Paper towels dried during germination. Are my seedlings going to die?

So my germination has been going perfectly. 7/10 had sprouted and were doing great and ready to plant within the next 1-2 days. Then somehow last night the paper towels dried up. I'd say they spent at most 2-3 hours dry.

The sprouts look ok at the end nearest the seed, but especially with the bigger ones, there is a bit of shriveling and browning of the sprouts at the distal end.

Can seeds EVER recover from something like this, or am I f*%cked?

I am currently at work, unable to watch if my girls drink and revive. So, I'm hoping to find some solace in the advice of experts. Preferably someone who will say "It's going to be all right".

This is my first grow, but I've germinated seeds before. NOOB mistake!

Ill tell ya the best way to germinate seeds. I guarantee if you follow these directions it will take 2-3 days for the seeds that will sprout to sprout. Take a jar and fill it with about a centimeter of water and just drop the seeds right in. Than keep the jar in a dark warm area. Make sure it stays uncovered.

p.s keep me posted i want to know if it helped you out.

Thanks, that sounds like a good idea. For now, though, I'll have to wait and see if these seeds make it. Otherwise, I'll have to wait a month for new seeds to arrive.

i realize this wont' help you (or answer your question) but for next time if you choose to go the paper towel method ...
i usually seal the damp paper towel in a zip lock and put it in a warm, dark place (top of PC tower works for me). The zip lock will keep the moisture in. Also, as soon as i see taproot (actually when i see the seed crack) i plant it.

Technically, seeds are dead to begin with; they won't sprout unless they are. I use the same method that email does, sealing them up in a zip-lock bag. I put mine on top of the water heater, it's about 80 degrees F. Works great for me.

Plant it if you haven't already, I had the same thing happen- sprout grew fine, little stunted at first but grew fine. (Wasn't really shriveled or brown tho) Keep your head up- these plants are resilient- let us know how the babies do...

i am sorry to tell you the bad news but i think the seedling are doomed... if you do put them in soil they may stay alive and if they do grow which i donot think they will they would be very slow growing and maybe deformed... so make your own call the other guys are giving you good advice i too use the paper towel and cover with plastic and put it on top of fridge.. good luck the hard lessons are always best...

i recently switched after doing just the plain old paper towel method and having my paper towel dry up cause i wasn't there to watch it. i just tried this method and in a little over 48 i had seeds cracked planted and sprouted out of the soil. this is the best method i came up with:

1. get a tupperware container with a lid.
2. damped a paper towel with luke warm water and lay on the bottom of your tupperware container.
3. lay your seeds on top of the damp paper towel and then cover with another dampened luke warm paper towel.
4. put the lid on and set it on the back of a PC monitor or any of those places other people mentioned that create some heat.

i did this for the first time 3 days ago and out of 7 seeds that were planted 5 have already popped the surface. good luck!

your chances of them living are good, however they will have a very slow start to life. your best bet is to get them in some really good potting soil, throw in some micorhizzae, and let nature do the rest. but for future reference.... i usually just plant right in the soil. they sprout above ground in about 4-6 days for me that way. but im a "mother nature" kind of guy in the first place. just do whatever you feel comfortable with..

scias said:

your chances of them living are good, however they will have a very slow start to life. your best bet is to get them in some really good potting soil, throw in some micorhizzae, and let nature do the rest. but for future reference.... i usually just plant right in the soil. they sprout above ground in about 4-6 days for me that way. but im a "mother nature" kind of guy in the first place. just do whatever you feel comfortable with..

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I'd suggest Superthrive- but I see too many newbs hurting their babies with Superthrive.

HotNSexyMILF said:

I'd suggest Superthrive- but I see too many newbs hurting their babies with Superthrive.

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Hey, if one drop per gallon is good... a good squirt in half a cup would be better, right? LOL. Noobs loving them to death.

Thanks for the advice all. This site is great!

I'll keep you filled in on progress, if any.

I usually just drop them in a rockwool cube. Occasionally I'll plant them right into the soil. Haven't had any that didn't sprout yet.

apollo19 said:

Thanks for the advice all. This site is great!

I'll keep you filled in on progress, if any.

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Good Luck.....

Hey all, just got home and it looks like the seedlings are gonna make it!
The 3 largest sprouts look re-energized for the most part. But, the very tips are still shriveled. I'm going to plant them now, so I guess the only way to tell if this shriveling grows or shrinks will be to see if anything pops up.
Either way, the other 5 seedlings, which were all smaller, look perfectly fine. I guess the larger seedlings are just more susceptible.

great new, keep growing!!

Hey Apollo19. This just happened to me this week.
I had mine in ziploc baggie like others here are saying
and then I thought maybe they'd get too wet (rot) so
I put them on a plate with a wet paper towel. I had
no idea that it would dry out so fast. When I found them,
they were in exactly the same condition as yours. I simply
put them back in the baggie and they came back. I just
planted them so I guess I'll find out if they are
"developmentally damaged" tho.
I guess it's all just part of being a "Newbie" huh?
I'd like to know how yours fare since we had the same thing
happen. Good Luck.

Numb,
The two biggest seedlings have just pushed out of the soil with the beginnings of their first leaves. I'll keep ya posted on how the rest do when I see them.

apollo19 said:

Numb,
The two biggest seedlings have just pushed out of the soil with the beginnings of their first leaves. I'll keep ya posted on how the rest do when I see them.

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Niiiice.

So it's now day 4 since planting. 4 have shown (still), other 4 seedlings and 2 seeds I planted have not shown any signs of life.
Anyway, 4 plants are fine with me, as long as I get 2 females.
They're growing under a 400w MH hung ~3 feet from the plants.
As people have predicted, growth has been very slow. Here on day 4, plants are ~2" tall, showing 2 pairs of leaves (hardly).
I'm assuming this is abnormally slow growth due to late planting and the fact that the tips of the roots died during my little paper towel incident.

Anyway, plants are looking good, just not growing much. Hope it picks up soon!