Germination question

[piglet420]

I am buying seeds and I want to be as successful as possible. My plan for germinating is to follow the directions listed below:

1. First, inspect your seeds. Look for nice dark coloration. Best way to discriminate seeds is by rolling one between your fingers as you firmly squeeze the nut. If it cracks, pitch it.
2. Soak them in a glass of water until they sink. If they don't sink, they probably won't open.
3. Moisten two different layers of paper towels. Make sure it is very damp, but not dripping.
4. Place the seeds between the layers of towel, and place the towels in a tupperware container and stow away in an absolutely dark and stable location.
5. Check after one day. If you got a little root at least a half inch long, plant in your chosen medium. I've had seeds take up to a week to germinate in the paper towels, but most take 2-3 days.
6. Most important: whatever medium you use, only place them about 1/2 inch down and backfill. The reason is that the plant only has so much energy to expend pushing itself up to light and sustain itself until it can through photosynthesis. Any lower and more energy goes to pushing and may cause it to die early on. I can speak from experience. Even placing them an ich or inch and a half down could be devastating. Needless to say, I planted a batch once several knuckles down, only to be reprimanded by a friend. We spent perhaps an hour finding 20 different seeds and removing an inch of dirt from each pot. Despite our efforts some were definitely stunted, mainly, the prime seeds we wanted to grow, but a good lesson learned.
7. Give them a decent watering. Duh.


Thanks CCP

In any event, I want to use hydroponics to grow them. Once I get the seeds to crack and show a little taproot, would it be ok to place them in ready grow plugs from Botanicare? I would place them in a germination tray with a humidity dome over them about 18 inches from 2 T5 cfl's I got from the hydro shop down the road.

Does that sound like a good idea?

Does anyone else have better suggestions?

TIA

piglet420 Reviewed by piglet420 on 12-19-2007. Germination question I am buying seeds and I want to be as successful as possible. My plan for germinating is to follow the directions listed below: 1. First, inspect your seeds. Look for nice dark coloration. Best way to discriminate seeds is by rolling one between your fingers as you firmly squeeze the nut. If it cracks, pitch it. 2. Soak them in a glass of water until they sink. If they don't sink, they probably won't open. 3. Moisten two different layers of paper towels. Make sure it is very damp, but not Rating: 5

[luvtogrow]

My suggestion is to not use the papertowel method. I don't want a half inch of root sticking out before I plant either. Best method for 100% germination is to soak seeds in tepid water for @24hours, most will crack by then, and place directly into grow medium. I grow soil and place directly into soil with great success, but, if cold or low humidity, I start in rockwool and control the temp/hum in a dome until seedling shows and then to soil with the rockwool plug. Wouldn't throw out a floater either, though I don't allow them to float beyond half a day, by shaking container until they sink. I've planted and grown seeds that floated and never sank.

[the image reaper]

My suggestion is to not use the papertowel method. I don't want a half inch of root sticking out before I plant either. Best method for 100% germination is to soak seeds in tepid water for @24hours, most will crack by then, and place directly into grow medium. I grow soil and place directly into soil with great success, but, if cold or low humidity, I start in rockwool and control the temp/hum in a dome until seedling shows and then to soil with the rockwool plug. Wouldn't throw out a floater either, though I don't allow them to float beyond half a day, by shaking container until they sink. I've planted and grown seeds that floated and never sank.

I agree, except I use RapidRooter plugs, not rockwool ... after many years of the 'paper-towel' method, I have had much better results with just that pre-soak, and straight into soil :thumbsup: ... NOT a good idea to let the taproot be exposed like that, light can kill it ... my best results were with the soil at about 75-80 degrees ... warm soil makes for a significant improvement ... Mandala Seeds' website has an excellent explanation on germinating ... before everyone jumps on the bandwagon with "I've always successfully used the papertowel, etc etc" ... let me remind you, marijuana is a WEED :wtf: ... sometimes, it grows well IN SPITE of what we do, not because of it :jointsmile:

[chrisdl805]

I agree, except I use RapidRooter plugs, not rockwool ... after many years of the 'paper-towel' method, I have had much better results with just that pre-soak, and straight into soil :thumbsup: ... NOT a good idea to let the taproot be exposed like that, light can kill it ... my best results were with the soil at about 75-80 degrees ... warm soil makes for a significant improvement ... Mandala Seeds' website has an excellent explanation on germinating ... before everyone jumps on the bandwagon with "I've always successfully used the papertowel, etc etc" ... let me remind you, marijuana is a WEED :wtf: ... sometimes, it grows well IN SPITE of what we do, not because of it :jointsmile:

How did you make your bubble cloner, it looks like a store bought cloner to me. Has a humidity's dome and everything? Is there a pump in the reservoir or just air stones?

Thanks