Auto Seeds seeds won't pop

Yeah like so...
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I'll bet I know where the tube of seeds is. Hint: not in her hands. :crying:
 
I keep learning about this germination thing. My success rate is good, but not 100%. This is where my head is at at this point - just my 2 cents after studying this thing for a couple years:

1. Temperature is important no matter how you germinate. Success is highest above, ~24C. Cocoforcannabis recommends 30C, which I shoot for. This means that if you plant direct to final pot, you need to bring the pot up to temp for a day or two before planting. Seeds seem to vary in their temperature needs, but it seems none of them mind a warm start. I now use a seedling heat mat controlled by an Inkbird to deal with temperature.

2. I use the sandpaper tube to scratch up the seeds before wetting them. I have used everything from a couple quick shakes to a minute of vigorous shaking, and don't know if that makes much difference. The aim here is to assist in the seed coat softening up by improving water penetration. It is also possible that this may abrade the seam that splits, making it easier for the plant to open it. Cocoforcannabis recommends a very brief shake to avoid "damage to the seed" although for the life of me I can't see what that damage would be. I have shaken seeds until much of the pigmented coating of the shell has been abraded off with no sign of damage to germination. Also, I have heard of some growers actually using a nail file on seeds that they find particularly difficult to persuade to open. At this point, I doubt that anything short of actually damaging the embryonic plant inside the coat is likely to hurt. But hey, I am still learning.

3. After abrading, I start with a soak in ~1/3 peroxide (the stuff from the pharmacy used for first aid, it is 3%) and distilled or RO water. I have varied the length of time from a couple hours to 6 hours or so, and do not know whether either end has a big advantage. the Cocoforcannabis crew recommend keeping the soak short because once the seed activates, it needs oxygen, and may run short if it is submerged. The peroxide may accomplish a couple things, one being presence of oxygen in the water, the other being killing off or discouraging any pathogens in the water. It might also help with getting the seed coat to soften up, I dunno. This soak is done in about 2 ml or so of liquid in a plastic egg carton heated on the heat pad in the germination tray. Less water means better oxygen.

4. After soaking, the seed goes into a wet paper towel or cotton cloth holder that holds the seed vertically so the root has less tendency to burrow into the paper towel. I have tried the cotton option to avoid the possibility of bleach or other contaminants in paper towel, but do not know if this is an issue or not. Again, this is done in the heated germination tray. Once the tap emerges, the seed goes into a peat plug already soaked and warm in the tray. Once the tap root shows out the bottom of the plug, it goes into its final pot, which is already up to temp.


Lots of peeps just plant direct and it works most of the time with most strains. The advantage is simplicity, the downsides are that the larger initial pot can cause difficulty controlling moisture, may result in poorer root colonization of the pot, and makes initial temperature more of a chore. Before you decide on any of this, a serious look at the germination information on Cocoforcannabis.com would be a good idea, that crew knows their stuff.

Happy growing all. :biggrin: :pighug:
 
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Thanks for the rep @AutoBobje, much appreciated.

One final note about this learning process. On my last germination attempt, I ran into 2 seeds out of 6 that didn't produce roots. The seeds started to split with white root tissue visible, and then stalled. To see what the issue might be, I had a careful look at what was going on at about 48 hours into the vertical seed holder. To check them, I used a pair of dissection tweezers with very sharp tips to open the seed shells. The tweezers are spring loaded so just inserting them while closed into the opening seed crack and then allowing them to spring open will separate the sides of the seed coat. This to date is the most effective way I have found to get the worst seed coats to come off.

What I found was that one of the seed coats was so hard that rather than split open at the seam one side of it broke into a couple pieces. Inside, the tap root was actually accordioned slightly from trying to open the coat. The problem with that seed was definitely the seed coat itself, it was just too bloody hard for the embryo to split. A longer peroxide soak or more aggressive scratching might have fixed this, as I might have done by manually splitting the seed earlier. Putting the released seed into a peat plug did nada, the embryo did not respond at all. It seemed that it had used it's energy up trying to escape. Bottom line is that I suspect that the issue of really hard seed coats is responsible for the majority of my germination failures.

The second seed coat opened at the normal split line, but again the embryo did not respond to being released, it remained stalled at exactly the state I found it. There was no visible tap root development though, so it may have simply been a dud.

Overall, with my recent process, if seeds have not shown a free tap root within 48 hours of being in the vertical holder at ~30C, they are toast.

Happy germing peeps. :pighug:
 
Disattisfied with Mephisto Genetics. Always a fan until recent purchases. Only 3 out of 8 seeds popped, and one of those was stunted. This is surprising and disappointing. Used my usual method - damp paper towel, CD case on a modem - but no sign of life. So, has anyone found similar? Has anyone any useful advice - I tried a glass of water with no success? Can anyone recommend a reliable UK source for seeds? I really don't want to keep on throwing money down the Mephisto sink. Cheers.
I've had trouble with Mephisto seeds in the past. A few months ago I started soaking them overnight before putting them in paper towel or plug and have had 100% germination since then.
 
I've had trouble with Mephisto seeds in the past. A few months ago I started soaking them overnight before putting them in paper towel or plug and have had 100% germination since then.
Thanks for all the advice people. I've started to get a bit more success. The change seems to be the temperature. I've upped the temp during germination, CD case placed on a very warm radiator and bingo, 2 popped. Fingers crossed now. Apologies to Mephisto.
 
Why not go with a vendor of this site?
Don't think Fastbuds is one BUT I know #Seedstockers is and they have lots of awesome strains to choose from.

Memphisto is still one of my tops for autos even though the strawberry nuggets didn't germ for me. DAZ has some amazing strains.



@Seedstockers-Mark
 
Why not go with a vendor of this site?
Don't think Fastbuds is one BUT I know #Seedstockers is and they have lots of awesome strains to choose from.

Memphisto is still one of my tops for autos even though the strawberry nuggets didn't germ for me. DAZ has some amazing strains.



@Seedstockers-Mark
Fastbuds is as well!
 
Why not go with a vendor of this site?
Don't think Fastbuds is one BUT I know #Seedstockers is and they have lots of awesome strains to choose from.

Memphisto is still one of my tops for autos even though the strawberry nuggets didn't germ for me. DAZ has some amazing strains.



@Seedstockers-Mark

Fastbuds is a vendor on here.. a very good vendor at that! :thumbsup:
 
Linda seeds is the cheapest I've used and the quality is just fine, to be honest I can't see any difference in quality. I've grown them and Royal Queen mostly, also some Dutch Passion but I'm not using them again, like somebody said it's paying for a name. Linda's amnesia haze grew real fuckin dank . Royal Queen have some cheap seeds which grow well too, and often some very good offers. Two good low budget options. Cheers :smokeit:
 
Oh and I pop them in a damp paper towel on a plate covered in plastic foil, I lay it on top of my grow tent for some warmth. Only failures I've had this way were ~5 years old, 1 out of 5 made it :haha: 100% other than that
 
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