What is an idiot proof way to germinate seeds?

Get a baby food sized jar...and some R.O. or distilled water.
(other sized jars will work too.)

add one drop of Superthrive to gallon of Reverse Osmosis drinking water
Fill jar, say half way, with the R.O. water ...stop that, one drop of superthrive, no more, no less. more is not better. One teaspoon of seaweed extract may be substituted and still remain within the realm of being idiot proof.

Shake jar vigorously for A minute...two.. to mix and aerate solution.
(Please don't forget this step before adding the seeds, it is a critical element to it being an idiot proof system.)

Insert your seeds,

all will float for the first 1-3 hours and then they will start to sink.

If some seeds keep floating after say what, six hours, mildly slosh / shake the jar slightly to cause them to sink and keep the jar in it's warmish (not hot!) place.

Check seeds every several/few hours...
Its okay to sleep, but if you get up at night, check on the babies...
I'm actually teasing, the super oxygenated solution will sustain the sprout for many hours "under water".

When the seeds crack open and small taproot is visible plant the cracked seeds in preferred moisten growing medium 1/8"-1/4" deep. [1 inch = 2.54 centimeter]
I like those large plastic "beer cups", 20 liquid ounce plus sizes (2/3 liter+?)

note: a tweezers used in an extra careful and gentle manner can come in quite handy when handling and placing those greased little pigs of a tiny cannabis seed into ones growing medium.

Place the containers with the seeds into a plastic bag in order to keep the humidity levels up. Continue to keep in a warm room temperature.
When the sprouts decide to break the surface of growing medium/soil,
go ahead now and remove the containers from the bag and place relatively close to the bulbs under the Florescent light fixture that ones setup already. See, still relatively idiot proof..."


Please feel free to add any tried and trued methods that one uses to successfully sprout cannabis seeds to this seed sprouting techniques for complete idiots.

Paper towel method? why I've heard of that...

There are different methods that prove successful:

Seeds can be placed between folded, wet paper towels that are kept moist and warm in a place such as on the top of the refrigerator.

NOTE:
[ use the 1 gallon/4 liter r.o. water to a drop of superthrive described in the thread above, if guidance on what to wet paper towel with is sought.

This water would idealy be pH balanced somewhere between >6 - <7,
but this is a Keep It Simple Simon (KISS) type of thread and I won't go into how to do that here.
The drop of superthrive into the R.O. water probably did the trick anyways. ]


Plain paper towels without designs/dyes are preferable, the unbleached brown variety ideal.
After a period of 6 hours to 2 weeks, the vast majority of viable seeds will crack open with a white root tip emerging.

At this point, the seed is gently placed in the growing medium approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep with the root tip pointed downward.
1/2 inch = 1.27 centimeter

Seeds can also be placed directly into the grow medium with the pointed end facing downwards to germinate without the transplanting step. The medium is kept uniformly moist until the young seedling emerges on the surface.

It is not necessary to provide light before the seedlings break the surface, but it is beneficial to have strong light present from that moment forward to prevent excessive stem elongation.

Metal halide lighting is beneficial, if heat and moisture are monitored.
Seeds prefer high light conditions once they have become rooted.

Fluorescent lighting is satisfactory with cool white or higher color temperature tubes being preferable.
Seedlings have a tendency to stretch under most floroescents.

try to change the paper towel every other day if things are taking longer than normal

For transferring seeds from soaking jar to medium, use a drinking straw with the end cut at an angle. It's gentler and less damaging to the seed than accidentally squeezing too hard with tweezers.

Thanks for the Tip

Thanks for the Tip

ambre said:

For transferring seeds from soaking jar to medium, use a drinking straw with the end cut at an angle. It's gentler and less damaging to the seed than accidentally squeezing too hard with tweezers.

Click to expand...

Learn something all the time.
Great Idea
Sin

I like the papertowel and superthrive in warm area. better than 90% germ and never less than 75%fem rate.knock on wood, it works for me

Thank You for your imput and ideas on the subject...

Thank You for your imput and ideas on the subject...

I was actually shocked by how much misinformation (many just outright wrong) on seed sprouting their is out there in these very basic tutorials on the subject scattered...floating around the internet.

Seed sprouting, one would think would be a no brainer, but yet many people struggle with this trying (to some) aspect of starting a new hobby every day.

This thread is dedicated to simplifying this aspect of Cannabis growing.

This thread is also dedicated to the wonderful memories we have of of our dedicated and respected friend, Medical Cannabis Pioneer "Dr. Jay Cavanaugh, PhD.
May he R.I.P.
Thank you all again.

.......................................................................
Pesky Seed Hulls...
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=9516

to be honest the easiest way i ever done seeds is in a rockwool cube or rapid rooter ,,,very rarely get a failure

I use a plastic container and lid that my chinese take-away comes in. Wash it out with normal old washing up liquid and allow to dry on the plate rack. I prefer to use kitchen paper to toilet paper as it tends to be stronger when wet and doesn't just disentegrate. I double up a couple of pieces and lay on the bottom of the container, then I mist this with a spray bottle until it is damp and if I tilt the container a little water runs from the paper towels. I mist with plain old tap water and drain off the excess moisture. Place the seeds on bottom layer of kitchen paper, place a few more sheets on top and repeat with the misting, draining of any excess. Put the lid on the container making sure it is an airtight seal and leave somewhere warm ie on top of fridge, monitor or airing cupboard.
I've never added superthrive or anything else other than plain tap water, although im sure this doesnt hurt. In my experience most beans pop in about 36 hours, any that dont I gently lend a helping hand. If you look at seeds they have a seam down one side, if you gently squeeze the seed between forefinger and thumb using the thumb nail on the seam. Seam running vertical, thumb nail horizontal (gently though cos you dont want to damage the good stuff inside the shell) it should split perfectly down the seam. Put the stubborn beans back in between paper towels after popping seam and you should get a tap root 24 hours later.
I've had 100% success using this method, even with beans that are a few years old. Apart from one batch where none of the beans popped, where I assume they were very old stock, and no method would have resulted in a succesful germ.
I'm a little stoned so the splitting seam thing may not be clear to all, if anyone wants more help I can take some pics to try and explain better. Pics speak a thousand words after all. Hope this helps anywayz

Peace
Baffled

P's I forgot to add, try not to smoke while your doing this and wash your hands if you have, before handling the seeds

K.I.S.S.

try simply putting them 1/4"-1/2" into an 8 oz. styro cup full of soil, (or just put it in your rockwool starter plug), that got some holes in the bottom, watered with some ph adjusted Superthrive treated water, topped with some Saran Wrap till they pop the surface.
See pic.




I used to go thru the hassle of germinating like I did with lima beans in grade school, but why bother with an extra step and the possibility of damaging a tap root. I used to use a swatch off a clean, cotton, white t shirt, didn't get mushy when moist. I have had better germ rates in soil than in paper towels and cloth.

closetking said:

K.I.S.S.

I have had better germ rates in soil than in paper towels and cloth.

Click to expand...

Me too, I simply wet the soil very well, make a hole of about 2.5 cm with a pen or my finger and drop a seed into the hole, cover it with sand and 5-6 days later up pops the seedling.

The seed in water method, and wet paper towles/cotton wool methods just dont work for me as well and I end up wasting the seed, when I could have sprouted it straight from soil.

Also DO NOT feed the soil with nutrients at this stage- just good potting soil and tap water. Overdoing it will kill the seedling.

Nothing simpler then this method.

This from a book well worth the expense of purchasing...
"Marijuana Botany:
An Advanced Study
The Propagation and Breeding of Distinctive Cannabis

by Robert Connell Clarke

"Seeds...usually germinate in 3 to 7 days.
The seedling emerges from the ground by the straightening of the hypocotyl (embryonic stem).
The cotyledons (seed leaves) are slightly unequal in size, narrowed to the base and rounded or blunt to the tip.
The hypocotyl ranges from 1 to 10 centimeters (1A to 3 inches) in length. About 10 centimeters or less above the cotyledons, the first true leaves arise, a pair of oppositely oriented single leaflets each with a distinct petiole (leaf stem) rotated one-quarter turn from the cotyledons.
Subsequent pairs of leaves arise in opposite formation and a variously shaped leaf sequence develops with the second pair of leaves having 3 leaflets, the third 5 and so on up to 11 leaflets.
Occasionally the first pair of leaves will have 3 leaflets each rather than 1 and the second pair, 5 leaflets each."

I thought the first step to making something idiot proof was to round up all the idiots and kill them.

I ve been just dropping them in a glass of distilled water for a few days till i see the tap root come out. Distilled water & clean tweezers..never let me down.

Here's my method, I've never had a viable seed NOT germinate this way.

Fill shot glass with 6.7PH'd tap water. Insert seeds, leave for 36-48 hours or until seeds crack or until tap root is visible.

Using a gladware disposable container (get at any grocery store in a 3-4 pack), Line with paper towel, dump shot glass water and seeds inside, cover with moist paper towel, put cover on and place it on top of the power supply side of my cable box. 2-4 days later seeds are ready to plant.

I have some original Bogmedley seeds (2-3 years old) germing now, all 3 have tap root showing.

I used bottled water on papertowl in a ziplock bag it's been about 3 days 1 out of 27 seeds hasn't popped yet and with this method i have popped every seed to ever pop for me I hadn't considered there could be another way when I was younger the water came from a tap though. Of course recently i have seen many using the soak method in a lot of different variations its all good i say find what works good for you and stick with it.

RoNdO.

Nah your all wrong, you have to freeze them, solid, as in, block of ice, for one day, let thaw and boom, tap root in 5-6 hrs.

If one were to choose to freeze ones seeds,
be aware, that like many things, you should only do this once...


.........................
[This a bit more advanced (and probably not idiot proof.
From a defunct seedbanks faq's...]

Long term storage is the best way to preserve these special strains for tomorrows growers, and for this freezers work great, provided a few rules are carefully followed.

Most important is that the seed be dried below the 8% moisture level, as above this the water in the seed will expand upon freezing and burst the cell walls.
This drying is done with the use of silica gel and an airtight container.
The gel can be obtained from any vegetable seed company and many gardening stores.
The seeds and gel are sealed in the same container and the gel will change color, indicating the moisture that it has absorbed from the seed.

Seeds should be wrapped in tissue paper and sealed in an airtight container before being put into the freezer, as frozen seeds are very fragile and the paper will protect the seed from shattering if bumped.
Seeds stored like this will retain vigour and high germination ratios for long periods of time.

When thawing seeds for use, allow them to fully adjust to room temperature before opening the container.
This will prevent unwanted condensation from forming on the seed surface. Allow the seeds to regain most of their original moisture level [?] by sitting open for a few days before being germinated.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I always feel like an idiot.
But I am an idiot, so it kinda works out.
-Billy Madison

"Have you ever noticed?
Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac"
-George Carlin

Feeling pretty confident right about now, aren't ya...It's really that not that hard after all...


Smoke if ya got em...

taken from this thread:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=21702

highonthechroni said:

high all.

just thought i'd share this pic on the correct seed(ling) position.. it should be handy for those of you who 'do it the other way around'.

fear my MS Paint skills!

peace!

Click to expand...

highonthechroni said:

here is my seed germination technique.

if you want to have seedlings within 2 - 3 days, without the 'risk' of pre-germination, read on!

you'll need:
-your starting-sized pot(s)
-a container big enough to hold your starting-sized pots
-soil/your soilless medium/jiffy peat pot etc.
-plastic-wrap
-tooth pick
-pen/marker
-ruler
-tweezers

get your medium mixed and filled into your starting pots. if you are using jiffy peat pots, you will do that after the seeds have sprouted.

take your toothpick and measure 1.5cm from the tip, marking it with your pen/marker. make little holes for your seeds with the tooth pick in your medium, approx. 1.5cm deep. use the tweezers to plant your seed(s) accurately as in the diagram above. then cover up the hole gently.

now, using some water and your one hand, por the water on your hand and let it drip in a circle around where you planted the bean. no ontop of where you planted it. be gentle with the water! you also only need a bit, 5ml or so.

place your pot(s) in the container. then, cover the container with the plastic-wrap. use the tooth pick again to poke 5 or 6 holes in the plastic wrap. if the plastic-wrap doesn't 'stick' nicely, use some sticky-tape and wrap it round the container, fastening the plastic down. place the container somewhere warm, i.e above your PC case/the refridgerator etc.

later!

Click to expand...

cheers!

idiot proof.....fold a paper towel....get it wet.....open it......put the seeds in....spray the seeds with a mister.....put in a dark warm spot.....open and spray moist again when it starts to dry....in 1-3 days you have a root poppin out.

flouro's keep them 1 inch away for seedlings so they don't stretch

mh or hps keep about 18-24 inches away


peace