What water do you use to germinate ?????

halzey68

Well-Known Member
Wondering what kind of water would be best for germinating cannibis seeds. Bottled ? Distilled ? Spring ? Rain ? Purified ? Tap(aireated to remove chlorine, ect..) ???
I made sure to buy paper towells that had no chemicals or inks.
Any advice will be appreciated, thanks.:weed:
 

gogrow

confused
i use water from my faucet for every aspect of my plants.... but i am on a flow well... no chlorine or bleach in my water... just minerals, and lots of sulpher (smells like eggs)... good, natural, groundwater
 

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
Distilled water.

I don't soak or use paper towels and I have a nearly 100% germ rate within 3 or 4 days.

16 oz plastic cup, poke holes in bottom for drainage
Pro Mix (B'Cuzz, anything PH adjusted without nutes)
Distilled water
Glad Cling Wrap
Pen

1. Mix your medium with distilled water until it's ready for planting - squeeze some lightly in your hand, it should retain its shape and the contours of your hand but not drip any water.

2. Fill the cup, covering the top and shaking up and down to get the medium compacted evenly. Fill to 1" below top, pat down GENTLY.

3. Using the pen tip make a small hole in the center of the cup about 3/16" deep.

4. Take the seed to good light and determine which end is scalloped (will open) and which end has the little dimple where it was attached to the plant (the hing). Place the seed gently in the top of the hole with the scallop side down, remove the refill from the pen and use the open end to fit over the seed and push down so it's dimpled end is 1 millimeter below the surface. Use the tip of the pen to gently rough up the medium top and lightly cover the seed with 1 mm of medium.

5. Sprinkle 3 - 5 tablespoons of distilled water on top of the medium, soaking the entire surface.

6. Tear off a strip of cling wrap wide enough to cover the cup, tear the strip in two and use one half strip per cup. The good cling wrap will hug the lip of the cup and give you a great seal.

7. Put the cup in your flower room, if possible high enough to get direct light. This will give you a steaming effect, the inside of the cling wrap will become opaque with water vapor. The 12/12 cycle seems to help the seed split, I've found much better luck with this than 24 hours constant heat - perhaps because the heating and cooling in 12/12 closer mimics a natural enviroment.

8. Check the cup atleast 3 times a day - lights on/off/in middle - if the seed pops the surface and you don't remove the cling wrap the stem stays bent for a few days. Filling the cup with medium to 1" below the surface gives you some playing room, and space to add more medium if the stem needs support.

9. If the plant pops the surface and you have a white stem without the leaves you planted the seed upside down and you are looking at the root tip. If you catch it early enough you may be able to replant before the root dies.

10. Remember to label your cups.

Long winded and unasked for, but if anyone is having trouble with germinating this is a near idiot proof method.

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bongsmilie

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growwwww

Well-Known Member
its a seed at that point actually... erm how much hydrogen peroxide to water do you guys use?
 

halzey68

Well-Known Member
Thanks Hobbes. Think im going to try that. I dont like handling the babies right after they sprout. I have FoxFarm Light Warrior, it says its ph adjusted and has humic acid for germination. Sound Good ????? I usually make up a gallon of water with a 1/8 teaspoon of superthrive to feed my cuttings once they take for the first week. just spent 200 on a nice selection of seeds from Tude. So i want to do everthing possible to end up with a nice mother from each.
 

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
I've never tried Fox Farm soil for germing, mostly because I can't buy any unless I mail order it in, but I think it would work fine. My only concern would be that the ferts in the FFOF would damage the new root when the seed splits - I don't think that would happen but I've never tried it.

Try it with a few seeds to see how it goes, I'm sure they'll germ and sprout fine in FFOF.

I use to use hydrogen peroxide every time I watered soiless and in my hydro. The stuff burnt my hands so I stopped using it. Perhaps it's because I'm learning to grow but my plants seem healthier after stopping H2O2. If you're going to use hydrogen peroxide use the higher percent version from the hydro store, the 3% stuff from the drug store contains a drug that builds up in your system. We wouldn't get much of it in our smoke, but from the article I read the drug isn't something you want any part off. If I find the article I'll post it in this thread.


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bongsmilie

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ODGROP

Well-Known Member
I put my seeds in a paper towel fold it up use either tap or distilled to wet it and put it in a ziplock bag, done this way my afghans germed 3/3 all under 12 hours, and the ak48s were 3/3 all under 36 hours.
 

halzey68

Well-Known Member
I have FoxFarm Ocean Forest And Light Warrior. The OF is packed with nutes(enough for 30 days), the LW is for "seedlings and freshly rooted" plants and doesnt have many nutrients in it(5 days) and i dont think whats in it has much strength. I usually mix my soil bag for bag OF-LW in my big pots but to start these ill go straight LW, Maybe flush it just a little before i put seeds in.
 

MichiganGrows44

Active Member
i use water from my faucet for every aspect of my plants.... but i am on a flow well... no chlorine or bleach in my water... just minerals, and lots of sulpher (smells like eggs)... good, natural, groundwater
This is an old post but I absolutely agree, if your well water smells of eggs, USE IT!!!! If it's city water, no. WELL WATER=BEST WATER
 

conor c

Well-Known Member
Straight tap water and its never caused me any issue where im at but with older stuff/field collected seeds i will clean em first with a mild hydrogen peroxide solution first it dont matter when there seeds the thing with chlorine and chloramine is its rarely at levels it could harm your plant its more the microbes in the dirt folk worry it can hurt when there seeds its a non issue imo
 

MichiganGrows44

Active Member
Straight tap water and its never caused me any issue where im at but with older stuff/field collected seeds i will clean em first with a mild hydrogen peroxide solution first it dont matter when there seeds the thing with chlorine and chloramine is its rarely at levels it could harm your plant its more the microbes in the dirt folk worry it can hurt when there seeds its a non issue imo
I absolutely agree, my we'll is 50' it was terribly expensive putting in...it's hard as hell, lots and lots of Iron. Turns my whites a bit yellow if I wash em at home, laundry mat for my whites lol.
 

conor c

Well-Known Member
I absolutely agree, my we'll is 50' it was terribly expensive putting in...it's hard as hell, lots and lots of Iron. Turns my whites a bit yellow if I wash em at home, laundry mat for my whites lol.
Im the opposite most of the time my taps ph7 and soft as hell our waters soft as shit so i always need extra calmag tbh most of Scotland is like this i dont think we have many hard water areas thats more England and wells here are rare unless you stay in a house thats really old or dig it yourself im guessing there its a must ?
 

sh0wtime

Well-Known Member
Using tap water and rhizotonic.
To be fair tho: we got some of the best water quality around the world here, I think.
 

MichiganGrows44

Active Member
Im the opposite most of the time my taps ph7 and soft as hell our waters soft as shit so i always need extra calmag tbh most of Scotland is like this i dont think we have many hard water areas thats more England and wells here are rare unless you stay in a house thats really old or dig it yourself im guessing there its a must ?
Ohhh wow, here in Michigan well water is crazy hard. And anyone on the outskirts of a city have wells. I've a few tests done on my water over the years and it's loaded with iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc. I have never had to use calmag....but the dry amendments I use have that already.
Very very cool you have such soft water, consider yourself lucky
 
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