How Long does Germinating Cannabis Seed's (Wet-Paper Towel Method) take?

CaliBoy93

Active Member
Hello, Im very very new at growing. I have alway's been interested in growing, but never really had the urge to try. I put 1 Pure Kush seed in a glass of water at Room Temp. 24 hours later the seed sank. I gave it one more FULL day in the glass and then i moved it to the wet paper towel method. It has been in the paper towel for about 4 days now and still no root or crack? I was just wondering if this means the seed is dead? or does it just need a little more time? Someone told me it takes around 2-3 days. TOTAL. And my seed has been germinating for about 6 days total. 2 in the water cup, 4 in the paper towel. Any thoughts?
 

brotherjericho

Well-Known Member
Once it sank you should have taken it out. You likely "drowned" it.

I've had great success with the water method, 100%. Once it sinks I go directly to soil. 3 days later, sprout.
 

CaptainTripps

Well-Known Member
2-3 days is typical, they can take longer. I doubt you drowned the seed either, some people germ seeds just letting them sit in water, I know they can continue to grow after they pop submerged in water. Is the paper towl being kept fairly warm?
 

CaliBoy93

Active Member
2-3 days is typical, they can take longer. I doubt you drowned the seed either, some people germ seeds just letting them sit in water, I know they can continue to grow after they pop submerged in water. Is the paper towl being kept fairly warm?
At first, i had the paper towel on a plate, and put a plastic bowl over it to keep in the mostiture. But I dont think it was staying very warm the first few days. Now I have the paper towel in a little black box and I put the box above my water heater and now the paper towel feels warm.
 

montanachadly

Active Member
Each strain is different i have a few seeds that took 12 days i gave up on them thank god i checked on them 5 days after i gave up. I put my seeds in a plastic baggy sealed in a wet paper towel under my tv and almost have 100% with germination. After these seeds germinated and popped soil they took off. Hopefully it is a good seed you have there if you have anymore try them too but beware growing is very addicting i got addicted almost to like heroin addiction here with my growing i eat sleep love my plants and cannabis its horrible
 

CaliBoy93

Active Member
Each strain is different i have a few seeds that took 12 days i gave up on them thank god i checked on them 5 days after i gave up. I put my seeds in a plastic baggy sealed in a wet paper towel under my tv and almost have 100% with germination. After these seeds germinated and popped soil they took off. Hopefully it is a good seed you have there if you have anymore try them too but beware growing is very addicting i got addicted almost to like heroin addiction here with my growing i eat sleep love my plants and cannabis its horrible
Haha yay! that gives me some hope then. Next round of seeds ill try your method. I think the problem was mine werent being kept warm.
 

kodiak7

Member
yea dont give up man some seeds take longer. next time try putting the paper towel in a plastic baggie and then put that somewere war and dark. personall i use jiffy peat pellets. i had one out of a batch of 12 that didnt sprout recently and the best thing is you can put the pellet straight into the soil.
 

CaptainTripps

Well-Known Member
Haha yay! that gives me some hope then. Next round of seeds ill try your method. I think the problem was mine werent being kept warm.
The might pop then if they were being kept cold... I have nothing but problems trying to germinate without heat. You also dont want your paper towel to be too wet... just damp no dripping water.
 
The might pop then if they were being kept cold... I have nothing but problems trying to germinate without heat. You also dont want your paper towel to be too wet... just damp no dripping water.
They need to be warm. My method is glass of water until sunk. Into paper towel damp, not dripping wet. Fold it twice and place into plastic bag. I set the bag ontop of my router, its a nice warm location that doesnt get too hot. Just be sure to FOLD the paper towel, the extra layers are protection from too much heat and also from the light if your router is in the light(which mine is). My last germination attempt was on 34 seeds, 17 widow, 17 blueberry. Had 100% germ on the seeds. They were non fem from BCSeedKing.

Just my 2 cents.
 

polyarcturus

Well-Known Member
it can take 1 day up to 2 weeks. glass of water is fine it will not drown as there is o2 in the water after it sprouts a little tail (another day after it pops) remove it from the water as there will now be a slight risk of it drowning.
 

ReignboCloudz

Active Member
I have 4 Orange bud seeds and 1 seed I found in some purple.. they all sunk now I'm.waiting for them to sprout in paper towels. 1 has even gotten green not mildew but a wet flower green no sprouts in a apt so Where is the bed place for good heat.. in paper towel inside plastic bag in side a black plastic bag and inside a drawer... Been 6 days now.. should I just pop these in miracle grow?
 

bigsteve

Well-Known Member
I use the papertowel method. I don't look at them until after 48 hours. I usually see most with small roots. 24 hours later and 95+%
will have a 1/2 inch root or bigger and ready to go into dirt. Remember to keep the soggy papertowels sealed air-tight, especially
after the 48 hour check.

BigSteve.
 

Kordz85

Member
I'm new to growing herb but not to gardening. I don't use the shot glass method as I've had a 0% success rate but using the paper towel method i place the towel between 2 paper plates and set it on my cable box(warm and constant) 2 days later maybe all but 1 pops half inch tails. I was away for 3 days once and a few had shed their seed casing and had embryo leaves and grew into the towel, but I just cut around the root and planted the into my grow medium(paper towel is biodegradable) and they grew just fine.
 

KT420

Active Member
I have 4 Orange bud seeds and 1 seed I found in some purple.. they all sunk now I'm.waiting for them to sprout in paper towels. 1 has even gotten green not mildew but a wet flower green no sprouts in a apt so Where is the bed place for good heat.. in paper towel inside plastic bag in side a black plastic bag and inside a drawer... Been 6 days now.. should I just pop these in miracle grow?
green isn't good.. . I sed to use paper towl on a plate on top of the TV, back when Tv's where thick enough to set stuff on, heh, but I felt the evap from the plate cooled too much, so I switched to paper towels in a small (6 quart) sterlite with lid on, and set it behind computer tower so the exhuast fan blows on it. Watch TV on the computer now too, heh
 

ReignboCloudz

Active Member
green isn't good.. . I sed to use paper towl on a plate on top of the TV, back when Tv's where thick enough to set stuff on, heh, but I felt the evap from the plate cooled too much, so I switched to paper towels in a small (6 quart) sterlite with lid on, and set it behind computer tower so the exhuast fan blows on it. Watch TV on the computer now too, heh
It's not bad green it just look like a fresh seed green I have them in a damp not dripping paper towel on top on of a lamp. The lamp is.a desk lamp with a hard glass like shade its keeping it warm not hot we shall see. I.still.have hope 5 of these babies something has to.give or ima.just pop them in soil and hope for the best
 
Just pop tha bitches straight into the soil lightly water and pop some cling film over the pot put in worm dark place 2-6 days later whalha got a seedling neva mind paper towels and glasses of water
 

dieselmj

Member
I wouldn't use the paper towel method. Your seeds will be alot better off if you germinate directly in soil. what I do is soak the seeds in plain water for 12 hours prior to planting to hydrate them, which will speed up germination. It's also possible that you may have a batch of bad seeds...in general, good seeds will sink, bad seeds will float. Here it's some resources on how germinate marijuana seeds:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MECb92he8M
http://www.marijuanadoctors411.com/lighting-cycles.html
http://www.mandalaseeds.com/Guides/Germination-Troubleshooting-Guide
 

Menfee

New Member
I dont grow any of the good shit like any kids of kush or what in florida its all called dro but i mainly grow high grade mids cause I think its the cheapest and easiest way to grown weed other then just throwing them bitches in dirt and hope they grow. but anyway when I germinate my seeds I take a paper towel put two seeds on it fold it over pour water of it put it in a bag and that the seeds do their own thing when they start to sprout i give in about another day or two (or until the roots have grown at least an inch) then i put them in little starter pots and put them outside until the grow about a foot them in my closet with a fan and two led lamps (i only grow for personal use) it takes about about 4 months sometimes sooner before they are ready to harvest
 
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