Why not germinate in the dirt?

Everyone has all these germination methods from soaking to drenched perlite/vermiculite cubes to paper towels I don't know which to use...

What I wonder is though, why not just crack the seeds by sewing them?

Especially with really good soil like MG potting mix that already has vermiculite in it, I don't see why the dirt isn't the perfect place to germinate...

What I do it to soak the seeds in about an inch of water for 24 hours and then plant them before they sprout, keeping them warm the entire time.

you can germinate in dirt, but you can pick out all the seeds that are going to grow by growing roots before planting, besides they will germinate quicker, I use the damp paper towel with seeds between two, or just one folded over the seeds, put in a bag on your window sill rapped it a black shirt or some black paper that way light wont get through but they're warm and you'll have germination in 24 hours.

SquirrelGod said:

you can germinate in dirt, but you can pick out all the seeds that are going to grow by growing roots before planting, besides they will germinate quicker, I use the damp paper towel with seeds between two, or just one folded over the seeds, put in a bag on your window sill rapped it a black shirt or some black paper that way light wont get through but they're warm and you'll have germination in 24 hours.

Click to expand...

As always this seems the easiest and everyone says most reliable... I am germing Top 44 anyway so probably I won't have issues no matter which way I go. This is probably what I will do, though I didn't think of the windowsill idea...

This is a bag seed that I put in a 2 inch circle of foam in a solo cup, the liquid is 4:1 distilled water to miracle grow 15:30:15. Then I put it in the dark.

Did I kill a seed or will something happen? It's almost funny... if it does work, I wonder if it would survive in soil...

You definitely don't need any nutes for sprouting, or for a week or so after sprouting. The sprout has all the nutrients it needs stored in the seed.

imho, it takes a little longer to germ in dirt and particularly if you are impatient or a newb eager for results (ie - ME!) it can be tempting to dig them up to see how they're going - not a good idea. I have read that germing in paper towels can risk injuring fragile root as they grow fine hairs which can stick to towels and be damaged when transfering from towel into grow medium. I have never had this experience myself and normally, if seed produces root in towel and I plant it in dirt and it fails to grow, I can usually attribute that to some other more likely cause like overheating, bad handling or over/under watering.

It is easier for paper towel to dry out than soil if you don't monitor it and if you don't change it after about 24hrs, sometimes towel can get a bit mushy or slimy which I wouldn't think would be good for seed.

If you do put straight in dirt it pays to be patient. I germed some seeds in soil and when I thought after almost two weeks they were never going to do anything, disposed of soil in garden. A couple of weeks later I noticed one had sprouted and luckily I was able to sort it out before it veged nicely in my front garden in full view of the street.