Nervous to try and do this so I NEED HELP

OK so someone I know has ONE (1) fem seed of dynamite....everything I read on the plant seems really great but there's a problem..he wants me to germ it and well I've never had to do that before...I found a great little guide on the net but I would like any and all first hand experiences from someplace I trust...I just don't want to screw this up and while it may be like second nature for some of you this is only my second grow (very rapidly turning into a perpetual) and while I always think I can learn more and grow, as a well, grower..I'm just scared shiteless that I"m gonna screw up this one seed lol..anyway any thing anyone has to say about this topic would be great.

This is what i do.

I take a clean shot glass. Pour bottled water halfway. Drop the seed in. Place the shot glass on top of my water heater (I used my digital cable box before too) or any thing that is warm. Then place two stacked party cups over the shot glass to block out any light. Within 24hours. The seed is germinated. After that I let it sit for another day so the sprout is a little longer but it's not necessary.

I then place it in my wet medium (in my case it's soil) about half an inch to an inch down and gently cover it. When you place it into the medium, have the spouted tip pointing down. Make sure the entire medium is wet. Leave it in the dark and check up on it once a day to see if it breaks ground. Don't go in digging for it because it's taking too long. Just leave it alone in the dark. Sooner or later it will pop up. I went digging for it before and every time I did. I lost the seed and it never broke ground.

Yea the "guide" had said about the shot glass idea too...and ironically the water heater. Did you use a party cup to start off or something bigger/smaller..thanks for the tip about the moist medium..using soil as well.

You can also directly germinate in soil, just saturate the soil with water beforehand then dig a half inch hole and place the seed in it, cover the hole with soil and spray the "cover soil" with water in order to hydrate the added soil. I have had only one seed not sprout using this method and thats because it was a faulty one, so far it takes 4 days (at 25C) every time I germ for the seed to break the surface.

I used to start off with a party cup and medium. But, I just feel like it's a waste of time personally. When you transfer the plant from the party cup into a larger medium. If not done carefully, you can stress the plant. I am careful for the first few plants but towards the end, I get careless. So, now I just plant them straight into my 5gal air pots. Works well for me.

tomato57 said:

You can also directly germinate in soil, just saturate the soil with water beforehand then dig a half inch hole and place the seed in it, cover the hole with soil and spray the "cover soil" with water in order to hydrate the added soil. I have had only one seed not sprout using this method and thats because it was a faulty one, so far it takes 4 days (at 25C) every time I germ for the seed to break the surface.

Click to expand...

This works well too. The only thing I don't like about it is that you don't know if the seeds germinated. With the shot glass you do.

My very first batch of seeds, I planted the seeds straight into soil. Didn't know if they germinated or not so I started digging. I couldn't find one of them and nothing ever came up. So I went digging for the next one. Well, then I cut the sprouted seed with my nails while I was digging. Curiosity was a bitch in my case. After that, I only go with the shot glass method.

where are you growing? indoors or outdoors? soil, hydroponics or aeroponics?

grow equipment?

germinating is very simple...(not trying to be a dick!) there are a couple ways of executing this...

1.) Distilled Water In A Plastic Cup: Get yourself a SOLID COLOR plastic cup **HINT**-Blue Plastic Keg Cups **HINT** and fill it halfway up with the DISTILLED WATER. Drop the seeds in the water. Next, take a paper towel(fold it in half) and lay it over the top of the cup. Then get an elastic band to secure the paper towel over the top of the cup. Then just store the cup(w/ seeds in it) in a dark, cool place.

2.) Paper Tower Method: Take a roll of paper towels and rip 2 or 3 sheets off. take the 3 paper towels and layer them on top of each other. Next, place the seeds on one half of the paper towels, spread out from one another. Then fold the other half of the paper towels over the half with the seeds. Remember to fold over all sides afer you fold it over the first time to ensure none of them will fall out when moving them around. Now, wet the paper towel lightly. You want it to be moist but NOT SOAKED!!!!! Then place the paper towel into a ziplock bag or some kind of bag that has a seal as you want this bag to hold in moisture. If the paper towels dry out your seed will not germinate! Then place the bag in a dark cool place. This is the best way in my opinion! But everyone is entitled to their own by all means.

3.) In The Soil Method: Another way to germinate a seed is to simply take a pencil and poke a hole in a jiffy seed starter or rockwool cube about a half inch below the surface, drop the seed inside, water once(only water again when the starter or cube dries out), place in a partially shaded area and wait! To me, this method takes to long and the chances of you actually getting a sprout without getting completely irritated and impatient is slim!

If you're going to try the first 2 methods i've mentioned just remember to check the seeds after the first 2 - 3 days. Check them everyday after that sometimes they pop open with the little tails in 2 - 3 days but usually it takes about 4 - 6 days. If you're going with the In Soil method then expect to wait 7 - 14 days to see a sprout!

hope that helps!

Hey ebb n flo..thanks for pointing out that I forgot to mention all that LOL


Soil, indoors, grow medium is manna mix under either a 400 or a 600 MH (depends on if/when I get some money to buy the upgrade) Ambient temps in grow room however around 70 degrees along with 30-40 percent humidity.

Might go with the paper towel method although their seems to be more about the shot glass method and I like visual aids as well LOL.

i have had 100% success rate 3rd. grow with the paper towel method. wet it, drop in your seeds, fold it up, and then i put it in a mason jar with the lid craked. 2 days i have a sprout. 4th day after being planted, it pops through the soil.

I have always used the papertowel method. Keep damp in a dark area.

tomato57 said:

You can also directly germinate in soil, just saturate the soil with water beforehand then dig a half inch hole and place the seed in it, cover the hole with soil and spray the "cover soil" with water in order to hydrate the added soil. I have had only one seed not sprout using this method and thats because it was a faulty one, so far it takes 4 days (at 25C) every time I germ for the seed to break the surface.

Click to expand...

I agree with the "mator" start in soil and don't play with it.

For the full germination process go here: http://www.mandalaseeds.com/Guides/Germination-Guide

ive allways used paper towell method and never had any problems , i dont like the idea of completely soaking the seed in a cup of water , i dont know why lol as i know it works just the same lol