I'm looking for all germination methods and I want to here your experience,and I have a question? If my seed sinks in the glass of water and it is not poped or cracked and no Tap root coming out can I still plant it? thanks all help and advice will be appreciated.
I don't use any germination method i just put seeds in soil straight out the packet.. I figure the less you mess with the seed the better an its worked every time for me.. In your case with the seed in glass of water you should take it out when it sinks an put it into soil.. Good luck
I just did this about 30 mins ago on 1 x Barney's Pineapple Express Auto: 1) Put seed in a glass of water (water only 1/3 full, room temp water) 2) Put saran wrap on top of the glass to lock in moisture 3) Set it on top of my cable box (it's warm by the rear where vents are) 4) Get a small pot with soil in it and then water the soil so that it drys for the next 24 hrs Then about 24-36 hours later, or when there is a bit of the tap root showing, I plant it in soil 1" in. and then put it under just 1 cfl light. There are other methods that work just as fine, but this method works for me every single time.
I prefer to use paper towel, plant them point down when the tap root pokes out. I also add a glomus intraradices myco product to the soil where I plant my seeds and I get excellent health and growth rates as a result. Starter cubes work great too but I mainly use them for cloning.
I've a hort degree from 1972 & worked in commercial grnhses/ florists till I retired. So been doing this a while. The perfect germ temp is 72f - 77f. I used soil heating mats, put my cup, shot glass etc, of water on mat till 8th reaches temp, soak seed till it sinks (non-sinking floaters are dead seed), then plant in a soiless mix (I use promix bx) which I water & place on heat mat at the same time I start to soak seed. Unless the room is cold, I only leave them on the mat after sprouting for 3 days, up to 2 weeks if in a cold room. Why? Because cold wet soil is more prone to damping off fungus than warm soil. (If the spores are present, soil only needs to be moist enough to support seedling life for the spores to be activated to life). Damping off doesn't necessarily mean over watered, though that will increase the likely hood. Don't mean to scare you, it's not that prevelant, just a prevention because it's always possible. This has worked for me for over 40 yrs. You can direct seed into your soil mix, but this just speeds things up by a day or 2. Soaking first also keeps you from wasting you planting mix on dead seeds. That would be the floaters. -- Happy growing!