seeds

[apriyam]

Wee bit of help if poss,i put the seeds in a little box with 800 wet n dry sand paper and shake to remove waxy coating.then in little metal tin on damp cotton wool, covered with a little more damp cotton wool.......airing cuboard.

2-3 days later.................

Out of maybe 6 seeds a nice root has appeard on 2-3 the others you can see the root trying to get out of its shell but never seems to actually make it ,no matter how long they are left in there.

Am i doing any thing majorly wrong ??? can i help them out of the shell in any way ??.

Once past this stage i'm away happy days.

cheers peeps.

[Deranged World]

I was struggling getting seeds to germ at first. Basically too wet of a medium.

Just soaked some peat jiffys then and gave them a bit of a squeeze to remove any excess water and popped seeds straight from packet, out of the fridge and straight into warm jiffys so place them into the airing cupboard an hour or so beforehand and got 100% germination. I just got the 12pk of peat jiffys and a little propagator in a kit for £2.99 in homebase. Had tried a few methods and lost a number of seeds and ££ along the way.

As folks said to me they don't fall onto a piece of sandpaper or a tin of cotton wool in nature

[Peterpan1]

.

[wu-tang-sam]

i put the seeds in a little box with 800 wet n dry sand paper and shake

There's your problem right there, you want at least 1200, preferably 1500.

[podencoid]

Hi - just sharing my own method which seems to work well so far but don't take it as gospel.

I soak the seeds in warmed water (just a little above room temp) for 24 hours and then into Root Riot cubes. Some people go straight to compost (or Jiffy pellets) with equally good results. The initial soaking appears to help soften the shells.

You can add a little SuperThrive or seaweed extract to the soaking water but that's up to you. Simpler is better sometimes. Warmth while germinating certainly seems to help too.

All the best - it's annoying when seeds fail.

[JB60]

Ages since I did seeds but always soak for 24hrs ish in plain tap water until the seeds sink.

A softer shell is the way forwards I think.

ATB

JB

[Darwin]

Always germ ours in deep narrow pots, there's a bit by uncle Ben in the grow FAQ which says summat bout the length of the radicle (taproot) at point of cotyledon (seed leaves) emergence. Apparently it can be up to four inch long at this stage. Too short a pot and you end up restricting the root, or so I think.

[BigJohnny]

Stick them in a .5 litre pot with some pre moistened soil, leave in a warm dark place. Over 90% germ rate. No fannying around.

Sandpaper... wtf?

[Punta Roja]

Sandpaper... wtf?

Many seeds depend on passing through a bird or reptiles gizzard. In the gizzard they will be roughed up by stones giving them a better start when germinating i.e. the husk has already been weakened and it can more easily absorb water .

I don't know if it makes a difference with cannabis seeds but they are eaten by birds. There could be some merit in it therefore.

My personal method is straight out of the fridge into well soaked jiffys and place them under 3 x 40w CFLs + Maintain 28 degrees = 90%+ germ rate.

ATB

PR