Germination - what works best for you?

Hi everyone,

Please tell us how you germinate those lovely seeds. There's plenty of info out there but would be nice to hear from people on the forum. Ive never grown before yet so I can't really say but I know many people use the paper towel or cup of water method or both. Would a germination tool like Nirvana's propagator pro be more successful? what works for you?

Thanks

Distilled water and the paper towel method. Pour a shot glass of distilled water, drop seed in it and let it soak for 24 hours. Fold up about 3 or 4 thick paper towels onto a small plate, soak in water, drop seed onto wet towel, put more paper towels on the top and repeat. Place plate inside a plastic bag and let it sit someplace fairly warm and dark. after 24-36 hours, tap root will be exposed. Take tweezers and carefully place into grow medium. 24- 36 hours later she emerges. This method has ALWAYS worked for me. Only time it didn't I was lazy and used some purified water treated with minerals.

jimdandy said:

Distilled water and the paper towel method. Pour a shot glass of distilled water, drop seed in it and let it soak for 24 hours. Fold up about 3 or 4 thick paper towels onto a small plate, soak in water, drop seed onto wet towel, put more paper towels on the top and repeat. Place plate inside a plastic bag and let it sit someplace fairly warm and dark. after 24-36 hours, tap root will be exposed. Take tweezers and carefully place into grow medium. 24- 36 hours later she emerges. This method has ALWAYS worked for me. Only time it didn't I was lazy and used some purified water treated with minerals.

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nice info...would never have thought of distilled water. I suppose even rain would do if left in the open for a couple of days to get rid of all the minerals.

I've had 95%(or better) just poking beans ~1/4" deep into root riot plugs with the pointed end facing down. I spray the plugs only once before placing in their dome. In ~3-5 days they should be sprouting.

The seeds that didn't germ had deformities + I wasn't surprised when they didn't.
I've popped hundreds of beans this way.

I just use the paper towel method in 2 to 4 days the tap root is normally out.

3 gal pot,wet pro mix..its real simple..mother nature dont have paper towels and shot glasses..i get good germ rates,and if they didnt germ,well..i dont need a weak germ plant anyways.keep it wet and be observant if the moisture...

A peat puck a solo cup and a seed sprouting heat mat and a sandwich bag= soak my puck for ten mins in water and botania micro mix kinda press in puck to help loosen an even out put seed in puck puck in cup a couple of drops of water for extra moisture sandwich bag over cup poor man humidity dome set cup on seed mat check daily to see popped once sprouted remove sandwich bag two or three days after sproutin and slowly start fillin cup wit dirt as it grows replant in pot a week later 90+% germ

rory420420 said:

3 gal pot,wet pro mix..its real simple..mother nature dont have paper towels and shot glasses..i get good germ rates,and if they didnt germ,well..i dont need a weak germ plant anyways.keep it wet and be observant if the moisture...

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Good point about mother nature. But like I said, with the distilled water and towels, My rate is 100% germination! Kinda hard to beat 100%

Put seed in glass of water. 6hours later push seed down so its not floating. Wait a day or 2 until it pops a root. Stick it in a cup of soil about 1/2 deep. Put a plastic sandwich baggie loosly over top just in case seed comes up with shell or embryo on it, this will keep the humidity in there in case this happens which will keep seed from drying out and killing itself. Take plastic baggie off as soon as see nice green leaves. Good to go then...

jimdandy said:

Good point about mother nature. But like I said, with the distilled water and towels, My rate is 100% germination! Kinda hard to beat 100%

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i feel ya,but i got a theory that transplanting young plants is not good..i prefer planting in its permanent home(my purple haze has been in the same bucket since sprouting over 2yrs ago)..this single bucket method doesnt allways suit the conditions of the grow tho,especially when planting 30 of em..

somewhere is a video of an experiment on roots and proving they have "cognitive thought"..the root tip has an area visible under a magnifying glass that directs roots and their function..time lapse shows a healthy root tip squirming like an inchworm,searching for a easy avenue to go down,another shows the root with that same area sliced off with a razor blade,and the root is basically retarded..it tries to bury into itself,and the air,ect..i feel messing with young vital roots by handleing thrm and planting can stunt/harm the plant a little..
i know the paper towel method works,i just have my own method,and thought id share my reasoning behind it..

Germination tool??? LMAO...paper towel is so easy. Mist paper towel with water but DO NOT SOAK, place seed in between and fold. Place paper towel in a partially closed zip loc and leave it in your clothing drawer between your shirts or wherever they will stay warm. Plugs, soil, and glass of water all work...glass of water can easily drown the seed if you don't catch it in time. Paper towel is easy and allows you to monitor the progress or lack thereof.

Ilovebush said:

Germination tool??? LMAO...paper towel is so easy. Mist paper towel with water but DO NOT SOAK, place seed in between and fold. Place paper towel in a partially closed zip loc and leave it in your clothing drawer between your shirts or wherever they will stay warm. Plugs, soil, and glass of water all work...glass of water can easily drown the seed if you don't catch it in time. Paper towel is easy and allows you to monitor the progress or lack thereof.

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Ive let seeds in water for a week before numerouse times with 2 inch tails, no issues. Not that its ideal but ive never seen a seed "drown".

booms111 said:

Ive let seeds in water for a week before numerouse times with 2 inch tails, no issues. Not that its ideal but ive never seen a seed "drown".

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Same here, just water in a cup. Distilled preferably, I've never tried with tap or drinking water.

After they soak a few hours, I like to lightly tap the seed and they usually sink to the bottom.

24-48 hrs everything has root tips and they go into a solo cup of my mix. 100% germination rates, only way to fuck up is you trying to plant it incorrectly.

I'm new to growing and the paper towel method has worked 100% for me.

came across the following method using rockwool & soil, looks interesting - meant to be foolproof & I suppose it's closer to the natural order of things, have a look;

http://www.marijuanagrowing.eu/beginners-forum/nawz-foolproof-germination-technique-t43132.html

Out of curiosity does anyone just pop theirs in the soil without germinating?

I have but they don't take as well in my experience.

ErieR33FER said:

Out of curiosity does anyone just pop theirs in the soil without germinating?

I have but they don't take as well in my experience.

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bloody good question what do you mean they don't take as well... do they survive at least?

Just mean they take longer sometimes they don't make it but not a hugedifference.

Got a couple of thousand seeds from a seed run earlier this year so I figured I try some different germination methods.

The answer, as with most questions here, should be 'it depends'. For example, if you bought 6 expensive seeds, I'd put them directly in the soil (or rockwool if you grow hydro). If you got plenty of seeds, throw them in a glass of warm water, pick the ones that opened or sunk to the bottom within 24 hours.

I compared rockwool, paper towel ( I agree with Rory, if you start with paper towel and actually let the tap root come out more than a mm or two it's another transplant and delay), spongepot (jiffy like organic stuff), straight in soil and straight in coco.

The outcome: 100% germination rate with 3 different strains. It doesn't matter at all as long as you got good viable seeds. Soil and coco took a day longer (3 instead of 2) but that could be just a coincidence.

I've done a separate test with old seeds (7 year in fridge, which are harder to germinate) and noticed clearly a difference between shot glass and rockwool (i.e. germinate several days faster in shot glass).