Seed Won't Germinate... Squeeze Shell Until It Cracks??

Mikell · Mar 10, 2018

Teeth.

Position the seed so that you are pressing along the spine of the seed.

Moist seeds are annoying to scuff, I focus on wearing out a small patch along the spine. The embryo is further from the spine than any other part of the seed, and when the embryo does swell, the pressure is directed towards a proper crack and sprout.

brown_thumb · Mar 10, 2018

Mikell, do you crack every seed or just the stubborn ones?

Jhhnn · Mar 11, 2018

Seeds are expensive unless you're growing your own or start from bag seed so it's worth the trouble to help 'em get going I figure. It's impossible to know how old they are or what they go through when ordered through the internet & a little help is never a bad thing.

sourpuss · Mar 11, 2018

Anus, pop em in an squeeze haha...

brown_thumb · Mar 11, 2018

One thing I've never been is a 'tight-ass' so I doubt I could 'crack' them there. On the other hand, I can be a bit anal-retentive... I wouldn't want the seeds to get stuck in there.

Mikell · Mar 11, 2018

Just the stubborn ones. Best to let nature try and take the lead me thinks, unless it is a known difficult germinating cultivar.

Jellyfish · Mar 11, 2018

Spaventa said:
Its inability to germinate on its own doesn't mean it can't have a grail terpene profile in there. To me, in selecting plants to keep, vigour is a long way down the list of priorities. If a plant I love the smell and taste of has a great balanced happy high, few leaves, finishes in 6 weeks and yield 3g/w, thats all gravy.

Okay, but having said all that, have you ever gotten a keeper out of a seedling you had to baby all the way, or a bean you had to crack open? In my opinion, vigor is the plant's path to all the qualities you're valuing.

igrowone · Mar 11, 2018

Jellyfish said:
I kind of agree. Thinning the herd. How good could that plant have been if it couldn't even bust out of its own shell?

Anybody ever saved a big winner by cracking open its shell?

winner? no, but interesting yes
that jock horror male that i nursed along from a weak seed
at the time i was concerned i'd get pollen everywhere
so built a contained chamber/bottle, cut the male shoots off and tried to get them to mature to shed pollen
bad mistake, they wouldn't give me pollen, just suspended in development
may have screwed up and cut too early
but i figured the male would give me more, i mean you can't stop a male from spewing pollen, right?
not in this case, every where i cut the male grew pistils
not buds, but quite a few pistils
and the interesting part was they were in quantity, maybe a couple of
grams
and the shit was good! awfully nice
i really wanted that pollen but it wouldn't do it, god damn messed up plant
i considered revegging but gave up

brown_thumb · Mar 11, 2018

Apparently, this seed wasn't viable. It's been two days since I mechanically cracked the seed and it's doing nothing. Next time I'll try other methods mention in this thread.

Jellyfish · Mar 11, 2018

igrowone said:
winner? no, but interesting yes
that jock horror male that i nursed along from a weak seed
at the time i was concerned i'd get pollen everywhere
so built a contained chamber/bottle, cut the male shoots off and tried to get them to mature to shed pollen
bad mistake, they wouldn't give me pollen, just suspended in development
may have screwed up and cut too early
but i figured the male would give me more, i mean you can't stop a male from spewing pollen, right?
not in this case, every where i cut the male grew pistils
not buds, but quite a few pistils
and the interesting part was they were in quantity, maybe a couple of
grams
and the shit was good! awfully nice
i really wanted that pollen but it wouldn't do it, god damn messed up plant
i considered revegging but gave up

You're proving my point, aren't you?

igrowone · Mar 11, 2018

Jellyfish said:
You're proving my point, aren't you?

maybe, just damn curious what that pollen might have produced
actually was trying for an inspirational note for the OP's seed in progress
which seems to have died, condolences, but as you say it might be for the best

Spaventa · Mar 11, 2018

Jellyfish said:
Okay, but having said all that, have you ever gotten a keeper out of a seedling you had to baby all the way, or a bean you had to crack open? In my opinion, vigor is the plant's path to all the qualities you're valuing.

Vigour and desirable smoke qualities are not mutually exclusive. One of the best tasting plants Ive ever smoked was a very delicate, slow, unproductive prima donna but she had incense to the smoke to die for. She snuffed it eventually after me and and few others kept her going for nearly 30 years.

If vigour, outward appearance and basic strength and hardiness correlated rigidly we desirable terpene and cannabinoid profiles, Serious Seeds Chronic would smoke better than Nevilles A5 Haze.

Look at Prof. Stephen Hawins - not nice is it? no but he's REALLY clever.
If we looked at things the way you suggest, a lot of humans wouldn't get to live and many of them, despite needing to be enabled and supported by others , do have important and valuable contributions to make sometimes.

I just found 3 seeds I put in towels the other day have all germinated well without any assistance. Thats after 3 years in my fridge stash

Jellyfish · Mar 11, 2018

Geez man, you don't have to turn it into an after school special. But if I had a seedling that looked like Steven Hawking, chances are I would throw it out.

Spaventa · Mar 11, 2018

Six sentences feels like a lecture to you? I elaborated to make the points clearer.

and you would throw out a genius? well thats consistent with your thinking at least.

Mikell · Mar 12, 2018

OGKB.

Many of the seeds are crap (requiring scuffing) and they grow like crap.

But a quick gander across the industry says they are popular, no? They are a pain to watch grow but the smoke can be very good. I see why Gromer was tempted by the siren.

Don't often find myself on the same side of the fence as Spaventa.

Jellyfish · Mar 12, 2018

Spaventa said:
Six sentences feels like a lecture to you? I elaborated to make the points clearer.

and you would throw out a genius? well thats consistent with your thinking at least.

stim · Mar 12, 2018

scarifying (emery board scratching), cold stratifying (for fresher seeds), GA3 (for older seeds) and making sure you tape the plastic bag the paper towel is in to the wall and possibly adding humic acid (that's to aid gravitropism and germination also) and maybe even some kelp (Norwegian aka ascophyllum nodosum contains 2 of major plant hormones) if these don't work I'm over it. good luck as a side note if all else fails just throw them in some medium in a dark room the forgotten ones always pop with vigor LOL

RetroGrow · Mar 12, 2018

Because seeds are a business, the greed factor is in play. I am noticing more and more that many seeds are lacking vigor, especially autos. The seller wants to get paid, so they harvest seeds prematurely. They are tiny, and often don't have the energy to get out of their shells. There should be a germination guarantee, in my opinion. If they don't germinate, you don't pay. More and more, I get seeds that crack, but haven't the energy get out out of their shells. When this happens, I perform surgery. I use one of those headbands with a magnifier. This would not be possible without magnification. Then I take a dental pick, and GENTLY open up the shells. There is also a membrane under the shell that envelopes the embryo. This can often keep the seed from germing completely. If you touch it carefully and gently, you can get it off and the seedling will open up. I have done this many times, but lately, it is getting more common. I would ask the seedmakers not to harvest early, but let them, mature fully so they have the energy to emerge.

noyd666 · Mar 12, 2018

bit like a caesarean to normal birth

brown_thumb · Mar 12, 2018

I'm not a long-term grower nor am I very good at it. However, the only seeds I've had fail to pop are from one very popular breeder and those have been many (as a percentage) from at least three different strains.

Seed Won't Germinate... Squeeze Shell Until It Cracks??

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