help me pls!! seed's grow mold on them!

hello everyone, starting a grow is getting to be difficult for me. i have done it before with ease. but i guess i got bad luck =/. i have tried the paper towel method; they pop a lil bit and i can see the root so i carefully transplant them into potting soil. after like 2 days i check and still nothing came up so i dig em up slowly and i notice mold around the crack of the shell:(. i have tried countless bag seeds and the same shit keeps happening.
i have even tried just putting them in reg soil and the same shit happends:mad:.

im currently trying a pc grow. so for heat and light to germ the seeds i use 3 daylight cfl's.

can anyone please help me?!? this is starting to suck :(

I have never had problems with mold on seeds that are in the soil only in paper towels. The reason I have had mold on seeds is because they were in the paper towels for about a week and were probably too warm so i would assume your soil is too warm, or possibly too cold as I have had mold on my soil when the lights go out and the soil gets too cold. So just make sure your temperature is around room temperature or just a little warmer and it should be fine. If your house is cold put the pot with soil and seed an inch to inch and a half under a cfl, I use the 42 watt, keeps the soil at a good temperature. Thats all I can think of.

cool thanx for the info. i do have a light sch to 18-6. does that have anything to do with it? is 3 daylight cfls too much heat/ light? i have the pot like 5 in' away from the lights. but inside of the pc box i gets pretty hot in there. maybe too much heat..

I find that the heat needs to come from the bottom, and seeds/seedlings will go crazy. Think about a nice spring day in the garden and working in the nice warm soil with your hands. Better than sitting at the computer with cold feet any day.....The plants do not like cold feet.

Now, as far as mold, the spores are coming from somewhere...sterilize your soil before you use it by baking in a container in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour. Use chlorinated water at first fresh from the tap, it will not hurt seedlings at all, in fact I believe it reduces issues with mold and bacteria at this vulnerable stage. Keep them in a humidity dome with a heating pad under it until 3" tall. They make special pads for this, cost about $20

After germinating in the paper towel, and you place them in soil...it might take a week or more for seedling to emerge from the soil. (depending on a bunch of things like temps, depth it was planted, soil compaction, soil moisture...)

The roots have to grab the soil to get a good foothold, and then they'll break the surface.

Patience.

Good info Washougal...

What I do is use rapid rooters. I used to crack in paper towel but now I go straight into the rooter. I place the seed and the moist rooter in a solo cup. Then I get some plastic wrap and put it over the cup creating a sort of humidity dome. Then I put the cup on top of something warm like my cable box. It gets the cup very warm and it gets all fogged up. After 12-24hours they are usually already out of the rooter and looking for light. After they are 1"+ I put them under a 26w CFL until they are tall enough to transplant into soil.

Like washougal said... tap water and warm feet!


Also check out the Rapid Rooters I mentioned. They are great.

wow mold? scrap the paper towel method then, just soak in water for about 12 hours, then plant in soil.