Germination problems....

interesting post, something I haven't thought of before... but it makes perfect sense, god knows what they add to 'soften' the high-end paper towels. Thanks, I will be sure to get the cheapo stuff on my next grow.

hmmmm.........very interesting will use cheapo next start, thanks for the great tip!

Yeah, I'm not a scientist or nothing, just a small time grower, and who knows what they do to the paper. Just something to be aware of is all.
Peace

thank you! small information like that can be so valuable

Well when you treat paper with bleach as soon as it dries the bleach is dead...even if you add water it wont be bleach anymore....unless of course it is powdered bleach which has additives to keep it powdered. I always used papertowels when I was a teen and used crap seeds and they always worked. Using that method though you allow even the weaker seeds to germinate whereas in the wild only the strong healthy seeds would live. I just took the little ziploc they came in and filled it with water. 10 out of 10 Blue Mystic seeds opened in 2 days and 7 out of ten the first. Don't bother with the papertowel just put it in water.

If people have a really hard time germinating seeds you should use giberellic acid, you only need a few grains of the powder per liter of water and it forces germination from almost any seed... it has been used to germinate 1000 year old dormant seeds! You can get the stuff dirt cheap here:

Super-Grow Gibberellic Acid For Better Plant Growth

Gibberellins are the seeds own natural growth initiation hormone, sometimes if the seed is old or was exposed for too long the hormones in the seed may be out of whack or just plain nonexistent. This will force germination regardless!

If you spent a lot of money on seeds this hormone is definently a worth while purchase, but remember, a little LITTLE bit goes a long way. Too much and it will kill them, more is less. You may experience some stretching of your seedlings afterwards but thats a minor issue and you shouldn't be using this unless seeds fail to germinate after a week normally (or your paranoid, either way). If you have a seed or two that just won't crack, give this a try. As long as it's not too immature a seed or fermented it should work, always has for me.

Also, this site has a great deal of other plant hormones, many that can help to augment growth patterns, I have used several with amazing results! You can even create your own rooting solution at a fraction of the price and have complete control over the ingredients! Think $10 for a gallon vs. $30-$40 for a small jar! Anyway I hope this helps some people...

Originally Posted by videoman40

Hey, I joined another growing forum, and was reading some posts and came across one persons ramblings....now mind you, it is a very small site. Much smaller than this site, with mostly very seasoned growers and he was talking about germinating seeds.

He has over 10 years experience, and grows alot from seed. He also posted a high germination rate, about 95% over the course of his ten years.

Anyways, he started experiencing a drop in his success rate, a severe drop, down to like 50%.

His method is identical to mine, and probably yours too. He uses a paper towel, placed on a paper plate, placed inside a large baggie, after he blows into the baggie.

Moving on, after some investigating, it turnns out he was using a more expensive paper towel that his usual l'cheapo paper towel.

Turns out, and he can't prove it by the ingrediants on the label, (its a paper towel, not food) but they appearantly used something in the process that negatively affected his germination success rate, maybe the bleach?

Moral here is if you are having problems with your seeds popping, look at your paper towels. Brown unbleached would be best.
Peace

Its posts like these that make U such a value to this community!
I am getting started on grow #2 and I was having a few problems germinating then I came across this thread! I did recently switch paper towels and that could definitely be the cause of it! I'm gonna try other methods to germinate, and I'll come back and report my findings! thanks a lot VM!

sure enough VM U fooking rule.. I now have 5 seedlings above soil and I couldnt have done it without this thread. man U saved me so much time, money and so many seeds, Im super grateful!