Seed Sprouting Failure! HELP!

Not sure about the germ issues, but sometimes seedlings don't care for HID lights...especially hps, it may cause some stretch right off the bat, or worse yet it could burn them. I've had slow seeds that I dug up to see if they were doing anything and they were. I recovered them and they grew. If you have hard crusty soil they may be stuck, but its unlikely. I also only use distilled water for the first 2 weeks, you never know whats in water unless you test it really, but distilled has been good to me. My last batch germed in less than 24 hours and sprouted by day 3.

Originally Posted by riverchaser

Not sure about the germ issues, but sometimes seedlings don't care for HID lights...especially hps, it may cause some stretch right off the bat, or worse yet it could burn them. I've had slow seeds that I dug up to see if they were doing anything and they were. I recovered them and they grew. If you have hard crusty soil they may be stuck, but its unlikely. I also only use distilled water for the first 2 weeks, you never know whats in water unless you test it really, but distilled has been good to me. My last batch germed in less than 24 hours and sprouted by day 3.

I also stupidly brushed away maybe 1 or two of the first leafs when i was brushing/scaping the soil to try and see was a stone blocking it from sprouting above the soil

Yeah, I always sprout under mainly MH's... They really do make all the difference... I am a stickler for a good, healthy, fresh dirt recipe, and have some specifically designed to help support seedling growth, like a perlite-heavy mix, with some greensand and a light peat-based soil... Thatz all it is... If you do those two things, I guarentee you much better success at sprouting...

While I am far from an expert in growing, I have become pretty good at sprouting plants. I don't put my plants under lighting until they break soil. Before that, I place them (seeds) in soil and put a clear plastic bag over the top of the container to create a mini humidity dome. Sometimes I leave the plastic on for a few hours even after putting the sprouts under light.