Germination: How long should roots be before planting?

Dear friends, i have searching around for answers to this question. Some say that you should wait for the roots to be >1 inch before planting.

What is your experience? Does letting the beans grow a longer tail improves the chances of their survival, or do you just plant them when they have a 4mm tail (which mine has at the moment) w/o problems?

Appreciate your sharing.

Interesting, I don't really measure once it sprouts I go with it. I'm guessing it's usually about 1/4 in for me

So i guess its not the size that matters? Ok, i think i will plant the little fellow in a moss pellet first. I think i will try germinating the seed by sticking it straight into the pellet next.

Folks that have been doing this a for while will tell u that best way to go about it is to plant into medium directly and let germinate, sprout there.

Indeed, non-sterile propagation has been proven to be more successful.

I havnt been doing this long but out of the seeds I tried with from msnl I got better germ rates with paper towel than my jiffy pucks I think I buried them to deep or watered to much\to little not sure but just curious as to why its better and does it make for a hardier plant or somthing?

roony said:

I havnt been doing this long but out of the seeds I tried with from msnl I got better germ rates with paper towel than my jiffy pucks I think I buried them to deep or watered to much\to little not sure but just curious as to why its better and does it make for a hardier plant or somthing?

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I don't think you should bury the germinating seed (i refer to the ones with a small tail) too deep in the jiffy pellet, but i have no idea about using jiffy for germination from start to finish but i think the same should apply. The one i buried about 1/2 inch did not break surface (even after 6 days) but the one i buried only ~3mm broke surface within a day. I cover the 3mm one only with a thin layer of the jiffy moss.

roony said:

I havnt been doing this long but out of the seeds I tried with from msnl I got better germ rates with paper towel than my jiffy pucks I think I buried them to deep or watered to much\to little not sure but just curious as to why its better and does it make for a hardier plant or somthing?

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If u plant seed directly into medium you are less likely to damage the tap root. Also less likely to introduce fungal pathogens during germination.

Warpedpassage said:

If u plant seed directly into medium you are less likely to damage the tap root. Also less likely to introduce fungal pathogens during germination.

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This makes sense for sure just didnt have the best germ rates as paper towel I try just going straight to soil next time ormaybe try irapid rooters or rock wool also I had soaked my jiffy pellets in a 1/4 nute solution don't know if that could have messed with germ rates?

JuanJadinero said:

Dear friends, i have searching around for answers to this question. Some say that you should wait for the roots to be >1 inch before planting.

What is your experience? Does letting the beans grow a longer tail improves the chances of their survival, or do you just plant them when they have a 4mm tail (which mine has at the moment) w/o problems?

Appreciate your sharing.

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plant the seed and watch it grow.

but yeah, if curious about marijuana 101 give these a read, every single question cannabis is answered in there.

I regularly put seedlings into dirt when they have a 1/2 inch root. Trick is to make sure the dirt is wet enough to form a mudball. Make your finger hole and drop in seedling root down. Important - press dirt all around the seedling firmly. Works for me.

Good luck, BigSteve.

roony said:

I had soaked my jiffy pellets in a 1/4 nute solution don't know if that could have messed with germ rates?

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You can try soaking it in rooting hormones. Here is an interesting research about how rooting hormones helped old seeds to germinate. http://www.aensiweb.net/AENSIWEB/rjabs/rjabs/2010/691-696.pdf