headsrnice

I've usually use glass plates taped together with the moistened paper towels and seeds between them on top of a tv receiver. Certain beans, both bag and bought have popped but the taproot refuses to push itself out at all and it stops growing. It's been doing this whether I put it into the soil as soon as it pops or if I leave it and let it try to emerge a little more. In the past the taproots have shot out quicker and bigger. I've also noticed some sprout and once they push themselves outta the ground they can't push the shell off themselves. Those are alright and all but it's been happening a lot lately and is getting old. Is the reciever too hot, maybe presoak the seeds in a cup before putting between the paper towel?

Been using tap water from a well. Letting it sit out for 24-48 hours before using it each time. Pretty much doing everything the same 'cept using the tv reciever and glass plates opposed to paper ones.

Roach

I just place them in a dish and have a layer of paper towel under them and on top of them, them keep the towels wet...not just moist-but soaked...but not floating.

my thoughts are that bacteria is your friend in "cracking" the seeds and allowing the primary root out.

highly chlorinated or softened water could be a problem.
Eliminate that doubt by using distilled water for germination.

bacteria I believe is also an aid to root tip cells in their uptake of moisture and nutrients.

imho.

I do this at room temp, not too hot, not to cold. Not in bright sunlight, and not in the dark.

in complete darkness and elevated temps you may even rot them before they get a chance to "shoot you some root"

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K10

To correct a couple things that you said roach:

Bacteria is most definitely not your friend during the germination process. Seeds have a bunch of starches and sugars stored up inside which gives them the energy to push out that first radicle after they rehydrate. Thing is that often times some of those starches and sugars leech out which invites a whole host of bacteria for dinner. At that point you have an embryo with just enough energy for germination trying to fight off bacteria. This process is normal and the plant often wins, but it is an energy sink and can disrupt germination.

When you refer to bacteria aiding plants I assume you mean rhizobia which are nitrogen fixing bacteria. These bacteria only work with plants of the legume variety and as far as I know cannot interact with cannabis. However I have heard of people planting legume species among cannabis plants to help with nitrogen fixation but that would have to be in an outdoor situation. You could grow a legume species as a cover crop which would enrich the soil with nitrogen, but most people just go the standard N-P-K fertilizer route.

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Roach

what do you think his problem is ?

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Mafoo

only thing that sounds bad is what you mentioned, the tv thing might be too hot. plants have evolved to germ in soil, they dont require too much extra heat, save from the sun.

that said, im sure farmergiles will know

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K10

It's really hard to say, but I definitely agree with using distilled water so as to eliminate that factor as the real problem.

The seeds should be viable since they are germinating.

Depending on how many seeds you have I would suggest running a few trials. Just try some different variables.

From the information provided I would theorize that the seeds are not re-hydrating evenly leaving the seed coat too hard for the seedling to get rid of entirely. I have no idea if that is actually the case, but I would definitely suggest a pre-soak and see if that makes any difference.

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farmergiles

Sounds like they are getting stuck in the inner seed membrane. This can happen with older seeds.

They are germinating so your technique is working- you don't need to mess with humidity or temps.

If they don't make it after a day or so you might want to free them very carefully with a scalpel or something. This is quite difficult to do without damaging the seed embryo but it is possible.

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farmergiles

Mycorrhizae are the ones which work with canna.

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Roach

^ PHD

professional Herb doctor

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K10

Which is a fungus if I'm not mistaken.

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headsrnice

It could be that some seed I had were seed from stressed plants last summer. My attempt to make fem seeds. Got a bunch of random bag seed though . Gonna try three different methods..

1. Sow directly into soil. Have water that has been sitting out for over 3 days to let impurities evaporate and to get to room temp. Gonna use that and put 1/4 inch deep in pre-moistened peat moss. Keep at room temp.

2. Between paper towels on a plate. Plastic wrap over the top with a few holes punched in it. Same water.

3. Doing the same, but pre-soaking in water for 12-24 hours before.

To soften the outter shell, would it be benificial if I lined a matchbox with sandpaper and put the seeds in and shook it prior to doing these methods. Heard something about it somewhere.

deadhead94

I germ my seeds in soil. That's what they are designed to do.

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K10

It sounds like your just gonna have trouble with those seeds man. I wouldn't recommend the sand paper thing. Cannabis seeds don't require any sort of scarification so there would be no benefit from it and you might just damage the seeds.

But yeah, try a few things to see if anything works, but you might be onto something with the mother plants being stressed.

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R.I.P. Alice D.

farmergiles

This is a classic description of what happens if the inner seed membrane is preventing the tap from freeing itself.

IMO there is nothing wrong with your germination technique, you are doing just fine if the taproots started to peep out.
The only thing to do is very carefully assist them out. This is pretty tricky so I'd give them a day or two to see if they can manage themselves.

How were the seeds stored?

Yes, quite correct.

You seem to know stuff about plants and biology K10, have you studied biology?

I agree that it would be pointless in this instance- seen as the outer casing is not the problem (if it was the tap roots wouldn't show).
But I would say the scarification technique does help sometimes if the seeds just seem totally inert (ie don't split at all).

And scarification is a cool word.

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stoneric

Is that the same as mycorrhizal?

stoneric

How true. I'm amazed at his knowledge.

farmergiles

I guess so?

I think that stuff is everywhere in soil and probably spores going everywhere.

Pretty fucking cool .

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headsrnice

The seeds were stored by putting them into zip lock bags then put into tins, the kind seed banks will ship in from time to time. After that I put them into a drawer and let them sit til I use them. Stays typically cooler than room temperature in the drawer.

farmergiles

Best way I think is to store them in an airtight container in the fridge. A few grains of rice in with the seeds help keep a steady low humidity.

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stoneric

I seal an envelope and cut off the corner of one of the long ends. I put rice in the envelope and mix the seeds in with the rice. I bend the corner of the envelope over and seal with scotch tape. I put the envelope in a plastic ziplop bag and seal it. I put the ziplock bag in a brown paper bag and put that in the fridge in the veggie drawer. I get near 100% germination.