Seedlings dying. Help

Hey guys, I'm brand new to this and am trying to grow for the first time, and I have never had much of a green thumb. It's always been rather brown, actually. Plants and I have never really gotten along.

I'm sure this sounds elementary, but I can't even get seedlings to form. I've had no issues with germination, and have had 100% success with the 20 seeds I've tried on, but every single plant has died shortly afterwards, and I'm hoping someone can tell me where I'm going wrong.

I've been doing tons of homework on the subject over the last several months, and so far what I have done is I have taken the seeds and submerged them in R/O water for 24 hours, and then placed them in a wet paper towel for 2-4 days until a good root has formed. That part, I've had no issues with. Then, I have taken the seeds and placed them inside moist peat pellets, and put them in little plastic greenhouses outdoors where they can get some sun. I was careful to make sure they didn't have too much water, but I'm not exactly sure how much is "too much."
7 days later, I went to check on the seeds, and saw that there were no sprouts, so I left them alone for a couple more days. Then after 10 days, with still no sprouts, I decided to pull the pellets apart, and found that the single tap root on each one had turned to mush, and every seed had died.

I repeated everything from the first time again with 5 more seeds. 3 died the same way, and 2 sprouted a little, and then died before their leafs even opened up.

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going wrong. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I'd really appreciate it.

I find that germinating seeds up to initial sprouting INDOORS is much better. Many things can happen outdoors with seeds in a " plastic greenhouse " like HEAT STRESS / Temp Stress. The SUN could very well cook the little seeds within that greenhouse. These are very fragile so if you " sprouted " indoors with a controlled enviroment , you would have better success. Make sure when you handle seeds ( NEVER TOUCH THE TAPROOT ).

So do you think that just doing what I'm doing already, but indoors, will work?
My concern indoors was that the room I'd sprout in is pretty cool (70f).

cnc24 said:

So do you think that just doing what I'm doing already, but indoors, will work?
My concern indoors was that the room I'd sprout in is pretty cool (70f).

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Actually would be better ( 65-75 degrees ) ( your temps are fine ) although I had seeds sprout in 80 degree temps. The plastic will provide high humidity for initial sprouting ( no need to water ).
If you have a room that is too cool ( below 65 degrees ) you can buy a small warming mat to help seeds , like an incubator type environment. As far as lighting , normal room lighting was enough to produce sprouts. Once they are looking established then you can transplant peat plug right into your soil medium.

welcome to RIU @cnc24
you are drowning them and loving them way too much--stop it. soak your seeds for 12-24 hours (no more). put dirt in a cup, wet the dirt, place the seed on top of the dirt, add a little bit of dirt to cover it up and leave it alone. your method has wasted 2-4 days of energy the seedling has stored inside.

you should see sprouts in three to four days. leave it alone until you see a sprout and then depending on how many days it has been, you might need to give a little bit of water, but probably not. don't put them in "little greenhouses" just put them in a window sill until they sprout. good luck.

I have 3 seeds that are in paper towels right now and are probably ready to move to pellets, so I'll try that and see if I have any better luck.
My other concern is moisture. I have read everywhere that too much water is just as bad as too little water, but being brand new to this, I have no clue what the right amount of water is. I think that the reason the first seeds turned to mush was because they had too much water, even though at first I thought I watered pretty lightly. So how can I tell how much moisture is the right amount? Or am I just over-thinking something that's supposed to be simple lol

no, now you're getting it. if you soak the dirt before the seed goes in, there will be enough water for it to sprout and for a day or so after sprouting depending on environment, amount of dirt, amount of initial water, etc., especially if you soaked your seed for a day before planting.
feel how light your container is before you water the dirt and when it feels that light again, water your seedling with 1-3 tbsp of water and leave her alone. before you know it, you'll need to start increasing how much water she can use. less is more at this stage.

I feel quite a bit of my issues are derived from trying too hard. As I said before, I've always been terrible with plants, and this is a plant that I'd love to do well with, so it has me a bit on edge. I'll try to simplify things and see how that goes for me

you'll find the less you do with the girls, especially at this stage, the better-growing requires a lot of patience. lesson learned; quick learners usually do well growing.

Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully this solves my problem, and I don't have to bug anyone until I come across the next problem in the journey lol

I just put my last 11 seeds in some water, and have some peat pellets moistened up. When I get home tonight (in about 12 hours) I'll put the seeds straight into the pellets and put them in my window, and I won't cover them this time.

Also, side note, it looks like I might actually have one healthy sprout coming up out of all my previous failure. One of my Incredible Bulk seeds looks like it has a chance. I opened the top to let all the humidity out and have t in the window now, so I guess I'll know by tomorrow if it'll live or not. Fingers crossed

Looks like I may have finally caught a break. I have one good looking sprout. It's Dr Kripplings Incredible Bulk.

I'm about to plant the other seeds that I've soaked all day the way you guys suggested

Steep learning curve mate. You'll find even the general advice a bit OTT eventually. You can put a seed straight into those peat pellets pre soaked, leave them alone for a few days after they sprout and you have 84% success (instead of 85%...) The trick from there is getting a feel for the plants needs. It takes time and, if you learn by repetition like me rather than taking notes, a lot of beans, cheap/bag seed and lots of short veg seedlings help.

(Don't water those ^ now until they Look like they need it, soil surface staring to dry out)

2 days after planting the seeds, I'm starting to see little stems and seeds barely poking out of the pellets. Looks like about half are barely popping up right now, and I'm hoping the other half is shortly behind. This is way more success than I had before with putting the seeds outdoors in greenhouses.

My other sprout that came up several days ago doesn't look like it's really grown at all in the last couple days, but it still looks healthy and seems more opened up than it did before.

Thank you so much for the help so far guys, you've been great. Even the simplest stuff gets me when it comes to gardening, but hopefully that'll start changing over time lol

thanks for the update @cnc24 glad to hear it's working out for you this run. keep us updated on how things are progressing and let us know if we can be of any help

hey keep posting updates man, im very interested to see how it goes for you. also im wondering what grow medium you are planning on using, and brand names of nutrients, etc. No need to pile it all in one update, write it out for us as you do it, will make reviewing and going back over to find mistakes much easier (if any) personally, im planning on growing organically, and feeding my worms laxatives. (i kid) alright, lol, looking forward to an update.

You want the best results? Get a pot, put some soil in it, poke a hole, drop seed in, water and leave it be.

Its a seed. Seriously, it doesn't need your help. Plant straight to grow medium and leave it be.

A tap root has very fine roots on it. The more steps you add the more of those you break. Nobody but cannabis growers and elementary school kids sprout seeds with paper towels.

The only step that crooses over to other plants and vegetables is presoaking in water. That's only for certain plants. And then the only times cannabis seeds need soaking is if the are old seeds.

Just start a few in some solo cups with holes poked in the bottom filled with seed starter or soil with no fertilizer in it. Pre water, poke hole 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, put seed in it, cover, and lightly tamp down. Put in a warm place. It doesn't need to be dark.

Edit:
My bad, welcome to the site. I would say as something new you are over thinking it. Remember, KISS. Keep it super simple. It really helps. I've done it before, notice a problem and get worked up and over think it. Start a couple in the paper towels and then put a few seeds straight to dirt and compare in a couple weeks.

I would say the next problem is damping off due to damp and cool conditions. The first few days you can use a dropper to keep the seed moist in dry climate. Once it sprouts let it dry some it will help root growth. Hope this helps.

Thanks guys.

I've been trying my hardest to dial down on the water, and have been adding about 1-3 drops of water to each pellet daily just to make up for evaporation. But now that I'm seeing sprouts everywhere, I'll take your advice and let them dry out a bit.

I was very excited when I got home tonight, and saw that all the tiny little sprouts from this morning had shot up so violently in a matter of just a few hours. It's amazing how quickly they grew today.

Just compare the photos I posted this morning the these from just a few minutes ago.


Right now it looks like 9 out of the 12 seeds have sprouted. Hopefully the other 3 are just late bloomers, but even if they aren't, I'm fine with a 75% success rate for now. It's much better than before lol


Other than that, my first sprout seems to have really opened up today. I have been closing it up in a clear plastic container during the day to lock in the humidity, and leaving it open at night to breath. I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not, but it seems to be doing okay so far. I'm open to suggestions if anyone thinks there's a better way of doing that.



And as for growing medium, this is what I currently have and plan to mix together to grow with. Unfortunately, where I live, this is all that is available to me. The only place close to hear that sells anything related to gardening is Lowes, so this is what I got to deal with. Although, I am off work tomorrow, and would be more than willing to make the long drive up to the city to get different soil, or at least better soils to mix in with what I already have. I don't know hardly anything when it comes to good soils other than the miracle-no rule, and that the pH has to be 6-7ish. So if anyone can make some suggestions or recommendations tonight or early tomorrow, that would be great. That will give me a chance to make the drive and gather up whatever I need

Awesome news, 11 out of the 12 have now sprouted and they all look awesome. The last one, which is the only White Widow seed I planted, looks like it might sprout tomorrow or maybe over night. I can see a tiny little green stem barely poking through the surface. So, it's looking like I may have had 100% success.

However, the White Widow seed, and 2 others that I kept separate, were germinated in paper towels, while all the others were germed directly in the pellets the way you guys suggested. The White Widow is growing slowly, and may not even make it, and the other two have done nothing; while the 11 that were done the way you guys said are all doing great. So clearly the way I was doing it before was bad, and you guys were totally right. Thanks so much for the support

Just moved them all to pots. Each had a tap root growing straight out the bottom of the pellet.