# Germinating seeds



## KentuckyGold (Apr 30, 2019)

Hey all, I germinated 100 Girl Scout Auto seeds 48 hours ago. I figured they would be ready to be put into soil today. However only a handful were sprouted! I used the wet paper towel in a zip lock baggie method. Do you think they just need more time? Worried here!!


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## novitius (Apr 30, 2019)

Give it more time. I give them 7 days!


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## Growdude (Apr 30, 2019)

Temps cool?


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## KentuckyGold (Apr 30, 2019)

About 70 degrees roughly


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## JGVermont1965 (Apr 30, 2019)

I always use a heat mat set at 80 farenheit under the plastic bag with my paper towels inside. 
Always get great results.


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## KentuckyGold (Apr 30, 2019)

novitius said:


> Give it more time. I give them 7 days!



So these results in 2 days are normal? I put them in a warm place as well


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## KentuckyGold (Apr 30, 2019)

I meant I just put them in a warmer place then they had been.


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## novitius (May 1, 2019)

Every seed is different. Some take longer than others. Some need soaking or scarification.


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## 2RedEyes (May 1, 2019)

I usually soak mine 18 to 24 hours before letting them sprout in the towel...usually 36 to 48 before I put them in the dirt...but they like warm, not hot....


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## BuzzDaddy (May 1, 2019)

I don't mean to piggy back off this post but shouldn't they also be in a dark area with slightly warmer temps while in paper towel with zip bags?


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## Aksarben (May 1, 2019)

BuzzDaddy said:


> I don't mean to piggy back off this post but shouldn't they also be in a dark area with slightly warmer temps while in paper towel with zip bags?



I, too, wanted to steer you right so I looked it up.  It appears it IS best to "do it in the dark"  ....as they say.  Link to what I'm talking about and it mentions that 70-90 F is an ideal temp as well.   https://www.sunwestgenetics.com/why-germinate-cannabis-seeds-in-the-dark/
Also Leafly recommends dark as well....   https://www.leafly.com/news/growing/how-to-germinate-cannabis-seeds

Hope this helps.


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## KentuckyGold (May 1, 2019)

You guys are awesome thank you so much!


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## Rosebud (May 1, 2019)

i too am planting seeds today. The will be on a heat mat in the room with the led's. I sow directly to dirt. no dark.


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## KentuckyGold (May 1, 2019)

Aksarben said:


> I, too, wanted to steer you right so I looked it up.  It appears it IS best to "do it in the dark"  ....as they say.  Link to what I'm talking about and it mentions that 70-90 F is an ideal temp as well.   https://www.sunwestgenetics.com/why-germinate-cannabis-seeds-in-the-dark/
> Also Leafly recommends dark as well....   https://www.leafly.com/news/growing/how-to-germinate-cannabis-seeds
> 
> Hope this helps.




Hey just read those articles in depth. Very helpful! Thank you for finding them for me.


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## KentuckyGold (May 1, 2019)

Hey do you guys soak the paper towels or just dampen them? Mine are pretty wet so thought about moving them to a damp one


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## KentuckyGold (May 1, 2019)

Here’s my plan for tonight and please throw out suggestions; I need it! I also have a couple questions. It’s been 72 hours and very few have sprouted and those are short. The paper towels I had them in were very wet. I’m going to take tweezers and move use one on a new paper-towel.  I’m going to put them in zip lock bags and put them in my grow room which is in another building and turn the heaters on about 80 tonight. 

Questions 
1. Should I just dampen the paper towel or soak it?
2. Should I zip the baggie up or leave it open for oxygen? 

Thank you guys and gals so very much for all your wonderful advice and help!


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## BuzzDaddy (May 2, 2019)

This is what I do KG. Wet the paper towel with room temperature water, hold and turn the paper towel so that the excess water drains off either 4 corners of the paper towel, when the water stops dripping your good, place seeds on paper towel, i write the strain and date on zip bag with permanent marker, put in zip lock baggie but don't seal completely, they need to get air, put them in dark area. Some ppl put on heat pad but I don't. I checked my ladies this morning and all have germinated except one but I'm sure she will as well. 
Hope this helps brother.
(Also Bluegrass Family)


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## novitius (May 2, 2019)

Hey KG. I do pretty much what BD does. Some folks will soak their beans for a day or two before placing them in the paper towel. Sometimes the shell of the seed can be very dense and thick so you scratch them a little bit with fine grit sand paper. Not a lot, just enough to allow moisture into the seed. I personally just do it until the seed loses its shine on the thickest spots. When you get ready to go into the paper towel, soak it to field capacity as BD explained. Label and date your bag.  I zip the baggy closed and place the bag in the box my ph pen shipped in and place that on top of my PC where it is warm consistently. I usually see them pop at about 3 days and I've seen it happen at 7 days. Of course I check every 24 hours, so the bag does get burped. If the ambient temps are high enough to dry out the paper towel, zip it up.


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## St_Nick (May 2, 2019)

Youse guys can't keep track of the days for 48 hours?  If you need to date your seeds you need a better method.  Soak 'em in a glass of water for a few hours (up to 24) until they sink.  After that into the dark in a damp paper towel.  Seeds need to be above 70 degrees to reliably germinate.  Scratching seeds to promote growth is a last resort and usually only done to old, unreliable seeds.  Once the seeds are showing tails,  plant 'em.  Tails of about 1" are ideal,  longer increases the risk of damaging that all important root.  I plant root down and leave the seed exposed.


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## St_Nick (May 2, 2019)

While it does improve germination rates, mostly this is done to give us more opportunities to exert a little more control over the process


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## BuzzDaddy (May 2, 2019)

St_Nick said:


> Youse guys can't keep track of the days for 48 hours?  If you need to date your seeds you need a better method.  Soak 'em in a glass of water for a few hours (up to 24) until they sink.  After that into the dark in a damp paper towel.  Seeds need to be above 70 degrees to reliably germinate.  Scratching seeds to promote growth is a last resort and usually only done to old, unreliable seeds.  Once the seeds are showing tails,  plant 'em.  Tails of about 1" are ideal,  longer increases the risk of damaging that all important root.  I plant root down and leave the seed exposed.


Yeah, I can count to 48....1 2 3 4 5 UH, 48...LOL.
I date everything. Even the days i water my girls. It's a good habit to follow.


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## KentuckyGold (May 2, 2019)

Hey guys I really appreciate all this advice and time your taking to help me out! Putting them on a warmer place and drying the paper towels seems to helped a lot! Just checked them and several more are starting to show a tail and several are cracking! Guess these just took a little longer coupled with needing better conditions. Thank you so much again, anytime I have a question I run to this forum and get wonderful advice! You all are awesome.


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## KentuckyGold (May 2, 2019)

BuzzDaddy said:


> Yeah, I can count to 48....1 2 3 4 5 UH, 48...LOL.
> I date everything. Even the days i water my girls. It's a good habit to follow.



I have a little notepad I keep to track my watering and so on as well ha ha


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## HerbWatcher (May 3, 2019)

Hey KG, this is fool proof and you know right away if the seed will sprout or not. I have been doing it this way for almost 20 years. I haven't done the paper towel method since the 70s. I never had any luck doing it that way. This is how I do it. Plastic water bottle cut in half, so you can see in it. Fill it half way with water, drop your seed in. If it floats it will sprout in 48 to 72 hours. If it sinks it will not sprout. Seed is no good. So you take that one out and drop another. Once the sprouted seed gets about 1 inch long put it in soil, only about 3/4 to 1 inch deep. That's it so easy. Like I said I never had any luck using paper towels. If I was you I would due it this way or straight into soil. Only 3/4 to 1 inch deep. Just like rose said. Try it you will like it. Also I have to ask you. I'm not put you down or anything. Why are you dropping so many seeds ? Why not drop one seed and keep it as a mother and take clones ? It is a lot cheaper........... Anyway good luck on your grow...................................


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## HerbWatcher (May 3, 2019)

Oh I just saw you have AUTOs . sorry......................................................................................


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## zem (May 4, 2019)

I just soak them in a cup of water for hours until they do not float any more, at that point i figure water must have seeped in. I just put them in oasis cubes. I did not like coco plugs... Also I do this in the cloning box with the lights on where the temps are close to 80f.


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## Rosebud (May 4, 2019)

Today is a good day to plant by the full moon. I put about ten seeds in dirt today on a heating pad in the bathroom with my big girls. Farmers almanac, moon planting. dude.


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## KentuckyGold (May 6, 2019)

HerbWatcher said:


> Hey KG, this is fool proof and you know right away if the seed will sprout or not. I have been doing it this way for almost 20 years. I haven't done the paper towel method since the 70s. I never had any luck doing it that way. This is how I do it. Plastic water bottle cut in half, so you can see in it. Fill it half way with water, drop your seed in. If it floats it will sprout in 48 to 72 hours. If it sinks it will not sprout. Seed is no good. So you take that one out and drop another. Once the sprouted seed gets about 1 inch long put it in soil, only about 3/4 to 1 inch deep. That's it so easy. Like I said I never had any luck using paper towels. If I was you I would due it this way or straight into soil. Only 3/4 to 1 inch deep. Just like rose said. Try it you will like it. Also I have to ask you. I'm not put you down or anything. Why are you dropping so many seeds ? Why not drop one seed and keep it as a mother and take clones ? It is a lot cheaper........... Anyway good luck on your grow...................................


 
Hey man I’m putting some photos out to and that’s great info! I’ll try just like you said. Thank you so much for all that it’s very appreciated!


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## KentuckyGold (Jun 5, 2019)

Well I found the way that works for me. An old guy I o ow told me to drop them in a cup of water and put a paper towel over it to hold seeds down. Then he said to put them in cups with soil and place in a place with indirect light. I then put clear plastic totes overtop of them to work as a dome. I have done 50 seeds like that and 49 have came up and are healthy!


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## 2RedEyes (Jun 6, 2019)

Rosebud said:


> Today is a good day to plant by the full moon. I put about ten seeds in dirt today on a heating pad in the bathroom with my big girls. Farmers almanac, moon planting. dude.


I transplanted some today and put them outside, does that count?


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## stepheneking (Jul 14, 2019)

Bottom half of paper bag to keep folds, cut top off. Paper towel and zip lock bags minus the ZIP LoL. Soak the towel and then fold and place in bag one more squirt and then into the brown bag into a dark place...Works well for me


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