What is an idiot proof way to germinate seeds?

[alphacat]

Much obliged Rosy!

Got some gifted NL x Haze beans sitting in the freezer that are about due for thawin', wanted to make sure it's done right and don't mess 'em up. The tap water in these parts is about 7.8 typically, so wanted to be careful there too. Won't be using bleach (too toxic for my taste) but peroxide is fine. This'd be a first try with Perlite, having heard good things about it, but Perlite is not part of the system as it's SWC. Was just thinking it'd be easy to extract the sprouted babies from Perlite than soil or cotton, should they have started burrowing...

 

[GabrielKnight]

I germinate straight into soil in a covered heated propogator (temp 7 /10, vents 25% open on mine) 4 feet under 250W HPS. Never had less than 9/10 in pack within 4 days.

Advantage is that you have lots of control. Vents can be further opened and temps turned down to gradually harden. Really can leave it for a few days and forget.

Other advantage is no need to change lighting source when transplating into first pot.

 

[senseless]

omg..


I use a red beer cup with good drainage and soil. I dont think the seeds can tell if its humid outside the soil or not.. if it drys out too fast then yes, it might be dry but then you should water it..

i havn't lost one seed to using soil.. and if it doens't sprout then maybe it shouldn't.. of coarse temp matters.. so keep that in check..

i have used paper towel method.. make sure it doesn't dry out or you'r ****ed.. thats the only way i've lost seeds.. it drys out way much faster, then your transplanting and so much handling of the seeds and stuff.. i just keep them in soil.. it works.. i used to water with superthrive and a root stim and lk but then i stopped.. i just let the seedling use what it needs to from the soil..

you said it man. i dont know why everyone has to make things complicated.

just pre wet your soil or rockwool with ph adjusted water, poke a hole about 1/4" deep, drop the seed in pointy side down, cover it up and let mother nature do its thing. sometimes i put a piece of saran wrap over the container to keep in moisture till it sprouts. if it was meant to be it will sprout in 3-25 days.

add 20-75 percent perlite to your seedling soil mix for good drainage.

good luck

 

[StayHigh149]

Thanks 4 the replies every1.

Finally got 4/4 to pop of TFD's Pure with the papertowel method.

I started this thread cuz my germ rates were very very inconsistent & I couldn't figure out why. Still, I'm not exactly sure why but I may have applied too much direct warmth/heat to the seeds, or papertowels with ink designs or maybe too much water. Not exactlky sure but I'll chalk it up to experience & try this same method next time since it worked ok on this run.

Thx again every1!

 

[gladysvjubb]

I use the "direct plant" method. These hatchlings are 24 hours old. They stay in the 9 ounce cups until they show sex. Then they are transplanted.

 

[jarff]

I,m new to germin seeds and lost over thirty to date...Then I saw a thread about puttin them in wet paper towels and then putting in a tupper ware dish with the cover off to the side for air. I set this on a corner of my heatin,pad and when I check 24 hrs later all five of the Paradise Durga had tap roots over an inch long.I put em in soil right away and they grew an inch over nite...Two of em had cracked so good that the seed husk was laying in the tupper ware dish and all I had was the tap root with a set of small leaves started.....This is my way to go with germin,now..I couldn,t believe how well it had worked.
jarff

 

[Guest]

I had some bad luck with some beans a while back, 1 strain popped the other didnt but they both came from Doc Chronic. maybe one strain had older beans that had been sitting on the shelf for a while, who knows but they didnt pop! I was pissed. I used bottles water in a wet paper towel over a warm source but I used bleach and water before that with no problems.I didnt remember the ratio so I used bottled water instead. I remember reading on some seedbank site it said Dont use bleach, it will kill your seeds!! but a very small amt/gal worked before for me. Maybe the older seeds needed bleach or I shoulda tried cracking the tips!

 

[donatello22]

I am also having trouble with germinating...as the last 5 i tried cracked but then showed only slight taproot before stopping entirely. Could it have been a fungus or old seeds? Opinions please. I used the soaking couple hours, damp paper towel between two plates elevated off a 12W cfl. Opinions please

 

[FarmerTed]

How i germ &...male/female ratios

How i germ &...male/female ratios

I find the easiest way to start seeds when growing in soil is to just start them in soil. You can either put some soil in a plastic cup, place the seed about an 1/8 to 1/4 in deep, lightly water. Its not neccesary to drench it, dont want to drowned it or cause it to rot from to much water. Place a clear plastic cup over it to maintain humidity and temp. I personaly just start them in my grow container right from the start. 4-5 days is the norm for the seedling to break the surface, then remove the cup. I'm 20/20 with my last 20 seeds so i'd say it works for me.
As far as the male/female ratio thing...i have found that keeping them at 65-70 from seed til they go to 12/12 produces more females.
About 60-70% females at 65-70.
About 30-40% females at 80+.
Of course i have'nt germed 100's of seeds so this is based on limited experience.

 

[devilgoob]

I get a cd case and put 4 napkins in, then put my seeds on that, then add 4 more napkins, then I close that, put it into a small tupperware and put into my directv receiver or my vcr while its on, I've germinated 42 out of 44 this way and they were schwag seeds. It open it up once everyday for about ten minutes and try to get almost all the seeds to germinate by doing this for about 5 days, some have tap-rooted at 3 1/2 to 4 days.

 

[Belthane]

I have found that keeping it simple has given me the best germ rates.

I give a 12 to 24 hour presoak in cup of water
then bury it about half inch deep in a clear cup of seed starter soil
Mist the soil 1 or 2 times a day with a spray bottle, in 3 to 10 days they pop, pretty much always pulling the hood off and leaving me a strong happy seedling
I have messed a few up trying all the paper towel methods and find straight to the dirt works great for me.

 

[zor]

I'd have to agree with those that find the paper towel step a hassle... maybe I'm just a clutz but i always find it easier just to soak the beans for 24 hours then plant right into dirt so i dont have a chance to screw up the taproot moving it from the paper towel into dirt

 

[Big Bud Bear]

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...

see my sig

 

[donatello22]

what temp should the soak water be? I have a themostat in there with it and it reads 28C...this is fine right?

 

[Pothead from 86]

peat pucks I just put 15 seeds in pucks monday at 5:30pm and up to the time i typed this 12 had popped in just over 78 hours just 3 more to go. By the way check of the thread called this is for those puck freaks on the first page of this forum we are on now but not this particular thread. peace. My seeds germinating are 10 safari mix seeds from Mandela seeds and 5 Thai Haze x Skunk 1 by sam the skunk man (freebies). Peat pucks are the easiest way to germinate seed IMO.

 

[Scenario420]

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...

Thanks for the info...I cant lie, I really have been struggling latley with this...After reading this I see that things are a lot more simple than I was making it...lol

Thanks bro...

 

[K.J]

It's amazing how many different methods growers are using. None of them are 100% for anyone, and most people have found one that works well for them. I've tried a few of these methods and so far only 3 beans out of 11 have sprouted a seedling. The rest either never did a thing, or they're still being germed (we have 2 in a paper towel, inside a Ziploc, under the humidity dome which is sitting on top of a heat mat. The other is in soil, an experiment).

So yeah, we're having some major bad luck with germing. Hopefully we work it out soon and find that method that's 99% successful for us.

 

[Lt. Herb]

I throw a paper towel or two into a full size black plastic DVD case. Lay the paper towels out so that they are folded in half when you close the case. Once inside the case, spray 'em down and arrange your seeds inside. From there check 'em once a day, re-misting if the towels are dry around the edges.

 

[J. Greenstein]

After killing a couple hundred bucks worth of seeds on my first few tries a few weeks back I am finally getting the hang of sprouting seeds. I put them under light (220 watts of t5's) once they've sprouted, but I'm not sure how close they should be and what light cycle? I currently have the light about a foot over the tops of the seedlings on a 17on / 7off light cycle. My grow book says to have teh lights 12-18" above and 16-18 hours lights on...lotsa people here say have the lights almost right on top of the seedlings and 24 hours on...what you say?

 

[riskofwater]

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

lol yea because that will work everytime!