Seeds taking Forever to sprout.

[#1cheesebuds]

All my seeds seem to be taking a long time to sprout. Or am i being impatient. Pic taken
FEB 9th. Temps 70s and i don't know the humidity. Trust me the seed pods are moist. This is one section of seeds but non have sprouted yet.

 

[Hammerhead]

That's why I prefer to soak them to make sure there's a tap root before potting them. Any seeds that don't crack ill do that myself. I have better results with seeds that have hardened off. Fresh seeds have a soft pliable shell, making it tough for the tap root to crack it open.

 

[exoticrobotic]

4 days in compost isnt long really. Mine take a week or so to sprout in compost and that's after soaking and agitating them in mineral water for 24 to 48 hours.

 

[awwc]

That's why I prefer to soak them to make sure there's a tap root before potting them. Any seeds that don't crack ill do that myself. I have better results with seeds that have hardened off. Fresh seeds have a soft pliable shell, making it tough for the tap root to crack it open.

I honestly find that when working with old non-refrigerated seeds nothing works better than some humid slightly acidic soil mix. I mean yes you can also add Hydrogenperoxide and water into a cup and hope for the best and manually crack them but the thing is the enzymes are not there I think (theory not sure) there are enzymes present in super amended soil mixes especially non-sterile ones that have a lot of seeds in them that also are sprouting etc, stuff you usually don't want but when working with old starting material it might be nice.

Unless you have another way of germinating old seeds that were out of refrigetarion, the thing is, some of them might come up but the enzymes lack, I think it is crucial to immediately after they crack open introduce at least some traces of enzymes etc.

Just a theory and observation if I'm totally wrong please correct me!

 

[revegeta666]

Feb 9 til now is only 4 days. You are just impatient like me . A week is perfectly normal for the seeds to germ in plain light mix soil. Soaking them in water for 24h with a couple drops of h2o2 just to kill any pathogens that may be on the surface on the seeds is more than enough. Other than that if you can't see a taproot just crack them yourself or do the scarification trick so water can easily penetrate the scars and help them out that way. It's a mechanical issue not a chemical one. Enzymes lol

 

[St. Phatty]

It's very important to maintain the "benign seed-sprouting environment" for 10 days, maybe 2 weeks.

I have maybe 3 "doubles", where I had planted a seed earlier, then I planted a new seed after the first one didn't sprout.

Then the new seed sprouted, AND the original seed.

I un-plug the grow-light in the seedling room 2 or 3 times a day, to let it cool off, because that tends to dry out the soil, and I don't have time to water them every morning.

I also cover the pot with the new seed that I'm trying to sprout, with a plastic film, AKA a piece of plastic bag, to keep the moisture in.

 

[Old Piney]

Sometimes I've found that they won't sprout if it's too wet try letting it dry up just a little, but not completely .these peat pellets hold too much water and have poor drainage once you get them to just moist the plastic cover is a good idea to maintain , they also dry completely up quick

 

[#1cheesebuds]

So just in case the seeds in the jiffy pods do not sprout. I put some in a jar of spring water to try the water sprouting method. I watched the video on YouTube how to do it. Hopefully it works for me.

 

[Hammerhead]

If you don't see a tap after 3 days look at them closely, if it's not cracked you should crack it yourself. I pop all my seeds using water. Any that are not cracked ill do it myself. Ive saved many seeds doing this. I never let seeds sink. Place them on the top so they float. Any that do sink just dry them off and place them with tweezers.

Old seeds can benefit from low heat as well. After a soak and if it's cracked with no growth I'll use a PT in a baggie placed on something slightly warm.

 

[#1cheesebuds]

As my bad luck would have and none of the seeds proud of except for one. I left them incase they decided to sprout.

 

[awwc]

How old were these seeds? How you store them?

 

[X15]

One thing I’d like to add,
one Major factor related to success is how the seed was handled.
Seeds don’t like the oils on our hands and finger tips. It’s really important to use clean hands or clean tweezers gently. It’s so simple but probably has the biggest effect on seeds popping or not. A perfectly Good seed might seem like a dud when in reality it was the small amounts of bacteria or oils on or hands that transferred onto the shell resulting in things not happening.
4 days isn’t that long though ime.
Good Luck! Much Respect!

 

[#1cheesebuds]

This is why i dont buy seeds. Im so possed OFF right now about my seeds not sprouting.

 

[St. Phatty]

If no one has mentioned it, a Freeze cycle seems to help.

I've never done a rigorous test to find out.

Seems like I get more Germinations when I do the freeze cycle than when I don't.

 

[Creeperpark]

Those peat pots are the problem because the pH is very acidic. You would have better luck and 100% success using quality potting mix in small cups. Cheese go to the propagation forum check out Sure fire Method.

Awwc hit it right on the head when he said "nothing works better than some humid slightly acidic soil mix."

 

[#1cheesebuds]

I got several seeds to sprout with the paper towel method. They are now in beer cups of new soil. The ones that grow the healthiest will get transplanted into around 3 gallon pots.

 

[944s2]

Early days yet,,,,s2

 

[Dime]

Put the seeds in a shotglass i a warm spot before you go to bed then the next day plant them in wetted promix/perlite mix with a propagation heating pad and a dome,keep the medium wet,exchange the air in the dome frequently,you can't do it too often and when they pop ,remove dome and don't water them till they are almost dry.Don't let them get cold. I would skip the peat because it stays too wet and suffocates. It may take a while if the seeds are old,If that doesn't work you have bad seeds. I had 20/20 germination with 2 mutants I pulled. Good luck.

 

[moose eater]

I've had some pop up from mix in 2 days or so; three is more average. But others have taken a week or so, depending on the strain.

I no longer screw around with paper towells or soaking, unless it's something ancient and I want to babysit it more closely.

If they're not up in 10 days or so, maybe 12, then you might call it DOA.

Anything 'suspect' in your mix?

 

[Creeperpark]

The liquid that penetrates thru the micropyle in the seed plays a big role in busting out the embryo from the seed coat and stimulating growth. The microscopic nutrient molecules stimulate, feed, and trigger the embryo into being born when the liquid comes from quality soil. Quality soil has 17 different nutrients and when the solute comes in contact with the embryo. Boom she's born!

Micropyle is the small opening present in the seeds through which water enters them. The micropyle is present in the ovule of the seed. Google

The embryo is the most important part of a seed. It is diploid, developed from the fertilized egg. All the cells that need to develop into a mature embryo are present within the embryo. Google