Problems Germinating/sprouting seeds

I recently purchased some seeds off of attitude. Put them under some cfls in a germanation tray from wallmart (has 72 mini pots, a clear lid to build humidity, and a bottom tray to load with water). I planted them in peatmoss about the length of the end of a pencil deep using the end of a pencil.

After about 3 days the first blue dream came up. The second blue dream came up the day later, but seemed the top was stuck, making the stem a upside down U shape. The rest did not sprout (12 others, consisting of Blue Dream Hso, Kosher Kush Reserva Privada, Super Lemon Haze Greenhouse, And 7 freebies, all of which are feminized). I decided to switch the light to a 75w plant growing bulb about 4 days after because no more had sprouted and the U one was still stuck. This caused the soil to dry up much quicker and seemed to have killed the sprout that was stuck.

Yesterday I switched back to the other light (cfls) and watered the soil in all the pots. Is there still a chance that any of the other seeds will still come up? The U shaped one seems to have wilted away, but the one sprout that had sprouted is looking pretty healthy to me and is starting to form new leaves. It has been almost 2 weeks since I planted the seeds.

Sorry, but after two weeks, I would not expect any sprouting. How wet did you keep them? Maybe try keeping them real wet for a few days, perhaps it was just too dry for them to germinate. Otherwise, dig them up and if they are still sealed, put them in a cup of water in a warm, completely dark place for a few days. The seeds need to be super wet at first, any slight dryness could kill recently germinated seeds. About the upside down U, I would leave it alone, that happens a lot and they usually recover with ease.

The best surefire seed starting tactic from all the different ways I have tried is oxygenated gel seed starting. Simply take knox gellatin or pectin unflavored of course + water(I use cycled aquaponics water) then create a gel with a bit of sugar. As the gel reaches 68 degrees and slightly thickens hit it with a wisk to create air bubbles in the gel then let it set. you can use ice cube tray to create blocks and push the seed into the solid gel after removing from fridge and letting reach room temp. The oxygenated gel is the perfect enviroment for seed starting plus you get the added bonus of being able to see the root growth and germination cause the gel is clear. And since I use aquaponics water it will even give nutes so it can develop a nice root system before going into the hydroponics.

No soak over night. No absolute dark for germinating the seeds first. No giving them a head start. Some may have been planted way too deep and upsde down. Those will take awhile if at all, with all the changes you threw in.

Too much water. Too much light. Too impatient. You cannot grow these plants. These plants grow on their own and are practically un-stoppable.

Really only us humans can stop them. Think about that.

Here is how I do it. Dark. Take 1 cup and and 2 plates. Place the seeds in the cup in RO water and cover with a plate. Dark. They will plump up within 24 hr, no longer. Take those seeds and arrange them in this special way on a dinner plate.

Use a pair of paper towels, wet not sopping with RO water. The seeds go around the edge so get a plate that has a step down to the bottom.

Put the seeds around on the wet towels, UP, right above that step. You will place those carefully with a tweezer. Never touch seeds.

Now the seeds can wick up water but not drown on the bottom.Next, fold over the top towel down over the seeds. Put a little more water in the bottom, so those towels are wet, not sopping wet.

Put the same size plate on top of that. Face to face. Dark. See? You need dark, that first week. Check it every couple of days, renew the water in the bottom, etc.

Then when you plant, you have to avoid over water. In Botany we do that by starting them in a tiny cup and transplant maybe 3 or 4 times before you have a good root ball to feed.



Plant them so there is only about 1/4 inch of soil covering and use a tweezer to place the root curl downward so it can lift and open the seed.

Hey, I pay $10 or more a seed. I am very careful and still they don't all germ all the time. Why plant those?

Helps?

Hey guys, thanks for the quick reply's. I kept the soil very damp for the first week. I filled the tray about quarter way with water. Then I would check the empty pots to see the water level and watered when it got low.This kept the top of the soil very damp, almost wet. I was thinking that I may have over watered, but when the soil was dried by the second light, it might have saved a few rooting seeds? The second bulb made the soil get dry very quickly but only for the center few pots. The ouside pots were still damp and the sprout that was on the outside was leaning towards the center. I noticed this and switched back to the cfls and watered all of the soil.

Should I wait a few more days to see if they sprout under the cfls or should I dig them up? This Tuesday will be the 2 week mark.

oh and if you are confused by the pots, They are all attached in a rectangle and are placed 12x4. They have holes in the bottom of each pot for drainage, a tray underneath I filled 1/4 of the pots depth with water, and a top that is clear.

Cocabam said:

Hey guys, thanks for the quick reply's. I kept the soil very damp for the first week. I filled the tray about quarter way with water. Then I would check the empty pots to see the water level and watered when it got low.This kept the top of the soil very damp, almost wet. I was thinking that I may have over watered, but when the soil was dried by the second light, it might have saved a few rooting seeds? The second bulb made the soil get dry very quickly but only for the center few pots. The ouside pots were still damp and the sprout that was on the outside was leaning towards the center. I noticed this and switched back to the cfls and watered all of the soil.

Should I wait a few more days to see if they sprout under the cfls or should I dig them up? This Tuesday will be the 2 week mark.

oh and if you are confused by the pots, They are all attached in a rectangle and are placed 12x4. They have holes in the bottom of each pot for drainage, a tray underneath I filled 1/4 of the pots depth with water, and a top that is clear.

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Hi!

You can wait a few more days but I wouldnt get my hopes up, as I undrstand it you drowend the poor seeds.

Way too much watering there.

For the next time I would advise you not to use any napkins and alike methods, it is an unnecessary complication and it can cause mor harm the good.
You should soak the seeds in water only if you are germinating old seeds, fresh ones dont need that.

For best germination results you should place your seeds directly in to the medium they will be growing in (you did that allready, dont change it) seeds should be placed around one to two times their diameter in to the substrate, thats 5-max10mm deep. If you place them too deep theyre gonna have trouble reaching the surface, if you place them too shallow, theyre not gonna be able to shed their shell, but that you can live with.

No special oreintation needed, they will finde their own way up.

You should also check ph and the nutrients added to the substrate. Seedlings dont do well in a high nutrient substrates. Ph should be around 6.5

You can buy substrates specially designed for sprouting seeds.

I always sterillize the substrate I use for germinating in a microwave owen (before you put in the seeds, wait until the substrate has cooled off completley).

And dont water so much man... just fill the tray with some watter and wait till the substrate soaks it up, thats it. Dont add any more water.
The substrate should only be moist not dripping wet.

You can put a dome over your pots but its not neccessary if you can monitor them every day, if it feels to dry do not water, use a sprayer and just lightly sprey the top of the substrate.

And you also dont need to run the lights until the first seedlings have sprouted. theres no reason to do that, it just dries ot the top of the soil. If you need higher temp. just invest in a heating pad to put under the pots, theyre cheap.

Do some more reading and more luck next time. Cheers.

I think everyone has their own technique when it comes to germinating. First timers are always going to have issues. Experience is what makes for successful germination. Germination does not mean you will have a viable plant. Here recently I took 3 White Widow, 3 Cheese and 3 Bianca seeds and germinated them (using my method). 8 seeds sprouted, but the Cheese did not look right to me. The 8 sprouts were planted and I ended up with 2 strong White Widows and all 3 Biancas made it. The 2 Cheese never pulled through. I took 3 more Cheese seeds (out of the 10 pack) and two didn't germinate and one sprouted poorly like the previous Cheese seeds did. I contacted Amsterdam MS and they are sending me a replacement 10 pack of the Cheese. I don't think any of the Cheese seeds I got were of good quality. The bottom line is even if you have good quality seeds, not all of them are going to germinate regardless of which method is used. Some seeds are duds.

people talk crap on the paper towel method for whatever reason, but you don't see problems like this if you just keep the paper towel wet for a few days. it works. 12 fem seeds? id be so pissed.

I always put mine shallow and spray them down often and use a little paint brush to sweep off their helmets. works fine.