The easiest way to germ seeds - Water method

Hi growers,


I lost out on last years outdoor grow because I had some trouble germinating a large batch of seeds. It frustrated me so much that, over the last year I have experimented with many different methods of germing, and hundreds of seeds. I did this because I wanted to find the absolute easiest and most effective method to germinate seeds. I had used the paper towel method for years and the paper towel method works well, but I was still having too many failures.

In the past I have tried the following:

1. Soak the seed for 24 hrs in water, then plant whether cracked or not.
2. Place seed on a plate in moist paper towels until it cracks, and as the tap root extends out the slightest bit, plant.
3. Place seed on a plate in moist paper towels until it cracks and tap root extends 1/4" or more, and then plant.
4.Place seeds in a cup of water and plant it as soon as it cracks and the tap root extend the slightest bit.
5. Place seeds in a cup of water and wait until the tap root extends 1/4" to 1/2" or more. then plant.

I've experimented with lights on and off, soil dry, soil wet, humidity high, humidity low, and temps as well.

After experimenting on hundreds of seeds here's what I have found is not only the easiest, but most effective way to germinate seeds. I'm not declaring that others should do it this way, I'm just trying to take the mystery out of germing seeds and let you know what is working the best for me.

I simply drop the seed into a cup of room temp water(75-80*), keep it dark, let the seed or seeds sink, and wait 48 to 72 hours until they germinate in the water. When it cracks, I wait on the tap to extend at LEAST 1/4" or even 1/2"..... It's my experience that planting them too quick is a big mistake.

It goes like this:

I wet the soil with a spray bottle before the seed goes in it

cup_dirt.JPG


Once the seed has sat in the dark, in water for 48-72 hrs and the tap is out far enough, I plant it.

popd_seed.JPG


seed_dirt.JPG


When I plant it, I only plant it 1/4" deep, just deep enough to cover it with soil. After it's buried, I lightly spray just a small bit of water on the soil right where the seed is buried. This isn't a necessity but I do it anyway.

seed_bury.JPG


seed_done.JPG



I make sure to use tweasers to handle the cracked seed and plant it as I don't want to touch the root.

Once it's planted I place it under a small floro(optional, it can be left in the dark too until it sprouts) and almost 100% of the time... 48 hrs later I have a baby. I've also added a picture of the temp/humidity in the room where I germ my seeds.

popped_1.jpg


humtemp_germ.jpg



I hope this helps anyone with questions on seed germination.

Good growing,
420fied
 
This is a big help for me. I have had quite a bit of trouble germinating seeds. I ordered a bunch of Chem Dawg X OG Kush seeds and did not presoak them at all. Instead I stuck them into a "Root Riot" cloner/seeder and put a heating blanket underneath. I got about 25% germination. Some seeds sprouted almost immedietly while others just sat there endlessly and never germinate a tap root. Thank goodness the seeds I was really hoping to sprout did but still quite a few did not. This left me feeling like I had wasted a good deal of time and money. Seeds are not cheap, and waiting for them to be sent from overseas is a royal pain in the ass. I have gone back to buying clones from the local dispensaries for the time being despite some misgivings I have about bringing clones home and the possibility of getting mites. Problem is the dispensary REFUSE TO SELL ME CHEM DAWG CLONES even though they have them for themselves and they sell Chem Dawg buds all day long. They asked me what strain I wanted to grow...I said Chem Dawg #4 and they all but laughed in my face and made some comment about "that being their money maker". Really made me angry that someone could be that greedy not to sell someone a clone. That kind of elitest bullshit is not only in the pot culture but everywhere in America! If they are a dispensary in business to help people it shouldn't matter that I want to be in charge of growing my own chem dawg and not have to pay 35 bucks an 1/8 when I could get a mother going and never buy anything from them again. I still think its screwed up they won't sell me a cut of Chem Dawg. It really pisses me off. They just recently starting selling clones of OG Kush so I should count my blessings. Still, I think the business side of dispensaries should never interfere with the job at hand of what these places were set up for in the first place , helping patients get the best possible medicine at the best possible price. Now instead of being gouged by street dealers, patients are being gouged by dispensaries. What a joke.
 
I like that germination method. I soak my seeds in water with a little bit of chamomile for 16 hours usually, but have been thinking about stretching that phase up to 24 or even 36 hours. A lot of growers think that excess of water might damage the sprout, but I don't think it really applies to first 4-5 days. I'm waiting myself to get about 1/4" tap root now as I noticed in the past that sprouts do not break the ground if shells only cracked...
 
I like that germination method. I soak my seeds in water with a little bit of chamomile for 16 hours usually, but have been thinking about stretching that phase up to 24 or even 36 hours. A lot of growers think that excess of water might damage the sprout, but I don't think it really applies to first 4-5 days. I'm waiting myself to get about 1/4" tap root now as I noticed in the past that sprouts do not break the ground if shells only cracked...

Thanks for the feedback. I too have read of others hesitating to leave the seeds in water too long but I have found that leaving them longer actually helps, and it helps a lot. Of course, I'm only talking about my specific experiences.

Good growing,
fied
 
Good info 'fied...

I grow my own sprouts, alfalfa, clover, even broccoli, and it's very similar to the water method you describe.

If you ever wanted to germ a ton of seeds at the same time, you could just make your own sprouter with a mason jar with a piece of screen instead of the solid top.

I soak them for 12 hrs, then drain, then rinse and drain every 12hrs - out of thousands of seeds, nearly every one germs within three days.

Good to see you posting here again!
 
Just germinated 23 out of 24 seeds from Greenhouse seed comp by the wet towel in plastic bag method. Had to put the last few straglers on top of heat mat to get the last few to pop.
All have popped and all but three have sprouted.
 
You like the Root Riot cubes? I tried growing with that thing and plain sterilized water with super low PPM and a heating blanket underneath and out of maybe 20 seeds 6 or 7 germinated. Forget that root riot thing for anything but cloning which it rocks for. 100% success on clones with the root riot and Clonex. What a waste of money trying to use that to grow seeds though. By the time seeds start to pop you got algae or some crap growing on your cubes. What is root riot cubes made out of anyway? I was trying to figure it out? Who knows...anyway the task at hand is seeds. I appreciate the effort you put into trying all the different methods to germinating 420fied. I am looking at purchasing a few 10 packs of seeds (feminized this time thankyou very much) and need all the advice I can come by as far as germination methods. Keep up the good work my friend. + rep for you.
 
I'm giving this method a big :cheer:, cause I've just done two seeds exactly like that - kept them about 64 hours in purified water - put them in coco and they're breaking the ground now! Before I had about 25-50% sprouting rate!
 
This is a big help for me. I have had quite a bit of trouble germinating seeds. I ordered a bunch of Chem Dawg X OG Kush seeds and did not presoak them at all. Instead I stuck them into a "Root Riot" cloner/seeder and put a heating blanket underneath. I got about 25% germination. Some seeds sprouted almost immedietly while others just sat there endlessly and never germinate a tap root. Thank goodness the seeds I was really hoping to sprout did but still quite a few did not. This left me feeling like I had wasted a good deal of time and money. Seeds are not cheap, and waiting for them to be sent from overseas is a royal pain in the ass. I have gone back to buying clones from the local dispensaries for the time being despite some misgivings I have about bringing clones home and the possibility of getting mites. Problem is the dispensary REFUSE TO SELL ME CHEM DAWG CLONES even though they have them for themselves and they sell Chem Dawg buds all day long. They asked me what strain I wanted to grow...I said Chem Dawg #4 and they all but laughed in my face and made some comment about "that being their money maker". Really made me angry that someone could be that greedy not to sell someone a clone. That kind of elitest bullshit is not only in the pot culture but everywhere in America! If they are a dispensary in business to help people it shouldn't matter that I want to be in charge of growing my own chem dawg and not have to pay 35 bucks an 1/8 when I could get a mother going and never buy anything from them again. I still think its screwed up they won't sell me a cut of Chem Dawg. It really pisses me off. They just recently starting selling clones of OG Kush so I should count my blessings. Still, I think the business side of dispensaries should never interfere with the job at hand of what these places were set up for in the first place , helping patients get the best possible medicine at the best possible price. Now instead of being gouged by street dealers, patients are being gouged by dispensaries. What a joke.

Dr Greenthumb has ChemDawg 4 seeds - $200 for 10 seeds - is this strain that good?

Thanks for this post - I never would have considered keeping them in H2O for more than 12 hrs - but that seems to be the trick here! Thanks for all your hard work.

:peace:
 
Great method 420 :)

One question: What would you do if you wanted to avoid soil altogether and put the sprouts into an EZ-cloner? Is this feasible?

Would the addition of an aerator/bubbler to the water make any difference or allow them to grow any bigger before removing them?
 
Chem Dawg is the best strain of ganja on planet earth in my opinion. Ordererd 6 CATARACT KUSH and 6 LA CONFIDENTIAL X EXODUS CHEESE and what I did was fill DIXIE CUPS with Fox Farm LIGHT WARRIOR and putting them on atray, placing that tray on top of a clone tray. Filling the clone tray with warm water. Placing a heating blanket under the box and the tray with DIXIE CUPS full of seeds on top with a clone dome on top with a CFL light. I have had 10/12 germination so far. As well as the free seeds I got with my order. Dixie Cups, clone domes, humidity and constant watering with warm water has given me a very good germination rate.
 
Im a noob.. Do you plant taproots with the root up, or down?

I realise how that sounds, but when I planted my seeds, the taproot emerged straight up and broke soil...

Does it matter?
 
root down always.

I'm gonna try this method. I normally use the paper towel method, but lately I've had not as good success, the tap root will dry out when its 1/8" long or they will crack and show roots, but don't sprout. I lost a widow seed recently to this.
 
Root down? I have found these images on the web, but I'm still a little confused: it says here that the pointed end (where the tap root emerges) should be pointed up, at which time the tap root, too, points upwards:
marijuana-seeds-positioning-in-soil.gif

And another one dealing with seeds in general:
starting-seeds.jpg


So, in short, you are supposed to always put your seeds in the soil with the pointy end upwards? Then I've been doing it quite wrong for some time now, with mixed results...
 
I just started a batch and everyone sprouted in a couble days just using a tray and some of the plugs made out of some organic material. Just soak in lukewarm water and then fill the tray so the bottom 1/3 of the plugs are submerged. Just stick a couple of cfls close to give the baby sprouts a nice cozy warm hello. This method works better and is far easier and requires less maintenance than others for me.
 
interesting info regarding seed placement, I have seeds that the taproot never curls, it just comes out the tip and grows straight. I've had others that curl however. I always plant root pointing down, depending on the curve, the seed tip could be facing down or up, I always just go by the root position to make sure it grows down into the dirt.
 
REASON FOR PLACING THE SEED WITH ITS POINTY END UP:
The reason given for this...the action of the taproot growing upwards and then downwards causes the seed ( its seed cap & emerging cotyledon) to turn and right itself to grow upwards towards the surface and light. This turning and growing upwards causes friction against the growing medium which friction helps the seed shed its seed coat. If the seed is placed with its pointy end down, the seed wastes energy trying to grow in its preordained natural manner, often draining off the extra energy needed to take that extra step to shed the seed coat as well as pop its embryonic leaves (cotyledon).

WHY USE SOLUTION OF CHAMOMILE TEA TO SOAK SEEDS:
Chamomile Tea is recommended in several general gardening guides for germination because "Chamomile tea contains antifungal properties that offset any pathogens in the soil, making it an ideal solution to maintain healthy seedlings". Additionally, "Misting/spraying the surface of the soil with a solution of Chamomile tea two or three times per week will help protect seedlings from damping off".

HOW TO PREPARE CHAMOMILE TEA SOAKING SOLUTION:
Boil yourself a cuppa Chamomile Tea, using one regular sized teabag for one Cup. Set aside the teabag. Drink the first cup of tea (it will calm you as you prepare to soak your expensive seeds). Pour more boiling water into the emptied cup, re-use the teabag you've set aside and let it steep as the water cools to a comfortable temperature (75-80 degrees F). Take out the teabag, then plunk your precious seeds into the cooled solution.
 
Back
Top Bottom