Seed questions

[Tx420fan]

Hi folks, I'm new here and have a few questions. My first grow was 3 plants from bag seed that all turned out to be male. Huge bummer, but it was good experience. I practiced FIM'ing, LST and cloning. I also tried coconut water for hydration. The results were encouraging, so I decided to buy seeds online. I ordered 3 each of White Widow and Northern Lights from a seed house in Amsterdam. The first shipment never arrived, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th were all intercepted by customs. I notified the seed house each time I got a package that the seeds were either crushed or missing. On the 5th try they doubled my order and they arrived intact! It took about 6 months to go through all that, but I was excited to finally have quality strains to grow. I germinated the seeds in pairs (1 of each strain). Four times I germinated a pair of seeds, but each time the seeds either sprouted and died the next day or didn't sprout at all! That's 8 seeds, 3 that sprouted and died the next day, and 5 that didn't sprout. I have some experience so I couldn't understand why they'd sprout and die, or not sprout at all.
Questions:
Does anyone know of customs irradiating packages from Amsterdam?
Does customs give as much attention to packages from Canada?
What are other easy strains to grow?

 

[mokel]

heya, i think that depends on where you're living, got my seeds from the nl as well, but i live in the EU so no customs, no x-ray nor any other problem. i wouldn't buy them from Canada, as then, they will go through customs for sure as send from outside EU ....

 

[glimmergrass]

Hi, Tx420fan!

That sounds so frustrating. Can you describe your germinating procedure? Maybe there's an easy fix ...

 

[Tx420fan]

Hi, Tx420fan!

That sounds so frustrating. Can you describe your germinating procedure? Maybe there's an easy fix ...

I soaked the seeds overnight, then planted them in starter pots with good organic composted soil, kept them moist and under a grow light on a timer. 5 of the seeds never germinated and 3 came up and died the next day. I finally got a seedling to stay alive and it's doing good, but I wonder if I got old seeds or if they had been irradiated by customs. The only other thing I can think is maybe the light was too intense for the seedling, because the 1 seed that survived I put under a domed plastic cover that gave it protection. I have a few seeds left and will continue trying until I run out, but next time I buy seeds it will be from Canada.

 

[glimmergrass]

Thanks!

The "coming up and dying the next day" part seems crucial. Some of the seeds are viable, but then the growing conditions are killing them, somehow.

It could be soil (too "hot", too many nutrients for the seedlings, poor drainage (the seeds are drowning) or too dry) or could be light/temps (too hot or cold, too powerful a light that kills them through transpiration).

So, what's in the organic composted soil (does it have drainage) and how strong is your light (and what type is it and how far away from the plants is it)?