How do I germinate seeds?

Re: need help with germinate my seeds?

do I then put them in a cup with no light till I see them pop up then turn my light on also do I put them in a doem till they pop up
Bolivar said:
SmokeFree, all I can tell you is how I do mine, and all I do is put the seeds in a damp paper towel over some warmth of some kind or under a lamp that'll give them some heat (if I put a lamp on them for heat, I keep the seeds in the dark). So far, they've all sprouted within 36 hours except for one that never germinated. Most popped out between 24 and 30 hrs.

Soaking is supposed to be good, so you're doing ok so far. I would advise just doing it like I do and keep an eye on the paper towels so they don't dry out. Once the seeds sprout and you get a nice little "tap root", you can plant them into the soil. Once the green pokes out of the dirt, you can give it light as much as you want. At least 18 hrs a day to start, I'd say.
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Re: need help with germinate my seeds?

smoke free said:
do I then put them in a cup with no light till I see them pop up then turn my light on also do I put them in a doem till they pop up
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I put mine under a dome to trap heat, and I keep it covered from light until they sprout. If you have one, use that.

I put them in Rapid Rooter plugs after they've sprouted, and leave them under the dome until they get a few inches high, and then put them under the grow light in the grow tent.
 
Re: need help with germinate my seeds?

Bolivar said:
I put mine under a dome to trap heat, and I keep it covered from light until they sprout. If you have one, use that.

I put them in Rapid Rooter plugs after they've sprouted, and leave them under the dome until they get a few inches high, and then put them under the grow light in the grow tent.
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can I just put them in soil in the dome in a tent and zip it up with no light until I see them pop up 1 or 2in then put the light on and will my T-5 be good enough for this plus where can I find 42watt cfl light the one u screw in like a normal light????????????THANKS FOR EVERYTHING
 
Re: need help with germinate my seeds?

smoke free said:
can I just put them in soil in the dome in a tent and zip it up with no light until I see them pop up 1 or 2in then put the light on and will my T-5 be good enough for this?
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Yes you can do that. I used a T5 on one grow and it worked fine for seedlings. I also used a regular flourescent on another grow and that did NOT work fine.

plus where can I find 42watt cfl light the one u screw in like a normal light????????????THANKS FOR EVERYTHING
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Walmart has them for about $17.
 
Re: need help with germinate my seeds?

ok no they are in the napkin how long should I keep them in there I also have them in a zi bag and would it be better to have my t-5 and 4 42watt cfls. Do u think that will be enough heat for the flowering stage to short on cash right now but I will invest in a 600watt hps and if that will work shoul I put the 4cfls on the top of them and the t-5 on the side of them. THAK FOR STICKING AROUND AND HELPING A NEW BE S=Bolivar;1168788]Yes you can do that. I used a T5 on one grow and it worked fine for seedlings. I also used a regular flourescent on another grow and that did NOT work fine.



Walmart has them for about $17.[/QUOTE]
 
Re: need help with germinate my seeds?

smoke free said:
ok no they are in the napkin how long should I keep them in there I also have them in a zi bag and would it be better to have my t-5 and 4 42watt cfls. Do u think that will be enough heat for the flowering stage to short on cash right now but I will invest in a 600watt hps and if that will work shoul I put the 4cfls on the top of them and the t-5 on the side of them. THAK FOR STICKING AROUND AND HELPING A NEW BE
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I leave the seeds in the paper towel just until the root is well out of the seed husk. Carefully take the shell of the seed off the seedling if it doesn't fall off by itself. Put the root pointed down into the hole in your soil (gently) about a half inch, and put some loose soil on top of it. It should poke through the surface in a day or two. I've never put seeds into a zip bag, so I can't give you any advice on that.

How big is your T5? How many watts, I mean. I think you'll need close to 400 watts total to get a decent crop, but it's not required. Just put up whatever lights you can afford, and wait till next crop to upgrade your lights. First time doesn't need to be expensive, because you'll take the lessons you learned and do it better next time. Check out some other grows that used CFLs and T5s and you'll get more ideas about how much to use and where to put them.
 
need help and fast

My seed are about to be ready to plant in soil should I wait till the root gets 3/4 of a in and plant it then do I also keep them in darkness till there 2in in a doem
 
Re: need help and fast

smoke free said:
My seed are about to be ready to plant in soil should I wait till the root gets 3/4 of a in and plant it then do I also keep them in darkness till there 2in in a doem
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I don't know about the 3/4 inch rule, but I don't wait until they're a certain length, I just put them in when I see the root is out and growing.

Also I have light waiting for them when they break through the surface, just not a LOT of it at first. I've been starting the MH out as high in the tent as it goes, then lowering it as the plants get bigger. I don't see any reason to keep them in the dark after they're out of the ground.
 
Hey guys I am doing an all led grow, I have roughly a 4x5 closet that I am using for my grow room. I also have a plastic container I keep outside the room that I use for germing but i think it might be hurting me more than helping. I have some real basic grow lights that were cheap that I got from walmart that are on this inside and I think it might be drying the soil out too much for the seeds to sprout. Should I just kill the lights or should I switch to cfl's and leave them on, none have broken ground yet. I am going to start a thread soon to keep a journal of my grow but I'm worried that this dome is too bright and hot for unsprouted seeds.... Thoughts?
 
Thawk said:
Hey guys I am doing an all led grow, I have roughly a 4x5 closet that I am using for my grow room. I also have a plastic container I keep outside the room that I use for germing but i think it might be hurting me more than helping. I have some real basic grow lights that were cheap that I got from walmart that are on this inside and I think it might be drying the soil out too much for the seeds to sprout. Should I just kill the lights or should I switch to cfl's and leave them on, none have broken ground yet. I am going to start a thread soon to keep a journal of my grow but I'm worried that this dome is too bright and hot for unsprouted seeds.... Thoughts?
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The seeds have to stay damp, so anything that dries out the soil will hurt germinating odds. Try covering the seeds with a plastic dome or something else that will keep the heat in, and set them on top of a computer case or something else that provides a SMALL amount of heat. They don't need light until they break ground. Best of luck.
 
Thanks man I moved them into a box and put them in my car and I had two break ground already, now should I let them develop some leaves before putting them under light? How much light should it get? And sorry for so many questions but what humidity and temperature should it be at?
 
Thawk said:
Thanks man I moved them into a box and put them in my car and I had two break ground already, now should I let them develop some leaves before putting them under light? How much light should it get? And sorry for so many questions but what humidity and temperature should it be at?
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Good question. When my first grow seedlings broke ground, I had them in Rapid Rooters under a household flourescent floor lamp for light, and because it wasn't ENOUGH light (or the right kind), the little plants stretched their stems trying to get more light and got way too flimsy. Most fell over at some point and I had to make little splints to get them going. I think I lost 2 plants because of that initial mistake with the light, but only because I didn't know how to correct it.

So put them under a T5, CFL, or HID as soon as they break the surface, but don't put them too close. Heat will hurt them. Last grow I put the Rapid Rooters into the tent about 4 feet under a 400W HID, and watched them closely to make sure it wasn't too much heat. You're going to have to do some trial and error somewhere along the line, so don't worry about farking things up. First time around is when you learn basics, sometimes the hard way. You will have a crop if you don't kill them, and it will get you high. Don't worry about fine-tuning stuff if you're not familiar with it yet. It'll be fun no matter how many times you screw up...
 
Thawk said:
Thanks that helps, but I am doing an all led grow so should I just stick it under a UFO? I don't wanna stretch it so I don't know what height it should be at
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OK, put it under the UFO. You can probably put the LEDs pretty close to the seedlings, although I don't have any experience with them. I'd say that if your hand is comfortable under one then the plants will be. I had a 48W T5 a foot away from the seedlings last grow, before I put them in the tent. I just lowered it until I could feel the heat, then raised it back a bit.
 
Dexter4Morgan said:
Is it worth the extra money to buy feminized seeds ? Or just buy the regular ones and hope for the best ?
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It is for me. When you're considering the value of the final product, time spent tossing males and replacing with females, etc., all over a 3 month period, the extra bucks don't seem like all that much.

Someone who plans to clone would surely spend extra for fem seeds since he'd only be buying them occasionally.
 
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