Best Way to Germinate

Brick Top

New Member
I dont think germinating is a waste of time at all. If you germinate you know for sure if they are gonna grow.

Definitions of germination on the Web:


Regardless of if someone puts seeds into paper towels or uses something other than paper towels or if they put the seeds right into soil germination still takes place. Germinating is not popping beans in a way other than in soil, it is when seeds open and begin to grow.

Also it is not a sure thing that seeds that germinated in paper towels will grow or grow well so it is not a sure thing. Some people leave their germinated seeds in the paper towels too long and others damage them while planting them and some plant them to shallow and they dry out and die and some will plant them to deep and they will not push through the surface.

While I will use a form of the paper towel method from time to time in my experience seeds that germinate in the soil they will then grow in are heartier more vigorous plants. It just isn't as simple to do it that way so at some point some people decided that ease was more important than higher quality results. Once that happened newer growers came along and learned that was the way to do it and it became an unwritten law, an accepted fact that ironically was not actually a fact. It was just simple enough that Rainman could do it so most people jumped on the bandwagon.
 

Smallsn

Well-Known Member
I use Jiffy tablets to germinate my seeds.

You can buy little windowsill greenhouses and add water to the tablets. They are condensed peet moss and retain moisture really well. The tops keep the moisture in and temperature up for optimum germination.

Plus all you do after they sprout is plant them in soil. I find that using the paper towel method makes it easy to damage the seedlings because they have a tendancy of attaching themselves to each other as well as the towel itself.

Jiffy Pots are dirt cheap, about $2.50 for a 12 with the windowsill greenhouse.
I don't know about this. Because i have planted over 10 in a jiffy and only one sprouted out. It really surprised me and yes i think if u do pop them from jiffy they grow out to be strong and it is much easier to transplant. - The link of mine is the only one who came out of the jiffy, it died from a accidental or purpose mistake.
 
Ok, before I say anything please understand I am a first time grower myself. However The method I have used with 100% success is to buy a Tupperware bowl with a lid. ( I do not like the paper towl method because You have to handle the baby and risk root damage.) I wet a peat puck using PH adjusted water to 6.8 -7 and I shake each puck in hand 1 time strait down as hard as i can to remove excess water. then place 1 seed per puck place the seed face down (the place where the it was plucked from stem should be facing up) place your pucks in the bowl ( of your chosen size based off of need) and close the lid. Leave this bowl in a area that is not near the AC or "cooling agents" in your home. Check back in about 2 days, if nothing check back each day there after. You should find it works great and be happy with your results.
 
There are so many different ways to germinate but after quite a bit of trial and error I was able to find what I believe is the fastest method usually only taking 24 hours or less. Take whatever pot you are going to begin growing with then fill it up with your growing medium after that you are going to want a piece of plastic or just a paper towel will do but can dry out if you don't keep an eye on it with the paper. The best kind of plastic is the stuff they use on construction sites & sell at home depot, when it comes to this stuff there is a million and one uses for it anyway but what you want is the lowest grit or thickest plastic drop cloth, it's not that cheap (not that expensive either) but you get like 150 yards of it by about 2 yards wide. Cut a rectangle from it then either put your seeds directly on the plastic or use something damp like a paper towel or anything that will retain moisture and fold the plastic in half over it. Make sure the soil in the pot has already been watered heavily, put the plastic with the seeds in on top of the soil, if there is no moisture between the plastic on the seeds don't worry because there will be. Once in the pot with the plastic & paper towel then cover the entire thing with something light weight but thick enough to block any light from getting through to the seeds and then turn on your grow light. Adding a humidifier and covering the whole cage in plastic to trap in the moisture not only makes it faster but assures that your paper towel doesn't get dried out if you forget to check it and you can also add organic rooting chemicals inside the humidifier which can cut the germination time in a half if done properly. If you are going to try any of this I would suggest doing several tests on simple "bag seeds" until you get the hang of it so that you don't ruin any high quality stuff but as long as you've got this method perfected, it should never take more than a day (24 hours) to germinate.

I know the above sounds like a lot of work but if you know how to do it properly it works awesome, especially if you are germinating a whole bunch of seeds at one time because you can have as many seeds as you want all germinated within a single day.

The less intensive approach that works very well is the old refrigerator trick, that is unless you have a new model fridge. What you want is an older style fridge that gives off a lot of heat from the very top like they all used to but only a few new ones still do. If you do have one of these refrigerators then all you have to do is use about 5 or 6 paper towels folded over one another, dampen the towels, put the seeds in the middle where there is no light at all and then put them on top of the fridge over night. There are some sprouting chem's you can add but I don't really recommend it, natural is always better. The "Fridge Method" works good and will germinate within 2 days in most cases but you don't have the control that you get with the method described above.

Bottom line is that all you need are 1. high humidity 2. Heat source 3. total darkness (in most cases) 4. seeds 5. Just a little water to keep up the dampness & humidity 6. Your pretty much golden if you have 1-5.

I know I'm wordy so sorry about that but hope this helps and gives you a few ideas, don't be afraid to experiment using bag seeds until you find the best way for you to do things because everyone's going to tell you something different and different things work better for different people/environments.

Good luck to you, I hope your tomatoes are the best at the country fair.
 

GANJGUY420

Active Member
This is all a pick your poisen kinda thing. The shot glass method, paper towel method, directly plant into the medium method, and starter jiffy pellets ect blah blah blah. Don't over think this stuff!! What does a seed do when it falls from the plant and onto the ground after it rains?! It grows!! Pick a method and start working on prevention of all future possiblilties of any problems. Choose all the different methods you can think of and do them all if it makes you feel better!! This is rocket science children. Class dismissed!
 

PeacefulKid1992

Well-Known Member
Simple,not going to give a book of how to do this,best way works 100%
1. paper towel,fold it, put the seeds
2.fold it again,wet it but not soaking wet.
3. Put in ziplog bag close it of course. Put in dark place for ex, shoe box
DONE see them babys crack ;)
worked for me and worked for alot of people
 

rumblegrow

Member
My 2 cents:

People use the paper towel method for the same reason they use Windows instead of Mac OS: complicated processes make you feel more accomplished.

Facts: The tap root tends to grab the paper towel with its cute little hairs... Tap root is fragile (makes you feel cool when you transplant because it is delicate and you still succeed)... and one thing I never seen mentioned is Gravity, Plants use Gravity to know witch way is up and down, Tap Root wants to grow down, putting it on a flat paper towel has just got to confuse the hell out of the poor little lady! lol

I have done the paper towel method with success 100 times, then I learned it was an unneeded process... Kind of like how Windows makes you take 10 steps to do a simple task, same task is 1 step on a Mac. :)

Once you got Mac you never go back...
Once You Soak, Paper Towel is a joke!

lol peace!
 

Geozander

Well-Known Member
This still going on? Germinate your seeds in a way that there is no disruption to the taproot, i.e. jiffys, rockwool, soil or whatever growing medium you use. Paper towels only place in a grow, is to mop up any spillage!!
 

Twauk

Member
I've had a lot of luck with my first batch and Jiffy pots, different brand but same thing. But you have to be careful because the first batch i grew was great, tall and healthy. but the second (a different brand of pots than the first) batch held on to water too well, even in the California Summer sun. So outta the 18 seeds I planted, I dug um up latetr to find that in 3 weeks none had sprouted and I could only find 10 seeds... so I'm guessing that darn near half rotted... Take my advice start in paper towel then move to the seed-starter kits, your plant will EXPLODE. Also to keep them growing fast I mix up animal droppings (chickens and rabbit) from animals I own to my backyard dirt and they just love it. But I'm only on my second grow so if someone knows better than me please lemme know.

From a first-time grower to another: good Luck man!
 

r1tony

New Member
I used the paper towel method for a year with hit and miss results, so I asked around and found a method I have used for 3 years and never a failed popped seed yet.

What I do:

Take a shot glass (or anything that will hold water) and fill about 1/2" from bottom I use just bottled water without ph adjusting or anything.
Take H202 (29% not the pharmacy brand) and drop about 3 drops into the shot glass.
Drop your seed in the water.
Put in dark place for 24/72 hours *most pop within 48*

Transplant when seed in water has about 1/4" tap root from seed. I transplant to rapid rooters as I use DWC and Stinkbud, but you can transplant to any medium you use.
 
i tried many methods of germinating. only success ive had is in rockrool cubes. soak them in water real quick and then plant seed in hole and pinch the hole shut. dont have to water to cubes for a week or so. and they stay pretty warm.
 

redzi

Well-Known Member
Time to jump start this dead thread. Nothing mentioned about having multiple germination methods to fit the type of seed. Sativa needs higher temp...85 to 95f. Bag seed is best germinated in that neighborhood dick head's garden...ya know the type..republican, wears their religion on their sleave.. with any luck one of their kids or spouses will see the plant as some kind of gift from God.
 
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