My experiment with germinating seeds

Hello guys

while waiting for my att seeds to arrive I made an experiment, I took some spare seeds that I have and put half on wet tissue paper and half on a glass of water to see what happens.

Surprinsgly (at least for me) I have more success with the glass of water (bigger tap root in less time) than the tissue paper.

wizardry said:

Hello guys

while waiting for my att seeds to arrive I made an experiment, I took some spare seeds that I have and put half on wet tissue paper and half on a glass of water to see what happens.

Surprinsgly (at least for me) I have more success with the glass of water (bigger tap root in less time) than the tissue paper.

Click to expand...

Nice! Those two methods are how nature has been doing it since the beginning of time.

wizardry said:

Hello guys

while waiting for my att seeds to arrive I made an experiment, I took some spare seeds that I have and put half on wet tissue paper and half on a glass of water to see what happens.

Surprinsgly (at least for me) I have more success with the glass of water (bigger tap root in less time) than the tissue paper.

Click to expand...

It comes down to what you growing really domesticated seeds are adapted to pop easy as hell where as if you were growing more wild type ruderal seeds germination is alot harder and more variable personally i never had any issue with popping domesticated seeds in paper towels the only ones i dont are old seeds i pop them in soil/compost i find better results that way

Heres how i do it. Get your glass of water ready and your paper towel. Next put the seed in some media,use the water to moisten soil and next the paper towels are good for cleaning you hands. Done

Try dropping those pre-germ methods and plant direct to media, keep them warm 80-82 deg, under a mild light 24/7, moist not wet, and use a quality good draining soil/coco-here is a good guide without any BS broscience methods: https://www.mandalaseeds.com/Guides/Germination-Guide

conor c said:

It comes down to what you growing really domesticated seeds are adapted to pop easy as hell where as if you were growing more wild type ruderal seeds germination is alot harder and more variable personally i never had any issue with popping domesticated seeds in paper towels the only ones i dont are old seeds i pop them in soil/compost i find better results that way

Click to expand...

Honestly I tried this method and It was a huge fail. I put the seeds direct in soil, kept spraying water for 7 days (my hand muscles were tired from that) and nothing came up. Lost money and time.

When I let the tap root to grow 1cm first, in less than 24 hours I could already see the seedling popping out of the soil.

So that is my go to method If I need to make sure they will pop.

wizardry said:

Honestly I tried this method and It was a huge fail. I put the seeds direct in soil, kept spraying water for 7 days (my hand muscles were tired from that) and nothing came up. Lost money and time.

Click to expand...

It was a huge fail from doing it incorrectly. You constantly kept them wet from spraying. They only need to be slightly moist to germinate not wet.

wizardry said:

Honestly I tried this method and It was a huge fail. I put the seeds direct in soil, kept spraying water for 7 days (my hand muscles were tired from that) and nothing came up. Lost money and time.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the morning laugh.

twentyeight.threefive said:

It was a huge fail from doing it incorrectly. You constantly kept them wet from spraying. They only need to be slightly moist to germinate not wet.

Click to expand...

My soil can not even get wet, drainage is so good that when I put my hand inside the soil it was dry, and the moisture was only on a surface level.

And if I germinated my other seeds straight in a cup of water, what exactly is the problem with the soil getting wet?

Wattzzup said:

Thanks for the morning laugh.

Click to expand...

Hey, im here to learn (I suppose)

If you water your medium completely, then drop your seed. Why would you need to spray any water? And why until your hand was hurting? I’m just so confused

Wattzzup said:

If you water your medium completely, then drop your seed. Why would you need to spray any water? And why until your hand was hurting? I’m just so confused

Click to expand...

Exactly. From what I see, the OP's attempt at germinating in soil was a 'user error' failure.

Never plant in dry medium. Prep your seeding soil by thoroughly mixing with water so that you obtain your optimum soil-moisture level THEN fill your containers. Really dry soil is hydrophobic, so all your spraying on the top just rolls right off.

I've been germinating in .75g pots (that I've cut out slits in the sides for more air to penetrate). I mix up my soil in a 5g bucket using the same water I'd use for watering, and make sure it's evenly moist (the point where it clumps when you compress it and holds shape).

Also put away this 'sprayer' nonsense. If you plant into properly wetted soil, it'll take at least a few days before it dries out enough to need to water, in my bigger pots that may be a week. When it does need watering, do it slowly and gently and again wet the soil through. Once there's a sprout I prefer to treat mine sort of like roses or tomatoes...only water the soil not the foliage.

You think he was silly enough to plant into dry coco? Then sprayed it to wet the medium? Say it ain’t so!!!

Wattzzup said:

You think he was silly enough to plant into dry coco? Then sprayed it to wet the medium? Say it ain’t so!!!

Click to expand...

The other thing is that soil can and does hold a good amount of water. When I'm mixing mine it's about 3/4 gallon of water to 3 gallons of soil. Imagine hand spraying that with a little squirter.

LMAO

You guys actually figured everything out. But my soil is spagnum and perlite with fabric pots

twentyeight.threefive said:

Nice! Those two methods are how nature has been doing it since the beginning of time.

Click to expand...

Now i’m curious how they would do in a soggy handful of old dead leaves?

wizardry said:

LMAO

You guys actually figured everything out. But my soil is spagnum and perlite with fabric pots

Click to expand...

Sphagnum has hydrophobic properties-when you pour water into it, the water travels the path of least resistance and flows through channels through the media, leaving large parts of it completely dry. You need to take time when watering it, especially for the first time, to make sure it's evenly wet all the way through.

Rurumo said:

Sphagnum has hydrophobic properties-when you pour water into it, the water travels the path of least resistance and flows through channels through the media, leaving large parts of it completely dry. You need to take time when watering it, especially for the first time, to make sure it's evenly wet all the way through.

Click to expand...

Funny how much the answer remains the same, whether it's soil or sphagnum innit? Poor prep of any medium can result in failure, though the OP may be chortling to himself about how he's not in 'soil' but another medium that has similar properties.

But what do I know...I've only been germinating seeds of all kinds in soil for decades.

LeastExpectedGrower said:

Funny how much the answer remains the same, whether it's soil or sphagnum innit? Poor prep of any medium can result in failure, though the OP may be chortling to himself about how he's not in 'soil' but another medium that has similar properties.

But what do I know...I've only been germinating seeds of all kinds in soil for decades.

Click to expand...

I did not said that, I just mentioned that is spagnum not coco, and I think your are being kind of a douche flexing about how many years you grow while mocking me for my inexperience.

This is not a competition.

wizardry said:

I did not said that, I just mentioned that is spagnum not coco, and I think your are being kind of a douche flexing about how many years you grow while mocking me for my inexperience.

This is not a competition.

Click to expand...

Re-read this comment:

wizardry said:

LMAO

You guys actually figured everything out. But my soil is spagnum and perlite with fabric pots

Click to expand...

It really absolves me about feeling bad about any treatment you've gotten here. People (including long time growers) have provided good advice as to why your germination in soil hasn't worked, and how to make it work and the reply was 'LMAO' then your gotcha about sphagnum...which needs to have pretty much the same prep.

Stating that people have germinated seeds in soil (personally or otherwise) isn't a flex. People have been germinating in soil for millennia, literally since before recorded time. The only need for a 'paper-towel method' or similar alternates is when you're doing things like cold-stratifying certain seeds, etc.

Glass of water and paper towel methods are perfect for those who demand to see activity in hours rather than the couple of days it takes seeds to sprout and peek out of the soil. Both methods also introduce the chance to mess up your newly germinated seeds by needing handling and manipulation before getting them into growing medium.