Not Germinating?

[5cooby Doo]

I have always done paper towel method.

A few pieces of thick paper towel, seed, a few pieces of thick paper towel. They are damp/wet but not drowning. I put that in between two plates (facing each other) so they are sealed in there. And put the plate on a seedling tray.

I then put that on a heat mat. And there is a heater in the room. Temperature is 77F / 25C (high and low is always plus or minus one degree.) Plate was slightly warm to the touch. After 12 days only one popped, three duds. I just put it in a medium just to see and still nothing while the one that popped was fine. (This first time I tried with RO Water, which came out at 200ppm....not sure if my ppm meter is 100% accurate right now. Ph of water is 7.5)

Then I did the same thing, but put a heat mat, then put a thin towel, then put a plastic tray, then put the plates with paper towels on top. Four days and nothing. (This time I am using Bottle Water.)

(I've always done bottle water and paper towel, and have roots in 4-5 days always. So don't know what is wrong.)

 

[master kusher]

sometimes I manually crack them split them at the same and very carefullly take the little white thing out of the cacoon that surrounds it and no I'm not talking about the seed shell, that's what I crack.

 

[OldSSSCGuy]

Any chance it is old seed?

 

[Guy Brush]

Make a little space of at least one finger thick between the heatmat and the seeds! Could be too hot. The heat mat shouldn't be neccessary at all, except in cold areas. Put the seeds in a warm environment but not under direct heat. You can place them at an elevated place in the living room, for instance.

 

[Pro Headies]

I use to do all the different paper towel methods but over the years i learned to just plant them in soil with better results then any method. I use a regular plastic cup 3/4 way filled with medium/soil and stick a sandwich baggie over the cup to create a mini greenhouse and place 3-4ft directly below a 600MH. In few hours the baggie should be full of condensation and heating the soil. Take bag off once a day until plant appears.

 

[5cooby Doo]

Thanks guys!

Master - I will try that, as a last resort. (this second batch of beans has only been 4 days, today is day 5...so I will wait a little bit longer.)

OldSSSCGuy - They should be fairly new. It is a newer released strain of dinfem. And the beans are pretty decent, like fair size, some tiger stripe, nice deep brown. (sometimes you buy beans and they are tiny little white beans ... but even those usually work.)

GuyBrush - The only different thing I have done from before is, normally I put the beans (in the plates) in-between my pants with a thermometer, and heater pointing that way. This time I used heat mat, only different thing I think, but thought it might be better. The seedling tray the plates are on have little indents so it's not exactly sitting flat on the heat mat (and there is towel under to). But maybe it could still be to hot. I will see, maybe move back to my old way completely.

Pro Headies - Using Rockwool, which I find a tad bit more harder than soil. Once bean pops, then I put a hole in the cube (with a sanitized new drill bit), then put cracked been in there about 1/2" deep, then pinch the corner of rock wool - very small piece and cover the top so it is in dark, but not restricted to pop out. Then I put water misted zip-lock bag over, and let her air out once or twice a day for fresh air.
Once seedling has popped then I leave bag until she reaches near top of bag, like 1-2 day after she popped out. And leave in the seedling tray with cover to keep humidity 50+ for baby.

 

[Guy Brush]

...normally I put the beans (in the plates) in-between my pants with a thermometer, and heater pointing that way. This time I used heat mat, only different thing I think, but thought it might be better...

I completely understand. You found your old way too nerdy and wanted to exchange it for some neater solution. But life told you to better keep it nerdy for now. ☺

 

[Smoggy]

On Patience...

On Patience...

I had some homemade seeds [ 50%Col. x OG 94% (Bx's)] that i stratisfied by drying indoors for weeks, refrigerating for weeks, freezing for more weeks, and thawing out in fridge for ~1month.
Planted em along with other varieties in RW cubes & Keept moistened as usual, but after weeks w/o germinating, set them aside in warmer area. Over the following months, found cubes dried out couple times - quickly rehydrated.
Amazingly, one day walking by noticed one etiolated already - It'd been 8 months!
Shortly thereafter another one sprouted!!

Unfortunately - 1st one got mortally dried out.

IIRC, it grew into a healthy female - but obviously not memorable keeper.
"Believe in the Seed"

 

[5cooby Doo]

Guy brush, not that it was nerdy.... but I'm always trying to improve. I thought a heat mat would be better, but to be honest I'm not completely ruling out that it is not the favourable option....

.....It's reassuring to know I'm not the only one in this battle; http://www.*****.com/boards/index.php?/topic/385014-remo-chemo-operation-germination/ ... maybe it's just the strain?

Smoggy - One resilient plant this is! Unfortunately I need my meds and I don't have eight months . I popped the rest, so now I will just flower the few I need and if one or two extra I can just keep them veg. very small. (I'm still wayyyyyyy below my plant count.)

..I might have to go to Master Kushers advice and help them out manually. Maybe I will try with one or two beans first and see how it works. (I did roll them around on the paper towel a bit with my finger, and it usually peels off a little layer/specks of the outer part of the seed shell a little. Maybe I will resort to the "match box" type technique next time.)

Ps. it's been two days since I moved them off the heat mat's direct heat, still keeping them at 78.8F/26C. Not a sign of life yet.

 

[5cooby Doo]

^I apologize for posting the link, I wasn't 100% sure If I could, I was just trying to source some information on the problem.
if you google "Remo Chemo - Operation Germination" you can see what I was talking about.

 

[Guy Brush]

Ps. it's been two days since I moved them off the heat mat's direct heat, still keeping them at 78.8F/26C. Not a sign of life yet.

If the heat mat is the problem then it wouldn't help anymore, I reckon. Would it? Normally it takes two to three days for the seeds to crack.

 

[Shmavis]

If past seed pops without a heat mat were continual and successful, then I say lose the heat mat. If the plates are actual plates (not paper) then you’re likely cooking them. Even with (layers of) towels between the mat and plate. Years ago after many successful seed pops I thought the same way and tried a heat mat. My success rate went way down. In my experience it’s not necessary unless in a cold environment. I once used it with success in a basement in winter with no heat from the furnace to the basement. Even then I used paper plates. And I always put my (seeded) paper towels in a sandwich baggie.

Good luck!

 

[5cooby Doo]

I've always used glass plates in the past as well, with 95%+ germ rate within 4 days. I will switch to paper plates next time. I will also ditch that heat mat for good.

Would it be too late to take the seeds out, dry them, do the matchbox/sandpaper thing, and then retry?
^If it is... I might just try to cut 'em open.

Or should I count my losses and get another pack of beans?

 

[Guy Brush]

I've always used glass plates in the past as well, with 95%+ germ rate within 4 days. I will switch to paper plates next time. I will also ditch that heat mat for good.

Would it be too late to take the seeds out, dry them, do the matchbox/sandpaper thing, and then retry?
^If it is... I might just try to cut 'em open.

Or should I count my losses and get another pack of beans?

Both!

 

[Shmavis]

I've always used glass plates in the past as well, with 95%+ germ rate within 4 days. I will switch to paper plates next time. I will also ditch that heat mat for good.

Would it be too late to take the seeds out, dry them, do the matchbox/sandpaper thing, and then retry?
^If it is... I might just try to cut 'em open.

Or should I count my losses and get another pack of beans?

Well, don’t use paper plates if not using the heat mat. Sounds to me your method was fine, before adding the heat mat. 95% + strike rate on varying genetic lines is more than acceptable. Those results should bring a smile to your face — especially if they’re not your own creations.

It’s worth a try. Give them a week and if not successful, grab another pack. That is, if they’re readily available; and you think the heat mat was most likely the reason you had poor success - if nothing else, popping a new pack with your old proven method (without the heat mat) will tell you where the trouble was. Or might’ve been. You can eliminate possibilities.

And while I never have been as patient as Smoggy, I have had seed pop two + weeks out.

 

[5cooby Doo]

Thanks guys!

Well, I dried the beans, shook them up in a make-shift sandpaper cylinder, and put them back in my old method yesterday. 1/5 hatched already today... a tiny taproot, but life .... there IS LIFE!