WTF is going on with seedling roots growing straight up in the air?

Okay I am not any kind of an expert horticulturist by any standards but I did take several botany for dummies classes at one accredited state university and one community college and I am all but certain that plants are supposed to have some kind of gravity-based mechanism to make their roots grow downward.

So why on Earth do my sprouted seeds keep sending their roots straight up into the air? Just found a GSC seed I germinated about a week ago with a root growing maybe two inches in the wrong freaking direction, and the baby plant did not survive as the root was too dehydrated.

And it's not just this batch of seeds. I have seen the same bizarre phenomenon with others recently. Now I know I'm probably being paranoid or have some kind of observational bias, but it seems like this problem was not happening back in the '70s and '80s when I first started messing around with growing my own.

Maybe I'm wrong about that gravity-mechanism thing, but I honestly thought it was supposed to be a bedrock principal of plant science. Really frustrating to find out I'm that full of shit.

Turn pot upside down and repeat as necessary, lol. It's definitely pre programed for the roots to grow downward. You're seeds are confused for some reason. Maybe they came from halfway around the globe, lol. Sorry can't resist the jokes.... I would cover the roots in whatever you're growing in. If they keep growing upward, I'm not sure what I would do, lol.

ltecato said:

Okay I am not any kind of an expert horticulturist by any standards but I did take several botany for dummies classes at one accredited state university and one community college and I am all but certain that plants are supposed to have some kind of gravity-based mechanism to make their roots grow downward.

So why on Earth do my sprouted seeds keep sending their roots straight up into the air? Just found a GSC seed I germinated about a week ago with a root growing maybe two inches in the wrong freaking direction, and the baby plant did not survive as the root was too dehydrated.

And it's not just this batch of seeds. I have seen the same bizarre phenomenon with others recently. Now I know I'm probably being paranoid or have some kind of observational bias, but it seems like this problem was not happening back in the '70s and '80s when I first started messing around with growing my own.

Maybe I'm wrong about that gravity-mechanism thing, but I honestly thought it was supposed to be a bedrock principal of plant science. Really frustrating to find out I'm that full of shit.

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pic please i dont beleave this for some wird reason

¿uıɐɹʇs uɐlıɐɹʇsnɐ uɐ ƃuıʍoɹƃ noʎ ǝɹɐ

.RootDown said:

¿uıɐɹʇs uɐlıɐɹʇsnɐ uɐ ƃuıʍoɹƃ noʎ ǝɹɐ

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aussie strains grow right its the china ones maybe

To the OP and to .rootdown? How'd you do that? Lol

Maybe yours top soil is too moist? Making the seedling send its root in any moist direction?

rob333 said:

pic please i dont beleave this for some wird reason

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I can't believe it either. In fact I would have thought that it was impossible. But anyway I will try to get a photo next time it happens.

If it never happens again, then I guess you have "jinxed" me in a good way, and I appreciate the good medicine.

T macc said:

To the OP and to .rootdown? How'd you do that? Lol

Maybe yours top soil is too moist? Making the seedling send its root in any moist direction?

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I can't rule that out exactly. I'd have to wait for it to happen again and check.

I had 1 unusual this veg cycle too. My 2 day old sprout got its tap root eaten by a worm

macsnax said:

Turn pot upside down and repeat as necessary, lol. It's definitely pre programed for the roots to grow downward. You're seeds are confused for some reason. Maybe they came from halfway around the globe, lol. Sorry can't resist the jokes.... I would cover the roots in whatever you're growing in. If they keep growing upward, I'm not sure what I would do, lol.

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The only "unnatural thing" I do is to soak in a 50/50 mix of water and drug-store hydrogen peroxide to get the roots to pop. Then as soon as the roots are maybe 3-5 cm long I transfer to a solid medium like potting soil or vermiculite.

rob333 said:

aussie strains grow right its the china ones maybe

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Okay so which direction does the toilet water really swirl in Australia? I have asked that question to several Australians and none of them will give me a straight answer. What exactly are you hiding?

T macc said:

To the OP and to .rootdown? How'd you do that? Lol

Maybe yours top soil is too moist? Making the seedling send its root in any moist direction?

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This seems reasonable. I’m no expert either.

ltecato said:

The only "unnatural thing" I do is to soak in a 50/50 mix of water and drug-store hydrogen peroxide to get the roots to pop. Then as soon as the roots are maybe 3-5 cm long I transfer to a solid medium like potting soil or vermiculite.

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Ya man I really don't know. Do you have more of those seeds? If you do pop them and see what they do, for science.

ltecato said:

Okay so which direction does the toilet water really swirl in Australia? I have asked that question to several Australians and none of them will give me a straight answer. What exactly are you hiding?

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I'm pretty sure it actually flows just like our side of the world.

Plant them sideways. So the split happens horizontally not vertically

When you plant your seeds do you germinate them first? And how deep do you plant them?

If the tap root is placed facing up it will grow up and then curve back down. If you are germinating them first then make sure the tap root is facing down. If you are just popping seeds in then you may be doing so to shallow and if the tap root comes out on top there is not enough room for it to curve back downward before it's reaching the top of the soil

Aqua Man said:

When you plant your seeds do you germinate them first? And how deep do you plant them?

If the tap root is placed facing up it will grow up and then curve back down. If you are germinating them first then make sure the tap root is facing down. If you are just popping seeds in then you may be doing so to shallow and if the tap root comes out on top there is not enough room for it to curve back downward before it's reaching the top of the soil

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I had a blueberry seed I soaked till it cracked then put it point down in soil. 2 days later the root poked up. I flipped it over. The root poked up. Lather, rinse, repeat. Eventually it died with a 3cm long root looping around the seed. Evolution in action. Some seeds are just stupid.

CanadianJim said:

I had a blueberry seed I soaked till it cracked then put it point down in soil. 2 days later the root poked up. I flipped it over. The root poked up. Lather, rinse, repeat. Eventually it died with a 3cm long root looping around the seed. Evolution in action. Some seeds are just stupid.

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I think I read somewhere the root may turn into a stem if kept moist. Don't quote that as fact though.

Aqua Man said:

When you plant your seeds do you germinate them first? And how deep do you plant them?

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I let them soak in a 50/50 solution of water and 3% hydrogen peroxide for 24-48 hours until a root pops out, then I usually switch them to a solid substrate like potting soil or vermiculite, sometimes peat pellets.

ltecato said:

I let them soak in a 50/50 solution of water and 3% hydrogen peroxide for 24-48 hours until a root pops out, then I usually switch them to a solid substrate like potting soil or vermiculite, sometimes peat pellets.

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Tap root down right? 24-48 hours is to long to soak imo. 16-18hrs remove and use damp paper towel/unbleached coffee filters. But whatever works for you I guess.