seedling with seed shell stuck to it

I had a piece of the shell on one of my little plants and it was preventing it from surfacing the rockwool. So, I let it just hang in there because I figured it was taking natures course. I finally took it off this morning and was all dead under it. Not sure why this happened. I'm a newbie grower but this is now 3 out of 5 seeds I bought that have failed. I'm obviously doing things wrong.

Will be putting number 4 in rockwool as soon as I see its tap root. (All I can do is try again I guess)
 

Austinmac

Well-Known Member
its very har to germinate seed through rockwool try using pellets you should have better results or a direct plant into the soil you should have better results and also try not to germinate in a towel or by that method its better to just plant the seed directly because the rots are extremmly tender at the germination stage i plant directly into soil when dealing with seeds but thats just me hope this helps a bit also you can soak your rockwool in quarter strength feed this could help them out a bit as well
 

HiUpThere

Member
Forgot to add , when it happened to me I did the same thing and went to the internet for help and one thing I read and had to do was to be sure the inner membrane from the seed is not left attached. I had to cut it or break it really as it was connecting the two leaves at the top and would have continued to strangle it.
 

NotoriousBUD

Well-Known Member
dont touch the shell at all let nature run its course if the plant isnt strong enough to push the seed shell off on its own thats natures way of telling youu that the growth will not be vigorous at all i would just throw it out but thats my opinion also you dont wanna rip the shell of as it isnt ready to shed it yet even with tweezers n a magnifying glass all your doing is hurting the plant at a VERY delicate stage but live and learn you can only listen to so much bullshit on the internet till you find out the truth for yourself
where i definitely see the point as im a firm believer in survival of the fittest and natural selection i will be keeping this in mind as i track the growth patterns and such of this plant

im currently looking into making my own detailed growth info for future reference when deciding strains grows will definitelybe checking if this seems to have a direct impaact on the size and vigor of this plant

im just wondering as my humidity is so low and naturally in spring when these would break ground in nature there would be usually a higher relative humidity thus keeping the shell husk and inner membrane more moist for longer making the seedling able to shed it. also possibly a slight depth problem with this seed bein slightly to close too the top of the soil?

im wondering if this was caused due to my imperfect environment? thus having no real effect on the growth of the plant?

tho im very much leaning towards what you have stated itll be a bit more of an experiment to see and have the knowledge firsthand for myself and not have to listen to all the "BS" on the net

hope i dont sound rude not trying to be peace out deuces up and happy blazing
 

Austinmac

Well-Known Member
wow thats a pretty smart scenario i never thought about the relative humidity being a factor in the shedding the shell well of course its a factor but ah i live in a climate with a higher humidity level so i guess it hasnt been a factor to me ? lol iunno if that makes sense but i would say if your in a dryer climate you could try popping your seeds in a cloning chamber dome to keep up humidity normally you wanna keep the humdity around 70-80% in the seedling stage almost as high as the humidity in cloning this would probably help the shedding of the shell husk and proper development of the inner membrane...but you having a dry climate could totally be a factor to shedding the shell posibly maybe mimick the rain and mist the top of the shell like as if it was gettin mist from the morning dew iunno im facking wrecked off some pink kush right now so ill stop rambling hahaha cheers!
 

RollupRick

Active Member
Yeah also experienced this a few times, its quite common. One time it was eventually able to take control of the shell, another time I waited until I was certain the shell was literally an obstruction rather than a functional part then used a surgical-sharp blade to cut it free. Use common sense and thoughtful judgement.

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This is a fucking funny conversation. You can tell you both smoke your fair share of mary. Great minds think a like. Great insight from both parties. but dry climates def need those mini greenhouse grow kits or if u have a big green house more power to ya..last thing notorious only used like two periods in his babble... More power to him for not being a slave to punctuation. Not intended as a insult.... Just a joke. I thought it was funny thiugh....my joke that is. Haha.
wow thats a pretty smart scenario i never thought about the relative humidity being a factor in the shedding the shell well of course its a factor but ah i live in a climate with a higher humidity level so i guess it hasnt been a factor to me ? lol iunno if that makes sense but i would say if your in a dryer climate you could try popping your seeds in a cloning chamber dome to keep up humidity normally you wanna keep the humdity around 70-80% in the seedling stage almost as high as the humidity in cloning this would probably help the shedding of the shell husk and proper development of the inner membrane...but you having a dry climate could totally be a factor to shedding the shell posibly maybe mimick the rain and mist the top of the shell like as if it was gettin mist from the morning dew iunno im facking wrecked off some pink kush right now so ill stop rambling hahaha cheers!
 
Babble, rambling, rant.... same thing to me. Dont know where babble came from. Must be too high. I love that bad bitch mary thats my fucking problem .
This is a fucking funny conversation. You can tell you both smoke your fair share of mary. Great minds think a like. Great insight from both parties. but dry climates def need those mini greenhouse grow kits or if u have a big green house more power to ya..last thing notorious only used like two periods in his babble... More power to him for not being a slave to punctuation. Not intended as a insult.... Just a joke. I thought it was funny thiugh....my joke that is. Haha.
 
Mornin all. What to do if shell of the seed is stuck to seedling like a helmet. do you pull it off or let it be once i pulled one off and sprout seemed puny and pale. I assumed it did not get enough nourishment from seed. what is normal practice please help in situation now. Isnt it strange how molasses smell overpowers the weed smell Im growing for three months now and find that strange. I love the smell of molasses in the morning.:lol:
Pulled mine off with one needle after about 1 1/2 weeks and it is looking and living very well . Thanks for the info
 

flexy123

Well-Known Member
9 out of 10 times you don't need to pick, it comes off anyway. But if it should really stay on for a day or two too long, SPRAY the seedling carefully a few times with water to make the shell soft and then carefully pull it after 10 mins or so. If it doesn't slide off easily, spray again. Don't put it into a humidity dome just because of the shell, humidity dome is bad for seedlings. (Mould etc.)
 

CookieKush

Well-Known Member
Literally just had the same issue with one my Cookies Kush seedlings a few minutes ago... The seed broke ground early this morning, i thought it was planted too shallow in the soil, however i placed it 2 times its height down so its only took 1.5 days to get to the top level of the soil! That being said the shell was covering the new seedlings milk leaves (the round ones) so i just a nail cleaning tool with a sharp end which was suitably thin enough to gently coax the shell off the top with a gentle tap of the point on the shell without causing any damage to the sprout inside. Came off very easily but this morning I did wet the shell a little with RO water so that might of helped, plus its already under the 600W LED (currently only using two of the cobs though).
 

Beachwalker

Well-Known Member
They don't always come off, and sometimes the plants die

I try to get the shell off before it hardens (as somebody mentioned above) and sometimes you'll even have to take a razor blade and slice the membrane, dependent upon how much the plant has been weakened.

I've only had maybe one seed that hasn't made it because of this, though sometimes you do have to carefully work at it a bit
 
They don't always come off, and sometimes the plants die

I try to get the shell off before it hardens (as somebody mentioned above) and sometimes you'll even have to take a razor blade and slice the membrane, dependent upon how much the plant has been weakened.

I've only had maybe one seed that hasn't made it because of this, though sometimes you do have to carefully work at it a bit
I just did surgery on my ww autos managed to save a few the others are in icu maybe soaking the seeds may help
 

Garf1971

New Member
High guys,someone mentioned using saliva because of the enzymes,I tried this and to my surprise within 12 hours it softened and fell off. If the shell gets stuck again I will try it again and see,but it may have just come naturally. I'm now the owner of a beautiful seedling.
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
Make sure the inner skin also came off so the cotelydons can open...
Sometimes the shell will come off and the skin stays on until you help it a bit.
 

Garf1971

New Member
Make sure the inner skin also came off so the cotelydons can open...
Sometimes the shell will come off and the skin stays on until you help it a bit.
Thank you, the cotelydons are open and I'm so excited. I'm a proud father. Kind regards.
 

flexy123

Well-Known Member
Let me add something here:

When I had this problem, sometimes even multiple spraying, saliva etc. DID NOT HELP.

What helped: Keep your seedling under a dome (foil, transparent cup etc.) until it has shed the shell. (If it hasn't, spray/water...then cover with a transparent cup or foil).

The dome holds moisture, which softens the shell. If you just spray, the shell will quickly dry out again. (The reason shells stick is normally that the seed wasn't buried deep enough..so the shell couldn't soften on the way out.)
 

Garf1971

New Member
Let me add something here:

When I had this problem, sometimes even multiple spraying, saliva etc. DID NOT HELP.

What helped: Keep your seedling under a dome (foil, transparent cup etc.) until it has shed the shell. (If it hasn't, spray/water...then cover with a transparent cup or foil).

The dome holds moisture, which softens the shell. If you just spray, the shell will quickly dry out again. (The reason shells stick is normally that the seed wasn't buried deep enough..so the shell couldn't soften on the way out.)
Ok, that's brilliant thank you. I do think she was not deep enough, can you recommend an ideal depth and I will definitely try your dome suggestion. It makes perfect sense to have the humidity. Kind regards.
 
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