Seeds not germinating...

so I have been growing for several years now and have NEVER had a seed not germ. Recently I decided to try out a new seed bank.. and..well these seeds aren’t germinating.

I bought 5 different strains.. 5 packs each. And so far I’ve only had one strain germinate at 100%. The other 2 strains I’ve tried are not germinating at all. Literally a 0% success rate.

I use the paper towel method, for the last 3 years and have had a perfect record. Now with these new seeds, they will pop open within 24 hours. A small little root will barely pop out of the seed, and then the growing just stops there. I planted them in seed start trays and it has been 6 days, so i decided to break open one of the starters and the seed hadn’t grown any further than it did when it first popped in germination. After opening several more, it looks like the growth stopped right after the seed opened. So I tried to germ a few more seeds and the exact same thing happened!

Am I doing something wrong or are these just bunk seeds? Any info will be greatly appreciated!

Not enough information but asking if these came from Crap King?

hotrodharley said:

Not enough information but asking if these came from Crap King?

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What other Info should I add? I was trying to be as Informative as possible. And no the seeds did not come From there. Lol it’s a new stateside seed bank.

Sometimes you get old stock ... it’s always buyer beware .

Newtoweed1 said:

What other Info should I add? I was trying to be as Informative as possible. And no the seeds did not come From there. Lol it’s a new stateside seed bank.

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Using a humidity dome? Seedling mat?

Buy from better companies with fresher seeds.

Funny you mentioned that ... knew an old fart that cracked exactly that way with his teeth.

I’m too chicken to try that and just scuff my older beans in an an old joint tube with sandpaper.

First. It's a seed. It's sole purpose is to grow. Quit screwing with extra steps like paper towels. Put it in soil and leave it be.

If it is old stock line a match box with sand paper and add seeds and shake until seeds are scuffed up. You can roll sand paper up, grit in, and add seeds and shake.

You can also add them to water with a few drops of peroxide. Let them soak overnight then plant.


The reason you don't want to use extra steps like paper towels is because the talk root developes many fine roots or root hairs. They stick to the paper towel and when you remove the seed it does damage. Any damage is a spot for bacteria or pathogens to enter and cause dampimg off.

If using a dome or cover, don't.

Keep it simple and plant them then wait. No poking or messing with them.

hotrodharley said:

Using a humidity dome? Seedling mat?

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Yes I use a dome and heat mat. I’ve haven’t had any issues in the past. And since I had old seeds from other orders I sprouted those without issue. I gave the new seeds another try after that and they still didn’t germ.

whitebb2727 said:

First. It's a seed. It's sole purpose is to grow. Quit screwing with extra steps like paper towels. Put it in soil and leave it be.

If it is old stock line a match box with sand paper and add seeds and shake until seeds are scuffed up. You can roll sand paper up, grit in, and add seeds and shake.

You can also add them to water with a few drops of peroxide. Let them soak overnight then plant.


The reason you don't want to use extra steps like paper towels is because the talk root developes many fine roots or root hairs. They stick to the paper towel and when you remove the seed it does damage. Any damage is a spot for bacteria or pathogens to enter and cause dampimg off.

If using a dome or cover, don't.

Keep it simple and plant them then wait. No poking or messing with them.

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Thanks for the informative response! And I’ve grown over 100 plants using the paper towel method, so it’s just become my perferred method. But I think it’s somthing I might go away from. I’ll give some of your tips a try and see if that helps them sprout.

hotrodharley said:

Buy from better companies with fresher seeds.

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It’s funny you say that because the seed bank I bought from has only been open for about 6 months. So I assumed they would have the freshest seeds... obviously just because the store is new doesn’t mean the seeds are. Lol

Newtoweed1 said:

It’s funny you say that because the seed bank I bought from has only been open for about 6 months. So I assumed they would have the freshest seeds... obviously just because the store is new doesn’t mean the seeds are. Lol

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They probably got older stock is my guess. I've seen it with Crop King and Graybeards both. They just buy in bulk and repackage. Greybeard from Seedsman.

Even from Seedsman sometimes, you just get seeds that wont just germinate, just like what the OP described. I'm beginning to suspect that we gonna be seeing a lot of these even from well known seed banks, specially with the older and popular strains. I think we're seeing results now of years and years of improper breeding technique.

Newtoweed1 said:

It’s funny you say that because the seed bank I bought from has only been open for about 6 months. So I assumed they would have the freshest seeds... obviously just because the store is new doesn’t mean the seeds are. Lol

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I'm starting to think customs has a way to make seeds sterile. I had a whole order with about $400 worth of seed that never came up. Perfect conditions and I've grown probably thousands of cannabis plants, a vegetable garden every year and flowers.

Maybe some kind of radiation they can nuke suspected seeds with.

It was only that one order. I got the seeds replaced. Don't mention germination to the seed bank. They won't discuss that. Email them and tell them the seeds were uncollectible as souvenirs.

whitebb2727 said:

I'm starting to think customs has a way to make seeds sterile. I had a whole order with about $400 worth of seed that never came up. Perfect conditions and I've grown probably thousands of cannabis plants, a vegetable garden every year and flowers.

Maybe some kind of radiation they can nuke suspected seeds with.

It was only that one order. I got the seeds replaced. Don't mention germination to the seed bank. They won't discuss that. Email them and tell them the seeds were uncollectible as souvenirs.

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That’s an interesting take on it and could be a possibility. However these seeds are stateside so no customs to travel through. They are only about a 4 hour drive away from me too. And were delivered next day. But I’m actually regretting not ordering from my normal company out of the UK because I’ve never had any issues with there seeds.

Newtoweed1 said:

That’s an interesting take on it and could be a possibility. However these seeds are stateside so no customs to travel through. They are only about a 4 hour drive away from me too. And were delivered next day. But I’m actually regretting not ordering from my normal company out of the UK because I’ve never had any issues with there seeds.

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Just email them and see what they say. Be polite. I've had seeds replaced a few times.

whitebb2727 said:

Just email them and see what they say. Be polite. I've had seeds replaced a few times.

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Already did, sent them one right after you said that. Waiting a response now. According to there website they don’t except and returns or exchanges unless it wasn’t delivered. So we will see