Trouble germinating seeds

I've got four good plants right now, but I as I prepare for my second grow I keep failing at the seedling/germination stage.

I soak seeds for 24-36 hours in un ph'd tap water (ph probably 7-
I soak rockwool in ~5.5 ph'd tap water, then add seeds
I put a single piece of perlite over the hole to block out light, and put rockwool cubes in tupperware
I burp the tupperware 2-3 times a day, and keep it in a warm (80 degree) room
If the rockwool starts to dry out, I spray it with ~5.5 ph'd tap water

I've been having only a third of my seeds pop! What am I doing wrong?

Too wet
lose the rock wool
it is difficult to manage and stays too wet
Either use the paper towel method or straight into medium
You don't need seeds in a dome or closed container either
Oxygen is what they lack

trouble with going straight into the medium is that I'm doing hempy buckets, and my understanding is that you need something firmer than perlite for the seeds to start in or they will get washed away

Rapid rooters then ?
Or just stop misting that rock wool , at this point they are drowning

Maybe this will help...

Soak a paper towel, then wring it out to the point where it's between damp and wet.

Put your paper towel which your seed(s) are folded up in, in a something that will prevent the towel from drying out. An old plastic yogurt container with a cover is what I sometimes use.
If popping several different strains, I use a black sharpie to notate the corner of each paper towel for later identification. I don't let the seeds touch the sharpie ink.

Place the container in a warm dark place Sometimes as soon as 12 hours, but usually within 48 your seeds should pop. A few will be stubborn, so don't give up on them for up to a week or so.


Some people prescuff their seeds prior to germinating them using a cut up emery board in a small container with a cover. The idea is you shake the seeds for several repetitions of a few seconds and the emery board scarifies the seeds, which makes it easier for the tough ones to open.

Good luck.

Rob Roy said:

Maybe this will help...

Soak a paper towel, then wring it out to the point where it's between damp and wet.

Put your paper towel which your seed(s) are folded up in, in a something that will prevent the towel from drying out. An old plastic yogurt container with a cover is what I sometimes use.
If popping several different strains, I use a black sharpie to notate the corner of each paper towel for later identification. I don't let the seeds touch the sharpie ink.

Place the container in a warm dark place Sometimes as soon as 12 hours, but usually within 48 your seeds should pop. A few will be stubborn, so don't give up on them for up to a week or so.


Some people prescuff their seeds prior to germinating them using a cut up emery board in a small container with a cover. The idea is you shake the seeds for several repetitions of a few seconds and the emery board scarifies the seeds, which makes it easier for the tough ones to open.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Forget paper towels and other silly unnecessary shit. Emulate nature. Put it where it’s going to grow. This ^^ is more crap. More failures.

If you are having trouble getting seeds to pop I strongly suggest you pick a simpler method of growing. Soil. Your inexperience already has you coming for help. Keep it simple and get bud.

Herb & Suds said:

Rapid rooters then ?
Or just stop misting that rock wool , at this point they are drowning

Click to expand...

thanks, I'll stop misting them and get rapid rooters if these seeds don't pop. I also removed the tupperware covers

Put the Seeds into some Pro-mix Hp and get the Soil moist first, then Put the seed about 1/8th of an inch into soil, what ever you do, Do not over water. I've been doing this method for a very longtime and very rarely have I had it not work.
Just make sure you have enough water and light they should pop up in 7 to 10 days.
Herb and hotrodharley are absolutely right, making things to complicated and you will have issues.

Good luck

BTW Welcome to RIU.

I was having terrible germ rates until I solved the problem, I was drowning them. Once i backed off with the watering (in my case over spraying rapid rooters) seeds started popping.

hotrodharley said:

Forget paper towels and other silly unnecessary shit. Emulate nature. Put it where it’s going to grow. This ^^ is more crap. More failures.

Click to expand...

Putting it where it's going to grow, as in the dirt in a larger pot, is not a bad idea.

If your rotation / space is such that germinating them in larger containers isn't always an option or if you simply like to germinate lots of seeds for your own reasons, like maybe you're giving a friend a handful of seedlings started in beer cups etc, my method has worked well for me.

As an aside, I hope your yeast infection clears up soon, it seems to have made you cranky.

I used to struggle to using paper towels, and other methods. What bear and Harley said is definately the way to go. I rarely have a failure doing it this way. I usually put a Baggie over the top of the cup to make a humidity dome, but I'm hearing that's not necessary either.

Start them in soil or pro-mix and transplant into your Hempy when ready, don't worry about it mixing.