Unheard of Germination Issue...

High folks, it's been a while, but trust me, I've been growing. I have been doing this for 36+ years, and just when I thought I've seen it all, I obviously have not.

In my newest project, I plant 12 viable and fresh seeds in my typical fashion: I fill up red solo cups full of Fox Farms Happy Frog potting mix, and water down good pH. I then put ziploc baggies over the top to create a sweaty environment. I'll stick 'em under warm lights, but not too hot. With this method, my germ rate is 90%.
Ok so now I check my solo cups and I see that 11 out 12 cups have "sproutage." So I take a closer look by removing the plastic baggies. Are you fucking kidding me?! Five of the seedlings had sprouted upside down! I'm mad that I didn't take pics to show you, but I was pretty shocked and confused. These seedlings all had their taproot sticking above the soil! The cotyledons were buried under the soil! WTF?!

I had not touched the cups or disturbed the soil. And as a precaution, I pre-wet the soil before dropping the seeds in. This way, the seeds don't float around like they do when you water them after planting.

I tried flipping them back to being right-side-up, but it hasn't worked. I just need an explanation for all this. Thank you!!

Don't put your lights in the soil?

it happens, im usually OCD about shit so i catch it quciker than most, my advice would be to take some seeds and germ them in a damp newspaper or paper towel, when the taproot comes out and starts to stretch down, THEN put it in the soil or whatever medium you plan on using, i do this for a few reasons...1. more control...2. easier for me to fix if needed 3. works just as well as soil or other methods but the difference is with this method i can SEE whats going on, which makes me feel better, just make sure when you do it you keep it in a very dark, warm place, warmer the better usually, i shoot for about 80-85 and i have almost 100 percent germ rate, good luck buddy

My thought is that the plastic wrap on top kept the top moist and the tap root "thought" it was going in the right direction.
I just put a bean in a rockwool cube and keep it moist and in a few days they pop. think about how they would sprout naturally.

~CReePeR~ said:

My thought is that the plastic wrap on top kept the top moist and the tap root "thought" it was going in the right direction.
I just put a bean in a rockwool cube and keep it moist and in a few days they pop. think about how they would sprout naturally.

Click to expand...

No plants are sensitive to gravity and the roots always find there way down. The baggie just helped keep it alive by preventing complete air pruning. You would have lost her for sure. So any decisions on what your next move is with the terminal being sow photosynthesis cant happen. it needs to ne corrected asap. or the plant will stress and stunt most likely abort. EDIT: sorry creeper my post was intended for topo.

Thank you very much everyone. All theories presented are insightful. My next round-I'm going to try the paper towel and rock wool approaches. These seeds were too expensive to waste (Jack Herer, GDP, and Blue Dream.)

Funny, I have been using this this "humidity" tent for decades, and this never happened to me. I have favored it because the seedling remains untouched, thereby avoiding any kind of "transplantation shock."

I guess old dogs DO need to learn new tricks, lol.