hey, long story short, i germinated some seeds on Wed, (may 3) and they sprouted pretty quick,. By like the next day they were sprouted like an half of an inch. I planted them yesterday (friday 5), and it seemed like many of them had grown like an inch. Most of the shells were still on, but barely. I planted them and gave them sufficient water. Do you think they will work? I cant beleive they sprouted that fast, i was still putting soil in containers and had to hurry up and finish because they sprouted before i thought they would. I hope they are ok...? how long do sprouts usually take to penetrate the top of the soil? Are germinated seeds that have a long tap root unusable? I mean the shells were on, but they were like an inch or so, maybe a little more. What are the chances of them surviving? Im gonna be soooo upset if they dont work, i have spent so much $ and put so much time into this operation, i really hope they work. thanks alot again. P.S - someone told me that they can live up to a week in the paper towels as long as they dont dry out...is this true? Mine were only in there for two days and boy did they sprout quick, i hope there alright.
ive had mine in germination for a week before but i dont use the papertowel method.. i use a slab of rockwool and a thin tupperware container.. works better.. as for those shells if you still think their on in the third day you should probably delicately remove them cause that will kill the plant if it cant get out of its own shell.... but no i dont think that an overextended germination is bad for the plant
Ok, what you SHOULD do, is plant the root tip in the soil, and leave the shell barely visible from the surface. If any have lost shells, they should have been planted so that the leaves can get light. If you buried them too deep, they will prolly die. That was the mistake I made on my frist grow. Paper towel method, i usually wait till they have about 1/4-1/2 inch root tips, then plant them. But if they had an inch long root-tip, they should sprout at least a little in one day, two at the MOST. As long as they arent buried too deep, they should do just fine. Hope this helps. If you have any other questions just post them. - Vince EDIT: i'd just like to comment on the post above, i agree they need to be removed, but if they arent ready, it doesent mean they wont pop the shell off on its own. If you arent careful those leaves will rip, and stress the plant. i cant say im as experienced, but thats just somthing i've accidentally done, and the plant ended up dying because of it (as far as i know anyway).
I have germed in paper towels, and planted directly in the soil. I have noticed no difference whatsoever in % that germinate or in germination time. The only advantage of using towels is that any dud seeds are discarded.