That seems more predictable than biting them haha.
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And thatâs with older seeds too? Iâm not doing anything different other than using the paper towel vs shot glass. I do put them on a heat map, wrapped in a cloth towel.
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itâs a bit of a pain to use tbh, but I do think itâs more controlled that biting them. Could probably use vice grips but youâd have to use tweezers to hold the seed up. And it might kick out and go flying across the room like a detent pin. But the seeds need help staying in the correct position. They have a tendency to want to flip sideways when screwing it down, and that can result in smooshing them rather than cracking them. I use a toothpick to hold it/push it back in place.
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Yeah any and all seeds go in the shot glass until they pop a taproot. I had issues with paper towel and other methods. This method has never failed me unless I personally damaged the bean by mishandling when transferring to root riot or pot. Iâve only had a couple beans not come up after planting after popping the root in the shot glass like that and i believe it was likely temp related.
Use whatever method works best for you though.
Even pure h202 wonât do a thing to any viroid on the seeds so if you really want to disinfect, bleach is the only way to kill those. I donât always sterilize my beans like that. But I do always put ~5ml h202 to 25ml water for the initial soaking. If youâre precracking then I likely wouldnât bother with h2o2 in the water if youâre doing my soak method.
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Right on. I used the paper towel because I was worried about drowning them lol. Now Iâm wondering if I should even pre-soak at all, and just crack them and put them in plugsâŚ
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Yeah it is impossible to drown the seed. Iâve forgotten about them before and came back to full blown, 2inch long seedlings, white as snow, floating in the cup. Put them in a pot and within a day they were nice and green little plants.
If a seed turns black and âdrownsâ in the cup, it was already dead when you put it in there.
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If you think logically about the seed, the insides need to be moist for them to work. This is the reason I switched to the shot glass method. If itâs floating, it doesnât have water on the inside yet. Once i tap it with my finger and it sinks, you know it has water inside of it.
After that, it goes straight into the soil about a quarter inch down with a tiny bit a soil laid on top and not tamped down. The water in the seed with work itâs magic.
I used to use paper towel method, but after thinking about the microscopic hairs on the very tiny taproot grabbing onto the paper fibers and then getting ripped off to go into soil, I changed to the shot glass method.
To me, it feels like I just removed a very harsh step that hurts the sensitive taproot before it even touches soil. My success has gone up. Just had a mix of 13/13 seeds all pop out of the soil using the shot glass method.
The paper towel gets the water inside the seed, but the shot glass will protect the taproot if itâs already popped out.
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I had my best seed popping experience this last go round. I germinated some older beans from around 2016 and had great rates. My method was:
- Scuff seeds in GLG scuffer.
- Float beans in tap water till they pop a tail. If they sink I pick them out and blow on them to remove excess moisture then gently place the seed back till it floats again.
- After tail pops, I place seed in a mix of ewc, SPM, and rice hulls. Put plastic bag over solo cup and LITFA!
I was so frustrated with seed starting that I decided to just pop a bunch of seeds. I had great germ rates and didnât loose any to damping off because I just LITFA after planting. They didnât get any water from me until they were pretty well established. They just lived off the moisture from when I first moistened the soil when making my mix.
Good luck buddy!! May the Schwartz be with you always!
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Yea that makes sense. Might crack them, put a drop of water on them with a pipette, and put them directly in plugs. I worry about them having enough energy to bust out of the shells by themselves because they are pretty old by now. Cracking them means they can use that energy for growing.
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I dont have issues with newer seeds. These Oaxacans didnt get soaked or cracked. Just put them in the Root Riot plugs and put them on a heat mat. 5/6 showing already
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@VAhomegrown if youâre going to experiment, vertical germination has been working well for me 
And, bumwad is much easier, and safer to get the seedlings out of 
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Might have to go to the flea market and get a DVD case lol. Iâve seen that and it looks pretty good. Iâd def try it with newer seeds. Oh and I wanted to ask you - how many days do you let your SSDD go for?
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Toilet paper disintegrates so you could just plant the toilet paper with the seed.
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I use a Cheech and Chong Nice Dreams case!
Anywhere from 60-70 days from flipping⌠depends on how on top of it I am, lol! 70 is where itâs usually the best for me. I run the lights 10/14, so I think that letâs them go a little longer, but I really donât know if thatâs a factor.
Exactly, but I still try to get most of it off 
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I think @HolyAngel and @CrunchBerries have it down with the soak until tap root sprouts method and that is what I will be doing from here on out. I always heard not to soak seeds from more than 24 hours but they didnât always have tap roots at that point. Yet I just tested the float until it sprouts method and after 48-72 hours, all had tails and were placed in seedling mix on a heat mat, after a day or two from there, all healthy seedlings popping up for 100% germ rate on 10 or 12 seeds.
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That is what you would do with 10 year old seeds as well? Iâm hoping for better germination than 4-5/11. That older pack of Orange Turbo I tried to germ had about 4 seeds pop open and then peter out after that. The rest didnât even pop. Unless that was all the fault of being in a paper towel? Iâm really leaning towards cracking them, dropping some water on them, and putting them in Riot cubes. Unless anyone can explain why I shouldnât do it that way? I really feel like thatâs going to give me the best possible outcome, but Iâm def open to people telling me Iâm wrong lol.
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Looking great man. 2 more weeks to go & youâve got nerve pain b-gone bliss ready to smoke, lucky man! I got 3-4 months, overwatered & stunted my last 4 SSDDâs from HA. Have to start over, 4 on a paper towel again tonightâŚday one rookie mistake on my 3rd grow 
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Iâve wondered about using Sprouted Seed Teas (SSTâs) as a soak for older seeds since these would contain the enzymes and hormones associated with seed popping to begin with. Anyone have experience with this?
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