GrowthRecovery
Member
What is the best way to germinate seeds?
What is the best way to germinate seedssss?!?!!?!?!?
- Thread starter GrowthRecovery
- Start date
BrokenBone
New Member
scoodles
Member
I found that Hobbes way works best for me. You should click on his links too for any info you want. He has great stuff.
Scoodles I plant in soil as Savo was suggesting, in Pro Mix with distilled water in 18 oz cups with Saran wrap on top for a humidity dome. Of the hundreds of seeds I've germinated with this method I've only lost one - I planted it upside down and the root grew into the air overnight and dried out. Other than not using a magnifying glass that one time to check the seed the system is 100% fool proof. As a new grower - if the seed is going to germinate you have the best chance of getting a seedling with this method.
Post # 2 of the grow lab thread linked below.
.
Index: Propagation
Alphabetical: Germination
.
I plant in Pro Mix with distilled water in 18 oz cups with Saran wrap on top for a humidity dome. Of the hundreds of seeds I've germinated with this method I've only lost one - I planted it upside down and the root grew into the air overnight and dried out. Other than not using a magnifying glass that one time to check the seed the system is 100% fool proof. As a new grower - if the seed is going to germinate you have the best chance of getting a seedling with this method.
.
.
Germination
Easy Seed Germination: simple, fast, safe
.
I haven't invented anything new but I follow these steps every time I germinate seeds and I've got a 100% success rate - I've lost only one seed with this method, I was careless and planted it upside down. Nearly fool proof. Hopefully someone will find this useful.
I like it because it's simple (1 step), fast, safe, and I don't have to handle the sprouts. I usually get sprouts popping the surface in 2-3 days, the shortest around 30 hours and the longest 3.5 days.
Plastic cup (16-20oz)
Pro Mix (non fertilized soil less)
Distilled water
Magnifying glass (or good eyes)
Bic pen refill
Glad Press and Seal wrap (crinkled)
Tablespoon
Masking Tape
Sharp poking tool (knife, scissors)
.
Clear fruit cups from the grocery store, with their own humidity dome instead of Saran wrap, make an excellent biosphere germinator. The great thing about clear cups is that we can watch the roots develop.
.
1. Mix Pro Mix normally - enough distilled water so the mix holds together when squeezed in one hand but not so much water that it drips.
2. Poke holes in bottom of cup. Fill cups with Pro Mix, put hand over top and shake up and down to get rid of air holes. Pat the top of the pro mix in cup down gently. Fill to 1" below the cup top - room for the sprout to grow if it comes up when you're not around; and to put in more Pro Mix if the stem stretches. Label each cup with masking tape before putting the seed in. I use different colored cups for different strains as well.
3. With the writing tip of the pen poke a hole in the center of the pro mix, about 1/8". Not deep, just a starter hole. The seed will do the rest of the work.
4. Using good eyes or the magnifying glass find the scalloped (opens) and dimpled (hing) sides of the seed. Poke the scalloped end into the pro mix - I find it easiest to put the seed between the thumb and index finger and gently squeeze it in. Don't push far, just until it stays upright.
Sometimes it's hard to pick out the dimpled and scalloped ends. The dimpled end was attached to the plant and will have a hole where it attached to the bud. The scalloped end will be smooth.
5. Recheck the seed with your magnifying glass to be sure the dimple side is up.
6. Using the open tube end of the pen refill push the dimpled end of the seed down until it is 1/16-1/8" below the surface. Using the pen refill skuff up the pro mix until 1/8" is over the seed dimple. Loose and airy is good.
7. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of distilled water over the top of the pro mix. Do NOT uncover the seed.
8. Rip off a piece of Glad Press and Seal wrap, tear it's length in two so you have a square, and wrap over the top of cup making a complete seal. Or use an discarded fruit cup with a humidity dome. Be sure to not only label your strains, but number the cups of the same strain to keep track for cloning. Label the cups before you plant the seeds, it's easy to get confused once two cups have tops.
9. Place the cup minimum flower distance from your light in your flower room. The heat from the light will act like a steamer with the distilled water and the seed; the (12 on/12 off) cycle of the light will mimic nature; the crinkled Glad wrap will keep the moisture and heat in and diffuse the light.
Bubblegum
Flo (short in front) & Trainwreck (taller). Similar flower period but a bad height combo for the same bucket.
I left this Skunkberry bottom for an extra week to fill out. It went from perhaps a cup cured to +2 cups cured. I usually harvest in stages, even with an 18" plant.
10. After the first day pull back the Glad Wrap a couple of times a day to look for sprouting.
.
It's important to plant the seed scalloped end down; dimpled end up. We plant shallow, we don't want the root tip curling up. Sure way to lose a seed.
.
The seed opens on the scalloped end, the dimpled end is like a hinge.
.
The root curls around.
.
If you plant the seed deep in the soil (5 mm or more) you can get away with planting the seed with the scalloped end up, it has room to curl around and grow down. I haven't had the speed or success with deeper planting, hit and miss for me. The one seed I've lost I planted upside down with this method by mistake.
I do not recommend this method though some seed companies swear by it.
.
When the seedling breaks the surface the rounded scalloped end of the seed shell points down; the dimpled hinged end up.
.
The tap root will spiral down to the bottom of the pot and bud lateral roots.
.
Our seeds are planted shallow (to take advantage of heat from the light), the root tip starts down, curls around, continues down. Like a spiral rather than a 180 degree turn.
.
.
.
Seed sexing is the astrology of marijuana growing - it has an amazing 50% accuracy. Seed sexing is like treating strep throat: If you don't take care of strep throat right away it could last a whole week, but if you get to a doctor and get the right medication you can be rid of strep in 7 days.
.
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Scoodles I plant in soil as Savo was suggesting, in Pro Mix with distilled water in 18 oz cups with Saran wrap on top for a humidity dome. Of the hundreds of seeds I've germinated with this method I've only lost one - I planted it upside down and the root grew into the air overnight and dried out. Other than not using a magnifying glass that one time to check the seed the system is 100% fool proof. As a new grower - if the seed is going to germinate you have the best chance of getting a seedling with this method.
Post # 2 of the grow lab thread linked below.
.
Index: Propagation
Alphabetical: Germination
.
I plant in Pro Mix with distilled water in 18 oz cups with Saran wrap on top for a humidity dome. Of the hundreds of seeds I've germinated with this method I've only lost one - I planted it upside down and the root grew into the air overnight and dried out. Other than not using a magnifying glass that one time to check the seed the system is 100% fool proof. As a new grower - if the seed is going to germinate you have the best chance of getting a seedling with this method.
.
.
Germination
Easy Seed Germination: simple, fast, safe
.
I haven't invented anything new but I follow these steps every time I germinate seeds and I've got a 100% success rate - I've lost only one seed with this method, I was careless and planted it upside down. Nearly fool proof. Hopefully someone will find this useful.
I like it because it's simple (1 step), fast, safe, and I don't have to handle the sprouts. I usually get sprouts popping the surface in 2-3 days, the shortest around 30 hours and the longest 3.5 days.
Plastic cup (16-20oz)
Pro Mix (non fertilized soil less)
Distilled water
Magnifying glass (or good eyes)
Bic pen refill
Glad Press and Seal wrap (crinkled)
Tablespoon
Masking Tape
Sharp poking tool (knife, scissors)
.
Clear fruit cups from the grocery store, with their own humidity dome instead of Saran wrap, make an excellent biosphere germinator. The great thing about clear cups is that we can watch the roots develop.
.
1. Mix Pro Mix normally - enough distilled water so the mix holds together when squeezed in one hand but not so much water that it drips.
2. Poke holes in bottom of cup. Fill cups with Pro Mix, put hand over top and shake up and down to get rid of air holes. Pat the top of the pro mix in cup down gently. Fill to 1" below the cup top - room for the sprout to grow if it comes up when you're not around; and to put in more Pro Mix if the stem stretches. Label each cup with masking tape before putting the seed in. I use different colored cups for different strains as well.
3. With the writing tip of the pen poke a hole in the center of the pro mix, about 1/8". Not deep, just a starter hole. The seed will do the rest of the work.
4. Using good eyes or the magnifying glass find the scalloped (opens) and dimpled (hing) sides of the seed. Poke the scalloped end into the pro mix - I find it easiest to put the seed between the thumb and index finger and gently squeeze it in. Don't push far, just until it stays upright.
Sometimes it's hard to pick out the dimpled and scalloped ends. The dimpled end was attached to the plant and will have a hole where it attached to the bud. The scalloped end will be smooth.
5. Recheck the seed with your magnifying glass to be sure the dimple side is up.
6. Using the open tube end of the pen refill push the dimpled end of the seed down until it is 1/16-1/8" below the surface. Using the pen refill skuff up the pro mix until 1/8" is over the seed dimple. Loose and airy is good.
7. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of distilled water over the top of the pro mix. Do NOT uncover the seed.
8. Rip off a piece of Glad Press and Seal wrap, tear it's length in two so you have a square, and wrap over the top of cup making a complete seal. Or use an discarded fruit cup with a humidity dome. Be sure to not only label your strains, but number the cups of the same strain to keep track for cloning. Label the cups before you plant the seeds, it's easy to get confused once two cups have tops.
9. Place the cup minimum flower distance from your light in your flower room. The heat from the light will act like a steamer with the distilled water and the seed; the (12 on/12 off) cycle of the light will mimic nature; the crinkled Glad wrap will keep the moisture and heat in and diffuse the light.
Bubblegum
Flo (short in front) & Trainwreck (taller). Similar flower period but a bad height combo for the same bucket.
I left this Skunkberry bottom for an extra week to fill out. It went from perhaps a cup cured to +2 cups cured. I usually harvest in stages, even with an 18" plant.
10. After the first day pull back the Glad Wrap a couple of times a day to look for sprouting.
.
It's important to plant the seed scalloped end down; dimpled end up. We plant shallow, we don't want the root tip curling up. Sure way to lose a seed.
.
The seed opens on the scalloped end, the dimpled end is like a hinge.
.
The root curls around.
.
If you plant the seed deep in the soil (5 mm or more) you can get away with planting the seed with the scalloped end up, it has room to curl around and grow down. I haven't had the speed or success with deeper planting, hit and miss for me. The one seed I've lost I planted upside down with this method by mistake.
I do not recommend this method though some seed companies swear by it.
.
When the seedling breaks the surface the rounded scalloped end of the seed shell points down; the dimpled hinged end up.
.
The tap root will spiral down to the bottom of the pot and bud lateral roots.
.
Our seeds are planted shallow (to take advantage of heat from the light), the root tip starts down, curls around, continues down. Like a spiral rather than a 180 degree turn.
.
.
.
Seed sexing is the astrology of marijuana growing - it has an amazing 50% accuracy. Seed sexing is like treating strep throat: If you don't take care of strep throat right away it could last a whole week, but if you get to a doctor and get the right medication you can be rid of strep in 7 days.
.
Last edited by Hobbes; 09-09-2010 at 12:02 PM.
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homebrewer
Well-Known Member
Paper towel.
GrowthRecovery
Member
Holy s?!@# thanks guys... I'm not a new grower i'm just seeing what other Homo Sapiens prefer.
SMOKE IT
SMOKE IT
diamonddave
Active Member
i plant right into moistened soil with a plastic bag for a humidty dome and start it under a cfl for a few days, the most natural way imo, screw the paper towel method
I had a lot of problems with peat pellets, mostly keeping them properly moist. The ones I use seem to either be way too moist, or not moist enough (in which case they get rock hard). I just had terrible problems keeping the humidity correct and lost a lot of seeds. Now I soak them in 0 tds water for 4-8 hours, then plant in 3 parts soil, 2 parts fine perlite, 1 part peat. I have much better luck this way. Lots of people just plant in soil and keep it moist. Lots of people use paper towels to germ and then plant when they have a small tap root. Many different ways, and in my experience you should just try a few different ways and see what you have the best luck with. Bagseed is great to experiment with germinating.
GrowthRecovery
Member
Thanks diamonddave Sounds good to me
GrowthRecovery
Member
Ty globby!
AlaskanGrown84
Member
Great imfo Scoodles! What is the longest you (or anyone!!) have waited for the tap root to pop while germinating? I have some seeds in a washcloth in a jar with some water and they have been there for 2 weeks with no pop. They are pretty old seeds, got them from a bag a year ago, but they have cracked and are showing a little bit of white and I'm pretty sure it isn't mushy- like one round I tried to germ before. I actually got some vit/hormone stuff- superthrive and added 2 drops to the water yesterday in hopes of a miracle. Is my cause lost?
9867mike777
Well-Known Member
I like putting my seeds in water overnight. By the next morning, they should be sunk to the bottom. Now plant them 3/8" deep in soil. End of story.
AlaskanGrown84
Member
Hopefully, the last batch I have to give up on... I think my seeds were too old and I've been trying to germ them and it is not working (been in 2 weeks and 3 days). The white from inside was kind of all around the sides and seemed to wipe off easy. I checked one out and the inside are mush. I guess I'll have to wait until I have seeds that will actually grow.