Question about Germination method

SableZen

SableZen

Well-Known Member
I used to worry about what method would be best, not touch the seeds, treated them like babies and not the hardy survival pods that seeds are... I've tried all the methods I could at one point or another; but in the end - the simplest of ways worked best for me: soak in water for 12-24 hours and then straight to soil and kept warm. I also just use chlorinated tap water for the soak (doesn't seem to hurt the seeds and I would guess it would also kill off most possible pathogens that may be hitchhiking in on the seeds). I start using dechlorinated water after they go in the soil (or rockwool).

I don't think there is anything to the methods that claim to increase the female/male ratio. There's a lot of voodoo magic theories (no demonstrable proof) going around regarding that though.
 
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supernor

Active Member
SableZen said:
I don't think there is anything to the methods that claim to increase the female/male ratio. There's a lot of voodoo magic theories (no demonstrable proof) going around regarding that though.
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So true. I'm pretty sure even plants got to follow The Law Segregation. If anyone else wants to know how much females you'll get, look at the sex calculator I attatched. LOL. But unless you're a genetic engineer with a high tech. lab and know of a way to remove the Y chromosome from all your seeds. Then using this punet square is your only way to predict sex.
 

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baddfrog0221

Active Member
I'm waiting on my first seeds to germinate and it feels like it is taking forever. My "noob" impatience is clearly showing. I am spending wasted hours researching on this site and setting up a grow room for sprouts that I haven't yet seen. I went with the wet paper towel method starting with about thrity seeds (all mixed from various bags). After two days I saw small white tips breaking through about 5 of the seeds, I moved those lucky ladies into peat disc mediums after soaking the mediums in water for 9 hours.
The other seeds were transferred into a cup with about an inch of distilled tap water. After another day passed many of those seeds had pushed a tip through the shell. I passed them into the mediums as I did the other ones.
I now have about twenty five seeds in the moist mediums and we are going on our fourth and fifth days with no signs.
Do I need to talk to them more to make them want to come out? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.:spew:
 
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supernor

Active Member
baddfrog0221 said:
I'm waiting on my first seeds to germinate and it feels like it is taking forever. My "noob" impatience is clearly showing. I am spending wasted hours researching on this site and setting up a grow room for sprouts that I haven't yet seen. I went with the wet paper towel method starting with about thrity seeds (all mixed from various bags). After two days I saw small white tips breaking through about 5 of the seeds, I moved those lucky ladies into peat disc mediums after soaking the mediums in water for 9 hours.
The other seeds were transferred into a cup with about an inch of distilled tap water. After another day passed many of those seeds had pushed a tip through the shell. I passed them into the mediums as I did the other ones.
I now have about twenty five seeds in the moist mediums and we are going on our fourth and fifth days with no signs.
Do I need to talk to them more to make them want to come out? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.:spew:
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Give them some time, they will sprout when they are ready. I'd say 2-5 more days (depending on the enviroment). Impatience is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, patience is a virtue. That being said... sit back, relax, and toke.
 

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baddfrog0221

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supernor said:
Give them some time, they will sprout when they are ready. I'd say 2-5 more days (depending on the enviroment). Impatience is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, patience is a virtue. That being said... sit back, relax, and toke.
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Thanks for the confidence. I added a few lamps to increase the temperature of the growing area, it's all contained in a basement where the ambient temp is between 50 - 60 F. I'm working on getting it up to around 80 where the seeds are germinating.
 
GreatwhiteNorth

GreatwhiteNorth

Global Moderator
Staff member
Get a heat mat or put them near a heat source - crap, put an incandescent lamp on them until they sprout. Temps that low are not conducive to a good germination rate.
 
DK77

DK77

Well-Known Member
I soak in a plastic cup in the dark for one night then put into white paper towel in zip up bag in a draw whe|re its dark i put a hot water bottle wrappedc in a towel in the drawer to create warmth check evry !" hours then soon as roots pop put them in root riot so far alls been ggggggggreat !!
 
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baddfrog0221

Active Member
GreatwhiteNorth said:
Get a heat mat or put them near a heat source - crap, put an incandescent lamp on them until they sprout. Temps that low are not conducive to a good germination rate.
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Ok, I threw some lights in there to put out heat. I did not know how bad cold can affect the germination noob error. Is there a temp range I should shoot for?
 
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supernor

Active Member
baddfrog0221 said:
Thanks for the confidence. I added a few lamps to increase the temperature of the growing area, it's all contained in a basement where the ambient temp is between 50 - 60 F. I'm working on getting it up to around 80 where the seeds are germinating.
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I keep the cup right on my cfl. Like 1-2 inches from it. It keeps it nice and warm, after they pop I move it 4 inches away.
 
Madboy

Madboy

Active Member
Yep, what they all said are good and work - it is one of the more stressful times for the new grower (or anyone who has spent money on seeds LOL)

Heat has gotta be the most important for me, like the guy with the router I use an external hard drive, germinated 60 lowryders (my own seeds) in one session this way did it in a humidity tray (tray with clear lid) used root riot cubes (stuck each seed 1/4 inch down) and put it on my 2 external hard drives, got like 99% success, I think between 3 and 7 days they were all up

now, I usually give them to another party and get them back after they are an inch tall, much less stress

Oh yeah nice one on the scrubbing technique - those lowryders have shells made from titanium - the poor little feckers can't even break out and I need to get a scalpel (after they crack and I see the tap root) and wedge open the shell, then most times have to cut the soft material (like birthing a calf FFS!) that surrounds the sprout as they can't even bust this (I lost so many seeds before I started to do this it was ridiculous)
 
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baddfrog0221

Active Member
Hey everybody thanks for keeping this thread active. I am a new grower so I am taking all the tips I can get. I wanted to show what I am dealing with so maybe you could lend more pinpoint advice and also I wanted to show off what I have built so far.:fire:Also I plan to paint all the walls white as soon as I get some time or I start seeing some more growth. If things start moving really quickly I will just throw up reflective sheeting and call it a day. Once sprouted I will move them to pots on the floor of the room and hang four fluorescents from the ceiling which I can raise and lower and also supplement with Mh lights and HPS lights. Let me know what you think or if you can suggest any improvements thanks!
 

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baddfrog0221

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GreatwhiteNorth said:
Just a reminder - don't use incandescent or Haligen lighting once they come up. Thats a definite No-No.
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Thanks for the warning I'm just using them for heat as mentioned earlier. I will take them out after I guess I see more sprouts. I do see one out of the ground will that guy get hurt by the extra lights? or will he wait for the others? I am using materials collected from around my house and as of yet I have only spent money on the peat discs used to place the seeds in. I have 10 other full length fluor lamps and some lamps that I will convert to MH holders and HPS holders; or I will buy new lights. Next expense is the growing medium and knowing when to transplant.:shock:
 
420 swede

420 swede

Active Member
supernor said:
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 :weed:
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just one thing... u should always be using cold water and let it sit to room temp, warm water got copper tracings innit both from the tubing and the heater, its there for laundry, washing your hands and so on, not drinking or growing ;) ofc its not a huge deal but if u want the best result i'd advice against hot tap water.
 
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baddfrog0221

Active Member
420 swede said:
just one thing... u should always be using cold water and let it sit to room temp, warm water got copper tracings innit both from the tubing and the heater, its there for laundry, washing your hands and so on, not drinking or growing ;) ofc its not a huge deal but if u want the best result i'd advice against hot tap water.
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Thanks for quoting that post I am going to spray my guys tomorrow to add some moisture.
 
Madboy

Madboy

Active Member
420 swede said:
just one thing... u should always be using cold water and let it sit to room temp, warm water got copper tracings innit both from the tubing and the heater, its there for laundry, washing your hands and so on, not drinking or growing ;) ofc its not a huge deal but if u want the best result i'd advice against hot tap water.
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Didn't realise this

Shit, I have always used half hot tap and half cold tap to water my big plants, not seedlings

Thanks for the info
 
SableZen

SableZen

Well-Known Member
What is the benefit behind using a paper towel in comparison to not having to move and handle an exposed and developing taproot by putting it directly into it's medium to start?
 
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