Best germination techniques?

[Dirt_McMaster]

Frozen- +rep for your opinion
How deep in to your soil do you put your un-germed seeds? Do you heat your "beer cups cut in half"?
I have never germinated a "clicky" seed. There is absolutely no reason to try. It seems any cracked or broken seeds, will become rotten. My opinion of course.
While I value your opinion, I TRUST mine.
I have germinated more (add 1 or 2 zeros) than hundreds of seeds using the paper towel method. w/close to 100% success
I have been doing this since my childhood days.
REMEMBER - We are here to contribute helpful information.

To answer your questions about waste. Any waste is stupid these days. If you can avoid it, do so like the plague! nuff said
-Dirt

 

[foomar]

Tend to start the expensive or rare ones the paper towel way , sandwiched between two plates stood on a low heat source like a freeview box or PC component.

Have definately spotted and saved a few with fused or very hard shells that would not have broke soil without this intervention.

In a particular bad case every single one needed minor surgery with scalpel and tweezers , soil alone would have been a total loss with this one and a probably justified complaint.

Find it easier to see and avoid damage to sprouting seeds if several folds of black cotton or similar is used in place of paper towels which can sometimes entangle fragile rootlets.

My own get started in bulk in a seed tray , and are pricked out and potted on as needed in the traditional way.
Covered with sieved soil about five mm deep and watered from below and kept warm , straight under the light as soon as they show to reduce initial stretch.

Find it can often take over a week for the first to show in soil and have near 100% after two weeks , reckon some people give up a little too soon sometimes and have had volunteers in recycled compost that took a month.

 

[opt1c]

oh yeah if u guys wanted to know my method check my sig

i've put a lot of thought into that tek; it's geared more towards expensive seeds.... i use the start in soil method for my vegetables however

 

[Finepointcanon]

I'm in my first grow so take this as you will, but I had 18/19 seeds pop and grow healthily from jiffy pellets.

 

[Frozenguy]

Tend to start the expensive or rare ones the paper towel way , sandwiched between two plates stood on a low heat source like a freeview box or PC component.

Have definately spotted and saved a few with fused or very hard shells that would not have broke soil without this intervention.

In a particular bad case every single one needed minor surgery with scalpel and tweezers , soil alone would have been a total loss with this one and a probably justified complaint.

Find it easier to see and avoid damage to sprouting seeds if several folds of black cotton or similar is used in place of paper towels which can sometimes entangle fragile rootlets.

My own get started in bulk in a seed tray , and are pricked out and potted on as needed in the traditional way.
Covered with sieved soil about five mm deep and watered from below and kept warm , straight under the light as soon as they show to reduce initial stretch.

Find it can often take over a week for the first to show in soil and have near 100% after two weeks , reckon some people give up a little too soon sometimes and have had volunteers in recycled compost that took a month.

Try covering your soil with plastic or putting it under a dome that can keep high humidity (not all can, they have leaks). If the soil drys out, its bad. Need to keep it moist. As long as its moist, its better then a paper towel in all respects. It holds moisture on the seed just like a towel. What else do you want?

When seeds dont break ground after 4 days (very rare for me) I un bury them and break the seal on the seed and replant. This has always worked.

I dont know why your seeds take a week, that isn't normal. I think maybe its because you plant them too shallow. Try planting them more like 15-20mm under the soil. The top 5mm drys out way fast and you want those seeds soaking. you want them wet wet wet.

I know the towel method works, its just at the end of the day, soil is better

 

[thestruggle]

Put them in moist soil in a warm place... I dont see any reason to pregerm your seeds unless you're going to germ like 100 at once and you dont want any duds. That said, the first time i grew, i used the paper towl method with 100% success. Place seeds on Moist paper towel, fold it over a couple times to make a square, place that in a bowl, and seal the bowl with saran wrap.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Stick em in the dirt, wish em well...
...they will sprout, sure as hell.

I have saved many a hull bound goner. And that can be sketchy surgery. But I see em as bonus' anywho...more than likely a cull especially if it's sibs popped fine and it shows any runt at all. Let the selection begin. (shrug)

I have had more bad luck messing with shit, than not.
Best to let things be things.
And things can take far more than a week, if things choose.
And there are no such things as always, and 100%'s...keep planting them and see things.

 

[sudohigh]

Hey friends.
So I'm trying to germ a few bagseeds I've found over the years by sandwiching them in between two moist sponges. However, It's been around a day and I see nothing yet.

So, first off, how long should germination take? I've read varying things about it, so I'm not really sure.

Second, if I were to change over to a moist paper towel, how moist is "moist"? I mean, could it be too wet? I was thinking about taking a paper towel under the faucet with a small amount of water and just wringing out the excess - does this seem reasonable?

Thanks so much.

 

[Stoner Chick]

Try covering your soil with plastic or putting it under a dome that can keep high humidity (not all can, they have leaks).

I put mine in Jiffy pot thingo's under a dome and covered a towel and the light on the room for heat and everything germinated in under 24-48hrs.

I thought about dropping them in water, and then i thought to put them between paper towels, and then i was going to soak them in some dissolved birth control pill, and then i said, Keep it simple, stoner - so i just put them in dirt and walked away, and so far that has worked best, and some of the seeds that germinated were 8 years old.

 

[Carl Carlson]

'How to plant seeds' by Growdoc : http://icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=10876
Bar non the best technique i have used in 10 years. So simple it is amazing. Having 90% results consistantly since using this method. Proven technique in Horticulture

90%? Paper towel method = 100%

no need to check every 8 hours. Let stand in a dark, warm place for 24 hours and than check. Most should have sprouted. Wait another 12 or 24 for the rest.

 

[Carl Carlson]

Hey friends.
So I'm trying to germ a few bagseeds I've found over the years by sandwiching them in between two moist sponges. However, It's been around a day and I see nothing yet.

So, first off, how long should germination take? I've read varying things about it, so I'm not really sure.

Second, if I were to change over to a moist paper towel, how moist is "moist"? I mean, could it be too wet? I was thinking about taking a paper towel under the faucet with a small amount of water and just wringing out the excess - does this seem reasonable?

Thanks so much.

Turn your faucet on as light as it will go and hold the paper towel underneath for a few seconds. Not soaking wet so you can't work it, but moist. You want to be able to fold it so the seeds don't fall out. It's so simple that you'd have to work hard to overcomplicate.

 

[Carl Carlson]

I used a Jiffy starter kit the last time. They come with expandable coco disks. 100% success

 

[bloyd]

the most foolproof I have found 1 went 157 for 160 for od this year some were very old seeds as well. Thanks DS Toker.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=172749

 

[Frozenguy]

Soil. Better then paper towel hands down.

Just have to keep the soil wet. Put it in a humidity dome or wrap saran wrap in there.

You will have healthier seeds, germing faster with soil I pretty much guarentee it.

BTW, soil works everyone. This is not a, if it doesn't work for you it doesnt.

I dont feel this applies. Just have to follow rules.

Get the soil wet (you can NOT drown a seed) plant the seed about 1.5cm deep. Have to keep the top of soil wet, so just put saran wrap over the top and you wont have to water it. It will germ, then pull the wrap off, and let the pot dry out.

Paper towel method WILL damage the tap root. There are 1000's of root hairs you cant see. And you smoosh them and nuke them from orbit when you move it and replant it and do all this crap.

Like I said, soil is faster, healthier for the plant, and works for everyone.
Paper towel is not magic.

The only use I see for it is to do mass germ rate tests when breeding.

 

[Jellyfish]

Here's how I germ beans for Hempy buckets, but it's good for anyone using rock wool.

Only soak seeds if they're old. If you do soak them, don't do it for more than 24 hours.

Don't put your unpopped beans right into rock wool. Instead, use the paper towel method as already described on this thread.

When you see about a 1/2 inch tail, put them in the rock wool tail pointing down. Use fluoros for lighting, and as soon as you see green, get the light as close as you can without putting heat on them. An inch is not too close. This will prevent them from stretching.

Transplant into your medium only when you see the taproot coming out of the bottom of the rock wool cube. If you transplant before you see the taproot, your chances of failure go up about 50% in my experience.

That's about it. I had to re-familiarize myself with germinating recently- been using clones for a long time. That's another tip- if you haven't germed any beans lately, practice with some bagseed, make sure you've got it down b4 proceeding with expensive seeds.

That's it, hope it helps someone.

 

[CACTUSFLOWER]

I mist stubborn seed hulls while temps go up and down, the hulls fall off by themselves with no surgery, respect to the inventive ways everybody else sprouts

 

[neongreen]

Only soak seeds if they're old. If you do soak them, don't do it for more than 24 hours.

It may well be because of the H2O2 I add, but I've never had a problem soaking for as long as 4 or 5 days. H2O2 has been shown to help seed germination as well as killing harmful fungi/pathogens that can harm/kill newly germinated seedlings, so IMO it's a no brainer to use it when germing seeds especially if they are old/rare/valuable. I nearly always get close to 100% germ rates even with 10+ year old seeds.

For old/rare/valuable seeds I also add seaweed in the soak, and use a small water bath (bucket + 8W aquarium heater) set between 78-80. Sometimes I wait till I see signs of germination and then put them in soil (I also water after planting with the H2O2/seaweed solution), but sometimes I just soak 24-48 hrs and plant any way.

If I'm germing seeds that are not very old or particularly valuable to me, then I just put them in soil and get great results usually. If I happen to be germing both old/valuable and new/easy to source seeds then I just soak all of them as described above, and get great results...

IMO a good soaking is welcome extra insurance, although I don't always use it. It's very little extra trouble to set up the water bath, but I'm just lazy!

 

[CACTUSFLOWER]

I've heard that for female seeds germinate in low 70's and for males go to 80, I don't know if that is valid though

 

[mojave green]

Drop the bean in a rw cube, cover with small piece of rw, keep moist and wait. It will pop!

 

[Jellyfish]

It may well be because of the H2O2 I add, but I've never had a problem soaking for as long as 4 or 5 days. H2O2 has been shown to help seed germination as well as killing harmful fungi/pathogens that can harm/kill newly germinated seedlings, so IMO it's a no brainer to use it when germing seeds especially if they are old/rare/valuable. I nearly always get close to 100% germ rates even with 10+ year old seeds.

For old/rare/valuable seeds I also add seaweed in the soak, and use a small water bath (bucket + 8W aquarium heater) set between 78-80. Sometimes I wait till I see signs of germination and then put them in soil (I also water after planting with the H2O2/seaweed solution), but sometimes I just soak 24-48 hrs and plant any way.

If I'm germing seeds that are not very old or particularly valuable to me, then I just put them in soil and get great results usually. If I happen to be germing both old/valuable and new/easy to source seeds then I just soak all of them as described above, and get great results...

IMO a good soaking is welcome extra insurance, although I don't always use it. It's very little extra trouble to set up the water bath, but I'm just lazy!

Thanks for explaining your way of doing it. I'm inspired to research H2O2, and do some experimenting with some bag seed. That's always fun.

I've heard that for female seeds germinate in low 70's and for males go to 80, I don't know if that is valid though

I doubt if anything this elementary could be true, and yet not everybody already doing it. But try it out for yourself, and post your results, if they're anything unexpected.