Mephisto Genetics Meph germ. issues

[Perpetually Automatic]

Anyone having trouble germinating Mephisto gear lately? I have having a lot of germ failures with HBBH and AvT. My tried and true method isn't working (12H soak in filtered water and a very small amount of humic/kelp and then into Root Riot soaked in 6.0 water and squeezed out - kept at 79 F and 70% RH). I have tried germinating 5 HBBH and 3 AvT without success.

Tried paper towel method too. No luck.

I don't blame genetics but likely storage/transport issues. These are older strains in the catalog so I have no idea when they were actually produced. I assume they were stored correctly by Meph but don't know how they were stored during transport and distribution, and how they were stored by seed bank . I assume several weeks in a shipping container doesn't help. In any event - just wondering if anyone else is having challenges with their earlier catalog. Thanks.

I’ve had 100% germ rate on everything mephisto I’ve tried apart from the Hubba Bubba Bear freebie I received a few of last year. Tried them twice and both times got a taproot but within a couple of days they just turned black and died… never made it out of the shell. Could just be a coincidence but maybe it’s something to do with the genetics of the HBH?

 

[CannabisMingus]

Could just be a coincidence but maybe it’s something to do with the genetics of the HBH?

I also suspect transport and storage issues exacerbated by Covid shipping delays, etc.

 

[olbobcat]

I always use the 24hr soak and then a "damp" paper towel. Usually, it is "too much moisture" in whatever you are growing them in. I have had 100% not only in Mephisto but all my other seeds in the last two years. 3 years ago I was having a problem with root riots, peat or coir plugs, soil, and paper towels. I was keeping them way to wet. Back in the old days, I would use the commercial root cubes and they were very good with both cuttings and seeds. they were hard like styrofoam and did not soften up all the way with water. They worked well because they held moisture but not water.

 

[Rick Dirte']

This is an informative thread from slowandeasy. https://www.autoflower.org/threads/germination-issues-please-read.74468/page-6#post-2290658 . I was having issues with Meph seeds germinating until I raised the temp in my grow room to mid 80s.