Should I soak my seeds before planting them straight into soil?

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by OffTheGrid420, Jan 28, 2015.

  1. #1 OffTheGrid420, Jan 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2015
    I've read that soaking the seeds before putting them in soil helps out the germination process for when you plant the seeds into red solo cups. How long would you recommend I soak them for? Would 6 hours be enough? I don't want to leave them soaking for too long. Don't want to rot any. Also which way do I plant the seed? Does the pointy end of the seed go in facing up or down? Thanks. I appreciate it.
     
  2. #2 GoldGrower, Jan 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2015
    Soaking marijuana seeds offers zero advantages and poses a real risk of drowning them. There is quite literally no point in soaking them. You are better off simply sowing them in the soil as normal.

    Very lightly dampened paper towels can work well when your growing in hydro, but for soil you may as well just put them in the soil to start. 25℃ is a good temperature to keep them for fast germination rates. 48 hours is a common length of time it takes for them to break the surface of the soil
     
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  3. #3 snoopdog6502, Jan 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2015
     
    Root down if you can.
     
    24 hours-36 hour soak works, 6 hours will be fine but I like a bit longer, a warm spot on a tv cable box or DVR in an entertainment center is what I do.. I get good numbers and a high success rate.
     
    Once you plant in the solo cup a baggie over the cup to make a little greenhouse works great. As soon as it pokes out of the dirt pull the bag and leave it off and let them have air.
     
    90 days from now you will have big smelly trees in your house. :D
     
  4. I soak mine for 12-24 hours usually.
     
    The root goes downward yes but it doesn't matter all that much as in nature seeds aren't placed in the ground directionally.  It'll find it's way. :smoking:
     
  5. Thanks for the reply GoldGrower. I'm going to plant the seeds directly into the soil. Should I wait 6 hours till I turn on my light? Or just turn it on as soon as I plant the seeds? I will have my Mh bulb running 250 watts once I turn it on.
     
  6. #6 OffTheGrid420, Jan 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2015
    Thanks for the reply. I'm just going to plant them straight into the soil. Do you recommend me having my light on as soon as I plant them into the red solo cups? Heard some people wait 6 hours before turning their light on. This is my first time so I don't want to add any more steps than I'm supposed too.
     
  7. Thanks for the reply.
     
  8. #8 GoldGrower, Jan 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2015
     
    You can have the light on straight away or wait for them to break the surface. Having the light on will provide some heat so it usually the best way to go. You will need to cover the pots, cling film / food wrap works well. It's to stop the surface of the soil drying out too fast. This will need to be removed when the seedling breaks the surface
     
    I don't know why anyone would wait 6 hours. This seems like a strange amount of time 
     
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  9. Yeah I don't why they would wait 6 hours either. I plan on turning on the light as soon as I plant the seeds into the solo cups. I'll place some food wrap over the cups so the soil doesn't dry out. Good suggestion never heard of that before. I'm going to give the soil in the red solo cups a good spray with a spray bottle before I plant the seeds.
     
  10. I have had insanely POOR results with germinating straight in soil no matter what I do but almost always have success when soaking in room temp purified water for 24 hrs then another 24 hrs in wet paper towels ( in baggie) in a dark warm spot. Have tried everything as a beginner and this works best for me but to his his own.
     
  11. #11 GoldGrower, Jan 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2015
    If your soil is too poor to germinate seeds it's not going to be doing you any favours for the rest of the grow either. You should choose more suitable soil. Light, airy soil is what you want. Heavy or gritty soil isn't much good. Moss peat is a good starter but it's very low in nutes so you need to add some or pot up in a couple of weeks. There are loads of good airy soils out there. Gro-more light is a great soil, but still worth adding perlite to it

    There's only really two things that can go wrong when germinating, either too much water, or not enough. Soaking seeds is too much
     
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  12. #12 rob9105, Jan 28, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2015
    I always use fox farms happy frog mixed with 1/3 ratio of perlite and some azomite also be never any luck even in seedling mixes, any recommendations based on that? Oh I only grow autos that something to do with it I doubt
     
  13. I have never used that soil. What sort of consistency is it? Heavy dense soils suffocate the seeds. Most likely you have the soil too wet. It can only really be too wet or two dry. Nothing else comes in to it at this stage.

    I start my seeds in very lightly dampened paper towels in a zip lock bag. But I grow in hydro so I find it best to start them like this. But when growing in soil I just drop the seed 1-2" inches deep in pre dampened soil, not wet, just damp. I cover the pot and keep it at about 25℃ and they usually show in 48 hours. Having plenty of air to the seeds is very important
     
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  14. Maybe more practice needed but as a beginner I wouldn't recommend it that way because it apparently needs to be right on or your screwed lol but yea soil is dense and I have tried several times experimenting but could be that my seeds just come hard as rocks and need to be soaked
     
  15. No, soaking seeds will not give them any advantage, they only need very slight moisture to start. Starting in paper towels is fine, in my opinion it's an unnecessary step but not one that would cause any problems. However soaking them offers no advantage and I have seen many beginners on this very forum kill their seeds by soaking them in water
     
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  16. I start straight in soil without any issues. Actually I've done all three methods, without much difference. I just choose soil now because its a couple less steps. If a seeds viable and taken care of properly, its going to pop. Its humans that mess up the process. Get a good seed starting soil. I use fox farms light warrior.
     
  17. Would a spray bottle be enough to get the soil moist in a red solo cup or will I have to actually water it before I place my seeds in the soil. Don't want my soil too wet. If I used the spray bottle wouldn't that just moisten the top of the soil?
     
  18. #18 killset, Jan 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2015
    Moisten thoroughly when you plant the seed. Make sure to add something for aeration like perlite. After that I just mist the soil, paying attention to the weight of the solo cup. Or just use a small amount of water to water it. If you have enough drain holes in the bottom of your cup, and enough perlite, you'll be fine. That is as long as you don't get carried away and water all the time, keeping the soil wet. It will get light feeling when its time to water.
     
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  19. what I always wanted to know is when you plant seed directly into soil how does the seed sprout and find its way?, as I understand each corner of the seed is designed specifically to do 1 job, so one part to root and shoot down, and one part to grow the leaves and pop up, what if you planted the seed wrong way around?, or it doesn't matter which way you do?
     
  20. Thanks for the answer killset. I'm using a seed starter soil for germination. I'll check on the bag and see if there's any perlite added in too it. If not I'll definitly add some perlite next time.
     

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