Germinating in wet paper towels vs soil

[SuperBadGrower]

If it can't even emerge from fresh medium it doesn't deserve life!

 

[Facelesdoll]

Bogus

Bogus

If it can't even emerge from fresh medium it doesn't deserve life!

Some seeds are just old or low vigor seedlings that do fine and take off after a tlc beginning. I bet cultivars we all wish existed still do and would need a tlc start to get them going

 

[Ronin_420]

I germed my seeds in paper towel. But next time
Straight in soil.

 

[Mr D]

I just geminated some older Acapulco Gold straight in soil. Others had no luck with same seeds using the paper towel method.

I would stay away from seedling heating mats if using soil or rockwool/rapid rooters.

Heat from above works way better than heat from below.

 

[Esme]

What i do with paper roll/towel method.

1. Get some thick or wrap a few layers up of kitchen roll.
2. boil the kettle
3. soak the kitchen roll in really hot water
4. ring them out there are damp not wet.
5. place damp kitchen roll on a plate
6. place seeds in nice lines spread them out
7. repeat 3,4 steps on another lot and then add over the top of the seed's.
8. make sure the top kitchen roll is touching the seeds.
9. get another plate put over the top.
10. wrap the 2 plates in a black bag
11. put in a cupboard somewhere warm.
12. Wait 2/3 days and bang you'll have something live below.

I have 100% germ rate with this method. The boiling hot water is to kill any bad stuff on the roll.

 

[slownickel]

I do a combination of all of the different things mentioned!

First I soak in water and a bit of peroxide. A day later I lay them on top of a good light mix and water them well with a myco source, cover the seed with a paper towel that has been washed several times and then pour more mycos over the top. Been able to crack some oldies this way! Gotta wait though. Good seeds that were grown well pop easily even after many moons! I put the seeds with paper towel on top in the full sun!

 

[hellfire]

If it can't even emerge from fresh medium it doesn't deserve life!

Facelesdoll: Some seeds are just old or low vigor seedlings that do fine and take off after a tlc beginning. I bet cultivars we all wish existed still do and would need a tlc start to get them going

For older and poorly stored seeds or seeds with low germination rates I always start in water. I replace it daily and keep it in a room temperature environment. Sometimes I add peroxide if it seems necessary. I have started many seeds with this tlc method and put them into soil after. I think if I took a shot with them directly into soil I would not have had as many pop.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

I have some Dominican I picked up while there. Having a bitch of a time. 0/60 so far.

Vise grip method is on tap.

 

[art.spliff]

Micrometer is different from tweezers or the like at least without a brake stop (screw method vs squeeze) can accidentally squish the seed too aggressive with shell removal may be detrimental. I'll try slicing the seeds with an xacto if not scouring with sandpaper/sponge or cracking and adding tomato seeds and GA3 following a soak in mild peroxide in filtered water, with an initial hydrogen peroxide and/or potassium bicarbonate scrub. The shell may absorb a lot of water and nutrients upon initial soak and maybe I should omit some of the plain water part and use Superthrive right away. Very light soap or peroxide/bicarb for 5 minutes maybe, then scour or cut the tips. Overnight may also work. Haven't personally tested this recently but Superthrive + healthy soil or worm castings sounds like it will help more than water and paper towels with lower germ seeds.

 

[ValleyHill]

Soak seeds in hydrogeon peroxide into paper towels in a little food bag keep moist on heated mat 24degrees and voila. Job done. Tried every method going.this as been by far the best
Simples vh

 

[Amsterdam_joe]

Hydrogen peroxide! Never new that

 

[DiverDave]

I soaked beans in H2O for 30 minutes , does not matter if sink or swim .. they go into split rock wool and into dome over heat mat.
I use split rock wool .. over and over cause I take my straight roots and transfer them into my bio bucket lava rock medium.

This last one I had to take a small piece of rock wool with it so it did no damage to the root.

of the 4 I germ I had to take pod & membrane off for them .. I could have waited but grew impatient.

They germinated in 24 hours and these are taken about 20 hours later.
Results were 4 for 4 this batch .. the last batch before was 5 for 5
Needless to say , I find straight root is better then the paper towel curly roots I had gotten for years before this experiment.

DD

 

[jwm]

Peat pellets w/ heat mat & dome

 

[Chunkypigs]

 

[bsgospel]

^Now that looks like a grip of fun. Whatchu workin on Chunky?

 

[high-thoughts]

Hello guys,

i thought i input my experiences with germinating seeds.

I prefer to put them in a cup full of water. I know it's not soil nor paper towel. But they both have disadvantages. Cup of water has none I came across.

So one of the cons for the soil is it can dry up and you can't see what's happening with the seed.

With a paper towel, you have more control over it, but the problem is if you leave it day or so too long in the towel and the seedlings are intervened between the towel itself.

So yea, cup of water, put seeds on top so they don't drown, and keep it in darl.

 

[Creeperpark]

I soaked beans in H2O for 30 minutes , does not matter if sink or swim .. they go into split rock wool and into dome over heat mat.
I use split rock wool .. over and over cause I take my straight roots and transfer them into my bio bucket lava rock medium.

This last one I had to take a small piece of rock wool with it so it did no damage to the root.

of the 4 I germ I had to take pod & membrane off for them .. I could have waited but grew impatient.

They germinated in 24 hours and these are taken about 20 hours later.
Results were 4 for 4 this batch .. the last batch before was 5 for 5
Needless to say , I find straight root is better then the paper towel curly roots I had gotten for years before this experiment.

DD

That is kick-ass how you did that.

 

[SlowpokeFB]

I normally germinate in a paper towel which works just fine to me..

Now I tried that water glass method, putting the seeds in a glass of water for 12h and then potting them..
The problem was that I wasn't used to put the seeds in a rather dry environment so early, didn't think about the shell getting hard.
The babies needed a lot of help getting rid of their hat.

Back to papaer towel again, had 100% success with that so far.

 

[Creeperpark]

I normally germinate in a paper towel which works just fine to me..

Now I tried that water glass method, putting the seeds in a glass of water for 12h and then potting them..
The problem was that I wasn't used to put the seeds in a rather dry environment so early, didn't think about the shell getting hard.
The babies needed a lot of help getting rid of their hat.

Back to papaer towel again, had 100% success with that so far.

Good job. The only bad thing about the paper towel method, is you cant put the seed tail in a high ec mix without damage. The soil has to have a low ec or ppm when using the paper towel method. Seed planted directly in the a high ec soil will fair well.

 

[chilliwilli]

I normally germinate in a paper towel which works just fine to me..

Now I tried that water glass method, putting the seeds in a glass of water for 12h and then potting them..
The problem was that I wasn't used to put the seeds in a rather dry environment so early, didn't think about the shell getting hard.
The babies needed a lot of help getting rid of their hat.

Back to papaer towel again, had 100% success with that so far.

U could try to place them deeper in the soil. I got most problems with seedlings don't loose their hat when i planted them to shallow.