Germinqtion woes

Hi all. Having real problems germinating at the moment.

I only grow one at a time. Firs round was a success. Round 2 have started 4 seeds and not one success.

Attempt 1: straight into ph 5.5 rockwool
Attempt 2: 14 hour soak in rhizotonic, before planting in rockwool
Attempt 3: Fulvic acid soak (0.5% fulvic), followed by paper towel method
Attempt 4: plain 14hr soak, into paper towel

Success rate: zero

Only consistency is all went into unmodified dome, 90% humidity. I'm wondering if heat mat is too aggressive, as average temp inside dome seems to be 31c.

Any thoughts? Seeds aren't cheap and am burning through at a rate of knots.

In each instance I allowed 10 days for sign of life. Only 2 developed tap roots which were short and didn't really grow past a few mm

Thanks in advance for any help

Be careful with heat mats, best used with a thermostat, but always double check with a temp probe. Here is a good guide, I would either plant the seeds directly into seed starting mix or into root riot or rapid rooters. Here is a good guide with quality info https://www.mandalaseeds.com/Guides/Germination-Guide

Try straight up soil in a solo cup route. 1/4” down, some moisture and in three days they typically show themselves. Good luck.

sven_lordy said:

... Only consistency is all went into unmodified dome, 90% humidity. I'm wondering if heat mat is too aggressive, as average temp inside dome seems to be 31c.

Any thoughts? Seeds aren't cheap and am burning through at a rate of knots....

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Well, 31 degrees C = 88 degrees F so that is way too hot. If you have a heating pad, set the thermostat to 76 degrees. If you are using a T5 light, keep it about 1 foot above the plant. Take the dome off several times a day, be sure they are getting plenty of air.

Since you seem to be having trouble with the different methods, just soak the seed for 12 hours in tap water, then put into moist soil about 1/2 inch below the surface, in very lightly packed soil. Use a soda cap of water for the first few days to keep the soil around the seed moist and keep the dome temperature between 76 and 82 degrees F. You should have green shoots in 5 days.

Ditch the dome completely. You really dont need it for germination. You're temps are high, but shouldn't be an issue. My tents are not controlled environments at all. Summers can see 90-100° F.

Foolproof.

Soak rooter in water.
Squeeze out the excess.
Place seed in hole.
Tear off a small piece of rooter to cover the hole.
Place in a drawer at room temperature.
No heating mats, no soaking, no pre-germination, no dome.
I get close to 100%.........10 for 10 last time within 4 days.

Good luck.

Are you growing hydro? If not use something other than rockwool.

I put my seeds in a shot glass of water overnight
Drop seeds into soil medium about 1/4 inch so the dirt pushes the shell off seed when it sprouts
The only issue I have ever had is trying to germinate in too cool of environment
72 f - 80 f is perfect IMO

Edit: if the seeds don't sink in the water in 12 hours they are duds

You are way overthinking your whole germination process, simple is better in most cases. This is the technique that I have used for years and I get well over 90% germination rate.

Put a couple inches of water into a small glass, tap water is fine unless you have real funky tap water. Add your seeds and place the cup uncovered in a dark place, a kitchen cabinet is fine, but it should not be above your stove or any direct heat source. I usually do 4-10 seeds at a time this way. The seeds may float when you first add them to the glass, but after they have soaked up a little water they usually settle to the bottom.

Some of them may start to sprout within the first 24 hours, but it usually take more like 48 hours for most of them to germinate, and within 72 hours the viable seeds should have successfully sprouted.

After the seed has cracked open and you can see the white root sprout beginning to emerge it is ready to be planted into your medium. Seeds germinated in this manner are easy to plant into pretty much any medium. Pour off most of the water in the cup or carefully pour the seed out on to a piece of paper towel to make them easier to pick up with tweezers. Using a clean pair of tweezers place each seed root down into the growing medium and gently cover it with the substrate by no more than half of an inch.

Be sure to keep everything moist, but not soaking wet, a humidity dome is ok until you see the sprouts break through the medium, but take it off as soon as they do. One cycle I left the dome on the tray too long and the first sprout ended up dying by the time the others has sprouted because the stem got too wet and molded from the super high humidity inside the dome.

Following this process I get 90+% germination rate every time.

Happy growing!

I put my seeds straight into coco and keep it moist. Like magic, they sprout on their own right in the medium!

Thanks for all the answers - should have mentioned - I'm using rockwool because these are going into DWC as soon as ready.

Having read all the info, I think it's the heat mat to blame. Seeds require 90% humidity (hence the dome), but also require a fresh supply of air (I have a vent which I leave open, with a fan pointing at it), but it appears 23-25c is the optimal temperature for germination. I seem to be cooking the seeds before they've had a chance to thrive.

Just bought a heat mat with a thermostat, and as soon as my seedlings appear aboe ground, I'm going to lose the dome top, and use a humidifier to maintain 80% humidity, dropping 5% per week until I get to 60% humidity.

Thanks all for the feedback! Thinkk I'll just plant straight ins=to substrate as tat's what worked for me the first time,

I use a heat mat too, but I put a folded towel on it, and the germination dome on top of that. Hasn't failed for me yet.
Good luck.

Lose the dome it is for clones only

Herb & Suds said:

Lose the dome it is for clones only

Click to expand...

Or a cold basement. If I put the tray directly on the mat the medium gets cooked, on the towel the top half is cold. With the dome it's the right temp all the way through. I do take it off as soon as the seedling breaks the surface though. Dome is the wrong word. I'm referring to something like this.

sven_lordy said:

Thanks for all the answers - should have mentioned - I'm using rockwool because these are going into DWC as soon as ready.

Having read all the info, I think it's the heat mat to blame. Seeds require 90% humidity (hence the dome), but also require a fresh supply of air (I have a vent which I leave open, with a fan pointing at it), but it appears 23-25c is the optimal temperature for germination. I seem to be cooking the seeds before they've had a chance to thrive.

Just bought a heat mat with a thermostat, and as soon as my seedlings appear aboe ground, I'm going to lose the dome top, and use a humidifier to maintain 80% humidity, dropping 5% per week until I get to 60% humidity.

Thanks all for the feedback! Thinkk I'll just plant straight ins=to substrate as tat's what worked for me the first time,

Click to expand...

I don't know where you get that seeds require 90% humidity. I plant seeds straight into the grow medium with no soaking or anything in 30% humidity and they all sprout and grow. Your seeds are probably rotting from keeping them too wet.

Yeah I have never heard of 90 percent humidity for seeds. I used a propagator last run for 7 plants and they turned out great, it helped me keep the humidity a little up and if it got too high I opened more vents. I put a fan on them two hours a day after they sprouted first true leaves. Those temps and humidity levels are killer though. You just want the soil/medium in the mid 70s for sprouting ime. Vivosun has a pretty cheap seedling mat with a thermostat, prevent the cooking. I hang my probe halfway down where the sprouting medium is, as there is no canopy and for sprouting soil temperature is all I am after. Mick above is right though, way overthinking it. Really all you need is some root riots or something and room temperature. Lights above domes heat up quick.

Hey bud. I do a soak over night, paper towel and than into coco pellets with 1/4 nute pre soak. You can also go straight into coco pellet from soak. I use a germination dome with heat mat set at around 28 deg and when they sprout remove the dome.

Cheers guys... I've obviously been getting crap info from somewhere. I read (in a prestigious book) that 90% was essential. So... for next batch, 50% humidity, no dome and straight into substrate .,

Domes are for cuttings not for seeds.

Rurumo said:

Domes are for cuttings not for seeds.

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I do find them useful actually. If using paper towel or Coco pellet they keep it from drying out too quickly. I just take the dome off once the seedlings pop out of the pellet but that's just what works for me.