Question about Germination method

Ok So I was wondering if anyone has tried soaking the seeds in water for 12 hours before you use the paper towel method.

Also What are some of the longest times its taken your seeds to germinate?

I have 10 northern light seeds I got from Attitude and its been about 3 days now and they still havent germinated.

ive done both and i dont really favor one method over the other. if you think about it its the same exact thing, your soaking the seeds in water and waiting for them to germinate. It can take weeks depending on many variables (Eg. Room temp, seed quality, genetics ect.)

just wait it out man thats all you can do, if its gonna sprout its gonna sprout

just my 2 cents

If you soak why go to a paper towel? go straight to soil.

Thanx for the input so far

stumps said:

If you soak why go to a paper towel? go straight to soil.

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I'm with this guy. It's how it happens in mother nature.

Mine sprout fast for the most part. Anywhere from over night to 7 days. all ready in soil. don't have to mess with them.

are they in a dark place? around 75 Deg?

Hey Asquad. Just to share my experience on my 2nd germination. I put about 2 inches of water in a small dish, one of my old tarantula water dishes. Dumped out 5 seeds from my baggy, put a small potting pot over the top to make it light proof, then sat it on my router. (Be very careful doing this, electric/water, don't spill it) In under 24 hours mine had cracked open w/ little white root tips popping out. Was probably the fastest I have ever seen seeds germinate. I believe having a light proof place+heat is what encourages seeds to want to germinate. And before you think the seeds are bum, I have read it can take over a week sometimes for seeds to germ. One more suggestion, have you read anything about scrubbing your seeds? Some seeds have a very thick/hard shell and need some help coming out.

iput mine in soil and under 400wtts oflight. i see the little baby in 3 days

Furrowx said:

Hey Asquad. Just to share my experience on my 2nd germination. I put about 2 inches of water in a small dish, one of my old tarantula water dishes. Dumped out 5 seeds from my baggy, put a small potting pot over the top to make it light proof, then sat it on my router. (Be very careful doing this, electric/water, don't spill it) In under 24 hours mine had cracked open w/ little white root tips popping out. Was probably the fastest I have ever seen seeds germinate. I believe having a light proof place+heat is what encourages seeds to want to germinate. And before you think the seeds are bum, I have read it can take over a week sometimes for seeds to germ. One more suggestion, have you read anything about scrubbing your seeds? Some seeds have a very thick/hard shell and need some help coming out.

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Moisture + heat (70-90 degF) + air is what they need to germinate. Darkness is also helpful as the radicle (taproot) is very sensitive and does not respond well to light.
By scrubbing, you must be talking about scarifying - this is the process of scratching the surface of the seed (cask) to promote the moisture to enter and activate the life process within. This is easily done by taking a box of matches, removing one of the abrasive strips & gluing it inside the box (after taking out all the matches). Then simply place a couple seeds inside & shake, shake, shake your seeds. Poof, scarified.
GWN

Yeah, scarring/scrubbing. Some people say that lining a matchbox with some sand paper and shaking the seeds around in it works for them. Some seeds are just stubborn. You will find that patience is the key to not killing your plants or creating problems for them. I am on day 15 of my first indoor grow and I have to restrain from messing with the plants. Just give them a little time. The strain "ICE" from nirvana is what I decided to grow, and it is a hybrid with northern lights in it. Everyone who has posted has given great advice, just keep at it and think positive thoughts, it will rub off on your ladies/seeds/plants. Peace.

Agreed a good wait shall grant great buddism

The soaking in water thing didnt work for me. Everytime I have grown I used the ziploc baggy method with a wet paper towl or toilet paper. ALL the seeds I put in there sprouted, although they need to be in a dark area that is warm (most likely a drawer in your bathroom. you take hot showers there lol) But yeah, I would recommend the baggy method.

shelbyandcameron said:

The soaking in water thing didnt work for me. Everytime I have grown I used the ziploc baggy method with a wet paper towl or toilet paper. ALL the seeds I put in there sprouted, although they need to be in a dark area that is warm (most likely a drawer in your bathroom. you take hot showers there lol) But yeah, I would recommend the baggy method.

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exactly. i soak mine for just a few hrs in a cup of warm water with a couple drops of superthrive. I then use this water to completely soak the paper towel. i then just firmly press out the excess water so the paper towel is still pretty wet but not dripping. i stick this in a ziploc back and fold over. I DO NOT SEAL. that makes mildew. i then throw it on top of the cable box. i swear to god this way gets me about a 97% success rate within 3 days every time no matter what seeds. the paper towel never dries out, i just let it breathe a few times a day. too much fog in the bag means it needs to breathe. the superthrive may not do shit but i've been doing it for a while now and it seems to have better results than plain water. the reason i do this is because i like to weed out the dud seeds. why waste precious space and dirt and time for a plant that will just never be?

After learning how to germ in soil. I was sold. I did the paper towel thig also for years.

Im just a noob, but I just put my seeds in a cup of warm water, and they floated. I covered them and went to bed. the next morning they had sunk, so I put em in a light warr filled dixie cup root tip down, and then in a dome. 3 of 4 came out fine, one never grew. not sure if I will use this method next time or not. I used sterilized tweezers to handle my seeds, I never touched them at all.

I have tried almost everything, but am back to what I started with at very first: 1/4 deep into wet soil at 75 degrees and a single 13w cfl. They take the same amount of time as any other method I have used (my other favorite was in a glass of water for 24 hours in the dark before soil) but it is all much simpler. And simpler is better in my book

I touch my seeds. just wash your hands. you have to keep in mind there just seeds, not all will pop. I do tweeze when they come out of the water and into the soil.

I've used "pre-germination" methods for my frist times. I've found that natural germination works ALOT better. Using the paper towel method is bad because the tap root starts to ancor onto the medium and it damages it when you pull them off and put them into soil, this slows down sprouting and can contaminate them. I'd say the best method is to just plant the seed into soil or whatever medium you're using. I've beatiful perfect sprouts by doing this....

What I do is use a plastic cup fill it with a soil/vermicculite/perlite mix. Flood the cup with warm water, then drain and flood again just to flush out and make sure its clean. Then making sure it's plenty soaked with warm water, I poke holes on the bottom to drain excess water. Then I push the seed down about an inch with a pen or watever, and cover up (so no light hits it). Put the cup under 24 hours light. I don't water for 2-3 days (to let it dry out a bit, the seed with rot if it stays wet). After the 2-3rd days I just spray the top once a day to keep moist. I've had seeds pop 5-7 days.

I'm a noob, but just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. Happy Growing

is there a special way to get more females? that the main thing iam worried about