PLEASE HELP!!! Seeds keep cracking and dying!!

Hi There again folks!

I need some help please if you lot dont mind, my first grow went without a hitch from start to finish but am having some major problems germinating now.

So far I've lost 4 seeds bought from attitude and possibly a 5th!!!

The problem im having is the seeds are "cracking", getting a small taproot and then simply stopping growing completely (left them for like 2 weeks and no change) so im gutted and completely stumped over this one

Im germinating in rockwool, pre-soaked for 24 hours in room temperature water that has been ph adjusted to 5.8 - seeds are planted 1/4 inch deep with a small pice of rockwool placed over the hole to make it light tight. This is then placed in a proporgator with a little water to keep humidity up and placed in a warm dark place.

So Far 1 seed from 6 has sprouted and is thriving nicely and 1 has been in the proporgator for 3 days with nothing coming up yet.

The temps are fine, the water is de-chlorinated, tepid and ph adjusted - no light getting in either.

Im pulling my hair out over this as I'm wasting some killer seeds and want a 2 plant grow this time round.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Oh I also have another seed that has been "cracked" using the paper towels method and has just been transplanted into rockwool and my setup is a DWC system

id think iether to wet or to hot

try germing in a wet paper towl put inside a baggie.....then put em in yyur R/W cubes when they have a taproot

agree with dizzle.

Everyone runs into probs eventually. Your seeds are cracking ok then your killing them. After germination(seed cracked) you must put it in a medium thats not too wet and can dry out. The rw cubes are staying too wet and killing the sprout. Before you put the cracked seed in, shake the water out of the cube so its approx 50% wet, not drenched like your doing. Then when u water, same again no more than 50% wet, put it under a cfl from the start 24/0, when est. put them into the system.

Too get the feel of 50% wet, weigh the cube dry then saturated and split the that down the middle. eg 5g dry 50g wet, so u want it 25g max.

*BUDS said:

Too get the feel of 50% wet, weigh the cube dry then saturated and split the that down the middle. eg 5g dry 50g wet, so u want it 25g max.

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thats to much un-needed effort lol.... just soak your cube, give it ten minutes or so and simply squish it. all that water will poor out to the point that over saturation is no longer a problem. your tap root should be at the bottom of the cube by the next time you need to water it.

Dizzle Frost said:

id think iether to wet or to hot

try germing in a wet paper towl put inside a baggie.....then put em in yyur R/W cubes when they have a taproot

Click to expand...

Hi Dizzle, Chhers for replying so fast.

See one of the things id thought was too wet, but i always shake the excess water off - the temps range from 22 - 28 degrees in the cupboard i put them in near the heating system and the humidity inside the proporgator is at 80-85% with the vents closed.

Im just trialing the paper towel method at the moment, just dont want to kill anymore potential ladies.

Thanks for the input, ill try shaking out more water in the rockwool cubes before i transplant/ plant a seed in there.

*BUDS said:

Everyone runs into probs eventually. Your seeds are cracking ok then your killing them. After germination(seed cracked) you must put it in a medium thats not too wet and can dry out. The rw cubes are staying too wet and killing the sprout. Before you put the cracked seed in, shake the water out of the cube so its approx 50% wet, not drenched like your doing. Then when u water, same again no more than 50% wet, put it under a cfl from the start 24/0, when est. put them into the system.

Click to expand...

Yeah this prob is doing my head in, i think i may have left too much water in then as the same thing has happened to a few seeds. I'll defo get more water out for next time then.

Do you mean put under a cfl after ive planted it?

I was just planting straight in rockwool to start with but am trialing the paper towel method at the mo.

I'll try weighing it then as its a fairly simple thing to do with a pair of digi's

DrtyBngWtr said:

thats to much un-needed effort lol.... just soak your cube, give it ten minutes or so and simply squish it. all that water will poor out to the point that over saturation is no longer a problem. your tap root should be at the bottom of the cube by the next time you need to water it.

Click to expand...

Hey Drty

Thanks for the input.

I think ill be ok shaking the water out more, the cubes where pretty wet when i planted the seeds so its prob that then yey!.

Just a quick question.... I've been told NEVER to "squeeze" water out of rockwool as the air pockets that it has are all pushed out and will make the taproot "drown" as there is no oxygen left... is this not the case? as squeezing is defo easier than shaking lol!

cheers

I don't like to squeezing the rock wool its better to shake it a few times It'll still holds plenty of water. I have pretty good luck doing it my way here's a recent pic of some I germinated too good and a link to how I do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZkAGclbiuE
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MrGhettoGrower said:

I don't like to squeezing the rock wool its better to shake it a few times It'll still holds plenty of water. I have pretty good luck doing it my way here's a recent pic of some I germinated too good and a link to how I do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZkAGclbiuE
View attachment 1693248View attachment 1693246

Click to expand...

+rep for you bro, nice thanks for the link!!!

The few I had germinating have all popped, i shook the cube out a little more and put them in a warmer place n they have decided to stop pissing me off n actually grow yey!

So for my latest grow I now have;

Sensi Seeds - Big Bud
Dinafem - Blue Widow

I'll possibly journal this one, not sure yet but THANKS TO ALL FOR THE HELP GUYS N GALS!!!!!