Sown Seed Depth

Hey guys, thanks for popping in to hear me out.

I've been practicing with some ~3 year old bagseed, and I've got about a 50% sprout ratio. (Of the ones that were viable and germinated)

This means I failed half of the time when dealing with good, germed seeds.

I tried sprouting with peat pots in sealed tupperware. It worked, but it was very humid, and I can't check up on them all the time due to work. The sprout had grown into the top of the container, but came to life under my lights, once out of that humid torture chamber.

I've had the best luck with sprouting germinated seeds, by placing them under my light (hid) and keeping them moist. My RH in the tent is always at %15. (Yikes!) So I bought a cool mist humidifier that cools the tent a bit from the 400w mh. Enough so, that I stopped the air circulation to encourage higher humidity. (Tent is 3.3ft x 3.3ft x 6.5ft)
Temps at 78f and RH at %48 as long as I keep my new humidifier filled and functioning.

My last practice round, I watered from the bottom to try and discourage myself drowning them in tiny peat pots.

so my paranoia is at an all time high, and growing is supposed to be therapeutic!? Lol jk

But do you think my success will increase with the changes I've made to the environment? If you have any other pointers, please weigh in.

*And now to the point of the thread (I apologize for being scatter brained)*

When I do get my little guys to pop up, often they are plagued by the seed or the tiny film within the seed. I've had the seed rot the coteylodons while waiting for nature to run its course. last night I Noticed my newest sprout's cotyledons were being held together by a thin film, and new growth could be seen within. I popped it open with a toothpick and exposed two tiny serrated leaves that were trapped.

Am I correct in thinking this is because my seeds were sown too shallow? Does the act of pushing the top of the plant through the soil loosen up the seed and membranes? Because admittedly, due to impatience I may have had them a bit too shallow. (5 mm down or so)

To list off what I'm asking plainly:

1. Will my increased humidity and steady Temps help me have more success?

2. If my seeds are causing trouble to the sprouts, are they planted too shallow?

3. I have 10 lowryder seeds and 1 cash crop cream of the crop. Will these healthy / fresh autoflowering seeds germ and sprout with better rates than 3 year old bag seed?


Thank you again for the time guys I would really appriciate your help.

(The pic attached is of my first "grow." It's one of my sprouts that I got carried away with lol. HIS name is Hercules and I'm never letting my wife name a plant again)

2-3 times the diameter of the seed is the planting depth, works on most seed types including cannabis.

Your new seeds were stored properly and handled with care, you should get >95% germ with any decent seed source. If you kill it after germ that is your fault.

New seeds starting can actually use a bit more than 48%, but it will be a huge improvement over 15%. A simple method to up humidity for seedlings is to simply place a bag loosely over a group of them (aka a humidity dome.) It should not be sealed but should limit air flow enough to increase humidity. Take the dome off from time to time to ensure mold doesn't grow and only use for as short a time as needed.

I use clear produce bags when I need a humidity dome.

Hey thanks alot for the advice dude, I really appriciate that.

I went home and sealed my tent vents and my rh is nearing %60 and Temps are at about 82f. (my tent is 6.5ft and I've got three 10inch duct holes wide open at the top)

Air can escape, but it has to travel to the tip-top of my tent, a good 4ft. Away from the seedlings.

Again, my tent is (3.3ft x 3.3ft x 6.5ft)
with seedlings having little leaf surface, and using less gas in the atmosphere , (I assume)
Would this be a safe environment for the little ones? Keep in mind I'm compromising air circulation to raise dangerous humidity levels.

My knuckles look like old footballs due to this low humidity!

xSwimToTheMoon said:

Hey thanks alot for the advice dude, I really appriciate that.

I went home and sealed my tent vents and my rh is nearing %60 and Temps are at about 82f. (my tent is 6.5ft and I've got three 10inch duct holes wide open at the top)

Air can escape, but it has to travel to the tip-top of my tent, a good 4ft. Away from the seedlings.

Again, my tent is (3.3ft x 3.3ft x 6.5ft)
with seedlings having little leaf surface, and using less gas in the atmosphere , (I assume)
Would this be a safe environment for the little ones? Keep in mind I'm compromising air circulation to raise dangerous humidity levels.

My knuckles look like old footballs due to this low humidity!

Click to expand...

It's a bit warm and a bag is way easier, but at those levels it shouldn't be too tough to keep seedlings alive/thriving. You shouldn't need to keep it humid for more than a week, once they have decent roots the humidity will only slow them down.

1. Yes. 2. I plant half inch deep. Most sites say a 1/4 to 1/2 deep. I prefer 1/2. It gives them thicker stems. Plus the tap root turns and as it breaks soil it pulls the hull off. 3. Yes.

Good lookin out fellas, thank you.

Im going to keep my eye on the temperature and definetly scour for some useful bags to create a dome as you suggested Nomo. They may be a bit more practical and can help me hit the Temp optimally.

I've got one more quick question if anyone cares to weigh in.

I was planning on starting these autos in 3g pots And never transplanting. I've read that autos don't tolerate transplants or any shock, due to thier short life cycle. I've also read if you start in a container too big, it's hard to monitor your watering and soil, and can cause root problems.

Can someone please advise me? I was originally going to start half of them in smaller containers and compare my results in the end. But heck if I'm just going to ruin half experimenting, please tell me!

xSwimToTheMoon said:

Good lookin out fellas, thank you.

Im going to keep my eye on the temperature and definetly scour for some useful bags to create a dome as you suggested Nomo. They may be a bit more practical and can help me hit the Temp optimally.

I've got one more quick question if anyone cares to weigh in.

I was planning on starting these autos in 3g pots And never transplanting. I've read that autos don't tolerate transplants or any shock, due to thier short life cycle. I've also read if you start in a container too big, it's hard to monitor your watering and soil, and can cause root problems.

Can someone please advise me? I was originally going to start half of them in smaller containers and compare my results in the end. But heck if I'm just going to ruin half experimenting, please tell me!

Click to expand...

I've only done two autos and I transplanted with no shock. Starting in larger containers is simply a matter of watering only when needed, not on a schedule. You need to let them dry a bit, watering for first couple weeks will only be like once per week, maybe a bit more often with your extra low humidity. By the end you may have to water daily ore every other depending on how thirsty they are.

I will totally keep this in mind. Thank you again dude for helping me hit these numbers. I need to raise my chance of success in these early stages of life, because I don't have much practice with it. One of my first seeds exploded and I kind of lost myself with it. It turned out to be a boy and being in my only tent, I couldn't let him flower anymore. I'm gonna smoke him. Or at least make a Harry potter wand out of it Lol