the two little leaves were sticking up.

And now I've come back several hours later, to find that the leaves are shriveled up. Not completely, but definitely withered. Is this shock due to the transplant or did I do something terribly wrong??

You really want to transplant seeds into your medium of choice when the taproot is just barely protruding out of the shell. If it comes too far out, it's common to stunt them by damaging the micro roots by peeling it away from the paper towel and/or roughly placing it in the soil.

Don't let the medium dry out, and hopefully they'll make a turnaround. Also, I once tried germinating some seeds on a piece of equipment that gets a little too warm, and ended up having one of the seedlings sprout itself entirely out of the shell and into the paper towel. This is definitely undesirable, and I can't give any advice on survivability because I just threw that sprout away on account of its poor demeanor. If you went ahead and planted them anyway, just make sure the soil is doesn't dry out completely. Underwatering seedlings is usually a death sentence because the seedling doesn't hold enough moisture to sustain long droughts. But overwatering can lead to poor growth and damping off, so you just have to be watchful during the early stages.

Next time, if you plan on using paper towels to germinate, keep the seedlings in a dark spot that's slightly warm (NOT hot) to the touch. I use paper towels most of the time, and I actually don't even bother leaving them in a warm spot anymore. I just keep them in a ziplock baggy inside a drawer in my nightstand. I get the same germination method that way as I do keeping them on a warm appliance.

If you have trouble with the papertowl, perhaps you should try stinkyattic's idea on using a test tube. Good luck

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Originally Posted by Mr. Clandestine

You really want to transplant seeds into your medium of choice when the taproot is just barely protruding out of the shell. If it comes too far out, it's common to stunt them by damaging the micro roots by peeling it away from the paper towel and/or roughly placing it in the soil.

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You can easily tear the paper towel around the root where it's stuck, getting as close to the root as possible, and then plant it in the ground. This is a much gentler way to move the seed from it's germination towel to it's growing medium in the situation where it's stuck to the paper towel.

I put seeds in a damp paper towel, watered it every day, except the one day i forgot and it dried up, then continued watering and over the course of 2 weeks 15/19 hatched. No warm surfaces were used.

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Originally Posted by allrollsin21

I put seeds in a damp paper towel, watered it every day, except the one day i forgot and it dried up, then continued watering and over the course of 2 weeks 15/19 hatched. No warm surfaces were used.

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2 weeks? That's a long time, I get my seeds popping open after 1-2 days with them in a warm area.

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Originally Posted by hudson88

2 weeks? That's a long time, I get my seeds popping open after 1-2 days with them in a warm area.

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1-5 days for me germinating at room temperature. I don't like using any sort of warmth/heat outside of the ambient temperature. I've had too many little seedlings get mushy/wilty roots from that.

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Originally Posted by daihashi

You can easily tear the paper towel around the root where it's stuck, getting as close to the root as possible, and then plant it in the ground. This is a much gentler way to move the seed from it's germination towel to it's growing medium in the situation where it's stuck to the paper towel.

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That's a good idea, too. But again, I'm a stickler when I germinate, and practically check every hour on the hour for a taproot! :rolleyes: As soon as that root pops its tendril through the shell, it's in soil before it ever even knows what hit it. :jointsmile: