Cup of Water Germination

I see some folks here aren't familiar with the cup o' water germinating technique, so here goes:

When I first started out, I tried the paper towel method. TBH, I hated it.

First, trying to keep the towels moist, but not too moist and then trying to extract the germed seeds from the soggy mess when ready was a real PITA for this particular grower.

I don't remember where I first heard of the cup of water method, but I decided to try it and I fell in love with the hands off, no attention needed aspect of this particular method.

So, first I put some water in a cup. Just regular old tap water, not ice cold yet not warm either. I like to call it tepid.
Basically as close to room temperature as I can guesstimate.

Next I throw some seeds in the cup of water.

Now, I want to apologize for the lack of quality in regards to the pictures I am about to show. I have a cheap under $50 dollar digital and to get good quality pics requires a lot of picture taking, stair climbing, computer uploading, stair descending, picture taking, stair climbing...etc.

TBH, I have better things to do with my time. So as long as you can recognize the visual and it illustrates what I am trying to say...I call it good.

First, here are some White Widow seeds right after I place them in the cup:

 

And a cup of AK47 X Soma #10:

 

I then place the cup in a dark closet on a shelf in room temperature (70-72 degrees) and forget about them overnight.

The next morning (12 hours later) I look at the cups and see how many have sunk. Any still floating I dunk with my finger to see if they will sink.

Past experience has told me that any floaters are not going to be viable.

 

24 hours after they sink (for those keeping score at home, that is 36 hours after placing the seeds in the cup initially), I check to see if any have germinated.

If the seeds have cracked and I can see the white "tap root", I consider that a successful germination. I do not necessarily wait for the root to grow. But I have and that is one thing that is nice about this, there aren't many time constraints with this method.

 

Now they are ready to be planted in the medium of your choice. My medium of choice is soil.

I realize that the seeds do not need light to break ground, but I start them under light anyway. My reasoning being, I don't update myself on their progress every 10 minutes or so like I did when starting out and I want them to be greeted with 1000 watts of HPS sunlight the minute they poke their pretty little heads above ground.

So, I have my HPS 36 inches above the pots and warming the soil as they develop their root system and reach for the skies.

2 and 1/2 days after planting, the first sprouts appear. So from start to finish is 4 days. 4 days of very little attention. I can continue my life and not worry about what they are doing.

I know these last pics are hard to see, but they are there.

Everybody has their own style of germinating and that is fine. For me personally, I love this method because there is very little fuss or muss and it is pretty fool proof (and there is many a time I have been a fool).

Now in the interest of fairness, there is one downside that I have noticed. The shell seems to harden more with this method, which requires me to sometimes have to remove the shell casing to release the little buggers so they can unfold fully.
Harrowing the first few times, but now it is just a simple pinch and a gentle pull and they are good to go.

Haven't quite got this "starting them under a 1000 watt hps" thing down yet either.
36 inches was too far away. They grew legs on me.

Now the light is at 24 inches and hopefully the stems will toughen up with the fan blowing on them so they don't keel over.

Anyway, here's the last shot for this germination thread showing the seedlings starting to veg. I would highly recommend this style of germination if you favor a hands off approach to growing.

 

Yeah, that's one way. Of course it could also be said "why don't folks just use the sun"...I mean, it mimics nature.

Germinating the seeds before planting them in your medium does a couple of things.

One, it shows which seeds are viable without having to wait to see if they actually sprout.

Second, it shortens the time. Germinating in water will get the seeds to sprout quicker than "just planting in grow medium".

But hey...Not saying this way is the only way. Great thing about this hobby, there are many "right" ways.

 

Sometimes the seed shell (casing) doesn't fall off by itself, allowing the cotyledons to spread out and start absorbing light.

When that happens, you can carefully use your fingernail or tweezers and gently pry the shell off.

Yeah, it can be dangerous unless you pay attention to which way to pry the shell off so you don't break the stem or cotyledons.