Very low germination rate

[latitude54]

Not sure what I've been doing wrong recently but I seem to have a very low germination rate.

 

Recent results

Round 1:

5 seeds wet, 4 cracked, 3 broke soil.

 

Round 2:

6 seeds wet, 6 cracked, 3 broke soil.

 

Process

Seeds in wet paper towel in a dvd case in the airing cupboard.

When the root is around 1cm planted into moist soil (just below the surface) at around 24-25ºC and covered with clingfilm

Sat in the corner of the grow tent at 25-28ºC sprayed with water daily.

 

Any thoughts?

 

[JonDaMon]

A lot of folks now use a refrigerator for a few days prior to germinating. 
 

personally I presoak for a few hours 4-24hours and then plant straight into my medium. 
 

if they pop and come up then they do. If they don’t they don’t. 

[KC]

Maybe they're too wet, you don't really need cling film over them, we do it with cuts as they have no roots so they need high humidity. 

For me I soak seeds in water until I see them starting to crack. I water a small pot of compost then make a hole for the seed then cover it with a bit of compost and that's it really. It shouldn't need watering until the seed is up so no spraying or anything. 

[disco survivor]

A while ago I helped a mate with a similar problem. No issues germinating the seeds but had a very low success rate when transplanting the seeds into compost/ soil.

 

He had 3 issues:

1) Compost was nutrient rich and causing damage to the seedlings. Reverted to a plain John Innes seed sowing compost.

2) Temperature in the propagator was far too high and had poor circulation, causing stem and root rot. 

3) Depth that seedlings were being planted was too deep

 

His latest batch, having rectified the issues above was 100% success rate. HOWEVER, he did plant 2 seeds too shallow so had to assist the seedlings once they broke the soil by removing the seed husk. 

[catweazle1]

Wet media, squeeze, refluff it, make 3/4-1" hole, plant. I used to soak, but not anymore. I would only do anything different now if I know thgere is a problem from them being old. If the seeds are pretty fresh, soaking can nuke them from cutting off the surrounding air.

[DeltaMelter]

 

I like to float the seedlings in a shot glass - you can easily see the germinated seeds that way and get a better idea of numbers.

[smilertoo]

Only 3 of my 5 mephisto seeds popped, quite annoying.

[latitude54]

8 hours ago, disco survivor said:

while ago I helped a mate with a similar problem.

cheers buddy. 

If anything I probably sow too shallow. 

 

I think possibly being in the big tent under a 600w hps (although not in direct light) may be a little too much for them. And they’re getting nuked. I did want to use my little tent with 72w led but it has no heat source (not ideal when it’s -4 out there). A trip to toolstation for a cheap tube heater might be required before I waste any more seeds. 

Edited December 3, 2023 by latitude54

[KC]

I doubt it's your light if they're not breaking the surface buddy. The ones that did sprout were fine right?

[latitude54]

2 minutes ago, KC said:

I doubt it's your light if they're not breaking the surface buddy. The ones that did sprout were fine right?

Yeah. The ones that have grown are absolutely fine. 
 

medium is Clover MPC and it’s only additive is just water a couple of hours before sowing so no risk of the soil being a problem I don’t think. 

[KC]

I think you've got them too wet mate, try it without clingfilm and the daily spraying.

 

You don't know how old these seeds are do you? I've had some bad germ rates, well they're not even cracking in water but that's because they're all really old (well I think that's it) all the fresh seeds are germing fine.

[latitude54]

Just now, KC said:

I think you've got them too wet mate, try it without clingfilm and the daily spraying.

 

You don't know how old these seeds are do you? I've had some bad germ rates, well they're not even cracking in water but that's because they're all really old (well I think that's it) all the fresh seeds are germing fine.

 

I've always struggled with humidity in the big tent (it's usually around 30%) which is why I use the clingfilm.

I've just picked up a 1ft heat tube so can utilise my small tent now too.

 

Age wise, all the seeds Ive popped have been purchased in the last 8-9 months from reputable sources (RGSC, SS & Attitude) and have been stored in a light proof container in the fridge so it's deffo user error

 

I've got 4 more beans germing in the airing cupboard (4 x RGSC Pink Cherry Pie) so will try keeping them a little drier when  theyre in soil.

 

[murphyblue]

I do mine like KC normally used jiffys this time though as i bought a load a while back and just want to use em up.

Don't bother waiting for a root i just soak em till they crack and into small pot of prewatered compo or in this case a soaked and squeesed jiffy.

To combat low humidity which i also suffer with i chuck em in a propagater till the come up then take the lid off.

 

I popped my last PCP seed few weeks ago looking ok beside my feck ups.

 

[stummer]

I put mine into jiffys, don’t soak the seeds either. Just into the jiffys and under a cfl, no fans running just open the tents holes up top. Then all I’ll do is spray the jiffys every so often to stop them drying out. Any time I open the tent to check on them I’ll spray just inside the tent in the hope of keeping the humidity up a little. Not the most technical way of doing things I admit  but never really had an issue with germination apart from maybe the odd seed here or there.

 

I would do as others have said and not water them so much. Also maybe look to start them under a weaker light? Can pick up a cfl bulb and shade for next to nothing. Saves on the energy bill when the seeds are young as well.

[Flamedodger]

A heat mat might be better at keeping soil temps warm  just have to be careful not to cook them. The UGORG #1 I grew I had 1 fem from 3 seeds out of the 10 I germinated, I had to make a mum and take cuts, it was worth the extra wait. I think it can be strain dependent. Do you keep your seeds in the fridge? I was given a couple of packs of seeds from a mate, I even shared some with a grow buddy of mine, neither of us could germinate them. So I asked the lad that gave me them where he stored them……in a drawer in his bedroom. I keep all my seeds in the fridge now, including my garden flowers. I tried what I thought was 10 year old antirhynum seeds last summer………I’ve never seen so many foxgloves