I always try to scuff them with a nail file prior to soaking. But your point concerning infection is a good one, I also add a little H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) to the water, that will kill any pathogens on the seed. It seems to work well for me.
Trouble germinating seeds
- Thread starter guerrillabalconygrower
- Start date
The seeds don't need to sink to be viable, in fact I prefer it if they don't. In nature they generally don't germinate at the bottom of a puddle but rather in damp soil or leaf litter with plenty of air.
Floating on top of the shot glass the seed has access to all of both the oxygen from above and moisture from below.
Floating on top of the shot glass the seed has access to all of both the oxygen from above and moisture from below.
I agree. I have found viable seeds amongst floaters and sinkers, to me it is not a worthwhile yardstick to measure with.
I think some growers think that they'll sink once they've absorbed enough water and use it as a yardstick that way so they know when they've soaked long enough.
Of course using your finger to push down ones that still float kinda defeats that idea.
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
Get yourself a heat mat and a dome don't be cheap its a little more cost but to throw away GOOD beans + waste your time and money because you don't want to invest a little just doesn't make sense
- Thread starter
- #46
guerrillabalconygrower
Well-Known Member
Please re-read the ambient temp range I’ve mentioned. I live in a tropical country. Heat mat is redundant when ambient is already sufficiently warm.Get yourself a heat mat and a dome don't be cheap its a little more cost but to throw away GOOD beans + waste your time and money because you don't want to invest a little just doesn't make sense
I actually figured out that I may have been drowning my seeds. And instead of using the tissue paper method, I directly germinate them in coco seeds plugs. And what has worked wonders is to soak them in 1.5% H2O2 for 12 hrs. Success rate has gone up since.
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
I disagree I use a mat in summer in winter on a temp gauge and high humidity and no matter what beans I try, work Out 100% and if they don't I got them to wet in the rooter ,in 3 days usally they break open it's all about consistency in temp and humidity I do them in my veg room right along with my mother's and tomatoes and peppers and I don't do anything special Just saying it's not as hard as everyone seems to make it
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
With viable seeds anyways
- Thread starter
- #49
guerrillabalconygrower
Well-Known Member
I’m not sure where you’re located are but I’m sure your climatic conditions are not tropical by any stretch of imagination.I disagree I use a mat in summer in winter on a temp gauge and high humidity and no matter what beans I try, work Out 100% and if they don't I got them to wet in the rooter ,in 3 days usally they break open it's all about consistency in temp and humidity I do them in my veg room right along with my mother's and tomatoes and peppers and I don't do anything special Just saying it's not as hard as everyone seems to make it
Seeds need warm temp and high humidity to germinate.
In colder countries, since this is not achievable naturally, heat mats are useful.
If seeds are viable, any regular germination method will work as long as all precautions are taken care of.
I WASN’T careful. Basically deprived the seeds of oxygen. Hence failed. But wiser from my mistakes.
I absolutely disagree that you need heat mats in tropical climates. It’s warm and humid by definition.
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
I understand my friend but it's the consistency of the heat and humidity is what I'm saying you control that not mother nature. I've failed a few times myself so I get it
That method has worked great for seeds for millions of years. Using a half-way decent soil and proper watering if the seed is bad it will not sprout. If it sprouts and dies then it was not good to begin with. Any decent seed breeder should produce seed crops with a 95% or better germination rate.
Soaking in paper towels and counting the number that sprout a tap root is great for figuring out the % that germinate. Removing them from the towel and sticking them in soil sounds the way to risk breaking a tap root.
And with a time of 36 to 60 hours between planting and germination these 'weed' seeds are some of the fastest around. Not sure that soaking it in water speeds that up much.
Ah, but Mother Nature allows the humidity and temperature to change by the hour. The soil temperature goes up during the day and goes up even more on a sunny day. Then it drops once the sun goes down. The humidity changes between day and night and is often its highest around dawn and lowest in late afternoon.
I put any seeds that I am trying to sprout in a cell pack with each cell filled with moist soil. The cell pack goes on top of the LED lights over my large aquarium. Lights come on for several hours in the morning and evening. Great germination rates. I figure the cycle is similar to outside.
Not enough of a risk to worry about. Fully ripened and healthy Marijuana seeds sprout in 2 to 4 days so not much time for a infection type of problem to get started from scratching the seed coat.
Problems like 'damping off disease' or 'root rots' or other mold & mildew issues can almost always be traced back to environmental problems that will effect the plant whether the seed was scratched or not.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
I go straight into my flower soil, which is also my veg soil, and they either pop or not.
I do lay a small thin bed of spagnum on top and plant the seed into it. Spagnum is sterile so when the seed cracks open its embriotic microbes have a clean environment to multiply in, but otherwise they are on their own.
If a seed doesn't want to be viable immediately I don't want to waste 5 months coddling a weaker pheno.
Law of the Jungle Baby.
Every seed is a possible mother plant, I don't want weak mother plants.
If viability is low your probably dealing with old seeds, find a different seed company and compare viability rates.
Do a side-by-side germination test. If the new seeds pop better then you know its the seeds. If not, then you know its you.
And the part about the heat mat, what it actually does is radiate heat into the moisture in the soil. Ambient air temp can't do that, only the sun can, so your climate is irrellevant, sorry.
I live in a very warm place, in the 40's every summer all summer, and I still use a heat mat. Nature uses one. She's better at it than me.
Try placing them in the sun.
We have a sponsor @VIVOSUN that sells very good heat mats. Contact them. Maybe they will hook you up.
I do lay a small thin bed of spagnum on top and plant the seed into it. Spagnum is sterile so when the seed cracks open its embriotic microbes have a clean environment to multiply in, but otherwise they are on their own.
If a seed doesn't want to be viable immediately I don't want to waste 5 months coddling a weaker pheno.
Law of the Jungle Baby.
Every seed is a possible mother plant, I don't want weak mother plants.
If viability is low your probably dealing with old seeds, find a different seed company and compare viability rates.
Do a side-by-side germination test. If the new seeds pop better then you know its the seeds. If not, then you know its you.
And the part about the heat mat, what it actually does is radiate heat into the moisture in the soil. Ambient air temp can't do that, only the sun can, so your climate is irrellevant, sorry.
I live in a very warm place, in the 40's every summer all summer, and I still use a heat mat. Nature uses one. She's better at it than me.
Try placing them in the sun.
We have a sponsor @VIVOSUN that sells very good heat mats. Contact them. Maybe they will hook you up.
- Thread starter
- #56
guerrillabalconygrower
Well-Known Member
If your moist soil can keep a temp range of 25 deg C, no need of a heat mat.
This is true not just for cannabis seeds but for soil germination for any seed.
The temp of the soil will be closer to the water that’s moistening it. That’s nature’s temp control ie the heat mat you referred to.
Domestic water will generally have a temp of 25-30degC. It’s already exposed to the sun’s radiation in water tanks before it makes its way to your tap
The ambient determines how well your soil can maintain its temp and moisture. Warm & humid ambient is more conducive than dry & cold ambient.
It absolutely makes a huge difference.
I use the Ed Rosenthal’s method with scuffing, peroxide/water in a damp paper towel then in a ziplock bag and dark drawer. I have a 95% success rate. I never used any additional heat methods. CL
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
So many different opinions and ways of doing things nothing WRONG with any of it because if your beans pop and your happy I guess that's the end result everyone seems so I just keep mother's when I find a good one so I don't really start to many they are to expensive in my opinionI use the Ed Rosenthal’s method with scuffing, peroxide/water in a damp paper towel then in a ziplock bag and dark drawer. I have a 95% success rate. I never used any additional heat methods. CL
I’m sure there’s a lot of good recipes for Chocolate cake and if you ask a hundred people they’ll say that the one they use is best but it doesn’t make everyone else’s wrong. Whatever works best for you is best for you. Imho CLSo many different opinions and ways of doing things nothing WRONG with any of it because if your beans pop and your happy I guess that's the end result everyone seems so I just keep mother's when I find a good one so I don't really start to many they are to expensive in my opinion
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
True story 
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