Can’t get my seeds to germinate

[Willis]

Hey I’m new to this forum I’ve been looking over posts on here for the past few days and thought I might post to see if I can get some direct answers. I have about 40 seeds, using the wet paper towel method I have placed them all evenly apart and misted the paper towel so that they are not dripping but are moist. I folded the paper towel and put them inside a plate with another plate on top to make a dome, cling wrapped the plates and have had them sitting under a heat lamp to stay at a constant 70-80 degrees. I’ve left them for 2 days now and still no growth, I also had about 3 or 4 seeds in a glass of water that had about 2 that popped and grew a taproot about a quarter inch long but nothing since then. Am I doing something wrong or do I just have a shitty batch of seeds. Very new to growing and don’t want to waste more seeds than I have to.

 

[Stunned]

On the paper towel method
You want it really wet, much more than just moist.
I put it in zip lok bags and rest it on my internet router in the basement.
The lights are out.. like pitch dark.
They always pop.
Sometimes could be 3 days, but that's late IMO
When it's sprouted girl goes into small party cup of wet coco
Throw it under some light until it breaks surface.

 

[Willis]

Thanks for the help I’ve just read so much stuff I keep seeing so many conflicting ways to germinate them. Also seen a bunch of people saying you want it moist but not soaked due to risk of drowning the seed or rotting the taproot. And I don’t wanna end up ruining this whole batch, they are relatively new, only a few months old so I wouldn’t think I would have much issue getting them to pop.

 

[Stunned]

Those people were correct.
You don't want it wet to the point of drowning
There are varying degrees of wet, the paper towel is very nearly saturated with water
But not dripping.
Rotting usually isn't an issue by the time a typical seed sprouts

 

[Willis]

Okay thanks for the help mate just getting a bit annoyed is all. I wet them a little more and made sure they were well saturated but not to the point that it was dripping and put it in a ziploc, also back into the the plates to avoid light, I don’t have anything in my house such as a radiator or a tv box or anything like that that’ll keep it warm so I’m having to use a heat lamp until I get my propagation chamber. Is it needed at all to burp them occasionally or do they even require the oxygen during germination?

 

[Stunned]

Just leave them for at least 16 hours

 

[Apoc]

Rapid Rooters and a cheap plastic greenhouse simplify it and tap root shows out of the sponge in 3-4 days.

Dip the rapid rooter in water and squeeze it full, squeeze about 1/3 of water out. Pop the seed in the hole laying on it's side, tear a piece off and cover the seed hole, put in plastic greenhouse in a warm place and wait.

 

[Willis]

Yeah man I’ve tried getting rapid rooters and I’ve checked multiple places around my area but my only hope would be to order them and certain brands like peat pellets are quite pricey online.

 

[Willis]

Update: been well over 24 hours now and only one seed has popped and started to grow a taproot. Still not sure if I’m doing something wrong or if it’s just the seeds. They’ve been in a ziplock bag well saturated with water but not to the point of dripping. Kept them in a little plate dome to prevent direct light and kept 70-80 degrees. Any ideas?

 

[TorturedSoul]

How old are they? Have they been properly stored? After they sink (do they sink, lol?), have you tried planting them in moistened soil/etc.?

 

[TorturedSoul]

Yeah man I’ve tried getting rapid rooters and I’ve checked multiple places around my area but my only hope would be to order them and certain brands like peat pellets are quite pricey online.

They're still less than $20 for a bag of 50 on Amazon's USA website. If you're up in Canada, they might cost twice as much (because everything that can be used to grow cannabis seems to cost twice as much up there, how's that legalization thing going? ). But, regardless, if you're wasting cannabis seeds due to not being able to sprout the things, I'd think they'd be a bargain even at $20 each.

Here's a thread crated by someone who used them. I assume all the information you need is in the first post, although there are 85 more you can read if you get bored.

Xlr8's seed germination technique: Germinating in Rapid Rooter plugs

My seed germination technique I really like Rapid Rooter plugs. I've been germinating seeds in them since I started growing, and now use them for cloning, too. They're great as they can be used to germinate for soil or hydro, and easy to use. They contain important micronutrients and beneficial...

www.420magazine.com

 

[Willis]

How old are they? Have they been properly stored? After they sink (do they sink, lol?), have you tried planting them in moistened soil/etc.?

They’re only a few months old, had them inside a small sealable jewelry type ziplock in my closet where it doesn’t really get hot and stays pretty Airid. I got to closely looking at the seeds in the paper towel about 5 of them had cracked open out of the probably 40 in there, they haven’t really grown much out of the shell just enough to see that they’re coming out. I put them back in and re moisturized the paper towels. I’ve also cut off the heat lamp seems they should germinate fine at room temperature and that was the only variable I could think to change for better results seems it could’ve possible been to hot.

 

[Willis]

They’re only a few months old, had them inside a small sealable jewelry type ziplock in my closet where it doesn’t really get hot and stays pretty Airid. I got to closely looking at the seeds in the paper towel about 5 of them had cracked open out of the probably 40 in there, they haven’t really grown much out of the shell just enough to see that they’re coming out. I put them back in and re moisturized the paper towels. I’ve also cut off the heat lamp seems they should germinate fine at room temperature and that was the only variable I could think to change for better results seems it could’ve possible been to hot.

And to the sinking question what exactly do you mean lol. Oddly all of the ones I’ve had sink have actually been the ones that opened. The two I have actually growing were ones I managed to germinate sittin in water, haven’t had much luck with the paper towels yet

 

[TorturedSoul]

they haven’t really grown much out of the shell just enough to see that they’re coming out. I put them back in

Why?!? After they've germinated, the whole point of the paper towel thing... has already been accomplished . Plant them.

Oddly all of the ones I’ve had sink have actually been the ones that opened.

How is that odd? You seeds aren't going to do anything until they absorb at least a little water, lol - and, until they do, they're just going to float.

Also, your refrigerator makes a much better storage area for cannabis seeds than some random closet.

 

[Stvzie]

I begin my seed germination process by soaking the seeds for approximately 20 - 24 hours in RO purified water. I don't use water straight out of the tap. After a few hours you can usually gently tap the seeds and they will sink to the bottom of the glass cup. After the 20 -24 hour water soak I will then transfer the seeds to a wet paper towel. It generally takes another day or two for the tap root to start showing. After the tap root reaches 1/4 - 1/2 inches in length its time to move the seed to soil. I use Dixie cup sized peat pots with Fox Farms Happy Frog soil.

 

[Willis]

Why?!? After they've germinated, the whole point of the paper towel thing... has already been accomplished . Plant them.



How is that odd? You seeds aren't going to do anything until they absorb at least a little water, lol - and, until they do, they're just going to float.

Also, your refrigerator makes a much better storage area for cannabis seeds than some random closet.

I say odd cause as most seed banks will tell you the ones that float are the most viable as far as successful growth

 

[Willis]

I say odd cause as most seed banks will tell you the ones that float are the most viable as far as successful growth

Also the reason why I put them back in is because it’s simply opened and hasn’t grown a taproot which is when it should be planted in most people’s opinion. I’m just going by what works for others till I get the hang of things.

 

[TorturedSoul]

You'll (eventually) learn that, once a thing works once for anyone, it tends to get "written in stone" and reposted 420,000 times as the only way to do it.

It's a stoner thing, apparently. Although "old wives tales" had a bit of it - but not nearly as much .

It's not brain surgery. Seeds... have been eaten by random animals and shat out two or three days later for thousands (millions?) of years, lol, and plants are still here.

 

[Dwight Monk]

I say odd cause as most seed banks will tell you the ones that float are the most viable as far as successful growth

I've only seen the opposite of that (many seed banks won't go into germination as they sold as "souvenirs" and all the legal protect themselves mumbo jumbo), and in my own experience the ones that refuse to sink in 24 hours never pop. Personally I soak for 24 hours and go right into my medium that is damp but not soaked (1/8-1/4" deep) water with a few sprays from a spray bottle and don't physically water until its been out of the soil for awhile, I have 80-90% success rate doing it that way and less than that trying the paper towel method.

 

[Willis]

Thanks for the help I let it sit in water water around 24 hours then planted it straight into unfertilized starter soil mixed with worm casting.