Seed Priming & Germination Techniques

highsteppa · Apr 16, 2019

I’m over the soak/plastic bag method. Old seeds or very expensive or rare, sure its nice to know what they are doing (if anything or nothing), but relatively fresh seed I’m sowing them in a tray of soiled.

I hate see pics of seeds with a long tap roots. If I’m soaking seeds it’s just enough to know they are viable. Plus germination in soil helps them shed their shells.

TychoMonolyth · Apr 16, 2019

It's all but impossible, apart from drowning them, to mess up when you have fresh ripe seeds. But give them a couple years in a cupboard, and we're all struggling newbies. Especially if they're not fully mature seeds.

Lost in a SOG · Apr 17, 2019

Vermicompost and beneficial bacteria will sprout difficult decade plus old beans.

Youve got to store your seeds well though.. at least get some silica packs and a glass locking jar.. you cant over dry them in storage, with silica pads anyway.

DARKSIDER · Apr 19, 2019

Soaking old seeds now in Gibberellic acid doesn't look promising also trying a micrometer for cracking the seeds works perfectish see if that helps but all in all I think its the way seeds are stored as Lost in a SOG said.. :tiphat:

normal way I do is let them sit in water overnight or so till sink then into tissues then media always works never had problems before up until now, ah well we live and learn eh.. This will be a good thread for now and the future, :tiphat:

superjet · Jul 21, 2019

I will usually drop seeds in a shot glass of RO water for 24 hours prior to planting. I will then plant in coco using PH'd to 6 tap water, our's is 350 ppms, so plenty of minerals :biggrin:

. I use a heat mat under the tray and keep the room at 75-80 degrees the whole time making sure the coco is always wet. I got 9 of the 12 to come up and the others popped but grew in the wrong direction. I tried to redirect the 3 but probably waited a little too long and they stalled. So I'm happy with the 9 as I'm only going to plant 8. P.S. How many seeds drop to the bottom of the shot glass in that 24 hour soaking period usually gives me a good indication on how many plants I will end up with, for whatever reason, 10 dropped :biggrin:

.

superjet · Jul 23, 2019

number 10 just showed up. :biggrin:

OkThen · Apr 26, 2020

Iv had some success with this method:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?threadid=172749
Thank You D.S.Toker !!

Fixin to start a new crop,(ten year old seeds) but my aquarium heater gave up the ghost.
My plan is to place the germination set up(inside a glass baking dish) in my gas oven heated by the pilot light.
I checked the temp, it's approx 90 deg F.

My question is that too warm for germination?
Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

hamstring · Apr 28, 2020

I have been guerrilla growing for over twenty years. I like to put my seeds in paper towels and soak them in warm water inside a ziplock for 24hrs.

I then backpack them out to the bush were I have a small cold frame set up. The seeds go right into soil in 12-20oz cups. The cups are in a black tote again filled with soil. The black tote and soil both act as a heat sink and a water source.

The cups all have holes in the bottom so the seedlings can seek the water in the tote. Using this method I can leave seed/seedlings unattended for up two weeks.

My germ rate is in the 90% range. The big catch is you have research the weather. You dont want two weeks of rainy/cloudy days. The seeds need heat to germ.

Longbottom Leaf · Apr 28, 2020

I find planting in a Coir mixed with alot of perlite allows for best root growth for new plants and I always mix a small amount of composted manure. Coir is lighting and compacts less then Peat, also i find using clay pellets help along with bottom heat until spout up through the soil.

THC123 · Apr 28, 2020

I used to germ in a glass of waterr for 15 years with nearly 90-95% succes rate. Untill it didn't work anymore

. Now I always get moldy seeds when I do that.

ALso used to use a propagator with heating mat and duo fluor tubes 2*55 watts.

That also doesnt work anymore...unless with fresh seeds but my collection is real old.

WHat I last did was germinating 25 year old beans by soaking them few hours in hydrogen peroxide and using kalium oxide for stratification. Then afterwards I would put them in a disinfecter tray fillded with 50% perlite 50% vermiculite (coco tend to mold here). And I don't cover the tray but keep it moist in a warm room and then they germ pretty well.

But then after they are planted they all got damping off.

SO I have now ordered trichoderma, to coat the seeds and t treat the medium and I am also going to use cinnamon powder, hydrgen peroxide and camomille tea to combat that pesky fungus.

I only have these problems with old seeds.

mean mr.mustard · Apr 28, 2020

Try a few with a water/peroxide soak.

A squirt (1.5 cc) of peroxide to a pint of water.

Soak overnight and then use new solution of the same strength to soak new clean paper towels or fresh medium.

I find that helps beat mold and damp off.

:2cents:

Guest · Apr 28, 2020

Great tips in this thread. It's always something I have never perfected.. the store bought seed raising mix can at times be low quality. I'll be making my own next time

THC123 · Apr 28, 2020

DO you guys use a propagator or not for germing seeds? Used it for so many years without issues before I got these problems, now I try to avoid a propagator. But if you don't have these pesky pathogens, I find they grow much faster in a propagator. So sad I can only do it with really fresh beans..

Digigig · Apr 28, 2020

Germination

Germination

I put them in a 1/2 bottle of water for 16 hours. Then transfer to wet paper towels in a ziplock with air, for a day or two under 400w lights. After that they usually have a root and you can plant them in soil or Gro-Cubes.
:dance013:

AgentPothead · Apr 28, 2020

THC123 said:
DO you guys use a propagator or not for germing seeds? Used it for so many years without issues before I got these problems, now I try to avoid a propagator. But if you don't have these pesky pathogens, I find they grow much faster in a propagator. So sad I can only do it with really fresh beans..

What I found has worked for me is putting seeds into rapid rooters, then putting those into one of the plastic tomato humidity dome things, with a seedling heating mat underneath set for 80F. With newer seeds I've been batting 100% germination. With older ones, it's all over the board, but I think a lot of that is how the seeds were stored. I use the same setup for clones, but for clones my lighting is 18/6 while for seedlings I've been using 24/0. I'm not sure how the lighting timing is helping/hurting, but it just kind a routine I fell into.

mean mr.mustard · Apr 28, 2020

I have damp off issues constantly in this locale.

Domes are a must for me when I clone into rapid rooters. But after two or three days it has to be removed.

I never needed a dome for seeds but maybe (hopefully) it's not so humid where you are.

F2F · May 7, 2020

I tried something new the other week.

Had a wheelbarrow fill with rainwater after I’d been moving some partially composted horse manure. I stirred it up, filled my test tubes and soaked for ~30hrs. Went into promix prewarmed 80C and prewetted with rain water. 12hrs later at 80C all 6 had popped. Amazingly fast - I usually see em poke up in 1-3 days.

My guess is the life in the manure, slightly longer soak (>24hr), and prewarmed promix all worked together. Was a new moon also (??).

Cheers,
F2F

F2F · May 21, 2020

Scarification

Scarification

So, ran into some seeds that didn’t want to pop. Dunked some zamal x New Malawi killer for 24hrs with a pinch of high P guano, dropped in rinsed and charged (Calmag, weak P fert) coco. 6 days at 85C - de nada.

Pulled ‘em out, held each with a forceps and carefully shaved away seed hull along the “seams” on each side to weaken the seed shell. Dunked in 10ml water + 1ml 3% H2O2.

All three had tap roots starting to emerge after 16hr in this solution. Back into coco at 85C. If these work out I may just start doing this with every seed I pop.

Best
F2F

djibra · Oct 14, 2020

why using peroxide for germination? im new to this

TychoMonolyth · Oct 15, 2020

Water is H2O - 2 parts Hydrogen and 1 part Oxygen.

Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2 - 2 parts Hydrogen and 2 parts Oxygen.

The extra Oxygen molecule is volatile and loosely bound. So One Oxygen molecule is released from the bound molecule (H2O2), leaving you with H2O and 1 free floating Oxygen molecule. This is in effect oxygenated water (think of an air stone in your Tea or aquarium).

The volatility is great for disinfecting, and that's exactly what you're doing to seeds. It kills off any bad mojo (fungus, mold,...) attached to your seeds and in effect disinfects the germination chamber. There are suggestions that the extra oxygen molecules can in some way breach the seed's shell and help out the germ. I don't know if that's true, but if you know anything about cracking old seeds to help them germinate, it makes sense in that case.

All it takes is a cap full in a cup of water to get the benefit.

If you put a cup of H2O2 out, it will completely break down, or decompose, into simple water and oxygen in a matter of hours. So when you buy your Hydrogen Peroxide, you're better off buying a couple small bottles than one big one. You can also repackage it in smaller bottles. The longer it's unsealed, the weaker the effectiveness.

A simple warning:
Don't add it to water you're using to feed your plants unless the water sits for a few hours. H2O2 in soil will kill the good stuff in your soil. Hydroponics is another story and can be helpful.

Seed Priming & Germination Techniques

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