That basically sums up everything i have gathered throughout the last couple of weeks of research (barring physically puncturing the seed) and the addition of sugar. I guess the question i have is this- Is there even a need [for] abrasions if the seeds are sinking?
All of the seeds I’m germinating (3 popped last night WOOHOO!!!). sink directly to the bottom if put in water… this tells me they are saturated but something is still not being triggered.
I’ve tried diluted peroxide… i think next i will try adding some sugar to the water (as well as some sort of fertizilizer like seaweed solution… just dont have any of that right now and live in a small isolate town in alaska so everything i might need is 2 to 3 weeks out via mail). Right now I’m leaning toward giberillic acid (if i do purchase anything to help with older seeds at all).
I think i will mess around with sugar with some of these older ones that havent popped but are still hard with no mold.
Thank you for the response!
@kalgrae - Same- so far the best result i have had is to make sure the heat is VERY consistent and in some extreme cases, using a nail clipper to (basically just a more extreme version of abrasions). I have yet to see if these seeds ive basically performed surgery on will make it, but so far so good, what i see is pure white like a healthy taproot and it’s slowlly starting to move outward on 3 out of 4.
These seeds have been in paper towel for 2 - 3 weeks now so what can i lose at this point.
Exactly. I agree with you whole heartedly. I kick myself for tossing out the last batch that didn’t pop. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I keep thinking I could have got them to go, had I been patient and tried a few other methods. It’s all part of working it out, so good on you for having a good attitude. And shit, if they do you’re golden!
The one thing i learned in the past 3 weeks is keep the temp. consistent. I think if it gets say, “cold at night” it can stunt the process. Seems like 75 - 85 is sweet spot. Keep the temp nice and consistent and go from there.
it Is all about consistent temps. I didn’t manage mine. At least I’m attributing it to temps since all are sprouting now after raising to a consistent variance of 10-12 degrees.
One thing I’m taking away from this germination hiccup is that I have hope now with older seeds. Patience and management is key. My temps have been solid the last several days but while under the dome, I added water to raise humidity and they absorbed all the water, sauturating, no drowning them in their medium. So pulled them all out and repotted in moist soil to avoid damping off.
I know you cant get TCP but try using dilute H2O2 (peroxide)
it will sterilise the medium
use it as a soak, on the paper towel/rockwool medium and to water until the plants get strong enough to fend for themselves (start of veg)
then start watering as normal
You can look it up its proven
I have black mould in my house and it works for me
gets you through the warm wet period that fungi loves
also found that lower temps is better, takes longer to sprout but much less conducive to mould/fungi
For now, I just put the cocos in bags and closed it well. I don’t know if it makes sense to buy H2O2 for the same price, as I could buy new cocos or earth. I think I will just be throwing this stuff away.
My two cents after having a month of hard germinating recently:
make sure your temps are consistent and above 70 (minimum)… Try for more like 75 - 84 F.
The method doesn’t really seem to matter as long as the temperature stays consistent (assuming the seeds aren’t already dead and the seeds are getting moisture and at least some oxygen. It’s debatable whether dark/light has any effect [seen both sides argued] but they definitely need light after they germinate - I like to play on the safe side and keep them dark and personally use the wet paper towel in a plastic bag method) until they are moved to soil.
I had at least a half dozen just-fine looking seeds that did not germinate at all this round and I think it was because the temps were dropping at night (not even below 70 necessarily, but fluctuating nonetheless) .
I started another batch of 4 seeds (from the same batch) and left the plastic bag inside a leather pouch (to keep the light off of them) and set them right in the soil in my grow room 78 degree F). All 4 sprouted within 3 days.
I was getting to the point of panicking because of how long it was taking to get 6 seedlings going but after a lot of trial and error (trying everything from water soaking, to sandpaper, to physically cutting the seeds, consistent temps took the win in the end.
This is the first time I’ve ever germinated seeds in the winter time so I’ve always had consistent summer temps inside my house in the past and never had problems.
Just FYI- I had a couple of clones that I used peroxide in the water with and they rooted right up (have since purchased cloning gel) … should only be a couple of dollars for a cheap off brand bottle of it. The stuff can help promote root growth/germination (I think because of both sterilization and the c02) as long as you’re careful with it- can also be very harmful if used in high dosage.
Sorry to jump in on you conversation just wanted to make sure you know h202 is about as cheap as it gets.
I find temperature to be VERY important. Last year I put the container i was using to germinate into my clone chamber, on the seedling mats. The six plants I had in there with the seeds must’ve hogging the warmth because I had 3 batches of seeds fail. I went back to the way I was doing it before I made this clone box. The fourth batch of seeds went on an old heating pad (pre-automatic shutoff). 12 hours all 10 seeds had popped. I didn’t even need to pre-crack the shells. The heating pad gets to about 87° on low. Obviously, a heating pad with auto shutoff will NOT do the job.
I keep the mats in the clone box to 82.5° with a thermostat. At that temperature the first three batches had been in for 3-4 days and instead of sprouting, they got moldy from sitting in water for so long. Generally speaking, I toss any seed that hasn’t sprouted in 48 hours of germinating. Twice a year, I make a plant full of seeds for each of the strains I grow. I usually get several hundred per plant. I only maintain an inventory of seeds as a “just in case”. My latest battle has been with thrips and those little flyin’ fuckers are a vicious adversary. I’ve needed to germ seeds for 4 crops in the last year alone because of these damn fuckers taking out grown plants. I believe i finally have them (nasty flyin’ fuckers) under control, but it has been taking an order of 25M sf nematodes every month. 25M nematodes weighs about 20 grams. The 1st application all nematodes are very lively, so I use only 4-4.5 grams of nematodes to .75 gallons of water and split it up for all my pot plants AND the houseplants. Doesn’t do to wipe them out of my grow rooms only to let them thrive on my 30ish houseplants.
BTW, when needed, I use a pair of hemostats to crack the shells. I find I have better control on how much pressure I apply. I had tried tweezers, but I ended up destroying most of the seeds. I never put any kind of blade to my seeds.
Sorry, the doorbell distracted me and I sent the last posting before I finished.
The second application of nematodes I used 6-6.5 grams per .75 gallons of water. The remaining 9-10 grams will get mixed for the third application. I water in nematodes once every 6-7 days. The last two orders I placed 2 weeks apart and I actually used about 37-38M nematodes during that month.
It has now been several days since I’ve seen any flyin’ fuckers in my house. I used to see several per day up until about a month ago. Also, I’ve seen no outside indications that my plants have either thrips or gnats for about 3-4 weeks.
I intend to continue using nematodes until it has been weeks since the last sighting. Even then, I’ll just order smaller quantities and keep using them. As far as I remember, I had those things in the house year 'round, but it wasn’t until last year that I was able to positively identify them as my long suffering problem.
Reminds me of gnats making my way into my dreams last year. Probably spent two huors a day hunting those fuckers down like a crazy person who hasn’t slept.
That’s awesome that you haven’t seen them… i know pests can just ruin your day/month/crop … im lucky in that I live in an area where there aren’t many insects that go for the actual plant (just fungus gnats that eat at the root). I live in SE Alaska so it’s naturally wet.
I’m guessing these things attack the actual greenery? I found las tyear that diatamaceous earth actually did an excellent job of creating a physcial barrier between the substrate and the air to keep the gnats from getting to the soil.
This year I cooked my soil beforehand so i have not had to worry about pests at all… it’s nice to have a garden that just runs itself…didn’t even put any DE down but i mix it in lightly with my soil now just in case.
sorry it’s late and I’m a bit tired so I don’t feel like going down the google hole but iirc, nematodes are a type of mite/insect that feed/attack the pest that is harming your plant? It’s a good feeling finding and fixing the source of the problem, that is for sure.
