Seeds still havent popped open.

[cajun79]

I have four seeds inbetween moist paper towels in a plastic container, its been well over 48 hours and only one has open ever so slightly and that was after 24 hours.

None of the other three have done a thing and even the one that did open a little has made no progress since.


Dunno if to complain or what, ive read a ton of posts and most people have like 1cm top roots by now.

 

[FiveLeggedGoat]

Have you had success with this method of germination before?

Also, what temp are you keeping the seeds while in the paper towels?

 

[MickTheBrag]

seeds

seeds

seeds must have a min temp 70 degrees (constant) & kept moist. low temps lead to poor germ rate.

 

[greenhead]

One option, though fatal if done incorrectly, is to carefully crack the shell like you would crack a nut, or scrape away at the shell if it's very hard or thick. I cracked a shell on my current grow, when I was germing a bunch of seeds, and one just didn't want to open for whatever reason. I am an impatient person, I'm not going to wait around for 2 fucking weeks for any seeds to open, so I said fuck it, and just cracked it between my fingers, and that plant turned out just fine.

 

[cajun79]

Its the paper towel method and yeah its worked before.

The temperature im keeping them at is more like 85-90 degrees and there nice and moist.

Just gotta be more give em more time I guess, bloody things need to hurry up I aint smoked a spliff in months.

 

[bonghitter99]

What I've always done and have had excellent results with is to drop your beans in a cup of water and let sit for a day or two at room temp. This softens the shell and the tap root develops. I then drop em in soil about 1/4 inch depth, spraying the soil keeping it moist. I put either a heating mat under the container or put under a MH to keep warm.

The advantage of this over the paper towel method is that with the paper towel method you must make sure the towel doesn't dry out which is easy to do. Also the quality of your beans plays a big part as well.....peace

 

[greenhead]

What I've always done and have had excellent results with is to drop your beans in a cup of water and let sit for a day or two at room temp. This softens the shell and the tap root develops. I then drop em in soil about 1/4 inch depth, spraying the soil keeping it moist. I put either a heating mat under the container or put under a MH to keep warm.

Yep, I don't even mess with paper towels anymore. Seeds into a cup of water for about a day, then directly into the soil or jiffy pellets etc......I've had better success with that method than with the paper towels, but I guess everybody needs to figure out what works best for them.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Seeds can take a month or more to sprout. 2 days is way too early to wonder, let alone panic.

I've never understood planting outside the grow medium. Plant in your grow medium and when it sprouts, you're done. No transplanting, no root tearing, no expired seeds from medium or food deprivation.

I don't know what a Jiffy Pellet or Rapid Rooter costs. My home cut Rockwool cubes run 10¢-15¢ apiece. I'll happily waste $1.50 worth of Rockwool before risking $150 in seeds.

 

[Quazi]

cajun79, I've taken the route that you're speaking of with success.

I had many failures before hand. Hopefully sharing what I've found will help you.

I, too, thought that I was taking everything into consideration. My temperatures were where I thought they should be, the paper towels were wet, etc. But, I just wasn't getting the quick results that I was hearing about. I found out what my problem main problem was: the ambient room temp being high was not enough for the seeds to germ quickly.

Once I brought my heat source closer to the germinating seeds, my success rate shot up and sped up.

Here's what I have done that has worked for me. Make sure you keep the bean in darkness the whole time. I use aluminum foil for lids on containers to achieve this.

1) Leave the bean in a mug of water with an aluminum lid on top for 12-24 hours. Check it, if it hasn't sunk, then (with a washed finger) stir the water a bit. Give it another 12-24. It should have sunk to the bottom (or sink easily when stirred).

A small side note: some say that if the bean hasn't sunk at this point, that it means the bean is no good. Others say that's complete b.s. and that a sinking bean means absolutely nothing. I'm on either side of the fence so I won't tell you what to do if it doesn't sink within the first 48-72 hours.

2) Put the bean between enough paper towels to ensure there is moisture throughout the day. The reason to ensure moisture is that I have found that if the paper towels are allowed to dry out during the day, that it takes longer for the bean to crack. Put this on a plate and cover the plate with foil leaving enough room for air. After reading that you are putting the beans in a plastic container, it sounds like you might have light getting to them or no air allowed to get to them. Both of those are bad.

3) Put the plate on a source of radiant heat. I use the top of my fridge. The freezer puts off a good amount of heat near the edge. Others have used cable boxes or televisions, but be careful with moisture and electronics.

Once it's cracked and there's something to start growing, I carefully transplant it into the medium that it will be growing in.

Works for me.

Maybe there just aren't enough good vibes being sent your way. Consider them sent from here. Good luck!

-Q

 

[cajun79]

Thanks mate, I have them in a plastic container that was actually closed, last night I opened one corner to let some air in.

Also I place the container on top of my laptop mains adaptor whick keeps em nice and warm all day, and cover that with a black t-shirt to keep light out.

Just had a look at them and 3 out of 4 are starting to open.

 

[luvtogrow]

When first starting to grow all or most all of the recommendations for germing were the paper towel method. It's easy to see with trial and error that soaking/planting is far superior. Most of the time i don't or barely see the tap root, thus no handling inflicted to that delicate organ. Am germinating 27 seeds now and here 8 days later SSH are still coming up(they were very old seeds). In order to speed that up I would have planted into rockwool instead of soil and kept them in a more controlled enviornment temp/humidity probably with heating pad. But, does take patience. Don't dig em out to see the root developing. Or, if you're like me do it very carefully

 

[Treetops]

Hey Growin Gang,
You might want to give this proven method a try...Got this from Image Reaper..

Just drop your seeds into a 5.8 slightly soaked rapid rooter..The seeds will often pop in just hours..its like being in a womb for them..I have had 100% germination since changing from the paper towel routine...






Give it a try I'm sure you'll be happy....



Peace,
Treetops

 

[Quazi]

Thanks mate, I have them in a plastic container that was actually closed, last night I opened one corner to let some air in.

Also I place the container on top of my laptop mains adaptor whick keeps em nice and warm all day, and cover that with a black t-shirt to keep light out.

Just had a look at them and 3 out of 4 are starting to open.

Great man!

As I understand it, the necessary components for germination are air, water, and warmth. Darkness is preferred as well. Maybe your beans were getting choked? Who knows? As long as you find something that works for you: stick with it.

Treetops: I wish there was a place in my town that carried those. Time and time again I've read about how awesome they are for seedlings/clones. No hydro shops here and none of the nurseries carry them. I'm gonna check again in the Spring though. Until someone starts carrying them (or I find them): gonna be sticking with the paper towels.

-Q

 

[Rainman]

Although I agree with most of the good info here I have to disagree with the lack of light idea simply because it is the building block for the plants in nature. It is the heat source as well. I have always tinkered with germ. tech but always come back to the old tried and true paper towel method. I simply soak the seeds in a solution of B-1 and H2O for a day. Once they have dropped to the bottom of the container they are ready for the wet paper towel and a plastic sealable bag. Fold the p. towel into quarters and wet thoroughly with same solution they soaked in and place in ziplock. Tails in less than 2-3 day everytime. I always keepem close to the light(usually the HD low energy type) and I cant remember the last time I lost a seed or had one not pop. If they look like hard thick shells, I also help my seeds along the way by scratching the outer shell's seal. Lastly, I use a clean razor to cut along the shells seal usually along the bottom part where the seeds will pop and begin to push into the dirt or medium. This is a last resort of course but it works real good!! Peace and good growing folks!!

 

[Quazi]

Sounds like a lot of work.

While I can agree that light is a building block for plants, I cannot agree that it is good for the sprouting bean. It's generally accepted that roots + light = bad juju. As I understand it: this holds especially true for newly forming taproots. While you may be able to germinate with 100% success, you might find speedier results without exposing the sensitive new roots to the light.

I have read this from numerous sources. Jorge Cervantes makes it a point to mention this as well in his germination guide:

Take care not to expose the tender rootlet to prolonged intense light or air.

After doing some research, it appears that there are some plants that require light for the seeds to crack. Cannabis is not one of them. By keeping your beans in constant light, you are going to be exposing that new root to light when it cracks. Like I said, it may not have an affect on the outcome, but you might find increased results without it.

Once the bean has been planted and the root is in the medium, then, by all means, light it up. Also, I have heard of people using light for warmth for seeds. However, I have mostly seen systems where a light is placed underneath a container to use as a source of heat only.

-Q

 

[hoosierdaddy]

I don't know that I can say I have ever seen light be the cause of any root damage.
Light may ultimately be the root of why a root problem came to be, but it would have been more from an algae bloom in the root zone that caused the problem.

I don't think there is any evidence that light hitting the root tail has any effect one way or the other.

 

[Quazi]

You could be right. It could be that the warnings are simply to prevent other happenings to the root. But, I have seen the "keep in darkness to avoid light hitting taproot" warning in enough grow guides to try and stay away from it.

Indeed, the only scientific research that I was able to find on this exact subject concluded that a spruce seedling was not affected by light in the seed germination stages. While this isn't a spruce tree, it is still valuable research.

-Q

 

[Rainman]

I thought light produced by the sun is what spurs the seed to germinate naturally in the first place. I dont let the light touch the seeds unless you count thru the ptowels. Never heard of light, the building block for plant growth, being a bad thing for seeds. They tell you in those same grow guides keep moisture and light away from your seeds to stop early or unexpected germination. Either way you can get your personal style dialed in with all the info here so I dont think you will have many probs with that in the future. Peace and good luck with your grow!

 

[Quazi]

I'm pretty sure it's the warmth from the light of the sun and not the photons itself that trigger the germination. This would seem true since germination can occur in absolute darkness.

I don't know though. I'm not a botanist. I'm just passing on information that I've read elsewhere.

Ultimately, Rainman is right though: find your style that works for you and stick with it.

-Q

 

[Treetops]

Check this out...

http://www.mandalaseeds.com/html/germination.html

Peace,
Treetops