FYI Found this study on COCONUT WATER + ALOE VERA on SEED GERMINATION: Title: "EFFECTIVENESS OF ALOE VERA GEL AND COCONUT WATER AS A GIOREGULATOR ON SEED GERMINATION OF DENDROBIUM ORCHID", by I Ketut Sumantra and I Ketut Widnyana, at the Agroecotechnology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mahasarawasti University, Indonesia.
Indonesia exports a lot of Orchid Seedlings.
I think germination using coconut water and aloe vera gel would apply to germination of seeds of many species, including Cannabis.
I do not know much about orchid growing except for my personal experiences in Hilo, Hawaii where I grew up. Hilo is on the rainy side of the Big Island where orchids thrive. The Puna area...where many MJ farmers are located, is a drier area, with very porous volcanic soils....which is why I am using volcanic pumice and biochar instead of perlite for aeration in my MJ potting mixes. After a lava flow, within a couple of years, plants begin to grow on the volcanic pumice-lava which is rich in biochar from the plants that were burnt by the lava. Papaya farmers also use a lot of volcanic pumice. We used to go to the cinder cones to bag up volcanic pumice (mostly colored red) to add to our vegetable garden in Hilo which hasn't been hit by lava in millennia and where the soil has been depleted by generations of cane sugar commercial farming.
I did not have time to order Aloe Vera Gel powder so I got a gallon of Aloe Vera Juice from Trader Joes. I read on this thread that the OKF brand of Aloe Vera Juice (formerly sold at Costco...but not available last week when shopped there) does not have potassium sorbate. I have one Aloe Vera plant in a pot which I may have to use for the few seeds I want to germinate. May have to replace it with Aloe Vera plants from Home Depot ($3.99 a 4-inch potted plant, plus 10% sales tax).