bad seeds?

[sneakers]

I have germinated plenty of seeds in the past and never had any problems using the paper towel method. I bought a bag of some pretty good stuff last week and decided to try growing some of it. I placed about 5 seeds in moist paper towels and placed into a baggie. 24 hours later none of the seeds had sprouted. I checked again in another 24 hours and nothing. I added a few more seeds to the paper towel. I also took about 10 seeds and placed them in a glass of water. 24 hours later and still no sprouts and all seeds are still floating.

These seeds do not appear to be damaged. They do not look underdeveloped. Although the seeds are a little smaller than average and most of the seeds are a light color, they do appear to be good seeds.

Is there any other methods I can try to germ these seeds?

Has anyone else ever had a problem of an entire group of seeds not germinating?

[Ganja Guerrilla]

seeds may not be viable , try dragging the seam of the seed halves across a match book striker, or sand paper

[sneakers]

wow Ganja

I did what you said (or tried to). I didn't have a decent matchbook cover or any sandpaper. The closest thing I had was one of those matchbooks with that safety type sandpaper (not very coarse) and a metal fingernail file attached to some toenail clippers (also not very coarse). I used the fingernail file.

I wasnt able to hardley hold the seeds between 2 fingers and sand it but was able to at least rub the file over a part of the edge and the pointed tip. I did this yesterday to seeds I hadn't yet tried to germinate. Here less than 24 hours later I have 2 of the 6 seeds starting to show a tiny sprout just starting to form. In another day I will move them out of the paper towels and into growing medium.

I also tried placing a few of these same seeds into my freezer. I have heard that seeds should be frozen to simulate a winter cycle. I have frozen them in the past and have used seeds that have been both both frozen and not. There never seemed to be any difference. If these seeds will germ after freezing a couple of days then I guess there will be some truth to the need for freezing a seed before germinating it. Not that it is always neccessary but in the fact that it sometimes can be.

Thanks for the help. Hopefully now I can grow some of that good stuff I bought last week.

[Ganja Guerrilla]

MJ seed do not need to be stratified (frozen)

your being impatient, expecting the seeds to germ in 24hrs.

"be at one with the seeds grasshopper"

[sizzlasia]

Im having trouble getting these green crack seeds to pop also.. the k2 popped fine (about a month ago) but these kush wont, I got more, and these wont either.. should I try sanding them next time?

[sneakers]

Not impatient at all. I wasn't expecting anything in 24 hours in fact, I was surprised to see it happen in only 24 hours. I had waited for 4 days previously with no results.

The only reason for trying to freeze these seeds is that perhaps freezing them will cause the seed husk to contract and then expand again allowing water to soak in when germinated. That is about all the sanding the edges is doing.

I have an entire batch of seeds that do not germinate. This will be a good test to see if freezing them does allow this to happen. This isn't anything about trying to speed up the process but just a method to make the process happen at all.

The whole idea of sanding the edges and those particular seeds germinate in under 24 hours does warrant further investigation. It may or may not prove fruitful.

[sneakers]

Originally Posted by sizzlasia

Im having trouble getting these green crack seeds to pop also.. the k2 popped fine (about a month ago) but these kush wont, I got more, and these wont either.. should I try sanding them next time?

I would. It sure worked for me. If you still have some of the ones that didn't germ right, try sanding and germinating again.

[psionblue]

How far did you sand? Just a little?

How long should you wait before you give up on a seed? A week?

I didn't soak my current seeds and 3/5 sprouted. 2/5 had the root sticking out in less than 24 hours and was sticking out of the soil in 2 days.

The ones that do not show a root do sink in water, so they must have cracked a little.

I am so tempted to keep germing more seeds. Would a seed that does not germinate quickly equal a weak plant?

[Ganja Guerrilla]

Would a seed that does not germinate quickly equal a weak plant

not always , but, yes,they do tend to be like the runts of the litter IMO

[sneakers]

It seems that many times some seeds germ real fast and then others take a couple of more days and others either take much longer or never germinate. I have often wondered if the ones that germ first might be males or females and those that germ a couple of days later might be the other. There seems to be a lot of thought that male flowers appear a couple of days before the female flowers do.