Tips and Tricks for Germinating Seeds

I wish I could share pics…
Stupid phone , just started 38 babies and would love to share…
It’s really not too hard to keep them going and I only grow in water…
No media…
1.5 inch rockwhool cubes when starting new genetics but when cloning its super simple…
16 clones per bucket…
3 buckets and 12 cfls…
Ready for flowering in about 3 week’s…
6 if it’s from seed…
:v:t4: :sunglasses:

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I just fold a paper towel in half and slide it into a ziploc, dribble in a little distilled water - enough to completely wet the towel, and drop in the seeds. i seal the bag and place it in a warm place for maybe 6-8 hours, then I crack open the bag and leave it a little open, for air flow. I usually throw them on top of the computer tower - yes - I’m a dinosaur and just bought a new one set up for gaming. LOL!
at any rate. I usually lay a piece of thin cardboard - not corrugated or really thick, like Pepsi box thickness, over the bag, but not close or cover the zip.
Next morning I ALWAYS have tails and in the Solo they go with pre-soaked Mother Earth coco/peat. I usually don’t dome them up. Lights at 20% at 20-24" and I’m done.

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As @merlin44 pointed out we need to know your process after seedlings break soil. First, what kind of media, soil, Coco or other. Pictures would help, preferably of when they first break soil and when they start dying off. Many times it’s a watering issue, either to much or not enough. Please post pics and watering methods. @King03

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@JaneQP if your going to try your luck at growing from seeds. Here’s the place to be.

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1st time grower here, you sound wise. I will follow ur advice. 5 babies in H2O now. Thanks 4 tha help!

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Welcome to the community.

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Sealing the bag may not be a good thing always as u seal the bag u seal out any fresh air getting into the bag. Might not have had an issue yet but might be a problem down the line. Prolly be safer laying the paper towel on a plate set seed on fold over soak pt lay syran wrap or a plastic bag over the napkin covering it but leaving gaps on the sides for fresh air and oxygen to get to the seed. Using heating pads or a heat mat to keep everything a bit warmer is also a huge help in getting them to pop and grow at the beginning. I love this forum. U guys and girls r freaking awesome. I hope u all know this.

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I thought I would go ahead and post my method of germination.

  1. First I prepare soil in containers, by filling container with soil and lightly watering. Leave sitting in a warm dry location.

  2. Then I soak seeds in water with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide. Will usually leave them in water for 24 hours or until they sink.

  3. If they haven’t cracked, I will then place paper towels in a short clear glass. Soak paper towels with water until you see water starting to pool on top. Add a few drops of peroxide.

  4. I then place seeds between side of glass with paper towels pressing up against seeds, holding them in place against side of glass.

  5. I put glass in a dark, warm location, for me that’s my office with desktop computer and other electronic devices. They will usually crack and develop tap root within 24-48 hours. One advantage to using this method is you can see if they have cracked without disturbing the seed.

  6. When tap root has sufficiently developed I take container previously prepared and use a sharpend pencil and poke hole just enough for root and seed to be deep enough to be covered with 1/4 inch of soil. Once seed is covered I will lightly spray with water from spray bottle. Then once a day until seedlings break soil. Once seedlings make their appearance I will turn nozzle adjustment to jet stream and spray in circle around seedlings.

This method has been very successful for me :+1:

Seeds just starting to crack and develop tap roots.

Tap roots developed and ready for soil

The seedling after watering with spray bottle set on jet stream.

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100% germination rate for me!!
I’ll stick to it.
The bag is only closed the first few hours when there is no tail, the seed CAN’T breath until there’s a root. No different than drowning it in a cup of water at all since it certainly can’t breathe underwater either!

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I put them in a damp paper towel, and put it in a zip lock then throw it under the grow lights. 98% pop in 48 hours.

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A detailed,

“How To”, Or a “This Works for Me”.

I’ve killed a few myself in the past, :laughing:.

Nice share Brother.

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here’s some of what i do…
sift some organic potting soil…


use the bigger pieces, normally wood chips, to cover the drain holes in the lil pots…you can also use this as a mulch cover…it will help with moisture retention and will biodegrade…it is very high in carbon…by removing the bigger pieces, you will ensure the tap root does not ‘bounce’ of them, ensuring it goes straight down…

fill the lil pots about 3/4 ( if the seedlings become stretchy, you can backfill this ) make a hole in the middle of this, 2inch deep and fill in with germination mix and water in…

i do this a week or more before i drop seeds ( to get bioactivity going in the soil, you can also inoculate by mixing a lil bokashi into the topsoil )…the lil pots get domed and left to sweat…

i will either plant directly into the germination mix, or drop the beans into a liquid blood, bone and carcass meal mix that contains a growth stimulant called Gibberelic acid…you only need to soak for three hours…the shot glasses are on the edge of a reptile heating mat, keeping the liquid at a constant temperature…the lil pots will end up on here, to keep the soil warm as well…

hope this helps someone… :sunglasses: :v:

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I started documenting my germination phase and will also add to this thread. I was going to create one as I still see so many new growers struggle with this part. I am documenting with pictures of every step, pics showing the relative humidity and temp and just for show, this is how my dome looks every morning which is why I always inform new growers struggling with this is she doesn’t need water (YET)


When my baby is ready to be transplanted, that will be the final step and I will add all at once to the bottom of this thread. Thanks @merlin44 for creating this.

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Thanks for adding to the knowledge base that can be so helpful to folks that are struggling with the first step of growing cannabis.

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First I soak my seeds for about 8 hrs.

Then I place the seed on a small block of wood floating in a Pyrex rectangular glass container sitting on an electric hot plate. The blocks of wood are crosscut from the end of a 2 x 3.

I use my finger to add a drop of water to the seed. Then place the plastic cover on the glass container. I place a thermometer inside and turn the hot plate to the lowest setting if necessary. Then about twice per day I add a drop of water with my finger.

When I see the first signs of a sprout I plant the seed in long fibered sphagnum Moss. The moss helps prevent damp off and has no nutrients of its own. I make a small indentation in the soil mix in whatever the planting pot is. Then I fill the small indentation (about 1 cubic inch) with the moss. Then water well and plant the seed.

Then when I first see signs of emergence from the soil I turn the grow light on.

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An image of my setup.

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Doing this with fresh clean wood I presume. Doing wood in the water sounds like it may be a sweet idea but bringing in any bugs in the wood and bacteria off the wood any kind of.pesticide or wood treatment is stuck to that wood and soaking into the seedling. Proy not enough to cause any harm but think about untreated wood and water and what it brings to u

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This untreated wood. I soak the wood in mild bleach. Then it is rinsed and placed in the Pyrex container floating in water in the microwave for about 5 minutes.

Thanks for the feedback. I switched to sprouting on a floating block of wood after I couldn’t get some squash seeds to sprout strictly soaking in water. I never had a problem with weed or tomato seeds. I figured seeds probably prefer to have a generous amount of available oxygen. I tried paper towels and didn’t like them.

I considered sprouting on a bed of granular DE (kitty litter). I thought the granular nature of the kitty litter would camouflage the seeds making access difficult. I may try this by putting the granular DE in tiny bowls like I did with stricktly water. The blocks of wood make it easy to access, label and view the seeds for the first signs of a sprout.

I am open to any ideas for a porous material readily available that would wick up the water. It doesn’t have to float but needs to be thick enough to set in about a 1/4+ inch of water. Something like a piece of a clay terracotta pot? but in a size convenient to my use.

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Try floating germination. When u drop the seed in the water leave it be don’t tap it and leave it til it sprouts a tail. It works as long as u don’t tap it to sink it it is getting water and o2 so it should be good. Seen a dud on ig do it and all 10 seeds were floating with long tails. Lol

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Got all pics from germ to 3 weeks. The last few pics show some leaf damage which is not normal for me but this bean was dropped for a friend as he cannot get one to grow. Long story short, I did not have a place for her other than the sprouter which at 2 weeks, she outgrew and was starting to show signs of Unhappy. So right before Thanksgiving I let my buddy know we gotta get her to your house on 11/26. He ghosted me and now I am keeping her but she is in ICU.

Now for the good stuff. I grow in soil so this is my process knowing she is going in dirt.
The same time I drop the bean in water with a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide, I also wet the soil in the seedling cup and set it in the sprouter while the bean is growing a tail.





I place the small dish of water with the bean in a room temp dark cupboard for 12 hours

While still in water, once she shows a tail, I put her in a paper towel moistened with the water she was in


I blow the ziploc up with warm breath and back in the cupboard for another 12 hours

She is ready to plant now. I use my index finger fingernail depth - 1/4 to 1/2".

I use just a bit of rooting powder in the hole and drop her in and lightly cover her with loose soil. I place her in the dome with 80% Humidity and 80ºF. Next morning we have a baby!
I use this heat mat with a max temp of 82ºF and layer a towel between the mat and the bottom tray.






I keep her in this environment for the full 2 weeks


If the humidity or temp get out of range, simple adjustment to get her back where she should be. My humidity was at 90 in this pic but right after the pic I got her back to 80%.


I typically do not see much in the way of stretch as the T5 is only a few inches away but she did a bit of stretching and her stem was pretty skinny so I did transplant her but I normally do not need to do this while germing. This step usually is when I am done in the sprouter and I have hardened her off and transplant to the next pot and place in the tent.


This is around 8-10 days and I still have not watered her. She is getting what she needs from the coty’s and the humidity.



Her coty’s have now shriveled, all nutes have been consumed and now she will needs us to feed her. If she is in cannabis friendly soil, I use Happy Frog for this process, then still good for another 2-3 weeks but I did give her a true watering around the perimeter of the cup edge, not even enough to drip out the bottom, just a bit to make her roots go searching.

And here she is in the tent close to 3 weeks. Hardened off and ready to take on the world.
You can see the burnt tip and some browning on the serrated leaves. Now that she is staying with me, I will fix this and she will be a byoot by next week.
Bean from Humboldt - Blueberry Muffin FemPhoto
Some pics did not load in order FYI.
I truly hopes this helps anyone using this similar process to beat the bean!!
My notification is set to normal so if you have any questions tag me in so I see it and I will help any way I can.

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