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i soaked 5-10 seeds for about 2 days, and then i put them in a tubaware container with thick paper towls on the bottom and 1 layer on top. i damped them with water and sealed the container. its been 2 or 3 days and i almost feel like there has been backwards progress. am i doing something wrong?
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my first thought is this: most ppl use one method or the other (soak/paper towel). I like the soak method best. coffee cup 1/2 full of water,drop seeds in,within 2-3 days the seeds should pop,if they do i wait till they have 1/2 inch or so of tap root stikin out,then plant in soil root side down. if after 3-4 days of soaking your seeds havent popped ,they prolly arent goin too.
Dive:stoned:
Yeah man, I too have had a few bad batches of seeds, ESPECIALLY if they are bag seeds. I am currently seeing some progress from my last germination efforts.
I used this method to germinate
1. Stack 3-4 paper towels together - fold them in half
2. Place the seeds on one half - refold
3. Apply water -generously- enough to dampen all the towels
4. Insert the towels into a zip-lock bag or Tupperware container
5. Place the package somewhere warm and dark (a heating pad expedites)
6. Check the seeds every 12 hours for a reaction
7. At first visible sign of the tap root ?? plant it in soil
8. Using a pen or pencil to poke a whole in the soil ?? ¼- ½? Depth
9. Place the seedling into the hole and cover
10. In 1.5-2 days you should see your sapling reaching for the stars
I've tried a bunch of different methods and was way more successful with some(as a beginner).
Preferred Method-Rapid Rooters! Have had a 20/20 germination rate with these so far, plus the seedlings in rapid rooters seem to grow noticeably faster for the first week or two. I just put the rooters into the tray and dumped pH adjusted water over them until they stoped absorbing it. Placed the seeds directly into the hole and cover lightly with a small piece of rapid rooter I ripped off of a corner. Put about 16oz of water into the tray and wait. All 20 sprouted within 3 days, and it makes overwatering the small seedlings almost impossible. Every 2-3 days(depending on light intensity and temperature) just pour another 16 oz of water into the tray. Within 4-7 days the plugs will be filled with a healthy root system and ready to transplant into whatever medium.
I've also had good luck planting strait into a medium thats good for starting seeds/seedlings. I used Fox Farms light warrior myself. I did overwater a few of my seedlings though(my first grow). Still had a 12/12 germination rate using this method.
I tried the paper towel method, and while the root did emerge I believe some of them were damaged when I opened up the towel to check(and I was extremely careful. 8/10 sprouted roots, but only 6/8 ended up popping out of the soil when I planted them.
I tried the soaking method too, but only with 3 seeds. One popped a root that never got any bigger then a few mm. The other didnt ever pop.
The worst method I've tried is peat pellets. They stayed too moist with the cover on, and dry out way too quickly with it off.
I'm sure all these methods work great, but if your just starting out I highly recommend the rapid rooters, plus they're suppose to be great for cloning too!:rastasmoke:
I concur with gbf4ever.
MY newest method has resulted in great results. I plan to create a cleaner and more visible method that will also augment my DWC setup I am building after this bag seed grow runs its course.
I just threw seeds into some soil. Out of the 16 I planted 12 sprouted. They were bag seeds and I used a mixture of dark seeds and light colored seeds. So not all of the seeds were even good to start with.
JaySin,
Glad to hear you saw results. FWIW so far, this hobby requires good judgment on the nutritional side from US for the plants, and optimal conditions needing to be met to see a positive response to your efforts. I.E. lighting, soil, nutrients, temperature, ATTENTION.
Take it slow but be consistent, and you will be fine.
although I've gone from 'dry seeding' to the 'papertowel methods', etc., by far, my most successful method is placing DRY seeds into RapidRooter plugs, in a bubbler setup ... I highly recommend reading word-for-word the following advice from Mike of Mandala Seeds: Germination ... outstanding thoughtful explanation of the best methods, IMHO ... :smokin:
Well I'm sorry, but I didn't realize putting a seed in soil was giving bad information because it is "bad judgment". What I was trying to say is that planting them in soil to germinate seems to work pretty good so why not just do that? That way there is no chance of harming the root. The only reason I used bag seeds is cause that's all I was able to get. I only stated that some of the seeds probably weren't very good ones to use, was to show how soil germinating seemed to work just fine.Quote:
Originally Posted by Technique2
I pay very close attention to my plants and I always try to do what is best for them.
I soak mine overnight then into paper towels. The reason most folks do this is so they don't waste time planting non viable seeds.