popped beans, shells stuck to leaves

[jdubz206]

i've had this happen to me 1 time before and the seedling ended up dying for some reason. basically what's going on is that i popped 10 seeds. germed in a paper towel, then into soil once they had a decent looking tail sticking out. well they broke through the soil and they have their shells still stuck on. will the shells come off on their own? i tried getting one of the shells of and kinda fucked up one of the rounded leaves. another one the shell popped right off but it has some sort of coating around the leaves that is not letting them seperate and grow as normal. is this normal? do i just keep waiting for the shells to fall off? i don't want to fuck up anymore seeds as I may have ruined 2 already. thanks for the help everyone.

peace.
j206

 

[Haps]

Gentle rain does the trick. Inside, take your normal water for the seedlings, get a drop on your finger tip. Let the drop fall right on top of the stuck shell, do about three drops per seedling, every 12 hours, they will come out on their own in a day or two. There is no dew inside to help them. So, you dew.
H

 

[Guest]

Just take 'em off with your fingernails. That skin/membrane should come off too. The sooner, the better.

 

[luciano28]

I take them off with a toothpick or safety pin, just be gentle. The seed leaves will look white at first probably, they will green up in a day or so.

Once they are above ground they need light so if they sprout with shell on them still, I try to take it off .

That membrane/skin shit comes off pretty easy too.

 

[smokeymacpot]

seeds arent meant to be started in a paper towel, they like to push up through the soil.. which also rubs off the seed case.

wet them and then gently remove them.

 

[Maj.PotHead]

heres a helpfull tip i found very very usefull 99-100% no shell

i soak the seed in a glass of plain water from tap 1-2 days all have sunk 1-4 days most if not all will have taproot. when i plant them i go for 1 inch deep taproot upwards, the root will grow upwards a tad. then do a 180 degree down turn and shoot for bottom of pot. when the shell is moving through soil its pulled off in soil because its opening is facing up and just the plant sprouts no shell attached


if a shell dose sprout and not fall off very fast i grab my fewelers eye hemostats and small knife and look close and pop its off lol. if shell lining is still on after i'll mist with spray bottle the seedling. and gently w/hemostats pull skin off n/p.

 

[smokeymacpot]

heres a helpfull tip i found very very usefull 99-100% no shell

i soak the seed in a glass of plain water from tap 1-2 days all have sunk 1-4 days most if not all will have taproot. when i plant them i go for 1 inch deep taproot upwards, the root will grow upwards a tad. then do a 180 degree down turn and shoot for bottom of pot. when the shell is moving through soil its pulled off in soil because its opening is facing up and just the plant sprouts no shell attached


if a shell dose sprout and not fall off very fast i grab my fewelers eye hemostats and small knife and look close and pop its off lol. if shell lining is still on after i'll mist with spray bottle the seedling. and gently w/hemostats pull skin off n/p.

see i dont like doing it like that as that little hole can let in morre water than needed sometimes and end up making the seed go mushy.
and then theres times where the buggers start at random times and u leave them for another day for the rest to catch up and u end up with loads of beansprouts lol
with soil i dont have to worry and just as many pop as normal.

 

[jdubz206]

thanks guys. i sprayed em down and the shells came off pretty easily with a dental pick. membrane too. one of them has some leaf tips that are this nasty yellow from where soil and water was stuck under the shell. hopefully it will make a come back...

 

[Smoke68]

One of the major causes of this is a lack of humidity outside of the soil. Tweezers and dixie cups are my point of attack. Dixie cups are not only slightly transparent, they are the perfect size and extremely cheap. They can be flipped over to make a mini humidor as they do let light through, or can double up to take clones in.
Glad to hear you got it off jduz, I have had a couple stay on when I went away and cause some serious stretch!

 

[random nobody]

ive gone through this and would like to share input.
sometimes ive noticed some seed husks are tougher then others. before i soak the seed for 24h i use a technique i was introduced to to help weaken the shell of the seed.

i take some fine (120 grade) sandpaper and put it inside a pill bottle (rough surface facing inwards). put dry seeds in and gently shake for about a minute, so the seeds roll and bounce around rubbing against the sandpaper.

i personally soak for 24h, then all of them go into phed rockwool cubes and the waiting game begins. no more problems, i used to have to mist a lot of seedlings when i used promix to help seed husks off.

 

[Smoke68]

Ah random, I forgot to mention my seed scuffer
I took a matchbox (small one, 20 matches) and set 300 grit on the bottom. Now I just shake for a minute or two and germ.
120 grit seems as though it might be too rough, but I'm glad this is working great for your seeds.

 

[Pompey_Monkey]

I've always found that the husks fall off on their own eventually. I'm reluctant to poke around when the plant's at such a delicate stage in it's life...

 

[theoldinout]

I've always found that the husks fall off on their own eventually. I'm reluctant to poke around when the plant's at such a delicate stage in it's life...

I agree with this statement 90-99% of the time. However, I had a seedling with it's membrane stuck on which impeded the cotyledons spreading (like the thread starters problem) which ended in that seedlings death.

I too am reluctant to play around with the new babies, but I'd rather them be roughed up and alive, then coddled and dead. Do what you go to do. Toothpicks work perfectly.

I am pro choice and pro life. I choose to take off the shell husk/membrane so that it may live.

 

[jdubz206]

i had this only happen 1 time before and it also resulted in the seedlings death because the membrane never came off and suffocated the seedling. in the past, i always germinated in a paper towel until they were looking like bean sprouts or almost to that point. then i just dropped them into soil. never had a problem this way except for once. then my buddy was saying he did it a different way and i tried it that way. i learned to go back to my old way, it's always worked before. again thanks everyone for the help.