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How long til a seed sprouts?

jayjayfrank

Member
Veteran
it took 30 days for one of my johnny blazes to sprout. 4/5 bluesat 2.2 freebies just started 48 hours ago, put them in cups today. i always start seeds at the new moon(dark). good luck.
 

supermanlives

Active member
Veteran
i always get late sprouters. i have a pile i toss the cups that didnt germ in later on i always find a few. generally a few days to sprout above soil surface
 

jayjayfrank

Member
Veteran
for me, most everything sprouts within the first 72 hours(paper towels). before the tails get to long i put them in 20oz cups. almost nothing has ever cracked open after 4 days, everything that doesn't gets put in a cup. the one that took a month was johnny blaze from legend seeds, nevills haze x blueberry, bought them in 2006 and just started them this year. they are 'old' genetics so its perfectly reasonable that its just a 'slow starter'.
 

ender87i

Member
Well its been about 48 hours and still no sprouts..

I soaked rockwool cubes in ph'd water for an hour, lightly squeezed them,
then i pushed each seed about 1/4" into the rockwool cubes, tip down.

How long before you think ill see sprouts?
or before i should start worrying?

the cubes feel kinda cool to the touch, is that bad?
 

RubeGoldberg

Active member
Veteran
give it a few days, your enthusiasm is the building blocks of an awesome grower.
but some of the stubborn seeds can take a lil bit.

the fact that you're meticulous about ph etc tells me you are alright and its nothing you're doing.

keep in mind, burgeoning medical markets in the USA has changed the seed market a bit,
so non-viable seeds are a little bit more readily occurring than they have been in the past, however in a moist but not-waterlogged environment, your seeds should spout based on what you've already done.

wait it out a couple more days, if that doesn't work, try some moist paper towel layers that you've rung out for excess moisture and give them a lil bit more time
 

tgif

Member
I germinate the seeds directly in organic pro mix. Plant, water and then leave in a warm, dark place. Suppose it depends on the strain and viability of the seeds. Mine normally pop up after 7 days, but take longer when the weather is cold. If nothings sprouted after 4 weeks, normally plant another seed - but I've had late sprouters.
 

ender87i

Member
Well people say they need to be in a dark place..
But i have them under a fluorescent..
However they're buried 1/4" deep in rockwool, so they're in the dark lol..

So are they ok being under the fluorescent or what?
and should i put a heat mat under them or are they ok without?
 

avant gardener

Member
Veteran
there's 50 ways to pop seeds. here's the one i use.

1. glue some sandpaper (120 or 150 grit) inside a matchbox.
2. put your beans in there and shake them vigorously for 2 minutes.
3. put a folded stack of paper towels (about 4 layers deep) on a styrofoam plate.
4. spray them with 5.5-6.0 pH water.
5. place the seeds on there and fold the towel over on itself.
6. put another plate on top to make a little flying saucer looking jawn that keeps the seeds dark and wet.
7. place the plates atop a heat mat, cable box, stereo amp, or fluorescent fixture—anything that gets warm but not hotter than 85° or so. you don't want the seeds to get above 80°, but the styrofoam should provide a little insulation.
8. soon as they crack and throw a seed root, but before the cotyledons show, transfer them carefully using tweezers to whatever medium you like. i prefer oasis cubes to rockwool and rockwool to rapid rooters, but it's just what i like.
9. put them in about 1/4 inch and make sure you point the root tip down.
10. cover the hole in the cube or plug with thin layer of your cube material—just enough to keep the light out. you don't want it to be so heavy that the seedling doesn't have enough energy to push out.
11. remove them from the heat source and give them weak light and no nutes til the second pair of actual leaves can be seen.
12. give 1/4 to 1/2 strength nutes until roots emerge from the cube.
13. transplant to your regular veg medium & lights and taper them up to full strength nutes.

duds not withstanding, i've never had anything take longer than 72 hours to pop and another 48 to show green using this method. 24-36 hours is average in my experience.

watch though—the seeds i just started yesterday will probably take 3 weeks to pop now that i said this works.
:rolleyes:
 
I soak my cubes for 24hrs in RO water before inserting seeds. I keep the cubes very wet, each sits in it's own cup drenched w/ water once a day, change soaking water once a day... seeds usually crack in a few days. Also, I use a heating mat to get temps around 75 and no light (I grow outside so as soon as they pop I send em out)...

However, I recently had some stubborn seeds; so I soaked the seeds in a glass of RO water for 24 hours before starting; pretty good results that time but still a few didn't pop. I forgot about the "unpopped" seeds for a week and just found they popped w/ really long stems stretching for the nonexistent light, lol.

Also, I get very curious so like to drop the seed in the "slot" so I can "observe" its attempt to "pop". (edit: just read avant g's reply above; I suppose w/out realizing it, I ignore his step 10 w/ very good results(I get very nosy))
 

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