this WILL sound like a dumb question, but thats why it is on the begginers thread. Do you have to germinate a seed before starting to grow? So could I poetentially just put it in the soil and start growing from there? Thank you for putting up with my noobness!
Yes you could put it straight into the soil but germinating beforehand will show you which hseeds are good and which are dead. Some say it also helps growing. I highly recomend germinating them first. Put two paper towels on a table. Put the seeds on top of them. Then put two more paper towels on top of the seeds and put water on the paper towels till they're completely damp. Then put this in a dark, warm area and remember to check it every once in awhile. They should be ready to plant in soil in about two or three days. Good luck
Hiya closetCULTIVATA, Welcome to Grasscity and IMO there aren't really dumb questions if you've made an effort to search and can't find the info you seek. Being new, you're in the right section to post this question. Yes you can sow an MJ seed right into the soil and it will germinate. A lot of folks prefer to germinate their seeds using other techniques such as the paper towel method. When you spend 10-20 bucks a seed, you want to take every precaution to insure germination. I suggest trying out the search function and using keywords such as germination, paper towel germinating, planting seeds etc. You'll be amazed at how many of your questions have already been discussed and are stored in our database. Good luck and good growing! chunk
closetCULTIVATA - WELCOME! You are gonna find all you need to know here... I though I will add my 2 cents worth of info as well... I began germinating using paper towel... Then I thought, do plants grow like this in nature? Hmmmm no way! So this is how I do it personally. Buy some Fleximix propagation cubes. These things are very good... Actually, the best I have used (brands are Root Riot etc...). Fleximix is the material. Moisten them up with spring water... and drop your seed in. In 2 - 5 days, depending on your strain, the plants will be popping up and ready for transplant into your medium of choice! Try it out, it's a lot easier to do, and allows for a lot less stress and disease you may find, by manually handling your seedling.
Technically germination is what happens to the seed when it starts to pop out a tap root and grow, it's not what you do to the seed. So even if you start the seed in soil you are trying to germinate it. But you're asking about a paper towel germination or similar before planting. No it isn't necessary, but I do advise it for some practical considerations. First, I think germ rate is better if you are more closely controlling the conditions (such as paper towel or similar method), whereas down in the soil you may not be sure if the seed is too wet, too dry, or just right. You also can see if/when your seed starts to germ with the paper towel method -- in soil, you can wait and wait to see something and not know if you're waiting on a dud or if it's about to pop the soil tomorrow. You might be tempted to dig it up to check it out only to ruin it. Or, conversely, you won't dig it up and will just keep waiting one more day, then one more after that, wasting time that you could have been growing. Having said that, many growers do start the seeds straight into soil successfully. Mother Nature does it that way too.