Germinating seeds in soil why not!?

Just curious why do people go through the trouble of germinating seeds in paper towel etc? Isn't it ok to just drop it 1/4 inch down into your soil, lightly cover it, pat gently, and water it in?

yup thats fine that is how i always do it paper towel is just an extra step only thing i do is soak in a water for 24 hours

I personally germinate them as you dont always get 100% germination rate, just saves fillin up extra pots for no reason.

Killer Vanilla said:

I personally germinate them as you dont always get 100% germination rate, just saves fillin up extra pots for no reason.

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My last plant I just dropped it in soil, and three days later there it was! So I am trying that method again. Just doesnt seem to make sense taking an extra step.

Pre germinating methods such as the paper towel method just ensures that what you've got is a viable seed and will root and grow. So when u plant straight into soil after 6/7 days pass you dont have to dig around in the pot to see if its doing anything. Each to their own i say.

If your paying by the bean you need to see how many germinate because with soil you may have germination and then a fungal attack that stops the germination process dead in its tracks. Sometimes a bean will barely pop a tap root out and then nothing...which can be an indication of old seeds. When I used soil for bag seeds I use to nuke it in the microwave and then added something to give it volume like vermicul...whatever, did that with some SK#1 bag seeds and got every (30+) beans to pop.

I germ in paper towels to avoid filling seedling pots to find that some of them are duds.

I germ straight in soil, the only time ive germed useing the paper towel was my first time germing a seed and i fucked it up, now i do nothing to the seed just straight in moist soil and within 3-4 days my newly born baby is greeting the world

Root Shooters. Best thing for both cloning and seeds. Now I won't use anything else except plain water to clone with really longer shoots. All early clones and short cuttings get Shulz powdered and straight into the Root Shooters. Almost 100% success with both using heated humidity dome until sprouted out well then under CFL.

I have only germed in a paper towel one time and it was my first grow before my parents didnt give a shit and didnt really like the fact i had a sketchy cfl setup behind my bed with a shirt draped over to hide the light.. Now as i got older, i got my card and my dad actually helps and tends to my plants as much as i do. None the less, i can truely say that i have never had a seed not sprout from just planting straight into soil. I will even dig around sometimes when i get too anxious and sure enough there is a little seedling with a tap root! Now everyones saying oh its a waste of soil if it doesnt sprout but its not like a dud seed is gonna ruin the soil, i would just simply take out the dud and plant a new seed.

Hey Hotrodharley, you said that with longer shoots you only use plain water? I have a plant i would like to clone and it has quite a few really long shoots on it that can be taken off so can i just take a shoot and stick it in a glass of water with say a plastic bag around it for humidity and hope for roots?