This is my second grow. The first was successful (after a few tries). I germinated the new seeds using the paper towel method and planted one in a solo cup seven days ago, another five days ago and the third seed three days ago using a light, loamy soil specifically mixed for seedlings purchased six months ago. All three cups are in the tent, the light is about 14” above, the fans are going, exhaust fan too. I’ve spritzed them twice a day, careful not to overwater. The temp in the tent has remained between 70 - 84 degrees. Using a humidifier, the humidity is in the mid to high 60s. But so far there’s been nothing. No breaking through the soil. Is there any hope for these girls? How long should I wait before declaring them dead?
Why didn’t my germinated seeds sprout?
- Thread starter EOE
- Start date
troutman
Seed Whore
Moisten the soil and dig slowly if you're curious. Sometimes soil pests kill seeds after they germinate.
Fungus gnat larvae are bad for this. Older seeds sometimes take up to 2 weeks before a plant shows.
Could be anything though so don't be hard on yourself. You don't need a light or fan on until they
come up out of the soil.
Fungus gnat larvae are bad for this. Older seeds sometimes take up to 2 weeks before a plant shows.
Could be anything though so don't be hard on yourself. You don't need a light or fan on until they
come up out of the soil.
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Frosty Bottoms
Member
I soak the seeds in water anywhere from 24-48hours then put into rockwool or other cube because they hold water an won't let the seeds dry out. Then place in a humidity dome for the next 2-5 days. Now that the seeds have popped up an growing they will then go into their first pot of soil or coco. I then water like normal soaking the soil/coco an let them go untill the pots become light an they are ready for more water. Most recently went 22 out of 22 seeds to plants with this method. Previous grow was 22 out of 23. My average is well over 95% success rate using this method.
Also while soaking in water they are in complete darkness in a closed cabinet or something.
Also while soaking in water they are in complete darkness in a closed cabinet or something.
Ca++
Well-known member
Paper towel is an unknown. It's almost certainly bleached, but some could be recycled from a bin of anything.
Solo cups don't save money, and are not plant pots. There are some very obvious differences. Try to get advice from people that are not growing in yogurt cartons and such. It doesn't speak highly of their achievements.
70-84 is quite a swing. I woudn't bother below 77, where you perhaps spent half your time.
I have seen people spray the surface before, convinced there solo cup mentor was a good guide. They just dried the soil to dust, except for the surface.
One method is to buy some plant pots. Maybe 70mm. Or you could put holes in your cups.
Fill a pot from the bag. Weight it. That is the dry weight.
Water to runoff. Weigh it. That is your wet weight.
Chuck that back in your sack, it is too wet.
Fill a pot and wet it to about 50% of what it can hold. Not too dry, not too wet. Forget your fingers and your eyes, you know how wet it is with scales.
Open up a small hole, about 4-5 seeds deep, drop the seed in and fill. There is no need to go deeper, but it any less soil over it and it won't be safely in the moist zone.
I lay my seeds down. I don't touch them with my greasy fingers. I just let them fall, and poke them on their sides if necessary. This might be hours behind carefully orientated seeds, but that's hours behind only in breaking the surface. It's actually hours ahead in terms of growing plant material that we can call root. Which is more important than stick above ground. This orientation topic is really just daft, and not worth thinking about. A look at how things happen in nature tells us they evolved to not care, but there is one end you may not want downwards. So I just put neither end downwards.
Cover your pots. This might mean food wrap or solo lids. Carrier bag. Anything that stops the moisture escaping. You can give them a weigh if you want, but a covered pot looses no moisture of relevance. Weighing just shows you how much water can be put back, once there are losses, as you get actual leaves on your plant.
Now you have good soil moisture, a seed in a suitable position, and a lid to hold moisture. It's time to put it somewhere warm. 77 at the very least. You don't need light until they break the surface. They need good heat. 77-84 is a reasonable range, and I wouldn't go lower.
Sometimes even seed mix is too hot. Especially if you transition from water(towel)instead of starting in the mix.
Hemp seed is in most pet stores if you want practice. What you are trying to achieve, is to do as little as possible. Many believe you sow on a lunar cycle, so the idea of moving them about at all is questionable.
Ideally, one day, you will half fill the pot, wet it through, then fill the other half and stir it about. Cover and warm for 24 hours to ensure that 50% water holding is nice and even and warm. Then dig your hole (part the surface with a plant tag) and drop the seed in it's nice warm bed. Cover and put back where it's warm.
Temperature control of the environment is a huge part of this. Your biggest issue might of been dropping to 70, though I don't actually have any comprehension of what that is. 77 is 25 though, and below that things are not great.
Solo cups don't save money, and are not plant pots. There are some very obvious differences. Try to get advice from people that are not growing in yogurt cartons and such. It doesn't speak highly of their achievements.
70-84 is quite a swing. I woudn't bother below 77, where you perhaps spent half your time.
I have seen people spray the surface before, convinced there solo cup mentor was a good guide. They just dried the soil to dust, except for the surface.
One method is to buy some plant pots. Maybe 70mm. Or you could put holes in your cups.
Fill a pot from the bag. Weight it. That is the dry weight.
Water to runoff. Weigh it. That is your wet weight.
Chuck that back in your sack, it is too wet.
Fill a pot and wet it to about 50% of what it can hold. Not too dry, not too wet. Forget your fingers and your eyes, you know how wet it is with scales.
Open up a small hole, about 4-5 seeds deep, drop the seed in and fill. There is no need to go deeper, but it any less soil over it and it won't be safely in the moist zone.
I lay my seeds down. I don't touch them with my greasy fingers. I just let them fall, and poke them on their sides if necessary. This might be hours behind carefully orientated seeds, but that's hours behind only in breaking the surface. It's actually hours ahead in terms of growing plant material that we can call root. Which is more important than stick above ground. This orientation topic is really just daft, and not worth thinking about. A look at how things happen in nature tells us they evolved to not care, but there is one end you may not want downwards. So I just put neither end downwards.
Cover your pots. This might mean food wrap or solo lids. Carrier bag. Anything that stops the moisture escaping. You can give them a weigh if you want, but a covered pot looses no moisture of relevance. Weighing just shows you how much water can be put back, once there are losses, as you get actual leaves on your plant.
Now you have good soil moisture, a seed in a suitable position, and a lid to hold moisture. It's time to put it somewhere warm. 77 at the very least. You don't need light until they break the surface. They need good heat. 77-84 is a reasonable range, and I wouldn't go lower.
Sometimes even seed mix is too hot. Especially if you transition from water(towel)instead of starting in the mix.
Hemp seed is in most pet stores if you want practice. What you are trying to achieve, is to do as little as possible. Many believe you sow on a lunar cycle, so the idea of moving them about at all is questionable.
Ideally, one day, you will half fill the pot, wet it through, then fill the other half and stir it about. Cover and warm for 24 hours to ensure that 50% water holding is nice and even and warm. Then dig your hole (part the surface with a plant tag) and drop the seed in it's nice warm bed. Cover and put back where it's warm.
Temperature control of the environment is a huge part of this. Your biggest issue might of been dropping to 70, though I don't actually have any comprehension of what that is. 77 is 25 though, and below that things are not great.
I'm following methods that I've researched from a number of sites online. And the seed I planted on Sunday finally sprouted overnight. Yay! My problem (I believe) was not the way the seeds were germinated via the paper towel method and not the use of solo cups. I was being too stingy with the water. Plain and simple.
Wow. Everybody's got their own way of doing it, huh?
Wow. Everybody's got their own way of doing it, huh?
one of the reasons I stopped using the paper towel method is my big heavy hands ....always damaging at least a couple of seedlings during transplantation to the growing medium from the paper towel ...maybe that inadvertently happened
the most reliable way I have found is a heated propagator and rockwool cubes .........rockwool been very veryyy hard to overwater, and holding allot of oxygen back in the day i would pop 200 seeds at a time often getting 200-190/200 with fresh seed ... ...wouldnt be applicable for anyone living in a hot climate ..but its heated props for me in cooler climes
the most reliable way I have found is a heated propagator and rockwool cubes .........rockwool been very veryyy hard to overwater, and holding allot of oxygen back in the day i would pop 200 seeds at a time often getting 200-190/200 with fresh seed ... ...wouldnt be applicable for anyone living in a hot climate ..but its heated props for me in cooler climes
Use soil that is well drained (if in doubt add 10-20% perlite or similar) and then keep it properly watered. Water until it starts to come out of the holes in the bottom of the cup (yes there should be holes)..
feel the weight of the cup when the soil is all moist and get used to judging by weight if it is dry. 'spritzing the top' of dry soil will not help the seed if the soil is dry underneath.
I grow many many seeds of cannabis and other plants / veg and i have hardly ever had a problem with the soil being too wet. If the soil dries out the seed will die and that is the biggest risk to your seeds
VG
feel the weight of the cup when the soil is all moist and get used to judging by weight if it is dry. 'spritzing the top' of dry soil will not help the seed if the soil is dry underneath.
I grow many many seeds of cannabis and other plants / veg and i have hardly ever had a problem with the soil being too wet. If the soil dries out the seed will die and that is the biggest risk to your seeds
VG
Hombre del mont
Dr of Stupidity
I'm with you on this.
So many people seem to let it grow a tap root before they plant them.
I'm checking every few hours.
I will take VGs statement and add that I made stands for my cups that have drain holes, so the cups could drain. The stands have vent holes so the heat from the pad under the SProuter can circulate. I keep the soil wet. And high humidity, as the leaves are where sprouts get their moisture.
What increased my tailed seeds to sprout ratio was using fluffy soft seed starter for the top layer when I put the tails in the cups. Fox Farm seed starter is what I have. I will put my soil in the bottom half of a solo cup, and the fluffy stuff on the top half. When sprouts are too tall and spindly, I add BAS top dress on top to help hold them up. That stuff is hot and the first leaves will burn, but the plant seems happy.
Works for me.
What increased my tailed seeds to sprout ratio was using fluffy soft seed starter for the top layer when I put the tails in the cups. Fox Farm seed starter is what I have. I will put my soil in the bottom half of a solo cup, and the fluffy stuff on the top half. When sprouts are too tall and spindly, I add BAS top dress on top to help hold them up. That stuff is hot and the first leaves will burn, but the plant seems happy.
Works for me.
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linde
Well-known member
Either the seeds were weak, planted too deep or soil too moist. I soak seeds in water with hydrogen peroxide around 75-80°. Fresh seeds should crack within 36hrs. I only use paper towel method if seeds are slow to crack. Mix your soil ahead of time keep light and fluffy. I've lost seeds from soil being too wet. Poke shallow hole with pencil and plant seed barely below surface. Keep solo cups at 75-80°
I have a little strainer that I pour the water and seeds into when they have tailed. Tweezers can be used to remove the tailed seed and properly placed into the hole that was poked in the solo cup mix. Tail down is how I stick them in. The seed sprouted in water, and grows in wet soil. I add microbes and aloe to the water that I water the solo cups with. I look for runoff when I water. Can’t drown a sprout in a drained cup.
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