Indoor Having a hard time germinating seeds this past winter

[lunarman]

This has been a constant problem for me over this winter. From Nov until now. There must be some difference in winter for germinating seeds, even though its done indoors.

I have a mix of Meph/DP/Sweet beans. 6 of them. I soaked them in RO for about 30 hours last week. Then I had solo cups filled most of the way but not all with coco that was soaked with RO water and a bit of calmag the day before and left to drain. Had an extra cup that had the same coco in it. I put a seed in each cup and covered it with the extra coco fairly loosely, but with misting/watering and time/gravity it does pack down. Then I put a clear dome on each cup and put them in my tent. I kept them at a constant 25C/77F. Tent is at 30% RH now but the cups with the domes seem perfectly moist to me. I have turned on a seedling mat a couple of times per day to give the soil some heat from below. The mat is insulated from the germ tray of cups so it is not that warm with the mat.

Is it relatively common to have issues germinating seeds in a northern climate in the winter?

 

[islandgrower]

This has been a constant problem for me over this winter. From Nov until now. There must be some difference in winter for germinating seeds, even though its done indoors.

I have a mix of Meph/DP/Sweet beans. 6 of them. I soaked them in RO for about 30 hours last week. Then I had solo cups filled most of the way but not all with coco that was soaked with RO water and a bit of calmag the day before and left to drain. Had an extra cup that had the same coco in it. I put a seed in each cup and covered it with the extra coco fairly loosely, but with misting/watering and time/gravity it does pack down. Then I put a clear dome on each cup and put them in my tent. I kept them at a constant 25C/77F. Tent is at 30% RH now but the cups with the domes seem perfectly moist to me. I have turned on a seedling mat a couple of times per day to give the soil some heat from below. The mat is insulated from the germ tray of cups so it is not that warm with the mat.

Is it relatively common to have issues germinating seeds in a northern climate in the winter?

Ime once the temps are good they should sprout readily. I do not live in a cold climate however . @912GreenSkell maybe you can chime in.



'Carpe diem et fumum veriditas'

 

[Heavily Medicated]

I live in the north country and have never noticed a difference in germination by seasons, but I have too recently been having problems with dead seeds. I have ordered my seeds from Bonza for several years and have always gotten quality live seeds. My last order, which I placed on Black Friday, seems to have problems. 3 out of 5 have been fail to fires. I had 2 THC Bomb seeds and a DP Auto Night Queen fizzle, while a DP AutoUltimate and a Genofarm Purple Haze popped within 24 hours. I have been hearing some conversation that possibly the seeds are being X-rayed in the mail and this could be causing some problems. Sounds plausible. I think it is possible that both of the THC Bomb duds were out of the same lot and possibly the whole lot was bad. Who knows how long and in what condition these resellers hold their inventory. I keep my seeds sealed inside their tubes, tubes into plastic bag, plastic bag into a jar, and the jar into the crisper of the refrigerator. I have germinated seeds over two years old that were stored this way.

 

[G.Leave]

I live in the north country and have never noticed a difference in germination by seasons, but I have too recently been having problems with dead seeds. I have ordered my seeds from Bonza for several years and have always gotten quality live seeds. My last order, which I placed on Black Friday, seems to have problems. 3 out of 5 have been fail to fires. I had 2 THC Bomb seeds and a DP Auto Night Queen fizzle, while a DP AutoUltimate and a Genofarm Purple Haze popped within 24 hours. I have been hearing some conversation that possibly the seeds are being X-rayed in the mail and this could be causing some problems. Sounds plausible. I think it is possible that both of the THC Bomb duds were out of the same lot and possibly the whole lot was bad. Who knows how long and in what condition these resellers hold their inventory. I keep my seeds sealed inside their tubes, tubes into plastic bag, plastic bag into a jar, and the jar into the crisper of the refrigerator. I have germinated seeds over two years old that were stored this way.

I totally agree with everything heavily medicated typed.

 

[lunarman]

I totally agree with everything heavily medicated typed.

Taking the easy way out I see! Got anything else to add for germination tips for me? If we're talking about beans getting xray'd and shit, we need all the help we can get for better germination conditions.

 

[G.Leave]

Taking the easy way out I see! Got anything else to add for germination tips for me? If we're talking about beans getting xray'd and shit, we need all the help we can get for better germination conditions.

Haha yeah i guess you could say that!! Heavily med read my mind in the first 2 lines, and typed exactly what i would have.

Germ tips....hmm well i like a warm environment for the time of sprouting to the time they pop the surface. I like 82-85F

Really, sounds to me like you are doing everything just proper in your germination process.

 

[AutoWonders]

I spray my seeds with Rhizotonic as they germ first in a shot glass, then a "ceramic" plate on the warming pad. I don't think I have planted a seed that didn't already have a tap root.

 

[lunarman]

I spray my seeds with Rhizotonic as they germ first in a shot glass, then a "ceramic" plate on the warming pad. I don't think I have planted a seed that didn't already have a tap root.

So you germ to get a tap root right in water? How long does that take? Couple of days? And then u use tweezers and drop it in the cup/pot and cover lightly with your medium?

 

[omnious]

Hey. Northern winter here, also in coco (Bionova bricks). All seeds germinated past winter, commercial ones ordered from abroad and couple of years old own production. General Hydroponics coco grow+bloom feed the lowest strength that bottle suggests (4ml/10l).

I moist the coco in solo cup, push a hole with a match, put the seed in approx. 2 cm deep, cover it loosely and in dark cupboard. Few days later it surfaces then under light bulb. No heat pad or pre-tap root.

 

[lunarman]

Hey. Northern winter here, also in coco (Bionova bricks). All seeds germinated past winter, commercial ones ordered from abroad and couple of years old own production. General Hydroponics coco grow+bloom feed the lowest strength that bottle suggests (4ml/10l).

I moist the coco in solo cup, push a hole with a match, put the seed in approx. 2 cm deep, cover it loosely and in dark cupboard. Few days later it surfaces then under light bulb. No heat pad or pre-tap root.

So I was told not to put them in the dark so they are in my tent which is super bright with COB lights. Was told the coco/medium cover gives them the dark they need. I kind of wondered about that. My seeds were soaked in RO water for 30 hours in my office and they were covered up and dark. No tap roots showed up so I just put them in the coco after that. This is so frustrating for me. Had so many seeds not pop for me.

I thought germ was the easy part of growing. For me its the hardest.