Is there a BEST way to germinate seeds for outdoor grow?

Ricky Pastille

Ricky Pastille

Member
Have one outdoor grow under my belt and it was fairly successful. It was bag-seed sativa, grew huge, flowered modestly and a few hardy girls miraculously survived the rainiest harvest season in years. Sparked by that limited success, this year I upgraded to store-bought seeds. Here in Maryland, now's the time to 'get crackin', which got me thinking:

Is there a consensus 'state-of-the-art' technique for germinating seeds for an outdoor grow?

I've used moistened paper towels set atop the fridge. I've soaked in water til cracked, then set in rock-wool cubes in a warming tray. I've planted directly in soil mixed specifically for seeding, then transplanted. All these methods worked, but in each, a few seeds invariably don't survive the birthing process. With bag-seed, a few failures are no big deal. But these little store-bought beans are precious and I want to minimize the chances of firing blanks.

If there are any mega-growers out there with a 'foolproof' germination system, I'd really appreciate your advice. Thanks in advance.
 
E

East Coast Pro

Active Member
For plants going outdoors, I throw Miracle Grow Moisture Control in a dixie cup and let mother nature handle it. With the seed directly in the soil, I usually sprout in 3-5 days, which also helps the seeding out because it's a little stronger when it has to push out itself..
 
Faldikar

Faldikar

Active Member
I like to presoak for 24 hrs (even water straight from the tap with no problems), after 24hrs your viable seeds will drop to the bottom (floaters can be tapped to see if air bubbles are holding them up), then drop them into jiffy pots filled with foxfarm seed starter mix, the only fox farm soil mix i use anymore. i get 100% pop rate and almost all pop within 2-5 days. I keep them under hid t5 lights, until they are big enough to drop into where ever i put them.
 
Vindicated

Vindicated

Well-Known Member
There's a few methods I've tried. 1) There is the paper towel method where you soak for 24 then let them germinate in a cool place, transplant them to a medium once they pop. 2) Some people do what is called Winter Sowing, where you sow the seeds outside in soil around Dec-Jan, then wait for them to pop. Downside is not all will make it (some get eaten by bugs or small animals) whereas the benefit is you get hardy plants right from the get go, no transplanting, and no hardening them off or gradually introducing them to the sun. 3) My preferred method is to soak them for 15-20 min, then sow them into 1 gallon containers (I happen to love fabric since they don't get root bound), and put them under lights indoors for a month.

On paper I like #2 the best and if I had a cold frame or something to protect them from pests during the first couple of weeks I would easily do this method. I hate moving plants from the indoors to the outside. The process takes about a week to avoid shocking them. The problem I have with this method, is in my area I have a lot of field mice and grass hoppers. They eat the seedlings the same day the pop out of the ground.

When I grow indoors, I have to shake them daily and put a fan near them, to make sure they become nice and strong. It takes more energy but they always make it.

I don't like the risk of mold or transplant shock with the paper-towel method, but lots of people use it, grow successfully, and swear by it. I just don't like the wait so instead of 24 hours, which is typical, I cut it down to 20 min and I haven't noticed a difference in germ rate.
 
Nunchukawaria

Nunchukawaria

Active Member
Yeah, dirt and water. Wait for the weather to get nice, water the soil first so your seeds dont float up and plant them as deep as they are long pointy end down and set them in the sun the way nature intended. Check on them every few hours so they don't dry out. It only takes 12 hours to drown a seed in a glass of water and you don't risk damaging them if they're already in the dirt. If they look under developed and premature (which is what alot of companys are selling) they may not have the strength to break through the dirt and you might have to baby them with the paper towel method. I also recomend a clear plastic dome or cup to keep the humidity up till they drop their casings and skin because they can sometimes dry on the seedling and kill it.
 
Nunchukawaria

Nunchukawaria

Active Member
If you pollinate a female and end up with somewhere from 200 to a 2000 seeds for next year then I would recomend the seed intensive method that Vindicated described. If you where to keep breeding your strain year after year, you would only want to use the tough survivors that have your preffered geno/pheno-type. You would then choose your best male to pollinate multiple females and keep the seeds from the most potent after you dry/clean and smoke them while labeling and keeping track of which are which. Seeded weed will always be harsh and less potent but you will find out which ones have the most potential. Always save some seeds from each cross so you can always go back to second base if quality degrades. Another option is to reorder and back cross to your best male. Probably more info than you wanted but the options always there. I have multiple grow sites for several strains I'm working on and a couple sites dedicated to all females. They are at least a half mile apart to avoid cross polination although you can still get a random bean here and there.
 
sonar

sonar

Well-Known Member
I'm a firm believer in keeping it simple with this hobby. No need for "state of the art" seed germination methods. That being said, I do like to start them in the wet paper towel sometimes. Especially if the seeds are a little older. I don't wait for a taproot to emerge though, just until I see that it cracked. From there, it goes into a party cup or whatever I am sprouting them in until it comes time to transplant them to their permanent home.
 
Ricky Pastille

Ricky Pastille

Member
Great advice from everyone, as usual. Sincere thanks. I decided to soak them in distilled water for a couple hours, then placed the seeds tap-end down in some porous 'seed-mix' soil in Jiffy pots. I have the pots in a germination tray with a clear plastic hood, set on an electric warming mat. I'll keep them warm and moist til I get serated leaves, then expose them to increasing periods of sunlight outdoors during the day, back indoors at night. I hope this works! I've only got 8 seeds [and 2 of those were freebies] so I'm shooting for as close to 100% germination as I can get.

Thanks again to the posters here for your good advice!
 
sonar

sonar

Well-Known Member
Ricky Pastille said:
Great advice from everyone, as usual. Sincere thanks. I decided to soak them in distilled water for a couple hours, then placed the seeds tap-end down in some porous 'seed-mix' soil in Jiffy pots. I have the pots in a germination tray with a clear plastic hood, set on an electric warming mat. I'll keep them warm and moist til I get serated leaves, then expose them to increasing periods of sunlight outdoors during the day, back indoors at night. I hope this works! I've only got 8 seeds [and 2 of those were freebies] so I'm shooting for as close to 100% germination as I can get.

Thanks again to the posters here for your good advice!
Click to expand...
What strains are you running?
 
Ricky Pastille

Ricky Pastille

Member
Barney's Farm Pineapple Chunk and Utopia Haze; CH9 Afghan Haze 33 and Reserva Privada Confidential Cheese -- all fems, bought from Attitude. Wanted half sativa-dom and half indica-dom, just to see what grows best for me here. Also want to learn more about high-CBD versus low-CBD varieties.

Do you have experience with any of these -- or have any advice?
 
Favre2Harvin

Favre2Harvin

Well-Known Member
You will like the Pineapple Chunk, I grew that strain indoors and outdoors all last year. works well in both areas. really seems to thrive outside though. Greatest smell ever. Grows pretty tall too. Also responds well to topping as well as LST or even fimming. and it is mold and disease resistant. Thats the strain in my Avi.

F2H
 
Ricky Pastille

Ricky Pastille

Member
Nunchukawaria, you were right about the Jiffy pots. Of my 8 seeds, I was only able to germinate 3 successfully, despite my best efforts. Just received my 'reinforcements' from Attitude today [2 BF Pineapple Chunk, 2 BF Utopia Haze, 1 CH9 Super Haze, 1 Samsara Flash Babylon auto, all fems]. Second wave of germination starts today.

This time, I'm doing all the stuff mentioned above -- short soak in distilled water, heated tray indoors, under clear plastic dome, etc -- but will plant in cups of native garden soil mixed loosely with organic rooting soil.

I could kick myself for going to all the trouble of buying seeds from overseas; using distilled water; buying the germination tray, plastic cover and heating mat; then grabbing Jiffy pots and seeding mix from Home Depot, without any idea whether they were any good for cannabis seeds. Jiffy pots just seemed like an easy convenience purchase. I guess the only way we learn lessons in life is the hard way. Trial and Error. Live and Learn!

I'll report back on how these new beans do in good old Maryland dirt.
 
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