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Germinating; What Am I Doing Wrong?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Panacea79
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Germinating; What Am I Doing Wrong?

Panacea79 16 Replies 3,828 Views
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Panacea79

Panacea79

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#1
Hey all, hope everything is coming up...uhh...well just coming up AT ALL would be a good thing.
Ok, I've been doing my little micro grow for about 7 months now and am learning a lot...and forgetting or flubbing one of if not THEmost important part of growing: germinating.
In the beginning (ie my first couple plants) I'm pretty sure I did the old 'soak seeds in water overnight, switch to wet paper towels overnight, or until I see a 'tail', then I'd transfer to my medium of choice which was peat pellets and effective at that. After about 5 or 6 successes THAT method stopped working. They'd start growing , under the soil, but never popping out. Most just ended up rotting I guess. Since then I've had ONE success with 8 seeds!! Idk what ism doing wrong?! I'm down to my last 3 viable seeds and did my whole cup of water, peat pellet but added a humidity dome and heating mat. They've been in the peat for about 5 days now and they're 'making progress' in there. Keep in mind I'm keeping them in their dome and mat in a cupboard pretty much all day. Do I need to introduce light yet because I've read they don't even use light until they grow their second set of leaves or at least their cotyledons.
Anyway, does anyone have some tips, tricks or otherwise helpful info or criticism to lend. I'd greatly appreciate it. Keep it Green my friends and much love
 
#2
can you check the p.h.?

are you overwatering them?

do you dig around if nothing pops up only to find something that might have popped up if you never dug around for it?

these were my exact problems starting out, good luck!
 
#3
Good topic, I notice I have better germination using seed starting mix, for some reason the peat pellets and the domes mess up my seeds, I just lost four PU x Mendocino seeds to the peat pellets and dome. I suspect the peat was too saturated in water and the seeds to deep causing them drownn by getting no air. So I'm going back to seed starter mix and solo cups and no dome.
 
#4
I stopped using the cubes and have excellent results with FF Light Warrior soil in Solo cups. I just drill holes in the bottoms, fill just halfway with soil, soak with plain water for a day and plant only a half inch deep. Keep it wet for a few day, maybe a week, and it should sprout. I use a couple CFLs for this stage, about 2-3 weeks, then up pot to #1s. If the stems get too long you can add more Light Warrior to the cups to support them. Keeping these seedlings moist is crucial, also important to use plain water until the roots get established, save the nutrients and grow additives until you have a plant strong enough to tolerate them. So many growers burn out their baby seedlings with chemicals, all they need is water to get started. Germination works best when the soil is warm, not hot, and nicely moist.:D
 
#5
You need light asap you can't keep them in a cup board till there second set of leaves ???

Water tap overnight or 24 hrs
Transfer to paper towels 3 wet then seeds then 3 more wet but don't saturate.
Put on fridge top after 24 hrs check tails
Plant into medium of choice
I use half a cup of pro mix and plant a inch deep
Put under light cfl t5 etc
Spray with water to keep moist
Seeds will pop out in 24/48 hrs
U can help them by moving a little dirt gently
Don't over think it . its quite simple

I plant in half a cup because when they stretch for the light and get to long I fill in the rest
 
#6
Thanx everyone! Yeah, I really don't know what I've been doing wrong cuz I used to be able to get seeds to pop like no problem. Probably with all the growing guides, faqs, sites I've been reading has fogged up a mental mirror that is very easy to keep polished and clear if you just KI.S.S. (Keep it simple stupid). And I've heard great things about light warrior. I'll try some of urge suggestions and update soon.
Keep It Green my friends
 
#8
G gnome said:
Talk about k.i.s.s. I direct sow mine in jiffy. I just popped 72 beans and only lost a couple. No germing em not soaking. Just bury the seed water w plain water
Click to expand...
Yup, I do the same in rw cubes. Sow and grow! Hate paper towels!
 
#10
Ive had a 99% germination rate for a while now, this is all i do my man. : leave the seed to soak in a big bowl of tepid tap water, add a capfull of hydrogen peroxide to kill off any pathogens. Leave them in the water until they sprout a tail and by that i mean a tail of 2-16ths of an inch and then just transplant directly into straight coco, rockwool germ cubes and most recently i did the same with rapidrooter starter plugs. Plant tail down about the depth of a pencils eraser, ( till the end of the metal part) and cover lightly soak them thoroughly the 1st day and then MOISTEN every other day. Theres no need for light at this point. A heat mat will speed up the process but is not absolutely necessary unless where you live is very cold. You should definitely not have them on the floor. As soon as the cotyledons show you MUST put them under light. Preferably fluorescents at a distance of 6 or 8 inches. Do not water with nutrients until the 1st set of true leaves show, ie (with serrated margins) at that point water with nutes diluted to 1/4 strength. Best of luck to you. P.s if you like check out my grow log im doing a diary on a SSH, (super silver haze) you can check out all that ive done including when i first popped them, what media im using and nutes. Its under the headline : AND SO IT BEGINS !!! peace...
 
H

happy b

Guest
#11
Soak em for 12 hours then put em in moist kitchen roll,not toilet tissue,stick em in a sealed tub and pop em ontop of your tv or something and leave em to totally germinate in the kitchen roll then VERY GENTLY sow them in the soil with the leaves above the soil.thats for desperate situations though.
 
#12
happy b said:
Soak em for 12 hours then put em in moist kitchen roll,not toilet tissue,stick em in a sealed tub and pop em ontop of your tv or something and leave em to totally germinate in the kitchen roll then VERY GENTLY sow them in the soil with the leaves above the soil.thats for desperate situations though.
Click to expand...
That's ^^ what I do..no soak tho.
I use a paper towel because I like to see them pop! :) and I sow them with the leaves up cuz I don't like to lose track of them lol

Edit to add; I soak the soil really good before planting..then,I water from the bottom when the cups feel lite.
 
#13
Damping (sp?) is a big killer of seedlings
 
#14
Simple. Moist paper towel on top of a dinner plate.

Place seeds evenly on top and cover with another moist paper towel

Place inside a plastic bag/grocery bag and put it in the dark for two days

Plant the sprouted seeds half an inch under soil and put them close to a light.

Watch for sproutings and push the dirt aside as they attempt to pop up.

If you plant em too deep they wont push up through the dirt

20150719 073110


6 days after planting some sprouts. 8 days after germinating. Jank bag seeds
 
#15
gardnguyahoy said:
Simple. Moist paper towel on top of a dinner plate.

Place seeds evenly on top and cover with another moist paper towel

Place inside a plastic bag/grocery bag and put it in the dark for two days

Plant the sprouted seeds half an inch under soil and put them close to a light.

Watch for sproutings and push the dirt aside as they attempt to pop up.

If you plant em too deep they wont push up through the dirt

View attachment 523795

6 days after planting some sprouts. 8 days after germinating. Jank bag seeds
Click to expand...
Get your light source closer, theyre getting a bit leggy.
 
#17
Mr.X said:
Get your light source closer, theyre getting a bit leggy.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, ill do that right now. First beans i ever popped!

Edit to add: when do you think i need to seperate em into individual pots?
 
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