I think I let my seeds germinate for too long

Hey everyone, I'm trying my first outdoor grow (first grow period actually) over the summer. I let 5 of my seeds germinate with the paper towel and plastic bag method, starting no more than 5 days ago (don't remember when I did it). I wet the paper towels quite a bit, expecting them to dry out, but to my surprise they didn't, and still aren't.

I just looked at the actual seeds for the first time - the seed shell was broke and the white root is 2-3 inches long on all 5 of them. There are also brown spots all over the paper towels, and they smell like shit. Did I leave them for too long? Can I still use the root.. maybe dig a deeper hole and place the long root inside, with the end 1/2 inch from the top of the soil?

I didn't think it would be that quick, can't believe I fucked up already :( :wtf:

Alright, I'll give it a try tomorrow. I guess the best way is to poke a 3 inch hole with a pencil and then fill it in?

I still have plenty seeds left, so I can just do it again if they don't work (actually I'm gonna plant all of them anyway, I figure more plants = more success chance :p ).. dispersed throughout my little ~1sq mile area of course

Plant the seed when it shows the root tip popping out.
More than 1/4" exposed and you risk damaging the root while handling it.
More than that, and the root will start growing root hairs, which will get stuck to the paper towel, and then you're fooked.

The root actually started growing through the paper towels, but I was able to pull it right out without breaking any of them. I wasn't able to tell last night, but all 5 seeds germinated - I was pretty happy about that :)

So yeah, the roots are far from dead; since last night, all 5 grew a little yellow flower-like tip. I figured this was a response to first exposure to light, so I planted the root into the ground with just the little yellow tip poking out of the dirt. I was able to get 4 of them in safely, but I broke the yellow tip off one so I didn't plant it. (r.i.p. :( )

I'll report back later tonight or tomorrow with info on how they're doing and whether or not they continue to grow :clap:

So, I said I planted the four of them; well I went back two or three hours later and they were all looking pretty dried up and crappy (this was yesterday). There's a stream right next to where I planted, so I went ahead and watered all of them.

Today, I went back just now, and it appears that two of them are doing great, the others not so much. One is looking very nice, it grew the purple beginnings of a stalk and the yellow leaves turned green and got quite a bit bigger. The other one didn't so much grow, but it didn't die either. On another one, the top completely broke off overnight, but I went ahead and watered again anyway, the root might still be kicking under there. And on the last one, the top broke off, but it looked like the weak beginning of another green sprout started to grow, so naturally I watered that one.

And tonight, I'm gonna start five more seeds up, and check them sooner so I don't screw up yet another batch :)

It really does take a very short time to germinate seeds. A batch of mine took between 12 hours and 24 hours before i could see 1/4". It looks like your messing up quite a bit with all the snapping. Be gentle with them, they are like your little babies now ;)! How did the top break off? If it was from the weather conditions you may want to try protecting it somehow just till it stems out a bit.

On another thread, one of the long-time growers said that when the roots grow a little too long on/through the paper towell, he just cuts the towell around the seed and root and plants the small remaining piece of paper that is attached to the seed/root right along with the seed.

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Originally Posted by stone_sensation

It really does take a very short time to germinate seeds. A batch of mine took between 12 hours and 24 hours before i could see 1/4". It looks like your messing up quite a bit with all the snapping. Be gentle with them, they are like your little babies now ;)! How did the top break off? If it was from the weather conditions you may want to try protecting it somehow just till it stems out a bit.

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I'm not too sure how it broke off. But, since I made this thread, I did five more seeds; I planted one when I saw the half inch, and forgot about the other four so the same thing happened. But, I planted them and they seem to be doing fine now, which reminds me; I have to go water them

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PharmaCan

On another thread, one of the long-time growers said that when the roots grow a little too long on/through the paper towell, he just cuts the towell around the seed and root and plants the small remaining piece of paper that is attached to the seed/root right along with the seed.

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That's actually a good idea, the paper seems to be good for them, I've had 100% germination after planting 10 seeds :thumbsup:

make sure you dont overwater!

good luck =)

Thanks :)

Since my last post, I planted 9 more.. 3 of them have come up so far, they all did it after the huge thunderstorm we had last night. The one really good one got a lot bigger too since yesterday, so I guess they needed some water. :D

By the way, if you let the root get too long in the paper towel like I did, they will more than likely die. I lost about 8 that way before finally realizing I have to plant sooner. Now most of them are surviving :)

One more little thing - do I have to worry about caterpillars? I noticed they started coming out today, there are a ton of them. I just went to check on my plants (another one came up and grew an inch already :) ) and one was crawling towards one of the new ones and touching it. I picked it up and put it a few feet away.. do you think the caterpillars will try to eat them?

next time you might want to try growing them inside to a certain point then transplant them outside, that way you have a better chance with it....i dont really like growing outdoors, the last time i did someone walked up on my stash and the next thing that i knew i only had one of the ten i planted(hid that one better then the others i guess) but with my luck i was stuck with a male