# soak method



## ganjah (Nov 20, 2011)

ok i am using soak method to germinate. i placed 5 seeds in a cup of distilled water, 1)they all floated, had two sprout "tails" in less than two days(planted these)
2) 3 sank to the bottom, no "tail" yet
3) dropped 4 more yesterday all 4 are floating, no tail yet.

Floating means they are viable, right.
The ones that sink, but no "tail" are still OK, right, should I plant them or wait?


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## dman1234 (Nov 20, 2011)

I soak for 24 hours and then plant, tail or no tail, a good seed will float at first and eventually sink.


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## juniorgrower (Nov 20, 2011)

What is the advantage of Soaking?  I used jiffy plugs in a plastic dome and had seven out of seven pop in less than 48 hours.  Please don't think that I am questioning your methods I just would like to know if there are any added advantages to soaking.


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## dman1234 (Nov 20, 2011)

I dont know that there is an advantage, just a different metheod.

I just popped 17 out of 17 by soaking so either way seems to work fine.


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## ganjah (Nov 20, 2011)

just went ahead and planted all the seeds. they all dropped to the bottom of the cup. a total of 3 had either a tail or visibly cracked. wish me luck.
:watchplant:

9 Nirvana Northern Lights seeds.


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## juniorgrower (Nov 21, 2011)

Good Luck!!!


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## ganjah (Nov 22, 2011)

ok 3 popped today. 

6 more to go.
:watchplant:


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## Dunge (Nov 23, 2011)

"another thing is if you leave seeds in the water too long after they crack, they can drown"

This is important information, and is true.


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## Ruffy (Dec 13, 2011)

harder or older seeds get a scratch then water for 12 hrs then paper towel, when i see tap root i drop in dirt.
yup they can drown
normal new seeds get scratch & paper towel till i see tap, dirt


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## Hushpuppy (Jan 1, 2012)

I just popped 6 out of 6 beans using the paper towel method. I put them in yesterday morning and just checked them this evening and all have cracked and are extending the little shoot. I am shocked at how fast these beans popped. now I gotta get em in some soil. :yay:


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## homebrew420 (Jan 16, 2012)

the reasoning for a soak is generally to have a better idea of potential germ rates, ie they sink., and or crack and push a root tip. These you know will at least sprout. I have noticed I will TEND to get faster germination.


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## Gone2pot! (Jan 19, 2012)

An overnight soak speeds the germination of all kinds of seeds. Avoid soakings longer than 24 hours to prevent rotting the seeds. Some seeds have a thicker/tougher seed hull and they will sprout faster if you gently scuff them prior to soaking so the moisture can get in and stimulate germination. Some people use distiller water, well water or a Purified water and some use just tap  water. I use any bottled water I have at home and I also add 1/4 teaspoon of clonex liquid to 1 cup of the water. The clonex has something to do with plant hormones, and it worked well so I've kept it up. It's totally *not* necessary.  I usually have sprouted seeds in less than 24 hours but some do take a bit longer.  I tried lots of different methods before settling in to this one. Some just go straight to dirt, some use wet paper towel, some soak set # of hours & plant, some lay seed on top of wet soil then add a bit more soil after germination, etc., etc., ...there are many ways to get it done  Best of luck!


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## PuffinNugs (Feb 2, 2012)

Gone2pot! said:
			
		

> An overnight soak speeds the germination of all kinds of seeds. !


 
idk about that. i germ right in the soil and most of the time they crack just s fast as they would if they were soaked. most of the time i have them going in under 12 hours, no more than 2 days. 
i can see it helping with really old beans that need to be softned but even then a bit of sandpaper and straight in the soil and they go jsut as fast.

its all about the humditiy the seeds are exposed to.me personally have much better success with germing right in the soil compared to soaking/ paper towels, but thats just me. 

i let nature do its thing
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rosebud brought up mandals germination method in another post...great info about it all  hxxp://www.mandalaseeds.com/Guides/Germination-Guide


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