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How do YOU germinate your seeds? What's your success rate?

Strapped

Strapped

Member
I heard a good pre-germ trick from watching an UG episode. Before trying to germ, make a pot of black tea and let it cool in the refrigerator until chilled. Place the seeds in a cup of tea in the fridge overnight. This simulates winter and the tea kills pathogens/ harmful bacteria that would prevent germination. Then use your germination method of choice.
 
BPJR

BPJR

Member
I seed directly into moist Rapid Rooters. I get great results doing this simple method.
As mentioned above....dont over think it.

Good luck!
 
ShroomDr

ShroomDr

CartoonHead
Veteran
I plant them in this fashion. 50:50 prewashed and 1/4 strength charged coco:Light Warrior
kov said:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=24420



2. on the next day not much is happening, but you see that the root is not going anywhere up Yes, the force of Earth gravitation is at work and will always be.


3. Another day gone, everything as planned.


4. On a next day a notable occurence, since the tap root has travelled down well and established a good hold in soil, it now starts to push up, creating a little bend, that bend is very handy, it will push up through the soil, dragging behind it and thus protecting the delicate colytedons.


5. here we go, on a fifth day, tadaa, plant emerges. It's worth noting that because I buried the seed quite deep, the seed covers are left inside soil. If seed is buried shallow, it will still be having the covers on, when emerging.


6 days from seed to seedling, that's my usual score, without fancy soil mixes and much special care. Once again - tip down, tip up, sideways, doesn't matter, a seed is a seed.

rgds, kov
Click to expand...
Basically, i put the seeds in clear cups and up against the side. I did not soak the seeds, I did not pay attention to the seed orientation, and I did not water the seeds (My 50:50 mix was moist but not wet; kov pics look a lot wetter than mine were).
 
fourandtwenty

fourandtwenty

Member
CURRENT METHOD: buy seed raising mix, put mix in individual seedling size pots, water well, plant seeds 1cm deep, wait a week or so.

last time was with 10 seeds of which 9 germinated and the tenth was just poking out of the soil but died. so 90% success rate.

I am thinking of trying the " FYTOCLONE PROPAGATION TRAY CLONING HYDROPONICS" for cloning and maybe seeds as well as the above mentioned jiffy pots.
grow hard!
 
F

ForbiddenFruit

Im down with planting directly into a damp medium, and misting when needed. I have used the glass of water & the paper towel methods in the past, I usually gravitated towards using the glass of water method because the paper towel method simply bothers me.

The paper towel method kinda reminds me of wet toilet paper or something, and smells similar. Wet paper just doesn't belong in a growers tool kit, and the fact that lots of people use that method proves that it probably isn't the best thing for plant growth.

The glass of water method isn't that much better, but its and improvement because you no longer have wet paper, plastic bags and plates to deal with.

So the best way to go about germinating seed stock, is to get your hands dirty right away. Acquire a seed flat, humidity dome, small starter pots and a light airy seed starting mix, pro-mix or something peat based.

Next up moisten your medium, the proper moisture level is in between "fully saturated" & "dry". Now fill your starter pots with medium, plant the seeds, mist, put in dome and move under light. Keep room temp 80 or so and mist once in awhile.

Seeds love to start directly in the medium, they could not be happier
 
bigwity

bigwity

Active member
Veteran
i germed 100 beans, 1 came up my method gives me 100% SUCSESS due to 99 of the beens being no good. LMAO
 
H

headband 707

Plant whisperer
Veteran
FreezerBoy said:
If you can't grow in it, don't germ in it. The only benefit to paper towels is a greatly increased chance of death, mold, root breakage etc. Pop it in your grow medium and be done.
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WHY WHY WHY LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!:wave:
I have done it all depending on the seed .. If I know the seed is a hard seed to crack then I hate to put them in the medium and wait to see if come through then yeah I will emery board it and put it between two i coffee filters ph'ed water and the dark in a warm place. ..
This is the reason I personally don't like using the medium to poop the seeds.I have thrown seeds in soil before and waited and waited for weeks /months. Then I finally throw the soil out only to find the plant coming up in my yard a year later lol.:jump:.Although I love to see the plant it's not so good to have it come up in your yard lol peace out Headband707:dance013:
 
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ibjamming

ibjamming

Active member
Veteran
ShroomDr said:
I plant them in this fashion. 50:50 prewashed and 1/4 strength charged coco:Light Warrior

Basically, i put the seeds in clear cups and up against the side. I did not soak the seeds, I did not pay attention to the seed orientation, and I did not water the seeds (My 50:50 mix was moist but not wet; kov pics look a lot wetter than mine were).
Click to expand...

My mix is different, but just like you, I plant them and forget them. No misting, no watering, no domes, just water liberally when planting and then just wait. In a week you'll have babies. Why make it hard?

Another trick is container size. I've found that 16oz beercups (I use "clear" green) are the perfect size to hold enough, but not too much moisture. Those "seedling trays" are too small and tend to dry out too quickly...and larger containers remain too wet and stagnant.

Watch water pH too...VERY important. I killed a lot of little ones before I learned to test the water. My "lessons in life" have been pH the water and don't over water. And use a beer cup to germinate...a clear one so I can see the moisture in the soil...so I don't over water. And I can see the roots develop so I know when to transplant.
 
F

ForbiddenFruit

I think the biggest concern with planting directly into the medium, is the moisture level.

I think if they are slow to pop out of the medium maybe there isn't enough moisture or the temps aren't ideal. Although if you know for a fact the seed you have won't easily germ in a medium then applying some sort of pre-germ technique might be beneficial.

I haven't run into any hard husk seeds yet, so how does one determine that a particular seed is too hard to crack?. I'm curious what characteristics signify a need to pre-germ.
 
H

headband 707

Plant whisperer
Veteran
ibjamming said:
My mix is different, but just like you, I plant them and forget them. No misting, no watering, no domes, just water liberally when planting and then just wait. In a week you'll have babies. Why make it hard?

Another trick is container size. I've found that 16oz beercups (I use "clear" green) are the perfect size to hold enough, but not too much moisture. Those "seedling trays" are too small and tend to dry out too quickly...and larger containers remain too wet and stagnant.

Watch water pH too...VERY important. I killed a lot of little ones before I learned to test the water. My "lessons in life" have been pH the water and don't over water. And use a beer cup to germinate...a clear one so I can see the moisture in the soil...so I don't over water. And I can see the roots develop so I know when to transplant.
Click to expand...

Normally if something works don't fuck with it !!! lol the only thing I might say to you about your clear cups is roots don't like light so perhaps you could use an opaque glass or cup this might help not for you but for your roots they love it..LOL peace out Headband707:dance013:
 
Astaroth

Astaroth

Member
Hi,

I usually put the seeds in a glass of water for about 12 hours (until it sinks) then set it between 2 wet slices of cotton or paper towels hidden under a saucer.
Success rate is rather good with sane seeds.

As said before, avoid exposing roots to light.

Bye.
 
opt1c

opt1c

Active member
Veteran
picture.php


why i use paper towels; when ur seeds are in your medium a) you can't do anything about the above situation and b) you don't even know its happening cuz last time i checked i can't see through dirt/coco etc... and i'll be damned if you tell me that digging around in your medium looking for a sprout is safer for the plant than a paper towel; fwiw i don't use paper towels as much as i use those STERILE face wipes they sell; sorta like a flat cotton ball pad type thing... anyways my run with above seeds gave me 11/10 what do you call that success rate? bog lifesaver was the strain btw. :tiphat:
 
ibjamming

ibjamming

Active member
Veteran
headband 707 said:
Normally if something works don't fuck with it !!! lol the only thing I might say to you about your clear cups is roots don't like light so perhaps you could use an opaque glass or cup this might help not for you but for your roots they love it..LOL peace out Headband707:dance013:
Click to expand...

Ah Headband...you force me to break out my seedling picture again...:)

All my seedlings look like this...this was taken my last grow, it's exactly 2 weeks from planting, 10 days since popping up. It's SO easy now...light airy mix, "some" nutes, and good pH'd tap water...and not too much of it. I used to dread starting seeds...it was like Russian Roulette...1/2 would usually live and some starts none would make it.

picture.php


Now I make small changes to see if I can shave a day off germination or get it ready to transplant sooner.

If you look carefully, you can see in the back, right seedling there are some faint white lines...those are the roots. It's loaded with them. They were transplanted that day. The little guy in front is 1 week behind those others. I had a seed fail to pop so after 7 days, I replanted another.

I appreciate your mentioning the roots Headband...but they don't stay in those cups long enough to hurt anything. For the 10 days to 2 weeks they're in those cups, they don't seem to mind a bit. I sure as hell wouldn't leave them in there for too long...algae grows like wild fire. I just like to see what's going on when they're young...how they're progressing.
 
H

headband 707

Plant whisperer
Veteran
They look very sweet ibj I wouldn't want them looking any other way lol so if it ain't broke bro lol .. That's enough soil for the roots to hide so it's all good lol peace out Headband707
 
stonedar

stonedar

Macro-aggressor
Veteran
my father grew up on the family farm, think green acres. you know got ice from the river for the ice house, still had plough horses and tractors with steel wheels.
His father taught him to germinated his seeds for crops in a moist towel (not paper towel prolly didn't have them) on the wood stove. these people needed the seeds to germinate to eat. worked for them works for me.
 
ShroomDr

ShroomDr

CartoonHead
Veteran
I doubt your grandfather was paying $180+ for ten seeds, or had clear plastic cups at his disposal.

There is no doubt in my mind, the less disturbances the better. If you must see them crack their seed coat and are too impatience to wait for the seeds to break the substrate's surface, there is no better option than to use clear cups.
 
erwingruber

erwingruber

Member
qwerty said:
I use the paper towel method.

Get a paper towel, soak in luke warm water.

Let excess moisture drip off.

Place seeds on towel, spread them out.

Fold towel so seeds are completely covered.

Put paper towel inside ziplock bag.

Seal bag and leave in dark, warm place for a couple days.

Voila!
Click to expand...


I use this method too so far almost 20 seeds from sensi 100% in 48 hours
 
Tony Aroma

Tony Aroma

Let's Go - Two Smokes!
Veteran
I used to use the paper towel method when I was growing unknown bag seed. But since I started growing Mandala's genetics, I've been following his advice with great success.

I place a seed in plain, unamended soil in a 16 oz uncovered plastic cup with holes punched in the bottom. This is the same soil I use throughout the grow, except it has nothing but a LITTLE perlite added. I then water thoroughly and wait. No need to even water again until after they sprout in 3-5 days, as the cups hold the moisture in and they stay just damp enough.

If the seeds are old (not fresh) or hard to germinate, then that's a different story. Scuffing and soaking may help, and you can at least see what's going in with a paper towel. But for fresh, healthy seeds, I believe nature knows best. With good, fresh seeds, I'm around 100%.
 
Caille

Caille

Member
I went with the soil method, soaked for 10 hours, the planted in moist soil.


Germination rates were as follows.


BOG Sour Bubble: 7/10 germinated....ouch lowest of the three strains. Also had a bad penchant for helmet head, one still has to kick its shell yet. A bit disappointed in the legendary BOG beans.

Freebie Power Kush: 5/5 Germinated...nice fast beans too, all 5 popped first, kudos to the breeder at least for beanstock.

Greenhouse Seeds Feminized Lemon Skunk: 5/5 Germinated two look a might runty but should do fine now that they have soil and light.


Alexis
*smiles*
 
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