Germinating Methods

Hello all - I'm working on my 4th grow batch and with each batch and each mistake I've learned a little from my mistakes along the way. Forums like this are a huge help so thanks in advance.
There are several methods for germinating seeds and the one I use the most is I place the seed in a glass of water until the little root/radical comes out before planting (seeds are still floating). Sometimes the seed will crack open but no root/radical comes out. I plant them anyway but not one has sprouted in soil. I was afraid of drowning them but the method seems to work for a majority of the seeds I've germinated. I've only been planting for about 18 months, do any of you more experienced growers have any advice on the method I'm using to germinate seeds?

Thanks again in advance for sharing your knowledge/experiences!

I always have +90% germ rates with the paper towel method at 82° on good seed, meaning full, dark, relatively fresh (but not too fresh)

I prefer hempy or soil.
wet the medium the day before. till/aerate and cover the seeds just until not visible, very little dirt. those jiffy rooter types are great. put a vented dome of some sort to keep that top layer moist. once they pop the surface remove. seed shells may need to be removed by hand if they become dry (dome will help with this as well)
once leaves show put under cfl light......

I agree with both posts.
I soak till the seed sinks (24-48 hours). I have no proof but it would seem this mimics spring.
I put seeds in peat pellets or rockwool. I can say for a fact that some seeds 'go' faster in peat and some in wool. I did a side-by-side and was surprised by the results under identical conditions.
I try my best to control environment (highish rh and 80f)
Results: 90-100%

With respect to clones i have found rockwool fantastic BUT the wool should only weigh 4-5x it's dry weight or it is too wet and will cause problems. ('al b fuct' has a helpful cloning tutorial thread)

Straight into a warm moist jiffy pot for beginners.

Paper towel method, in a disposable plastic container, wrapped in tin foil and place on my shop light ballasts. Since I have been doing it this way.... almost 100% success rate.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Cheers

Put them in the grow medium and be done with it.
Keep the medium moist.
Simple is better.
Paper towel sprouting exposes the infant tap roots to undue problems and possible stress, such as rough handling when having to gently place sprouted seed into desired medium.

Words to live by:
Keep it simple stupid.

funny I haven't heard kiss since high school chemistry. then uncle ben says it and I hear it all the time suddenly, I wonder if he only made it to highschool chemistry

anyway carry on..

clam method 99.9% germanation,paper towel fold about 3 piece's into size that will a small saucer,put the towel on the saucer add water not too much just go its damp put anther piece of wet towel over the top and a saucer over that to form a clam.Bit of tape to tape the two saucer togeather put them some where warm 2/3 days they will have a small tail just bang it into soil tail down and be through with in a day or two.

Its the only way of knowing that the seeds you have planted have cracked ,i have never had any problems doing it this way

I have close to a 100% success rate germinating seeds with the paper towel method - 3 layers of paper towel soaking wet, seeds, 3 more paper towels also wet, SEAL in air-tight baggie, seal for 48 hours, check and see 1/2 root, re-seal for 24 hours, see 1 inch root and plant in solo cup. Trick is to keep the container, I use a big baggie, sealed so the contents keep 100% humidity. Good luck, BigSteve.

qwizoking said:

funny I haven't heard kiss since high school chemistry. then uncle ben says it and I hear it all the time suddenly, I wonder if he only made it to highschool chemistry

anyway carry on..

Click to expand...

LOL...KISS, as opposed to Kiss, the rock band...

I used the paper towel method for a quite a while....I got tired of having to handle the sprouted seeds as if they were nitroglycerin.

So I have simply been putting the seeds directly into my grow medium with the same, if not, better results.
It saves a step and works quite well for me.


If I have older seeds and I am not sure about their viability, I scuff them up, and use the paper towel method primarily so as to not waste any of my grow medium on dead seeds.

Sorry to butt in, but when using the dome method with seeds or clones, how do you prevent mold issues with such high RH? Just let it get fresh air every once in a while?

Extacie said:

Sorry to butt in, but when using the dome method with seeds or clones, how do you prevent mold issues with such high RH? Just let it get fresh air every once in a while?

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As soon as the seedling sprouts emerge above the soil, take the dome, or any covering, off immediately.

Thank you, Wavels. I appreciate all the helpful info you have been posting.

What about with clones? Same concept? Except with roots? I've read how to do it, but have this fear of getting mold

Extacie said:

Thank you, Wavels. I appreciate all the helpful info you have been posting.

What about with clones? Same concept? Except with roots? I've read how to do it, but have this fear of getting mold

Click to expand...

As soon as the clones show viable roots, take the dome or whatever covering off.
With some experience you will get a sense of when your clones are wholly viable...then remove the covering ASAP.

Thank you so much man! I wish they still had +Rep to give out :/

THANK YOU all for your input!! I quit using the paper towel method because I got home late one night and the towel went dry. I'm probably going to try all three methods for a bit and see which one works best for me (current, paper towel, and directly into medium). So much good information here and lessons learned. Thanks so much!!

qwizoking said:

I prefer hempy or soil.
wet the medium the day before. till/aerate and cover the seeds just until not visible, very little dirt. those jiffy rooter types are great. put a vented dome of some sort to keep that top layer moist. once they pop the surface remove. seed shells may need to be removed by hand if they become dry (dome will help with this as well)
once leaves show put under cfl light......

Click to expand...

Thanks for this!!

"I used the paper towel method for a quite a while....I got tired of having to handle the sprouted seeds as if they were nitroglycerin."

I use 2 toothpicks when lifting a seedling out of the paper towel matrix. Gently lift up the head of the s'ling with 1 toothpick while using the other to loosen the root from the matrix. Sometimes you have to rip the paper to remove the root. Make sure you keep the seedling in 1 piece by maneuvering it slowly. This method works well for me. I poke a hole in the dirt (solo cup, eh?) and place the seedling in the hole while holding it with the 2 toothpicks. You can't harm the delicate root nearly as easily using toothpicks.

Seedlings don't go into the dome. Clones get domed. No dirt in the domes.

I fight the mold problem 2 ways. First I check my domed clones every few hours so I know just when the first roots appear. I wait 24 hours after first seeing a root before I move her to dirt. Trick is to get the clone out of the high humidity as soon as she can thrive in the veg room. Less time exposed to high RH cuts down on mold loss. Second is a tactic I learned the hard way from a lot of trial and error. After checking clones that molded up and died in the dome I discovered that almost all the mold cases developed where the stem of the clone meets the top of the jiffy pellet. Answer is to keep the pellet dry on the top half and only expose the bottom of the pellet to water a few seconds every 3-4 days. This has a two-fold advantage - it cuts down on moldy-stem syndrome by keeping the stem dryer, and it makes the clone root faster. Reason - the clone sends out roots to find water. If you keep the pellet matrix 100% wet the roots do not have to go out looking for water. By keeping part of the pellet drier we force the roots to extend out in their search for water.

Here's what I do when my domed clones don't want to root -- I keep misting the leaves only 3-4 times a day but I allow the pellet to dry out. Make sure your solo cup has no holes in it as you don't want them to soak up the water on the dome floor. You want the pellet as dry as possible as that is what encourages the roots to grow out towards water. After the pellet is good and dry I lift the pellet and all out of the solo cup and dip the bottom 1/4 inch of the pellet in warm water (I use the warm water already sitting on the dome floor) for just 2-3 seconds. You want the pellet to absorb just enough water to barely dampen ( and darken) the very bottom of the pellet. I usually will see new roots about 48 hours after the dipping. Something about a quick dip when dried out makes the roots grow quickly.

Good luck, BigSteve.

its too many to read to be honest what i do is i just put all the seeds in a cup like 5-6 at a time and i add enough water to barely cover the seed and i find that hey usually gets me to get them all pop'd i don't know if thats they proper way to do it, but it works for me lol i usually just go clones though i odnt like the seed struggle.