Hey fellas, we have all been there before, we germinated our seeds, put em in soil and 5-6 days later they still have not sprouted and you get worried. I figured out why this happens and there is still time to save them.
The seeds, although germinated will not always start growing until the soil is warm (sometimes they do but this is for when they don't). You need to thoroughly water the medium, cover it with a piece of saran wrap or see through plastic bag (use a rubber band to keep it tight around the container). Poke 4-5 toothpick sized holes in the plastic and place the container on a heating pad on low for 30-45 minutes then take them off and place them under a weak CFL to keep the heat retained inside.
Continue this process of 30-45 minute heating every 6 hours, in other words after you heat up the container let it sit under the light for 6 hours before heating it again for 30-45 minutes. Although the container may not feel warm, and the heating pad may feel like it's barely heating the medium (soil) inside is nice and warm.
Using this method allows the soil to stay moist and soft which is the perfect environment needed to sprout.
I prefer this method over the 24/0 method of keeping the containers on top of a fridge, cable box, router, etc as that may kill the plant from constant heat.
P.S. Make sure the soil is soft and not hard like clay, if the soil is too hard (takes the shape of the container) this means you squeezed in the soil and may also be a reason why they are not sprouting. In this case water the soil thoroughly (so it keeps the shape) and empty it out as a whole into a work area, slowly break it up until the plant is visible then pick it up with something very gently and replant it into soil that is sprinkled into the container, NEVER SQUEEZE THE SOIL DOWN, sprinkle in the soil in the container, drop the seed which will probably have a rather fat "J" type sprout attached to the seed by now, and then sprinkle more soil over the top, about 1-2mm over the seed and don't worry if a little bit is showing after you water it in the next two days, it will do it's thing.
The seeds, although germinated will not always start growing until the soil is warm (sometimes they do but this is for when they don't). You need to thoroughly water the medium, cover it with a piece of saran wrap or see through plastic bag (use a rubber band to keep it tight around the container). Poke 4-5 toothpick sized holes in the plastic and place the container on a heating pad on low for 30-45 minutes then take them off and place them under a weak CFL to keep the heat retained inside.
Continue this process of 30-45 minute heating every 6 hours, in other words after you heat up the container let it sit under the light for 6 hours before heating it again for 30-45 minutes. Although the container may not feel warm, and the heating pad may feel like it's barely heating the medium (soil) inside is nice and warm.
Using this method allows the soil to stay moist and soft which is the perfect environment needed to sprout.
I prefer this method over the 24/0 method of keeping the containers on top of a fridge, cable box, router, etc as that may kill the plant from constant heat.
P.S. Make sure the soil is soft and not hard like clay, if the soil is too hard (takes the shape of the container) this means you squeezed in the soil and may also be a reason why they are not sprouting. In this case water the soil thoroughly (so it keeps the shape) and empty it out as a whole into a work area, slowly break it up until the plant is visible then pick it up with something very gently and replant it into soil that is sprinkled into the container, NEVER SQUEEZE THE SOIL DOWN, sprinkle in the soil in the container, drop the seed which will probably have a rather fat "J" type sprout attached to the seed by now, and then sprinkle more soil over the top, about 1-2mm over the seed and don't worry if a little bit is showing after you water it in the next two days, it will do it's thing.
