Coming back into the grow game and I am all over the place with germination. Read hours of stuff on the internet and I still seem to be all over the place. I mean, back in the day I was a growing machine. After many mistakes and reading, I "appear" as though I've locked into a pretty solid system but I really wanna hear from you guys. YOUR germinating techniques. As of now, I'll drop the seeds I have into a glass of warm water. Keep it dark and warm and usually in a day they will sink and a few will pop open. I'll take the tap root and push the seed down into the soil and keep pushing just enough until the seed itself just disappears. REAL close to the top of the soil. Don't want it working too hard to get up and break the soil. Now the soil will already be pre-watered. Soaked and finished dripping by the time the see goes in. That way when the seed is in, I'll put plastic wrap over the top real tight and leave it that way for 2-3 days under the lights. Get the temperature up, the humidity up and hopefully have a seedling in 3-4 days. I'll go 16 hours lights on then give them an 8 hour break. Just trying to mimic mother nature as best I can. Would certainly love to hear ALL your germinating secrets and tricks. Certainly not comfortable with mine. Thanks a lot!
i use dwc. no rockwool, just hydroton. i'll fill them 3/4 full with the 'ton and place a seed. then put a layer on top. i'll fill res to just under the seed, then drop it once a solid root system develops. 100% germ rate
Take the seeds, soak them in a bit of water for 12 - 24 hours then sow 1/4" into the substrate (I use soil for seeds, cubes/plugs for cuttings). That's all I do; no scarification nor elongated sprouting time with a risk of damaging the taproot. Simple.
I wet 2 pieces of tp fold in half till it fits in my baggie put the seed in the middle of the last fold. put into baggie and wait 24-48 hours. hast failed yet.
place right in your medium. unless cloning, no need to germ separately. while it does work, you run the risk of killing ur baby b4 it's in the pot, and it's just an extra step... aren't stoners supposed to be lazy???
I just put it in the soil and keep it moist. 3-5 days later it wants some sunshine! Im still at 100%, knock on wood. Lol
What I really need to focus on is how you guys implant your seeds into your grow medium. Seems to be where I drop the ball. I usually just push down into the soil with a pencil's eraser about 1/2", drop in the seed that has already broken open with a tap root about a few mm's long. Then I cover it lightly with soil. They don't want light yet, correct? Until they break through the soil and the first small green leaves appear??? I cover the cup with plastic wrap while it sits under a lamp to get the humidity up. Thermometer says 90-ish degrees F when they are sitting under the lamp. Week later I got nothing. Could I be burying it too deep into the soil? Maybe my guesstamation of 1/2" is really an inch???? What EXACTLY do you guys do when it comes to actually planting your seeds into your grow medium? Thanks for the help.
1/4 inch into the substrate; sow them no more than twice the depth of the seed though just the length of the seed is sufficient.These are very fragile organisms until they get a root system established; they don't have the extra reserves of energy to push through heavy mixes like the ones we make, if sowed too deeply. I just push it into the soil until it's just barely submerged, then I lightly cover it with a tiny amount of loose soil. Just enough so the light is blocked. Put the 2" pots into the dome with heating pad and walk away. You may want to remove the plastic over your cup; I don;t believe seeds need high humidity or a cover to get established. The main reason I put one on mine is the fans I use would dominate them as they sprout if I don't.
I have heard not to completely cover unsprouted seeds. I used to do the same for humidity but then there is no air exchange between your medium and the surrounding air. I usually leave my solo cups of soil on top of my internet router for a small amount of heat, no cover. As long as the soil stays moist (not wet), theyll pop looking for light. Same as GiMiK said, I do it about 2x the length of a seed, but I dont have a taproot prior to. I just dig a hole with a pencil, drop it in and cover lightly with the soil. KIS
You're probably damaging the root tip by pushing it into the soil or creating too damp of conditions with covering the cup (damping off). If you must pre-sprout, make hole, carefully drop seed in (root pointed down), "pinch soil" over seed, keep moist. I would keep it under light and uncovered. Covering with plastic could lead to moisture/rot issues very easily. The seedling is gonna want light as soon as it's above soil, might as well leave it under light. Don't make a hole and 'Push' down a sprouted seed. This can damage the root tip. It is easier to make hole, put seed in, then kinda "pinch" the soil, more sideways covering the seed. Watering the soil will settle the soil in/around the seed nice and easily. Seeds use gravity and their position in space to know which way is which. Moving sprouting seeds only confuses them. 1/4"-1/2" deep is plenty. Cannabis seeds should have no problem pushing up through potting soil. Skip the pre-sprout and practice patience.
The reason I cover with plastic wrap is to mimic the germination dome. I also poke very tiny pin holes thru the plastic wrap plus have two fans running in grow closet so I am confident of an air exchange. The light along with the plastic wrap creates wonderful humidity as the light works like a microwave and brings water up thru the soil and into the seeds. You can see the results when the water beads under the plastic wrap. THEN.....when the light turns off and the humidity severely drops the water back down into the soil and seed. The on/off light seems to move that water around really nice up when it's on and down when it's off either way, the seed is getting pounded with water. Ah, we'll see. I got 4 cups with a 50/50 perlite/Miracle-Gro each with a seed that has broken open. At least 1 more cup will go in tomorrow so I am figuring next Friday will be a full week when I can start looking for seedlings.
" I got 4 cups with a 50/50 perlite/Miracle-Gro each with a seed that has broken open. "Miracle-Grow" AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!! J
I have started in water and in between wet paper towels. Once they pop View attachment 127899 I put them into half full clear plastic cups with a base soil mix (think ProMix) and leave them alone until the sprout. View attachment 128275
as far as I can tell, Jiffy Mix is nothing more than peat and vermiculite. But with 100% germination rate, who can argue? If it doesn't germinate, it wasn't viable in the first place and no technique would change the outcome. I soak the seeds in a saucer or cup, no need for heat or light elimination, all I want to do is hydrate them. 24 hours max, more like 12 hours. I don't want them to crack or show a tap root. I'm just smalltime so these techniques don't apply to big growers. The seeds go directly into the pot they will spend the rest of their life in. I dig out in the middle of the pot about the size of a small cup that most pot is started off in and fill.it with Jiffy Mix. Dump the Jiffy mix in the hole. If you've ever tried to top water it you know it is so light and airy that it just explodes all over the place and is gone. Spray it with your 28 oz sprayer that you bought 2 for at Dollar Tree for naturally, only one Dollar until it is a soupy mess. Poke the hydrated seed 1/4 inch below the surface and you are good to go. At this point it gets highly controversial (meaning, "I don't know") Turn the light on high 24 inches above the soil? Maybe, anything to keep the heat a constant 76 degrees. Turn the light off to avoid any contact with the new forming roots? Maybe Fortunately, I have a Honeywell (puchased online from Target) electric radiator that keeps any room at the constant temperature you want within 2 degrees, so I don't need to use lights for heat. But I can use the lights and the Honeywell will just simply automatically adjust. At anyrate, something like this and I'd be surprised if you don't get 100% germination. If it doesn't germinate, it was nothing you did, it was just a bad seed. After that, you are on your own. (meaning, you're now getting into the area of growing that I don't yet understand or know for sure and am here to ask questions and learn.)