Seeds poping open but not growing

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Haitham600

Member
I will ask my question:
Never had a problem poping seeds in damp paper towel inside a ziplock bag with a blow of air. I have 5 years old seed, they crack but do not grow. After a week the white internals of the seeds turns mushy so I figure its dead. I put them under LED light, incandescent and even CFL and on the window that gets sun. I used all kind of timing, mostly from 12/12 to 14/10 nothing is working. I planted directly into the rockwool setting in hydroponics setup with PH 6 and around 300 conductivity. Just covered the top of the seed slightly with some shredded rockwool to keep the moisture and protect from direct light. Humidity is controlled at 65%. Same thing. After few days i check the seed is cracked, after a week is mushy. I make sure not to disturb it at all. Not sure what i am doing wrong this time?
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
Haitham600 said:
I will ask my question:
Never had a problem poping seeds in damp paper towel inside a ziplock bag with a blow of air. I have 5 years old seed, they crack but do not grow. After a week the white internals of the seeds turns mushy so I figure its dead. I put them under LED light, incandescent and even CFL and on the window that gets sun. I used all kind of timing, mostly from 12/12 to 14/10 nothing is working. I planted directly into the rockwool setting in hydroponics setup with PH 6 and around 300 conductivity. Just covered the top of the seed slightly with some shredded rockwool to keep the moisture and protect from direct light. Humidity is controlled at 65%. Same thing. After few days i check the seed is cracked, after a week is mushy. I make sure not to disturb it at all. Not sure what i am doing wrong this time?
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How were you storing them ?
Typically weak seeds can be immature or old
It sounds like you need to not leave them wet once they crack
 
H

Haitham600

Member
These were good seeds from a seed bank preseved in dry ziplocks in a dark place for about 5 years. I used them before they were fine.
I am now trying with barely moist paper towel in ziplock but completely shielded from light in a a towel put under incandescent light at about 12 in to give them some warmth.
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Haitham600 said:
I meant cracked open after couple of days being moist. How is that a grower issue?
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Because the seed was viable. It cracked open then died. So that's your fault. If the seed never cracked open, it likely wasn't viable so that would be an issue with the seed itself.

Pythium ultimum and Pythium irregulare can infect seeds, causing seed blight or rot (pre-emergence damping off), or they can cause water soaking and eventual death of the roots and stems of seedlings as they emerge (post-emergence damping off).
-Sourced from googlehole

You can use hydrogen peroxide in your soak water. Kills off pathogens, helps the shell soften, and keeps your sprout rates up. Just a dash in the water will help out
Also, keep your area clean. Those spores are comming from somewhere, dirty tents, old pots laying around not clean, dead decaying leaves, bugs, all can play a role in spreading fungus.
 
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H

Haitham600

Member
Thanks for explaining this. I agree with you the seeds were good. But in each try, I used brand new paper towel, and brand new bag to avoid disease, water from the faucet so it has enough ingredients. So you say I drowned them or cooked them?
 
H

Haitham600

Member
Some posts say they do not need light, am I doing the right thing by wrapping the ziplock with a tower and placing it under light source? In the past I used to put them under incandescent it they were just fine.
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Haitham600 said:
Thanks for explaining this. I agree with you the seeds were good. But in each try, I used brand new paper towel, and brand new bag to avoid disease, water from the faucet so it has enough ingredients. So you say I drowned them or cooked them?
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Drowned cooked dampened off.....something. hard to say. I'm not there. I can't see what your doing. Can't see the environment. So it's just educated guessing
A seed doesn't need light. It needs moisture, warmth and a clean environment. It'll need light when the leaves come out. I'm not gona be the guy that tells you how to start seeds. Everyone's got their own way that works for them. You'll get a hundred posts and each one will be a diff method sometimes confusing people even more. Just find a method that you can work with then follow it without variation. After you got that down pat you can play around with other ideas and tweak your own method.
 
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K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
Haitham600 said:
Some posts say they do not need light, am I doing the right thing by wrapping the ziplock with a tower and placing it under light source? In the past I used to put them under incandescent it they were just fine.
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I just went 22-22 on germing seeds, no light at all, just kept them in a warm dark cupboard, most popped within 26 hours, had 1 that went 72 hours. 21-22 are still growing, the 1 that was lost was entirely my fault. My seeds don't see light until they hit the grow medium.
 
H

Haitham600

Member
Jjgrow420 said:
Drowned cooked dampened off.....something. hard to say. I'm not there. I can't see what your doing. Can't see the environment. So it's just educated guessing
A seed doesn't need light. It needs moisture, warmth and a clean environment. It'll need light when the leaves come out. I'm not gona be the guy that tells you how to start seeds. Everyone's got their own way that works for them. You'll get a hundred posts and each one will be a diff method sometimes confusing people even more. Just find a method that you can work with then follow it without variation. After you got that down pat you can play around with other ideas and tweak your own method.
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Thanks
 
H

Haitham600

Member
Kgrim said:
I just went 22-22 on germing seeds, no light at all, just kept them in a warm dark cupboard, most popped within 26 hours, had 1 that went 72 hours. 21-22 are still growing, the 1 that was lost was entirely my fault. My seeds don't see light until they hit the grow medium.
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Thanks, I will leave them wrapped up so at least I know I am not cooking them. One variable out of the equation.
 
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