Germination issues

[Eldo]

Hi uk420,

 

I'm really struggling getting some recent subbies seeds to germinate hoping someone might have some suggestions.

 

1st up done my usual chuck them in a glass of water for 24hours then Intocompost and leave....well after 7 days of leaving had a little dig around and they had done nothing.

 

Temps around 25 degree and never lower than 23....other seeds popped at same time came up fine after 48 hours

 

2nd time round only soaked for 12 hours, got the heat mat out, pots not in direct contact with mat (so don't think cooked them there) and had temps around 28 degrees. 7 days on and nothing....

 

At this stage I'm getting kinda desperate now.

 

Is it possible a couple of hot summer days whilst in the postman's possession these have been cooked and killed?

 

Possible that being fresher seeds than I usually get that the 12 hour soak drowned them??

 

Any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated 

[lildaveham]

@Eldo
 

Hello, 

Have you had em in the fridge since you got them?

 

The process is called stratification, it sometimes can help as it mimics a period of winter for the seed. 
 

There also may be a need to “scuff” the seeds husk to weaken the outer shell. This would help the embryo inside to emerge more easily. 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by lildaveham

[catweazle1]

Temp wants to be 22-24c optimally. Soaking in a weak seaweed solution overnight may help. 

[Clubs]

You could stop soaking them first and you'll find out. Straight into a moist medium has always worked for me.

[Eldo]

@lildaveham hello and thanks for the reply, yes they went straight in the fridge.

 

By scuff do you mean like with some sandpaper and should this scuffing be done all over seed?

 

I took a few more seeds out the fridge earlier to slowly come out their chill before trying again as I saw somewhere going straight from fridge to warmish water could stress them...think I'm clutching at straws their but at this stage I'll try anything

 

They do look like we'll cooked chunky seeds so hopefully a scuff is all they need

[Eldo]

@catweazle1 thought 26-28 was ideal guess I'll turn the mat off

 

@Clubs that's the plan next time around, never had issues before but have seen a few people saying to skip the soak

 

Running out of seeds to try with now though

[GreenVision]

I've germinated 1000's in my time as I make my own a lot and test etc etc, I have had some take over a week after a soak and placed in damp kitchen paper.

 

You seem to be doing everything right, cant add on what's already been said to try, but I'd not just throw them after a week.

 

A 12-24 hour soak in a light root stim water, placed into kitchen paper and ziplock bag, put somewhere warm ish'.

 

Of all the 1000's I've done I've only ever had one particular batch not germ. I soaked over 50 that had been in my loft for YEARS a few months back, only a few failed, but some did take 9-10 days to break out.

[mikeydoughnut]

Got some pips to pop in a ‘Gu’ puddin jar of water with a few drops of peroxide. 2 have tails the rest have cracked. Took about 3 days. Usually I go straight to coco or jiffy but had issues with these in the past. Weren’t expecting owt but there you go …

[catweazle1]

35 minutes ago, Eldo said:

@catweazle1 thought 26-28 was ideal guess I'll turn the mat off

 

@Clubs that's the plan next time around, never had issues before but have seen a few people saying to skip the soak

 

Running out of seeds to try with now though

Wet your media, squeeze out the excess, and plant half inch down. You should see emergence 2-4 days later. Fresh seeds may suffer drowning from soaking, so not really the thing to do first. Mandala Seeds, for reference, notes emphatically that their seeds should not be soaked because they are fresh.

 

I'm not an an expert but I have done a stint as a cereal seed analyst and those crop seeds moisture content were always tested and adjusted to 14-16% by drying before packaging. If you send out fresh seeds and they are subsequently stored in sealed containers the excess moisture content will create sub-optimal storage conditions. This is only one anecdotal datapoint, but I've bought Mandala seeds directly from them and from a reseller.

 

None of the seeds from the retailer germinated and all the ones directly delivered germinated. I haven't grown any seeds for planting yet, but my method would be to harvest the seeds, lay them out single layer on an open plate or dish and put them somewhere with a stable room temp for a month with normal ventilation. You can then freeze them or refrigerate. Freezing fresh seeds is not a good idea because the ice that forms can expand and rupture seeds internally. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by catweazle1