What is TRULY the best way to germinate seeds?

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Do you use this for older seeds only? Thanks.
Older stock :

I started just scuffing and crossing fingers on some seeds that were over 2 1/2 years old , and just a longer hydration and longer germ time but this stuff seems to improve my chances. Without , I might get a few viable but took longer to pop .... now after urb soak .. I just either plant them or check in a moist towel.

I heard Gibberellic acid would work too , but have not tried. I did get slightly better germ from old stuff with a dilute kelp soak ( that is my my backup method ).

But this stuff seems to work pretty damn good ( especially for the $9 tester size ).
I will never use the regular larger size of this product. But for a sample , hard to beat.

New Seeds :

Plant them in rooter ( like better than rock cube )
Or plant in soil .

I have plenty of old bean ( from old crosses ) that I can experiment with ...
One thing I might try is “ dipping “ beans in clonex gel then put in moistened rooter plug , just to see what happens.

URB will ship that sample priority for $7 ( 2 day )
 

CoB_nUt

Well-Known Member
Older stock :

I started just scuffing and crossing fingers on some seeds that were over 2 1/2 years old , and just a longer hydration and longer germ time but this stuff seems to improve my chances. Without , I might get a few viable but took longer to pop .... now after urb soak .. I just either plant them or check in a moist towel.

I heard Gibberellic acid would work too , but have not tried. I did get slightly better germ from old stuff with a dilute kelp soak ( that is my my backup method ).

But this stuff seems to work pretty damn good ( especially for the $9 tester size ).
I will never use the regular larger size of this product. But for a sample , hard to beat.

New Seeds :

Plant them in rooter ( like better than rock cube )
Or plant in soil .

I have plenty of old bean ( from old crosses ) that I can experiment with ...
One thing I might try is “ dipping “ beans in clonex gel then put in moistened rooter plug , just to see what happens.

URB will ship that sample priority for $7 ( 2 day )
Thank for the reply. I have recently purchased some packs of beans and want to insure I'm giving them their best chances at germinating. Clones have made me lazy over the years. I am going to purchase the sample, I was just waiting to see your response.
When you soak the seeds, how much urb are you using?

Also, I see that there are two different samples. 1 looks like a comdiment squirt bottle and the other looks like 2 4oz bottles same size as the mammoth p samples that were handed out a while back.
 

smokeybeard

Well-Known Member
I haven't popped a bunch of beans but I use distilled water soak for 24-30 hour soak, then into paper towels in a ziplock baggy (I poor the same distilled water onto the paper towels) in a dark spot (like in a cabinet) and wait for tails to come out. Like I said, I haven't popped a bunch but out the ~20ish I have popped, 100% germ rate and even from random bag seeds, 100% female too.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
URB you either “ soak seeds “ in it straight ( for about 1 hour ) then plant or ( I use shot glass ) with half water and a few drops in for dilution for a couple hours then plant or in moist paper towel .

I only do the paper towel method after for my older seeds
( just to monitor and see if they are viable ) due to their age.

Otherwise I just plant them. But now since I’m on a Hempy bucket kick .... I just Place presoaked urb seed in rooter and place in center of perlite , sometimes I add a little water to shot glass and add mix to saturate each rooter after .

Then go get a beer.
 

macsnax

Well-Known Member
Older stock :

I started just scuffing and crossing fingers on some seeds that were over 2 1/2 years old , and just a longer hydration and longer germ time but this stuff seems to improve my chances. Without , I might get a few viable but took longer to pop .... now after urb soak .. I just either plant them or check in a moist towel.

I heard Gibberellic acid would work too , but have not tried. I did get slightly better germ from old stuff with a dilute kelp soak ( that is my my backup method ).

But this stuff seems to work pretty damn good ( especially for the $9 tester size ).
I will never use the regular larger size of this product. But for a sample , hard to beat.

New Seeds :

Plant them in rooter ( like better than rock cube )
Or plant in soil .

I have plenty of old bean ( from old crosses ) that I can experiment with ...
One thing I might try is “ dipping “ beans in clonex gel then put in moistened rooter plug , just to see what happens.

URB will ship that sample priority for $7 ( 2 day )
I've never thought about using a rooting hormone, it makes sense.
 

Michael Huntherz

Well-Known Member
I use tap water and whatever is laying around. Peat pellets or germination right in the final medium are my faves but don’t work for hydro so much, I have been over 90% success since I started regardless of method, without the exception of seeds over ten years old, which is where almost all my failures happened. If you exclude older seeds I am above 98% over 4 years, sometimes good enough just is.
 

rockethoe

Well-Known Member
A soak in URB natural works well ... fast germ , humic acid .
View attachment 4236602
I looked up URB as I've never heard of it before. it took me a long time to figure out what it was. The first website that turned up was terrible, however, it linked to another website for some reason that appears to be the same company. even then it wasn't very well explained. eventually, on the product page I found out actually what is in it. Don't know why they didn't just write a simple blurb. so this is it for anyone else that is confused.

"URB contains microbes for your growing medium. Boosting benifial microbes helps your plants vigour and resistance to pests, diseases and molds.
URB contains the following strains.
Bacillus subtilis
-Bacillus lichenformis
-Bacillus subtilis subsp. spiziizeni
-Bacillus pumilus
-Bacillus megaterium
-Trichoderma harzianum"

How hard was that?
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
I looked up URB as I've never heard of it before. it took me a long time to figure out what it was. The first website that turned up was terrible, however, it linked to another website for some reason that appears to be the same company. even then it wasn't very well explained. eventually, on the product page I found out actually what is in it. Don't know why they didn't just write a simple blurb. so this is it for anyone else that is confused.

"URB contains microbes for your growing medium. Boosting benifial microbes helps your plants vigour and resistance to pests, diseases and molds.
URB contains the following strains.
Bacillus subtilis
-Bacillus lichenformis
-Bacillus subtilis subsp. spiziizeni
-Bacillus pumilus
-Bacillus megaterium
-Trichoderma harzianum"

How hard was that?
so it's liquid great white? whats the price compared to great white?
 

CoB_nUt

Well-Known Member
I looked up URB as I've never heard of it before. it took me a long time to figure out what it was. The first website that turned up was terrible, however, it linked to another website for some reason that appears to be the same company. even then it wasn't very well explained. eventually, on the product page I found out actually what is in it. Don't know why they didn't just write a simple blurb. so this is it for anyone else that is confused.

"URB contains microbes for your growing medium. Boosting benifial microbes helps your plants vigour and resistance to pests, diseases and molds.
URB contains the following strains.
Bacillus subtilis
-Bacillus lichenformis
-Bacillus subtilis subsp. spiziizeni
-Bacillus pumilus
-Bacillus megaterium
-Trichoderma harzianum"

How hard was that?
Yea I looked it up too, and ran into the same thing as you. The first site was sketchy, sample looked to be in a condiment bottle. I ordered my sample from the second more professional looking site.
 

rockethoe

Well-Known Member
so it's liquid great white? whats the price compared to great white?
based on a 4oz bottle, great white is 4 times the price.
That sounds shit, until you look at the strains side by side.

URB
Bacillus subtilis
-Bacillus lichenformis
-Bacillus subtilis subsp. spiziizeni
-Bacillus pumilus
-Bacillus megaterium
-Trichoderma harzianum
-Humic acid carrier


Great White
Endomycorrhiza
-Glomus aggregatum – 83 props per gram
-Glomus intraradices – 83 props per gram
-Glomus mosseae – 83 props per gram
-Glomus etunicatum – 83 props per gram
-Glomus clarum – 11 props per gram
-Glomus monosporum – 11 props per gram
-Paraglomus brazilianum – 11 props per gram
-Glomus deserticola – 11 props per gram
-Gigaspora margarita – 11 props per gram

Ectomycorrhiza
-Pisolithus tinctorious – 187,875 propagules per gram
-Rhizopogon luteolus – 5,219 props per gram
-Rhizopogon fulvigleba – 5,219 props per gram
-Rhizopogon villosullus – 5,219 props per gram
-Rhizopogon amylopogon – 5,219 props per gram
-Scleroderma citrinum – 5,219 props per gram
-Scleroderma cepa – 5,219 props per gram

Bacteria
-Azotobacter chroococcum – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Bacillus subtilis – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Bacillus licheniformis – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Bacillus azotoformans – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Bacillus megaterium – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Bacillus coagulans – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Bacillus pumilus – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Bacillus thuringiensis – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Bacillus amyloliquefaciens – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Paenibacillus durum – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Paenibacillus polymyxa – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Saccharomyces cerevisiae – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Pseudomonas aureofaciens – 525,000 CFU’s per gram
-Pseudomonas fluorescens – 525,000 CFU’s per gram

-Trichoderma koningii-187,875 CFU’s per gram
-Trichoderma harzianum-125,250 CFU’s per gram

Other Ingredients
-Glycine
-Vitamin package


Great white has much more.and not just much more, but it has much more of the beneficial strains. Great white has Endo's as well as the bacteria. so Id say they are both about right for their respective price ranges.
 

rockethoe

Well-Known Member
although I don't understand why they include Saccharomyces cerevisiae (brewer's yeast) can anyone enlighten me?

Also im not an expert by any means, so a run down on all those strains and which ones are beneficial for us, and which don't matter would be fantastic, if anyone has the time and knowledge to type all that up.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
Ok, so this is a question that gets asked a lot, every season. The trouble is so far as I've seen it often gets answered with speculation, contradictions, and strongly held weak opinions.

Has anyone put to the test side by side the different methods?
Which one truly leads to a higher germination rate?
In the end it's a seed. The best way is to put it straight to medium to sprout. Extra steps like paper towels just add the risk of damage that allows pathogens that cause damping off to enter the seedling.

Only when it comes to old or stubborn seed stock do extra steps need to be taken.

Yes. I've done some side by sides with numerous strains. While using things like paper towels can speed germination, in the end it is slightly counter productive.

You germ the seed, which takes a day or two then put it in soil or whatever you are using and then another day to come up. If you just put the seed straight to soil or other medium it may take a few to 5 days to sprout. It may be a day or two slower but the roots will be 6+ inches long by then compared to an inch or two using pre germination techniques.
 
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led1k

Well-Known Member
If you just put the seed straight to soil or other medium it may take a few to 5 days to sprout. It may be a day or two slower but the roots will be 6+ inches long by then compared to an inch or two using pre germination techniques.
Totally agree. It's one of those 'better to delay gratification' things you have to wait for.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
Totally agree. It's one of those 'better to delay gratification' things you have to wait for.
I prefer straight to medium.

I used to use paper towels. Never had issue with them. Then one run I did. For the most part paper towels works with 90+% germ rates. The reason I don't anymore is the extra risk of damage that can allow bacteria in that cause dampimg off. I lost a number of expensive seeds one run with paper towels and went back to putting them straight to soil.

Even when I was doing hydro I would plant them in solo cups and wait a week after they popped the removed them from the soil then to hydro. I would gently wash the soil from the roots.
 

godboss

Member
There's really more than one method that works. Drop em in soil, paper towel, peat pellets, etc. It really comes down to personal preference. I've had good success with all. It comes down to technique, skill, and patience. And forget about humidity domes, most people having trouble germing seeds is because of them things.
There's other methods for old seeds but that's another discussion.
Agreed! Many ways to grow..only reason I use coffee filter / paper towel is then I can see which seeds are duds..ones with root will be stronger grows right out of the towel..I also believe..(with absolutely no proof..) that the ones grown this way avoid unnecessary soil death..from random Moldova or pests or chlorine shock...red light flash..at 60.00 per 5 pack...who wants to throw away money and take chances?? If I use this method I have a chance to get money back on the duds.
 

macsnax

Well-Known Member
Agreed! Many ways to grow..only reason I use coffee filter / paper towel is then I can see which seeds are duds..ones with root will be stronger grows right out of the towel..I also believe..(with absolutely no proof..) that the ones grown this way avoid unnecessary soil death..from random Moldova or pests or chlorine shock...red light flash..at 60.00 per 5 pack...who wants to throw away money and take chances?? If I use this method I have a chance to get money back on the duds.
Pretty much the same for me..... I hate staring at wet spot of soil for a week, and then nothing comes up. I can check a paper towel of coffee filter everyday, and know exactly what's going on.
 

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
Left jeans pocket on an autumn day just before first snowfall and a lame memory till the following fall in a pheasant season of a vacant cornfield 345 seeds !00% germination LOL

BRO SCIENCE :fire:
 
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