Newbie Seed Germination experiment- 3 methods tried

[JayBee]

Hi All-

I am pretty much a total newbie. Got everything set up about a month ago and promptly started seeds in rockwool per instructions from the video on Esoterics Hydroponics website (I got one of the their pod systems).

To make a long story short I totally killed 8 seeds out of ten (some seeds did not germ, others died soon afer). While in the process of killing the seeds i did a lot of research and realized all the things i had done wrong.

I decided to start over with ten new seeds using the three methods that I thought sounded best. Paper towel, Glass of water, and Oasis cubes. I started 3 in Oasis cubes, 3 in glass of water, and 4 in paper towels.

Oasis cubes were soaked in PH 6.0 water with no nutes

Glass of water used same PH 6.0 water with no nutes. Water slightly warmed in a coffee cup. Once seeds popped they were put into rockwool soaked in 5.5 PH water, no nutes.

Paper towels were initially wet with PH 6.0 water but after that were sprayed with regular tap water to keep towels moist. Once tap roots were about 1/4 in - 1/2 inch they were put into rockrool with PH 5.5 water, no nutes.



Results so far-

Paper towel quickest to sprout tap root and to first break surface- this aplied to 3 out of 4 seeds started in paper towels. 4th seed developed a kind of white/blue looking mold or fungus or something while in paper towel. Maybe this one got too wet? It was in center of plate where there is little depression.

Two of the three Oasis cubes broke the surface shortly after the 3 papertowel seeds broke surface. They also look a little healthier right now. Third seed I think fell into the hole the wrong way down, the holes in these cubes are huge!

So far the seeds soaked in the coffee cup are slowest, only one has broken surface so far and only a little bit.

If anyone is interested I will keep you updated - rock on.:rock

JB

 

[John Ditchweed]

congrats on the new plants jaybee keep us updated on how your frist grow goes that way if you have any problems we can be here to help you along the way........ remember no question is a stupid question when you are trying to learn something

 

[JayBee]

Latest update-

All but three have broken surface of rockwool or oasis cubes. Two of the seeds soaked in cup of water have not yet broken surface plus the seed from paper towels that developed a blueish funk... Not sure if I did something wrong for the seeds in the cup as I know lots of people have good results with this method, but so far at least, both paper towel and oasis cubes are way outperforming seeds started in glass of water... Maybe I should not have used PH adjusted water?

 

[Rusty Trichome]

... Maybe I should not have used PH adjusted water?

Always use ph adjusted water.
Did you change the water daily?
Did you keep it in the dark, so mold or algae doesn't form?
Did you keep the temps consistently warm?
Did you add anything else to the water?

edit:
For the seed, the only reason you would want to plant it pointy side down, is to satisify impatience. In the wild, they've survived for many generations by knowing how to deal with being upside-down. The taproot uses gravity to determine which direction to grow once it's popped-out of the shell.

 

[JayBee]

Thanks for the reply rusty.

I did not change the water daily, they were in the water for about 48 hours.
Was kept in the dark and temps were consistently warm.
Nothing else added to water, used tap water with EC 300.

On my last attempt seeds that were put in upside down had issues, looking like flamingos with their heads in the sand. Deffinately seems to slow things down, orienting seeds "right way" for someone just doing 10 seeds is not a big deal and seems like small price to pay for all of us impatient for the plants to mature and ultimately smoked! :)

JB

 

[FastForward]

Hi JB....a friend of mine has two of their 2 pod systems under 2 x 600w (i.e. 1 600w per 2 pod) and pulls 9oz a plant of the best blue cheese I've smoked, consistently.... welcome to the farm and enjoy the rest of your farming adventure :)

 

[Rusty Trichome]

I used to wory about the seed orientation, but after a few waterings, the seed settles-in and will likely not be 'pointy-end down' any more. (in soil, at least)

Some plants use the 'taproot curl' to help with removing the hull. Picture that flamingo about an inch underground...Dragging the seed upwards as the root grows down, helps the embryo to pry-open the seed cover.

Another trick to germinating tough seeds, is to lightly scuff the seed suture with fine sandpaper to cut thru the waxy coating on the seed. This can help speed-up water absorption, swelling the hull and causing it to split-open. Works pretty good for almost any hard to open seeds, if you don't go overboard with the sandpaper.

 

[kasrx]

JB- Thanks for sharing. It will help be get better results than my first attempt that didnt end well. Yow-and those seeds were expensive!!

 

[frankie-smiles]

The only time i've ever had germ problems is by using too much water. I use a damp hand cloth instead of paper towels and get 100% most times. If there is too much water on the paper towels they seem to turn to mush inside the seed. I don't like the cup of water method cuz i feel it drowns the seed, they need more air than water i find. Also that bit about a flamingo with its head in sand is kinda normal, the seed uses the leaverage of the bent over stem to pull its head outta the seed husk. They are seeds and can grow almost by themselfs, sometimes the best thing to do is leave them alone to sort themselfs out lol. Good luck with the grow, from small acorns and all that.

 

[JayBee]

Thanks for all the replies.

Rusty- I have read about using sandpaper on the seeds, just afraid i am too much a klutz for that. Also, I hear ya on the seed orientation, although i do wonder if rockwool vs. soil makes a difference in the effect of certain orientation (I am in rockwool). I deff think it is slower, i have one seed that has root coming up and back into the RW now, and hopefully will be pulling its head out soon, all the other seeds that have broken surface already are starting first real set of leaves and have had pre leaves for couple days. Maybe the flamingo seed will catch up though.

FF- Thanks for the info, makes me feel good to hear others had good luck with the pods and the blue cheese. I have a 4pod with one 600w HID in a DR120 grow tent. Will keep you all updated on the progress.

Kasryx- Yup, now i understand why they say to use cheap seeds first grow! I did not read the FAQ here before starting the first time and paid the price!

Frankie Smiles- I agree, i think the big problem i had my first time was that rockwool was too wet. This time I shook the cubes till no more water would come out- I was actually worried they were too dry-

I just dont understand how so many other folks have such good results with glass of water method. It seems like the easiest method, but results have so far been weak.

Again, thanks for all the great feedback, please keep it coming.

JB

 

[Arti.chokes]

Hi Rusty, If you are worried about sandpaper but may need to use it in the future you can use one of your girls nail files, just select one that isn't too rough, only sand in one direction, check each stroke to ensure you don't go right through and you should be fine, and don't forget to place a shoe box lid or the like under you in case you drop any seeds. Good luck with your new grow. Arti

 

[Donk Frog]

I put seeds in glass of ph balanced water with a b-vitamin plant supplement. I soak them 8-tweleve hours, then on to the the moist paper towel mehtod until they sprout. I almost always get one hundred percent germ rate.

 

[JH420]

Thanks for the report and best of luck JB. I'm a newb as well and finding the germination process much more difficult than expected...already lost about a couple hundred bucks worth of seeds but I think I am getting the hang of it now.

Couple questions for you. Are you using a heat pad and are you sprouting under a light? I'm finding that using a light (220 watts of T5) and the heat pad together is too much heat in the early stages.

 

[JayBee]

Hi JH-

I live not to far from equator so it is very warm here all year round, no need for heat pad.

As far as light goes i have read conflicting info, but I kept seeds in dark until their pre leaves were ready, then under a couple of T5 (just 2 x 21w). Now they are in the big blocks and am planning to start introducing MH light in next few days starting with light about 3 feet away. I am hoping to be able to put the blocks into the buckets next week.

Donk Frog- Just curious how your method would compare with just paper towel? I would guess you could skip the glass of water for most seeds and get same results with just paper towels. Next go round I will try and do comparison of your method vs. just paper towels.

So far I really like the oasis cubes but they do not fit into big rockwool blocks very well, will see if that makes a difference.

JB

 

[JH420]

edit:
For the seed, the only reason you would want to plant it pointy side down, is to satisify impatience. In the wild, they've survived for many generations by knowing how to deal with being upside-down. The taproot uses gravity to determine which direction to grow once it's popped-out of the shell.

On a couple seeds that I have (accidentially) planted pointy side up the tap root has pushed through the surface so I dug it out and re-planted it into the jiffy puck.

 

[JayBee]

HI JH-

I think you would probably be better off just letting the seeds right themselves at that point but hopefully your seeds will be ok. As stated it just takes them a little longer, but they will eventually put their root down into right place and pull themselves out, in the process getting rid of seed shell.

Let me know how seeds the you replanted turn out.

JB

 

[JH420]

Well the tap rout had sprouted from the Jiffy puck on a couple, with 220 watts of t5's above I figured the light would kill the taproot...so I carefully dug them out and replanted with the shell just below the top of the soil...one I did a few days back is doing fine the other that I replanted this morning now looks like she is about to emerge out proper...so far looking good on both, though I wasn't sure what I was actually supposed to do.