Best Way To Start Seeds

[I'm Old]

I've been confused on the best method for starting your seeds while growing outdoors.

Sticking seed directly into 5 gallon pot and soil.

Germinating seed in peat pellet/small cup then directly into 5 gallon pot and soil. ( If this is best method, how tall/long should I let plant grow in peat pellet/small cup before going into finishing size pot? ).

 

[krazycure]

My advice: soak a peat pellet, rip off the netting, then dig a small hole and put the peat pellet in your soil. Plant the seed in the pellet and cover with a very small layer of soil. Boom. Always had good results doing that. If you start the seed in the pellet then move it into the soil after it sprouts, you can hurt the roots.

 

[*mr.mike*]

definitely the pellets. With or without the little net that even pansies grow right through.

But get the pellets that are about 1.5 to 2 inches wide. The smaller ones dry up too fast, and don't have enough room.

 

[Dr Dog]

If you start the seed in the pellet then move it into the soil after it sprouts, you can hurt the roots.

You are Krazy

I do this all the time, never "hurt" the roots. You are planting not trying to cross the line of scrimmage with it

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

i don't like wasting my time putting seeds in pots to not have them germinate. i put my seeds in cups of water and then put plastic wrap over them. i then transplant the sprouts into cups or pots whichever i'm going to be growing in. i always water down the soil in the cups with water and a bit of superthrive to help the babies take off quicker. if someone is having problems with hurting the sprouts then they are not being careful enough because i've never once had a problem moving the sprouts from cups of water to soil. i will put a sprout in soil as soon as it's a half of an inch long. everyone has their own way. this is mine.

 

[SocksRock]

Here's what I do. Usually get all of mine to germ (minus the ones that somehow I fuck up):

1. Cup of Distilled water Method
2. Paper towel method after they sink
3. Jiffy Peat Pellets
*Use tweezers to handle seeds*

In that order.

 

[B. Friendly]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=10876
this is the simplest way and I use it currently and I am having great success. I like to germinate in the furnace room it is consistantly warm and has a higher co2 level.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

I soak them in a kelp meal tea (1/4 cup per 5 gallons of water) for 24 hours and then put them into my germination mix (i.e. Sunshine Organic Germination Mix) mixed with some mycorrhizal fungai.

HTH

CC

 

[Bluestreak]

I put them directly into soil + little watter, cover with plastic bag and put the pots on the sun to make warm and moist environment under the plastic cover - like greenhouse
Last year sprouted every seed with this method.

 

[krazycure]

You are Krazy

I do this all the time, never "hurt" the roots. You are planting not trying to cross the line of scrimmage with it

Pffft. I didn't mean during moving that's the easy part if you time it right. Really it was just a warning to not wait too long in the pellets before moving them to soil, because those roots can shoot out fast before you know it, and it's not good to have them exposed to light or getting crushed between the pellet and whatever it's sitting in.

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

Hey Im Old.

Just me talkin, but you wont find a breeder or experienced grower anywhere that soaks their seeds in water and paper towels. They know that in nature, when seeds drop into standing water they die.

Seeds need 3 things to germinate properly

1. Moisture. Not water. If you insist on presoaking, get a cello sponge and place the seeds inside the sponge and then put 2 tablespoons of water on t he sponges. This will hold moisture against the seed without drowning it.

2. Temps. Cannabis usually germinates best between 75 and 80 degrees. Colder
temps = a no show and warmer temps = hard boiled no shows.

3. Light stimulation. Seeds dont sprout in the spring until temps warm and the sun gets strong enough to stimulate the seed. Strong light precipitates germination.

As you can see, soaking seeds in a paper towel or in a cup of water really doesnt meet any of the necessary criteria for germination.

Place the seeds- make sure butt is down- in a prewatered 16 oz cup of loose, high quality soil, (small germ pots, tinkering w/new roots is a recipe for runts), at a depth of 1/4". Water lightly, gently, but thorougly. keep temps at 78 degrees. Place the cups under a halide light at 24 hrs until a week old

Ive got good money to bet that every breeder/vendor available through this site uses this method of germination. It turns out that through millions of years of evolution, nature has developed the best germination method. Follow it and i gaurantee success..