Best germination method, soil or papel towel ?

This argument has been ongoing for ages. Some observations....

I've used both methods as well as others such as floating seeds in a glass of water first, etc. I ended up using the paper towel method exclusively when I realized that many seeds that went straight into dirt had problems with seedcaps. The seedlings would pop up OK but there were numerous problems with seedcaps that hung on too long and strangled the little one before I even saw any green. So now I use the PT method only with one little personal twist. I leave the seedling in the PT set-up until the root is more than one inch and the seedcap is about to fall off. I lay the s'ling flat on the PT and use 2 toothpicks to pry off the seedcap before she even goes into dirt. That is much easier on me and the seedling to remove the cap when she is laying flat. Much harder to do successfully than when you are trying to wrestle with a skinny 2 inch toothpick that is already in dirt.

My advice is to pick one method and stick to it until you can maintain close to 100% success.

Good luck, BigSteve.

I put the seeds in cup of water for 24hrs, then plant seed in damp soil covered with plastic. My seeds sprouted in 2-3 days. The paper towel method took 4-6 days with less sprouting for me.

testiclees said:

I like the nut sack idea suggested above!

However I think it makes sense to put the seed directly into the media you're going to be growing in. In a post on TLG "coot" talks about how the emerging tap root and the biology and chemistry in the media interact from the get go. It seems better to me to connect the tap root with it's natural environment than a bleached paper towel.

Click to expand...

My NL seed popped out this morning!!! took only 2 days .... this method seems to work perfecly ... take a look