After paper towel sprouting, then what?

It's been years since I've grown in dirt, so I'm a little confused.

Is this how you plant in dirt after sprouting seeds in paper towels (or elsewhere I guess)? 11 out of 12, 4 each of 3 varieties, sprouted and in about 3 days had about 1/2" of root. I then put them in dirt, root down, with about a seed width of dirt over top. I compacted the dirt very slightly. I watered well with PH adjusted water with a little B-1 solution, which I let come to room temp first. I put them on a piece of plastic on a heat pad on low, which turns it's self off after two hours. (I kept turning it on.)

I don't understand why two plants took off like crazy and the rest have yet to come up. Did I do something wrong, or are they just taking their good ol' time to push through? It's been 3 days now since the others came up. Yesterday I brushed away the dirt until I saw a bit of the seed. I thought maybe I planted them too deep, but I don't think this is the problem. The soil is still pretty moist, but I don't think this is a problem for new roots.

Anyone? I'm about ready to sprout my remaining seeds now, since I don't think the others made it. I cannot fail this next time. I cannot afford to buy more. What should I do different the next time to ensure my plants will come up?

Thanks guys, that helps alot.

Just keep them moist and warm.... and be patient.

Thank you for the response and thank God it seems to be positve. I just didn't think that it would be possible for two seeds from the same plant, with the same length root, to act so differently when planted. Are you sure? 4th day since the others came through and still no sign of movement.

Did you play with the sprouted seeds a lot and touch the roots or expose them to light? I've only had one seedling not come through the soil in my limited growing experience.

I think that is just the way mother nature is. I have two plants from the same bagseed and they matured (alternating nodes) at quite different times, despite being under the same lights and moving to 12/12 at the same time.

Did you play with the sprouted seeds a lot
No.

and touch the roots
Perhaps, I didn't try to though. They may have been touched through handling. Is this bad? I think my hands were fairly clean.


or expose them to light?
The light was on in the room when I put them in dirt, and when I checked them. Otherwise no.

Opie, check out my post in the linked thread. This is the way I believe seeds should germinate.

http://boards.cannabis.com/showthrea...349#post667349

Mine did that when I kept the cup they were in tooo wet.
And too airtight.
I placed a cup inside another cup.
And because of no drainage it would rot the seeds.
Is there a rotton smell if you put your nose to the underside of the pot?

If anyone is still interested in this, The one took off like crazy, the others hybernated awhile then died. I don't get it. As far as I know I did everything right. I have done this before. Plenty of moisture, but not too wet. Plenty of airflow so no damping off. Not rotted. Just hybernated, then dead. Grow room temps (70-82).

Any thoughts would be greatly apprecieted.

I think you need to plant it as soon as you see the root poke out. 1/2" in the towel is too long.

If you DO catch them in time remember to plant them ROOT UP. When the root first pokes out it does a u-turn, so if you plant root down it just has to make two changes of growing direction before heading up. Of course at 1/2" it may be past that time so root down was right. Also do not pack the soil. I mean at all. When you water the water will do that for you. I don't cover then because I think they need the oxygen.

As for fertilization use none or ultra light.

Good luck

OK, a couple of things I did wrong if mendokid is correct:

I planted root down and seed up. I am confused because I saw a nice little diagram of this on someones post and it showed that you should plant the root down. There was between 1/4 and 1/2 inch of root when planted, much like the diagram, so did I do it right after all? Mendokid says it "may be past the time" to plant root up, so which one is it? Now I'm more confused than ever.

I packed the soil a little. I thought you should. When I was done it was still pobably not as packed as in nature, but I guess this was the wrong thing to do.

I covered the first night, then the next morning there was a little mold on the surface of the dirt in of one of the containers, so I left them uncovered from then on (picked out the moldy dirt).

I didn't use ultra light, but I'm guessing this is not a big deal. I assume that is just a brand name for a B-1 helper. I used some other B-1 thing that is supposed to help rooting and transplanting, but at about half strength. Do you think this is bad? I thought it couldn't hurt, as long as I didn't overdo it.

So, I have a precious 8 seeds left, 3 varieties. People help me please, these seeds were not cheap. I am ready to try again and here is what I plan on doing different: No paper towels. Just think about that a second. Sounds weird, huh? But why not just put them in dirt to begin with? Everyone says that you start your seeds in paper towels, but isn't that just to keep them moist? I'm thinking that if I eliminate the towels and go straight to dirt or peat or something (not hydro-like for these hopeful future mothers), then that would eliminate much of the confusion on my part regarding the above points. As long as I keep them moist and warm and dark, what's the difference? Or is there some reason I'm missing that I should be sprouting in towels?

What medium does everyone recomend for starting a dirt weed, and why? I'm thinking of mixing up some of the most expensive dirt I can find that is not pre-fertilized. About 50% dirt, 25% perlite, 25% vermiculite. Does this sound like a good seed starter? It should have good moisture retention and aeration. Last time I used plain old cheap potting soil, don't remember the brand.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to keep ording seeds till I get it right. It would be much nicer if I could just apply someone elses knowledge and save a bunch of money and effort. Big thanks to everyone who responded so far.

Does the root always bend around like in el cheapo's link, or just sometimes?