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Whats the best way to get seeds started?

greenpinky

Member
There is hundreds of ways, but the best results for the cheapest for me is a zip lock baggie and a wet paper towel, put the seeds in the paper towel and wet it then put the towel in the zip lock and place it in a warm place.......
 
i grow in coco so i just pop my beans in small solo 'pots' of moist coco, ...i also use a second solo cup on top as a temporary humidity dome which is removed as soon as the seedling emerges into the light.

...with seeds that have thick shells you should 'scuff' them first.

SOG
 

supermanlives

Active member
Veteran
best way is they way nature does it . put seed 1/4 inchunder soil cover,water lightly and let nature do its thing
 
G

Guest 263194

paper towel method never worked to me. I soak the seed into the water(RO water, normal cold temp, DO NOT PUT ANYTHING INTO THE WATER), that is it. places the cup somewhere dark, wait 12hr and sow the seed in the medium. I suggest you to sock 24hr if seed is considerable as "old". seeds will be pop out to the surface within 3 days, under 18/6 of light cycle. best wishes, D.
 
Z

Ziggaro

sow it directly into the medium just like superman said.
paper towels and cups of water have done just fine for me in the post but there is no need
I like rapid rooters myself
 

buddy_boy

New member
For hydro, here's what I do: I always germinate on a wet (distilled water) paper towel, *never* has one not germinated (quality seeds). The towel is placed inside a dark (incl. the top) shallow container, and a 15W bulb is positioned about 1" over the container. Takes a day, or two days for longer sprouts, which I like. The sprout goes immediately onto the hydroton. Water in growing tub has 1/4-strength nutes. I bathe the sprouts every so often with tub water, keeping the hydroton quite wet. Yes, this is a bit lazy, but it's simple and the sprout is only moved once to where it's going to be for the rest of its life.

There is a minor "trick" to the paper towel method. You *must* never let the towel get dry, but neither do you want it really soaking. The root tip is very delicate, and if this gets the slightest bit abused you are almost guaranteed a stunted and slower-growing plant if it survives. So we want to prevent that. The trick is to cut out an ~2"x1" piece of paper towel, fold it over so it's thicker. Place this on the germinating paper towel, and put the seed on this (one for each seed). When the seed has sprouted, you pick up this square of towel with the seed on it (tweezers) and use it to transfer the seed to the growing medium. Best not to touch the sprout. Good luck.
 

Adze

Member
Tripp7s,
The only reason I like the paper towel method is I want to be able to see if my valuable seed spout, and if they’re in some medium it’s hard to find them. (Although, it is likely better for spouted seed to not be handled.) I lay the seed out in a line on the upper part of a dry paper towel, then wet it and roll it up. Then place the roll into a glass with some water. Water wicks up the towel keeping the seed moist and you can use enough water so the seed never dry out. When they do spout with the vertical orientation the seed put a shoot that points down, so they don’t get twisted. If you’re starting lots of seed you really don’t want to use paper towels.
 

barnyard

Member
seed trays with seed starting mix under a pair of 4' dual bulb shop lights (one warm white and one cool white)
 
J

joejusttyped

Soak for 12 hours/til they sink. Place the pointed side facing downwards lightly about an half inch/inch into the medium and lightly cover the hole. Keep medium wet and in a warmer environment until they breach the surface.

Been germin this way for about a year now and get near flawless germ ratios... Probably 40 seeds and no more than 5 failed to germinate.
 
yeah guys, no offense taken or meant, ...it's just i've lost some weight recently and i was afraid i'd gotten so thin nobody could see me, lol.

...it sucks to be invisible, lol.

peace, SOG
 
Put dirt in pot. Make dirt wet. Poke hole in center of wet dirt twice as deep as seed is long. I like chopsticks for that. Put pointy end of seed in hole first, bury with a little squeeze of the soil.

Three days or so later, plant grows up out of dirt. Easy peasy.
 

rosalind

New member
Well, Tripp7s I recommend to plant directly to the soil is the best way to get seeds started. Small seeds develop quickly. Due to this, because of this I suggest to plant directly into the soil without any arrangement. Cover these seeds with a soil of thin layer. If the soil is already wet, no need for watering
 

Oregonism

Active member
chopsticks

Truth!

I don't like papertowels, because of chemicals used in the paper making process,bacteria,yaddah yaddah and the taproot has been known to get caught up in the paper if left too long.

I walk to the fridge, pour about 1/4 liter of filtered water[6.8-7.0 pH] in a small cup and dunk the beans. IF I have good stock,seeds can pop in less than 12 hours, then it's chopsticks and a planting medium. [I do have "failures", I just plant them into dirt, if they don't pop after 48-72 hours.]

Many who have taught me, used a heat source as well, often overlooked.
 
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Oregonism

Active member
Heh heh, how's it going homie? I used to live in Gresham, OR way back in the day. Got tired of the overcast, and thumbed my way to Florida, where I remain and flourish to this day :)


What up yo ........yeah, Im just south of there, Gresham turned into Gardenia, so I don't blame yah. Florida huh, year round outdoor? Would love to go back to Tenn or NC, they need some better laws though :biggrin:
 
Florida huh, year round outdoor?

If you were very brave, for sure! Worst laws in the nation though, last place sane people take their chances. Wasn't thinking about all that when I headed here, though lol!

I hear a bill of some sort to decrim/medicalize/whathaveyou is on the table. But as of now, I think Florida has the very worst laws in the country.
 
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