Germinating methods

[tomA]

Just wanted to know what everybody thinks is the best way to germinate your babies.

 

The way i have been germinating my seeds is by putting them in a jar half filled with water and leaving them in a dark area in my cupboard. This is a methond i picked up on an internet site, but it doesnt have a very good succsess rate i think the ratio was 1:6 germinate. :angry:

 

So if anyone can suggest a different and more effective way to germinate seeds please get back to me :thumbsup :yingyang

Edited December 21, 2005 by tomA

[Mushaman]

heya TomA

 

I put mine on a plate which has been lined with kitchen paper towels - I wet the base paper then put the beans on and then another double layer of paper on top ... totally wet that and keep it wet constantly - I put another plate upside down on top and check it twice a day for moisture - leave for about a week then check by carefully peeling back a corner of the top paper layer - as soon as it sprouts, I pop the sprout into a rockwool cube and sit in a tray of water - water level half way up he cube for one week ...then just keep cubes damp - should show roots thru rickwool within 14 days

Hope that helps

check my 2nd grow - pix of the plates and paper set up

[WantDaChronic]

i usually put mine in moist soil and take cuttings when the seedlings are big enough...doing musha's method saves about 2 months but you still have to worry about ripping out males as they appear, if you keep all the individual plants numbered and do my method, when the cuttings are being taken, you flower the parents and as long as you numbered the cuttings exactly the same as you did the parents, you will know exactly what sex the plants are when the serious hydro grow starts well thats for me anyways, there are more ways to grow pot than there are people growing it so try a few different methods and see what works best for you after heaps of people have replied

[Nikki]

I used a plate with moist paper towel on bottom and a layer over the top, like what Musha said above, I also put the plate in a humidity dome thingy with a heatmat underneath it and kept them in a dark room. 10/10 seeds germinated

[Tom]

I start mine in soil, when the first serrated leaves are fully formed I transplant to hydro.

 

[Guest jjfto]

All my seeds go into a glass of water for 2 hours or until they sink. Which ever comes first.

Then into pots of coco untill about 3 - 4 weeks veg. once they are sexed i flower.

Pick the best pheno's im after and reveg them for clones.

Out of a 10pack i usually only keep 1 for a mum.

Once i have a good mum coco is no more.

[Gazza2001au]

i use a coke bottle cap filled with water soak seeds for 12 hours than i try to push them down under the water i find the ones that sink are the one that sprout i see my seeds crack open within 24 hours i also leave the coke bottle cap sitting on top of my computer desk the monitor keeps it around 22c also the only seeds i have are around 5 years old i get atlease 50-60% sprout's

[Buddy]

I’ve found my seedlings do a lot better when germinate directly in soil, less handling means less chance of damage to the plant's taproot.

What I do is soak the seeds in plain clean, boiled water for 12 hours prior to planting which will speed up germination. Good seeds will sink, bad seeds will largely remain floating. After this extended soak, I sterilize seeds in a bleach solution (1 Tablespoon of Bleach to 1 gallon of water) for half an hour to kill any fungus residing on the seedcoat.

While waiting I sterilize enough damp soil with heat to germinate all of the seeds by sticking the soil in a microwave oven on high for 2 minutes, while stirring a couple of times and let cool. This will insure that fungus spores have been killed in the soil mix. Make sure the soil mix is light and not packed tight.

You can add a little sand or vermiculite to aid in drainage and weight but I stay away from perlite, it floats out of the mix when watering and takes the seeds with it.

Buy some white 15cm tall styrofoam cups and punch holes in the bottom and side for drainage. I use a red-hot nail for this. The taproot should be around 10cm long at the point of emergence. These cups are found at Woolly’s or Coles at the picnic supply section.

Fill the pots almost to the top with your soil mix, take a pencil and make a small hole about 10 to 12 cm deep, NO deeper, and drop one seed in then cover the seed with fine soil, only enough to top up the hole.

Place in a warm spot, around 28C. Do NOT cover the cup with glad wrap or anything else. The seed has already been hydrated from the soaking and will germinate soon. During the first couple of days, mist the top soil surface lightly if needed and never allow the top 15cm to dry out, and not to the point that the medium stays waterlogged which will invite rot and oxygen starvation.

Don’t water anymore until the seedling is up, and only if it needs it at that point, the taproot will grow at least 10cm before the cotyledons (nutrient leaves) emerge from the soil.

The plant's root will look for, and find moisture at the container's lower soil levels.

With good care, this method is pretty much foolproof.

[tomA]

thanks for all the tips guys, I hope to try some of these methods sometime.

[Nath]

I put them in water until they drop and start to crack open usually within a day or two.. then transplant them very carefully into rockwool blocks ready for hydroponic growing. They then take off like rockets after a few days. Its one of the best ways Ive found and the least stressful since you can aim the root downward and it can grow naturally from day 1