Help Me Germinate My Seeds

Hello,
I'm located in Northern California. I created a Stealth Fridge box a couple of months ago and I now have the chance to use it.

Lighting:
2 x 42 Watt 6500K CFL's
1 x 26 Watt 6500K CFL

There is an 120mm PC exhaust fan and a passive intake. My temperature stays around 75 during the day and drops to the 50's and low 60's during the night. The humidity is around 50%. Is this acceptable?

Anyways so on Thursday I attempted to germinate 2 seeds. This was my second attempt (first in December with some white bag seeds that didn't sprout). I used the paper towel method.

This was what I did:
I got 3 paper towels. I got them damp and placed the seeds in the middle. I wrapped it up and placed it in an airtight jar in a dark room. I didn't realize it but the room it was in was around 65 degrees. I checked on it daily until Saturday I moved it to a warmer (but dark) spot. Waited another day and still no signs other than the seed looked a darker brown. So I talked to a few friends and they advised me to plant it and hope it comes up. Is that the right choice? I really didn't think this one through and I planted it Sunday. The seeds are now in a dark blue party cup about 5 inches under the lights.

What should I do?

Thanks for any help

Mr. X said:

There is an 120mm PC exhaust fan and a passive intake. My temperature stays around 75 during the day and drops to the 50's and low 60's during the night. The humidity is around 50%. Is this acceptable?

Anyways so on Thursday I attempted to germinate 2 seeds. This was my second attempt (first in December with some white bag seeds that didn't sprout). I used the paper towel method.

This was what I did:
I got 3 paper towels. I got them damp and placed the seeds in the middle. I wrapped it up and placed it in an airtight jar in a dark room. I didn't realize it but the room it was in was around 65 degrees. I checked on it daily until Saturday I moved it to a warmer (but dark) spot. Waited another day and still no signs other than the seed looked a darker brown. So I talked to a few friends and they advised me to plant it and hope it comes up. Is that the right choice? I really didn't think this one through and I planted it Sunday. The seeds are now in a dark blue party cup about 5 inches under the lights.

What should I do?

Thanks for any help

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try not to let your night temp go below 65F. 75F is a good day time temp. i have had seed grem in lower temp than 65f. i would have just kept them wet with the paper towel and left them in a dark warm spot for a few more days. if the seeds wont drack in the towel there not going to crack in soil so there was no point in planting it...50% humid is ok but hitting the 50's in temp will stunt growth and could very well cause stress... stress = herm=BAD

How far north are you? You're probably going to need a heater if you're past Eureka. It gets too cold for them.

any pics of this frige box you made? i wanna see it

not damp paper towel. wet. needs to be wet

when i germ i put my seeds in a paper towel and put it into a plastic bag and dump some water in the bag and into a metal tin with a lid and put it under my lights then after about 3-5 days i have a tap root

thanks everyone for the input. I'm in the bay area. The mornings here can get quite chilly (35 degrees) but luckily not my box. So how would I go about keeping the temperature up in the night, but not increasing it too much during the day. Is a heater my best bet?

I will try captains method of germination next time. Isn't mold an issue though?

Budist I'll get pics when I can (probably in the next few days)

1st don't use white seeds they are to premature and won't do anything. 2nd soak your seed in water for 24hr's. 3rd use a Tupperware bowl with a lid and take a wet paper towel fold it so you can cover the seed, put lid on and put in a dark place and pow in a couple days it will sprout. I also use a fine grit sand paper in a match box and shake the seed then submerge in water. Good luck.

I have 100% germination with paper towel tehnic and 90 degrease farenhite .it tooks max 48hours to germ........

mold is a possibility but since youre only leaving it in the wet bag for a few days it isnt really a problem just check it every couple of days and if you see mold get a new paper towel and new bag. but try not to touch the seed as much as possible once you have a root form cause your oils from your skin can damage it

heres how i do it and get 100 percent everytime....

plate...paer towel or tissue paper on on it...soak it....put seeds on...more tissue on top...soak that....place in a plastic carrier bag...wrap it up but not tightly...and place in a drawer...mine goes in my sock drawer lol....check every 24hrs....when the tap root is about 10mm long i plant...usually about 48hrs max....

mipro84 said:

I have 100% germination with paper towel tehnic and 90 degrease farenhite .it tooks max 48hours to germ........

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If you have a 100% germination rate, then you haven't grown very long. No matter what method is used eventually someone will have beans that just will not open, for some reason or another.


A nonviable bean is a nonviable bean and eventually everyone will end up with some and there is nothing that can be done about it, other than try more beans and see if some or all will pop.


If someone can maintain a higher 90% range for popping beans, they are doing all that can be done.

When I germinate right in the soil I tend to have more vigorous plants, though not as high of a germination percentage as when I use a variation of the paper towel method.

I do not like paper towels. I use a thick clean washcloth that has been very well rinsed so there is no soap residue trapped in it or dryer fabric softener in it. I have a thick/heavy squarish Tupperware-like container that is black. A washcloth folded into fourths just fills the bottom. I put the folded washcloth in the container and soak the fully rinsed clean washcloth with warm water and let it sit until is can soak up as much water as possible. Then I drain any excess, but without pressing or squeezing. I unfold it to the middle, so there are two layers of washcloth above and below, and place the beans on the wash cloth and lightly press them into it. I fold the washcloth back over the beans and again lightly press down. What seems to help is the beans are down in or between the fibers so moisture is more evenly spread around the entire bean. If you have ever looked at beans in a paper towel there is almost always a bit of an air pocket around the sides/edges of the beans where they are not against the wet/moist paper towel like the top/upper and bottom/lower part of the beans. The container is so thick and black that light does not penetrate it so I don't need to put it in a dark location. I only need a warm location.

Most times, not all, but most, roots will have broken through the seed shell in 12 to 18 hours, 20 hours at most. Sometimes 24 to even 36 hours is needed, but in my experience that is a rarity.

Just a side note, I have a mark on the top of the container and on the side where I can line the two up. I do that so if I am popping beans of different strains I can lay out the beans in rows or in some pattern, make a little chart/drawing showing which is which, and then have a point of reference for what is the 'top' of the rows or pattern. That makes it simple to keep track of which seeds are of which strain. I also lay the washcloth so it unfolds towards the 'top,' towards the reference mark, and then the upper row or beginning of a pattern of seeds matched my chart/drawing of how I laid them out.

One tip is, some strains produce very thick shells with a rather waxy-like coating on them and it can be difficult for moisture to penetrate to begin germination. In those cases you can use something like a fine nail file or a light sandpaper and lightly scuff/rough up the surface of the seeds. That can help moisture to penetrate.

i like to add to bricktops account, even though most seeds do sprout in 1-2 days, the process can take up to 2 weeks and occasionally even longer.

if you are doing the papertowel method, squeeze the seeds, if they smush, they are nonviable.

if they keep hard, there is still hope (even if 2 weeks have passed)

Alright so I think I just messed up those seeds. Im going to germinate 2 more. Should I place them in water first for 24 hours and then do the paper towel (or variant) method? On another note, how do I deal with my low evening temperatures? Is a heater on a timer the best plan?

Mr. X said:

Alright so I think I just messed up those seeds. Im going to germinate 2 more. Should I place them in water first for 24 hours and then do the paper towel (or variant) method? On another note, how do I deal with my low evening temperatures? Is a heater on a timer the best plan?

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Do you have a refrigerator in your home? If so, follow what I did last week. Look here: https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/507739-aurora-indica-mother-plant-selection.html

Ya it looks like you were pretty successful. Any tips on how to heat my box up more?

Mr. X said:

Ya it looks like you were pretty successful. Any tips on how to heat my box up more?

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Yep. What is the voltage of the small fan you use for cooling. If you could install a thermostat on it, it wouldn't kick on to cool until your temp reached setpoint. They make millivolt, 24 volt, line volt...

hmm i dont think regulating the fan will improve temperatures enough. I got low 50's last night so I think I may need to install a heater on a timer or something similar.

The seeds i put into the glass of water last night were still floating today. I took one out, squeezed it a bit but not too hard and it cracked a little bit. When I put it back into the water both it and the other seed sunk.

I'm going to leave it there until later tonight.

Anyways this is my setup. Let me know what you guys think

Mr. X said:

hmm i dont think regulating the fan will improve temperatures enough. I got low 50's last night so I think I may need to install a heater on a timer or something similar.

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Before you spend more money, try turning the fan off tonight and see what the temps do. Couldn't hurt much, right?

Ok I will try that. But isn't it important to always have the air circulating?