germination help needed for beginner

[empire]

Is their any thing I should do like soaking the seeds first or do I just plant in soil? some advice would be great

[Amnesiac]

Everyone has their own methods for germination So I'll just give you mine. I'm sure others will also chime in with theirs.

 

 

I pre-soak seeds for 24 hours in demineralised water. I then put them in a container and put that container on top of my monitor (which happens to be on. this helps keep them nice and cosy).

 

I check them every 12 hours. After 24 hours I transplant to my soil + perlite mixture. I plant them prior to them getting tap roots because transplanting them after they get their tap roots can be a delicate task (and I have fumbly fingers so meh )

 

As to which direction to plant the seed in. Some people would say tap roots facing downwards. When you don't have tap roots yet it's hard to guess, so I plant them on their side (horizontally so it's flat). This way it doesn't really matter if you pick the right direction or not. Gravity will take care of the tap root as it emerges.

 

 

Once transplanted I put them under the light and the light itself will be radiating heat, which is nice and warm (seeds love getting raised in warmth)

 

 

Hope this helps.

[empire]

thanks for the help. just wondering would it help to soak them in something like superthrive hormones?

[jethroqwalrustitty]

no, soaking it in horemoans would do nothing, you just want to put them in a dark, warm, moist, airtight place. Correct me if im wrong but it worked amazingly for me. :smoke

[Amnesiac]

Do not give it any hormones or nutes at this stage it will more than likely kill the seed (well as soon as it cracks anyway)

 

The seed has enough energy in itself to be able to turn into a seedling stage where it has it's cotyledon leaves and first set of true leaves.

 

 

So no nutes for at least a week or two (from the day it pops the surface)

 

 

Good luck

[empire]

thanks for the help

[Pickle]

I say point the point of the seed or the root up as it seeks the surface before turning down, if it is pointing down it has to turn towards the surface first. This saves the seeds energy by making it make one turn instead of two.

[fsagertyaef]

this is my personal eperince and i just had a tes tot see which worked better for me i had

20 seeds in between 4 tissues 2 on top 2 on bottom and put them in a non sealed baggie stuck it in a drawer

did the same thing with a zipped bag

put 40 in rockwool cubes

and 10 in soil

so far i have had 6 in the rockwool cubes get the first 4 leafs

in the sealed bag i got 3 that developed a tap root

in the opeb bag i got 14

and in the so fa ri have none

the rockwool are under 24 hour flouros

 

you can make our own conclusoins everyone has diffrent methods but i just took those results 10 min ago oh this is over a two day period

 

now i have a queswtion for everyone else that reads this how all should i let my plants get b4 i takes them out from under he floros i want to wait as long as i can i have 2 bulbs up right now im getting another 6

[Amnesiac]

I think that's a myth pickle because mother nature has already taken care of all possibilities.

 

Plants have growth hormones that respond to the Earth's gravitational pull. This causes roots to always grow down and stems to always grow up. This is called geotropism.

 

 

If you don't believe me google it

[Pickle]

Look at a seed when it cracks and the root tip pokes out, it pokes out of the pointy end. If you point that end to the surface the root is pointing straight at the surface and doesn't need to turn to find the surface. Once the tip reaches the surface it turns and shoots straight down to establish roots, once it reaches about an inch or so the stem straightens and the seed husk containing the cotylidons is levered out of the soil.

 

Sure the seed has tons of energy and can make extra turns but every little thing you can do to make things easier for the plant makes sense.

 

If you don't believe me, i am setting up to do the experiment i discussed with Luke a few months back. I have an empty fish tank and i am going to fill it with a bit of soil and cover one side with foil (to exclede light), then i am going to plant bagseeds on the edge of the glass in different orientations and take photos of the results. I know what to expect though because i have seen timelapse photography of seed germination demonstrating this energy saving principle but it will be an interesting experiment anyway.