Quick germinating question

When germinating in a wet paper towel medium, can I place this inside an air tight ziplock? Also can I leave seeds soaked in an air tight container? I've heard that seeds need oxygen but its confusing cause of the concept of wet paper towels may absorb oxygen in the air and soaking seeds does not.

They need oxigen

I put the damp paper towel in a small tupperware container which I leave sealed except for one corner. Not sure what you mean by soaked.

I just go straight into grow medium.. This is only my second run but all seeds from both runs sprouted in 3-5 days.. Easy

i put the seed in wet paper towel, then i seal it in a ziplock puffed up a lil. i open the ziplock once a day and reseal it untill the seeds crack

mo841 said:

i put the seed in wet paper towel, then i seal it in a ziplock puffed up a lil. i open the ziplock once a day and reseal it untill the seeds crack

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What is your germination success rate? Alright cool i have a good feeling with this technique!

as long as they are good seeds they all pop. i just had 7 of 7 pop yesturday. took two days. it dont really matter if its dark or not either incase u might be wondering. i usually just throw the bags on top the tv or in a drawer if i dont want them out

When you put the seeds in the moist papertowels and bag, put them somewhere warm. I always have great success leaving it on top of my cable box. Seems to be perfext temp

Drop your seeds in an open cup of water.

They should drop to the bottom in 24 hours.

Then use the wet paper towel method with bag unzipped.

They should be popped by the next day.

I use the top of my modem for the warmth.

Why bother with the papertowel method on top of soaking the seeds?

When I use the papertowel method, they usually pop in the first 18-36hrs.

Not questioning germinating using a shot glass of water.

Questioning why you would use combine two different methods opposed to just using one method.

bengi said:

Why bother with the papertowel method on top of soaking the seeds?

When I use the papertowel method, they usually pop in the first 18-36hrs.

Not questioning germinating using a shot glass of water.

Questioning why you would use combine two different methods opposed to just using one method.

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Meh. It guarantees the pop if you get some old genetics. Everybody has "their patented method".

one time just to see i have put two seeds of the same strain in a cup of water and one in the paper towel methode and they both poped in the same amount of time. that was the only time i have used the cup of water methode. i lean towards the paper towel methode cuz there is less chance of them dieing if i forget about them. i dont know how long it takes a seed to drawn but i have seen seeds live quite a while in a baggy in paper towel because i got side tracted and forgot about them.

How exactly does soaking a seed for 24 hours "guarantee" it will germinate? As opposed to soaking old seeds for much shorter periods of time. What makes paper towels magical, or better than direct to media?

Not all seeds sprout that quickly, esp. not older seeds and just because they don't doesn't mean they are bad. A seed can take up to a week to sprout, and they are probably better off in media when they do. I also don't see how soaking\paper towels encourages anything but fussing with the seed.

Not saying using my paper towel method is better then straight into the dirt. It's just the way I learnt how to do it many years ago.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.


Also, I'm the type if it didn't break the soil in 2-3 days I might be opt to dig around to see if its doing its thing.

All methods are valid. Paper towels and ziplocks are nice cause they get warm and stay consistently warm on top of cable boxes or on a router ( I slap a rag on top to keep em cozy warm. When they crack its comforting to KNOW there's something going on under your dirt I suppose. I just soak em in H202 til they sink. Including when I poke em. I've never had one not sink in 12 hours. Then strait to the medium. If I'm guerrilla growing and being super stealth I take cracked beans in ziplocks to site. I can't be arsed to tote around a backpack full of plants anymore. I can dispose of a paper towel full of beans instantly if needed. Not to mention you can hide it nicely anywhere on your person. If its a patch out somewhere close then they're getting the royal treatment.

I use a glass plate with 6 paper towels. Wet with a spray gun and seal in a big 11 x 14 inch baggie. Leave in dark closet. Check after 2 days. Re-spray after checking and back to baggie for 24 hours. Re-check. When taproot is an inch long it is time to put them into dirt.

Good luck, BigSteve.

bengi said:

When you put the seeds in the moist papertowels and bag, put them somewhere warm. I always have great success leaving it on top of my cable box. Seems to be perfext temp

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How wet are your paper towels? I feel like my paper towels are too wet on my last batch. The seeds look like they were drowning after 5 days but the towel isn't dripping though. How do you know if your paper towel's dampness is right? I now soak it then squeeze it out! Is this right?

bigsteve said:

I use a glass plate with 6 paper towels. Wet with a spray gun and seal in a big 11 x 14 inch baggie. Leave in dark closet. Check after 2 days. Re-spray after checking and back to baggie for 24 hours. Re-check. When taproot is an inch long it is time to put them into dirt.

Good luck, BigSteve.

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How do you know when it's wet enough?

reapersfamiliar said:

Drop your seeds in an open cup of water.

They should drop to the bottom in 24 hours.

Then use the wet paper towel method with bag unzipped.

They should be popped by the next day.

I use the top of my modem for the warmth.

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How wet are your paper towels? Do you soak them and squeeze em after? Why leave it unzipped? Do you expose them to light?

franciskoa said:

When germinating in a wet paper towel medium, can I place this inside an air tight ziplock? Also can I leave seeds soaked in an air tight container? I've heard that seeds need oxygen but its confusing cause of the concept of wet paper towels may absorb oxygen in the air and soaking seeds does not.

Click to expand...

Hey bud, I recently was having trouble with all types of methods, I was only getting like 60% success and it was driving me crazy as they were not cheap seeds.

It may have been the way they were stored, I don't know.

But the other day, I tried something I should have done a long time ago, I just chucked them in some seed raising mix (like I do my veges) put them in my $10 seed raising incubator with a beer heat mat (I use for brewing) and boom, they have all germinated and are growing.

There's no need for paper towels and putting them in water blah blah etc etc