Germinating

[MnM95]

how do you guys germinate seeds? I can’t for the life of me, get a second batch of seeds going. Even when the taproot pops out, once I plant them, nothing happens!

 

[Lordhooha]

how do you guys germinate seeds? I can’t for the life of me, get a second batch of seeds going. Even when the taproot pops out, once I plant them, nothing happens!

Burpee 36 cell 10 self watering tray from Home Depot a heat mat and some rapid rooters. Damn near 100% rate of germinating.

 

[InigoMontoya]

I've always threw em in a glass of filtered water, let em sink, wait for my tap root to pop out, and then it's a little less than a quarter inch into the soil and under lights. Never had a problem unless they were already suspect seeds.

 

[deep_rob]

everyone has thier own way, just like growing.. Whatever works bets for you, is the correct way.. For me, its paper towels.. I've used the same method since 1993 and it hasnt let me down.. moisten your towel (like how u would moisten RW cubes, gently squeeze a little water out, so its not soaking wet, just moistened), add seeds, fold over into sqaure.. stick folded towel inside a plastic sandwhich bag, fold over top but dont seal.. and set alongside a ballast or somewhere warm. 12-72 hours later = germination. plant tap root down in a container with meduim that you pre-watered and moistened before sowing. sow like 1/2" deep and lightly cover. place in dark area or under a light, . in 24-72 hours seedlings break surface. If u sprout under a lamp (even under oldschool 40w tube flors), u got to watch the moisture of yur meduim. its a trickey balance that u have to maintain until they sprout.. too dry and they will die, too wet and they die and wont sprout..this is why I like using 16oz-24oz drink cups to raiase seedlings for the 1st 1-3 weeks of life.. . they are deep and hold enough meduim to keep moisture pretty well.. if you use RW blocks or jiffy pellets or anything small, to sprout in, u need to check moisture every few hours until they sprout.. then repot into a larger block or into a cup or container with whatever meduim you using..

 

[Lordhooha]

I've always threw em in a glass of filtered water, let em sink, wait for my tap root to pop out, and then it's a little less than a quarter inch into the soil and under lights. Never had a problem unless they were already suspect seeds.

Jacking around with fragile tap roots is setting yourself up for failure

 

[Lordhooha]

everyone has thier own way, just like growing.. Whatever works bets for you, is the correct way.. For me, its paper towels.. I've used the same method since 1993 and it hasnt let me down.. moisten your towel (like how u would moisten RW cubes, gently squeeze a little water out, so its not soaking wet, just moistened), add seeds, fold over into sqaure.. stick folded towel inside a plastic sandwhich bag, fold over top but dont seal.. and set alongside a ballast or somewhere warm. 12-72 hours later = germination. plant tap root down in a container with meduim that you pre-watered and moistened before sowing. sow like 1/2" deep and lightly cover. place in dark area or under a light, . in 24-72 hours seedlings break surface. If u sprout under a lamp (even under oldschool 40w tube flors), u got to watch the moisture of yur meduim. its a trickey balance that u have to maintain until they sprout.. too dry and they will die, too wet and they die and wont sprout..this is why I like using 16oz-24oz drink cups to raiase seedlings for the 1st 1-3 weeks of life.. . they are deep and hold enough meduim to keep moisture pretty well.. if you use RW blocks or jiffy pellets or anything small, to sprout in, u need to check moisture every few hours until they sprout.. then repot into a larger block or into a cup or container with whatever meduim you using..

So you’ve been growing since you were 13?

 

[InigoMontoya]

Jacking around with fragile tap roots is setting yourself up for failure

Well I never said it was perfect, but I had a gentle enough touch apparently. it's been a while since I went from seed though. I never did anything more than the most basic because I never had any troubles with it. But as @deep_rob says whatever works best for you is the right way. There's a hundred ways to skin a cat. (I really hate that analogy, but it's the only one I can think of)

 

[Lordhooha]

Well I never said it was perfect, but I had a gentle enough touch apparently. it's been a while since I went from seed though. I never did anything more than the most basic because I never had any troubles with it. But as @deep_rob says whatever works best for you is the right way. There's a hundred ways to skin a cat. (I really hate that analogy, but it's the only one I can think of)

I simply give the simplest. There’s a hundred ways to do just about everything. And yes he’s right on that aspect do what works for you. However since your method was failing you and you asked I simply gave you a full proof way.

 

[InigoMontoya]

I simply give the simplest. There’s a hundred ways to do just about everything. And yes he’s right on that aspect do what works for you. However since your method was failing you and you asked I simply gave you a full proof way.

I always welcome good advice. I credit my experience gained in growing a lot to the info I've found on this forum from you more experienced awesome people

 

[SchmoeJoe]

Jacking around with fragile tap roots is setting yourself up for failure

I've never heard of anyone but pot growers messing around with presoaks or paper towels. Use a soil mix that has good balanced drainage and moisture retention and put them straight in it. The only exception for me is with old seeds where I don't want fill a horde of pots with seeds that aren't going to germinate in the first place.

 

[Lordhooha]

I've never heard of anyone but pot growers messing around with presoaks or paper towels. Use a soil mix that has good balanced drainage and moisture retention and put them straight in it. The only exception for me is with old seeds where I don't want fill a horde of pots with seeds that aren't going to germinate in the first place.

Yah I’m with you only stoners try to think of easy ways and make it more complicated because reasons lol.

 

[Jimdamick]

Fuck soaking seeds.
I use a simple moistened germinating mix in 2x2 peat pots on a heat mat, wait 3 days until they pop (average time), and then put the cube into their final home. When I did soil I would then transplant immediately into a 3 gallon pot, now doing hydro in pebbles I do the same thing. I don't like fucking around with tap roots, I'd rather just let them grow with as little disturbance as possible.

 

[Smok3yMcChok3y]

Yea just paper towel pretty wet so maybe it drips a tiny bit put the seeds in slide that in a Ziploc. Seal it with a puff of air and stick it on my router since it's warm. 24 hours and they are ready for rockwool cubes.

 

[Smok3yMcChok3y]

I've never heard of anyone but pot growers messing around with presoaks or paper towels. Use a soil mix that has good balanced drainage and moisture retention and put them straight in it. The only exception for me is with old seeds where I don't want fill a horde of pots with seeds that aren't going to germinate in the first place.

Don't put that dirt in my room. And I don't trust rockwool cubes to not strangle the seed after they've been soaked to fix ph.

 

[SchmoeJoe]

Fuck soaking seeds.
I use a simple moistened germinating mix in 2x2 peat pots on a heat mat, wait 3 days until they pop (average time), and then put the cube into their final home. When I did soil I would then transplant immediately into a 3 gallon pot, now doing hydro in pebbles I do the same thing. I don't like fucking around with tap roots, I'd rather just let them grow with as little disturbance as possible.

I've read research from breeders in the Netherlands that showed that taproots that bottom out at 3" or less produce higher ratios of males. I've never tested it but I know that there are other species that will even die if the taproot hits the bottom of the pot.

Obviously I don't expect a pot plant to die from it but it's one of the earliest things that can cause stress to a plant and one of the easiest to avoid. Why mess with it? Direct sow.

 

[SchmoeJoe]

Don't put that dirt in my room. And I don't trust rockwool cubes to not strangle the seed after they've been soaked to fix ph.

Some strong feelings about soil?

 

[Smok3yMcChok3y]

Jacking around with fragile tap roots is setting yourself up for failure

Meh if you're gentle and not all fat thumbed like me it's usually not too bad. At least with the cubes I use they have a pretty wide hole so I just use tweezers to grab the see hull and point root down. It'll correct itself either way.

 

[Smok3yMcChok3y]

Some strong feelings about soil?

Haha nah not really I just don't use it. I did however buy some coco to run some freebie seeds. So I guess you could.say I'm warming up to the ole brown stuff

 

[Lordhooha]

Meh if you're gentle and not all fat thumbed like me it's usually not too bad. At least with the cubes I use they have a pretty wide hole so I just use tweezers to grab the see hull and point root down. It'll correct itself either way.

Lol I have a hard time not breaking a lot of things what’s soft to me is generally crushing to most others. Grabbed my wife’s foot last nite Messing with her damn bruised her foot. Always snap bolts and everything in between.

 

[MickFoster]

Soak RR in a weak bloom solution, pH'd to 6.0. - squeeze out excess - place seed in hole - tear off a small piece of RR to cover hole - put in a drawer. Foolproof.

 

[MnM95]

everyone has thier own way, just like growing.. Whatever works bets for you, is the correct way.. For me, its paper towels.. I've used the same method since 1993 and it hasnt let me down.. moisten your towel (like how u would moisten RW cubes, gently squeeze a little water out, so its not soaking wet, just moistened), add seeds, fold over into sqaure.. stick folded towel inside a plastic sandwhich bag, fold over top but dont seal.. and set alongside a ballast or somewhere warm. 12-72 hours later = germination. plant tap root down in a container with meduim that you pre-watered and moistened before sowing. sow like 1/2" deep and lightly cover. place in dark area or under a light, . in 24-72 hours seedlings break surface. If u sprout under a lamp (even under oldschool 40w tube flors), u got to watch the moisture of yur meduim. its a trickey balance that u have to maintain until they sprout.. too dry and they will die, too wet and they die and wont sprout..this is why I like using 16oz-24oz drink cups to raiase seedlings for the 1st 1-3 weeks of life.. . they are deep and hold enough meduim to keep moisture pretty well.. if you use RW blocks or jiffy pellets or anything small, to sprout in, u need to check moisture every few hours until they sprout.. then repot into a larger block or into a cup or container with whatever meduim you using..

I’ll have to try this. I’m a little suspicious of the seeds, but I was able to get the very first two seeds started so I don’t know. It could also be the soil, I can’t seem to find one I like that absorbs water properly. I just recently got Fox Farm Ocean Forest but it doesn’t seem to thoroughly absorb water, so only the top gets wet but underneath it’s dry as hell.