Frustrsating Germination PROBLEMS! :(

O.k, I've been doing this for awhile and I'm quite good at it. So when it comes to wanting to start a new strain I order seeds online and do what I normally do. Now I haven't grown from seed in years upon years it's always clones from healthy mothers which I can sea of green really easy.

But seed germination? I've had each one I had die, $70 bucks down the drain, what am I doing wrong?

I place each seed in between two sheets of paper towel, make sure it's always moist and wet with a heating pad underneath. When they crack open and show root I move them to a potting mix and create a dome for the cup to keep up humidity. For all 5 of them I had 4 which grew nice and tall in the dome with no real leaf growth and then snapped over from weight. The last one I kept staked with a straw and the leaves just died back and withered in the end.

They are on the bottom floor in a well warmed and lite veg room, a 250 watt light hangs 3.5 feet above and they are in cups with plenty of drainage holes and have suran wrap over the tops of toothpicks to create a dome.

What the hell am I doing wrong?!??!

I dont know never used paper towles too start.

Just the way I do it not saying its THE way but I never have problems

9 oz red party cup
Good soil Foxfarms Ocean Forest
1 sandwich size zip lock bag

Drill 9 holes in side of cup and 4 large ones in bottom of cup. Fill with soil. Soak with distilled water and allow to drain. Put a pen in center of soil about first pinky finger section deep. Drop in seed. cover seed. put on plastic bag ( dont cover up side holes you drilled in cup just the top) place 1 23 watt 500k cfl directly aboce cup and wait 3-5 days.

Works every time. try to keep temps about 75-85F.

O and take bag off when it pops but keep light close 2 - 4 inches or so, go 4 if you cant check on plant often.

Stretching like that is due to lights to far away. I just add more soil around the stems when that happens and put it closer to the lights. I cut the bottom out of a dixie cup and use that as a sleave to add a couple of inches to the potting soil if I have to, if the pot they are in wont let me just add soil due to being full.
works for me anyway

Lights are too far away and they're stretching like another poster suggested. Using the chart below, your 250w HPS should be no further than 16" away from the plants and no closer than 4". Hope that helps.

Lights are too far away, all you had to was bury the stem almost up to the cotyledon leaves and then it would have stability. To get increased stability, you need to have a fan for direct air movement. The stem well sway in the breeze and strengthen up.

I'm no expert but this has worked for me about 85% of the time: First I just get a take-out container with a clear top. Then I put the sees in water for 24-36 hours or until they drop. Make sure to tap the seeds in the water to see if the sink. Once they crack, I put moist paper towel to line the bottom of the container place the seeds inside then cover them with more moist paper towel. Finally I mist the inside top of the tray every day twice a day while they sit on top of my fridge. 48 hours I have taproots and then I plant them in solo cups.

Thank you all for you suggestions I will try again.

So does anyone have any idea then why the last seed died back? I mean it was supported, might have been to far away from the light but the leaf (not true leaf) literally just died on the vine.

Any idea as to why?

How would you feel if you had to drink a 44 oz Big Gulp through a coffe straw? You know what I mean?

Nope no idea! LOL

think drinking from a cup with a really tall skinny straw out of really big cup.

i had the same problem with mine, was told to pull um up and bury them to just below the leave and they should rebound. all the plants dried up and died but 1. and the 1 that didn't stretched again and grew into my light 4 inches away. and i broke it in half trying to pull it out the light but it was the 1st time i popped seeds so i expected to have problems. hope u have better luck then i did

If using tap water then let it sit, uncovered for at least 24 hours. Use a gallon jug. Use one vinegar capful of vinegar and mix with water after water has sat. Put seed in half cup of water and let it rest for 24 hours. If still floating after 24 hours, tap it and watch it sink. When it pops, put it in your growing medium. If using soil, only plant it the depth it the depth of the seed, growth side down. You'll see her with two days.