@tanlover442 @Mrcrabs @PurpNGold74 @Happy_Pappy @highcountrygal @Sasquatch
I’m having germination issues with some ILGM White Widow Fem Auto seeds I got recently. Maybe y’all can help. I took advantage of the ‘buy 10, get 10 free’ sale ILGM has been offering on these seeds and I also got 10 Amnesia Haze Fem Auto seeds. I attempted to pop 5 of the WW and 4 of the Amnesia Haze and ALL of the AH seeds popped but only ONE of the WW seeds popped.
Method: I put seeds in distilled water in a closet on top of a cable box. After 48hrs, all of them had cracked but the AH seeds had root tips barely protruding and the WW only had one seed with a slightly protruding root tip. I transferred them to moistened (distilled water) paper towel between 2 plates on the same cable box. At 72hrs the AH seeds had nice tap roots started and so did that single WW seed. One additional WW seed had sprouted a longer root. I planted all the seeds into FF Light Warrior seed starting soil at a depth of 3/8”. All the seeds with good roots broke ground within 48hrs of going into the soil but the other seeds never appeared, despite being kept moist, just like the others. Unfortunately, one of the 2 WW seeds that germinated died after a bean (from the tree shading it) fell onto it and broke it - my best one, of course!
Today, the AH seedlings all look healthy (see picture) but the the single remaining WW looks really stunted and crappy. I’m babying it, hoping it’ll perk up; but I don’t know if it will. I’ll post a picture of it as well. It’s been in the upper 90’s here so I think that may be hampering the growth of the seedlings some, but I’m not sure.
I don’t know if this is a matter of me doing something wrong but the fact that there’s such a difference between the 2 strains makes me suspect the ILGM seeds. 3 seeds never even sprouting seems like a problem for $10.90 seeds. What do y’all think?
Just in case, I went out and bought a 4’ 4-bulb T5 fixture with AgroLife 6500k veg bulbs and some Root Riot starter cubes and I’m waiting on a warming mat with a thermostat. I don’t want to start any more of my remaining seeds until I have all these advanced seed starting tools - to insure that the problem isn’t with my method. I’ve written to ILGM to ask them about all this, but I wanted to ask the community for help. Did I do something wrong or would you suspect something is up with the White Widow seed stock?
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Im honestly not sure. Noob sproutling checklist for troubleshooting usually run a bit like this:
Overwatering? - presoak ur soil and dont water again for 7-10 days (usually)
Lighting? - sproutling like 6500K not so intense lighting. I see ur working on that
Overall climate? - they also LOVE humidity. Most people dome their rooters to encourage water staying in the soil or rooter. I just had 2 sproutling pop and i actually forgot about them but the dome kept the humidity closer to 100% and they are fine.
Then finally as u admitted genetics. Sometimes seeds have been stored or shipped not exactly in the best conditions. Sometimes the mother wasnt exactly mature enough? I guess.
Some seeds just dont pop. Im sure ILGM will make up for it
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Don’t give up on those WW seeds, it can sometimes take up to two weeks for a seed to pop.
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@DTOM420 I am not the popular method but I have 100% germination success, so for what it’s worth put the seed in damp seed starter soil with plain old water keep it damp with a mister damp not wet, place a sheet of plastic wrap over them and put in a warm place and let them do what they know best to grow. The easier you make it for them with added stuff the weaker you will make them. Just sayin
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Yeah, maybe I’ll keep them for a while longer. I’ve never waited that long before. I wanted to put everything straight into big bags from the get-Golgotha but I don’t have the soil to allocate to seeds that aren’t germinating. So, with this light I may do it the way I was trying to avoid - starting them in small containers and under lights and gradually moving them outside to bigger pots.
I put some seeds from another source into those Root Riot cubes yesterday and I have some others soaking in distilled water that’ll go into cubes as well. I have them in a tray and sprinkled a tiny amount of soil over the hole, to make sure the popped seeds are kept in total darkness from the light that’s just above the humidity cover on the tray. Hopefully that’ll prove more successful.
@highcountrygal - I may try a few seeds like you’re suggesting.
I just went into the room where the seeds are I put in water this afternoon and they’re already cracked and root tip is visible. It’s only been about 5 hrs! They’re a White Widow Cheese fem auto flower from another source. FWIW- they dropped to the bottom immediately.
My remaining WWaf from IGLM (in 15 gallon bag) has some company in the hope it’ll boost her spirits and un-stunt her. Lol!
Unfortunately, that last White Widow Auto Fem from ILGM isn’t going to make it. 
I put 5 more in water yesterday and 3 of them are cracked. I’m going to move those 3 to paper towel tonight and, if they have a 1/2” root started tomorrow, I’m going to put them into a mix of 2/3 Happy Frog Potting Soil, 1/3 Light Warrior and a handful of worm castings in large solo cups with drain holes. I’m going to put the other 2 in root riot cubes and they’re all sitting on a heating mat now. I’m GONNA get this figured out OR I’m going to go broke buying seeds to try! LMAO.
I’m a little bummed that I haven’t heard a peep from ILGM about the issues I’m having with these WW Autos that I got from them. I sent an email to them on Tuesday and still haven’t gotten a reply.
patience buddy im going through some what of the same issues as you i just have 1 out of 5 that wont germinate but they keep sending me new ones . got mine in the napkin now hoping to get a stem root whatever put it in the water 8/2 and it dropped 8/3 and put it into a napkin last night
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@tribblesr Thanks for the words of encouragement. I popped 5 more White Widow AF and they went into paper towel this morning. The heating mat is helping. 4 seeds look great but the 5th one is weird - the hull of the seed separated from the inside leaving the root completely separate! I’m going to be curious to see if that one will grow or not.
I’m sure ILGM will make it right eventually, because so many people say so, but it’s VERY frustrating to not hear back from them after 2, 3, 4, 5 days. When I had “pre-purchase” and payment questions I got answers within 24hrs. Now that I’m asking them about problems with germination with this strain, it’s been radio silence. I’ve sent 2 separate emails and not gotten a single reply. Nor have any staff members replied to this thread. I’ll be patient for a while longer but it shouldn’t be this hard to get support from a retailer. There are many seed banks. I chose ILGM because of this forum and all the commentary on their great support; but right now that support from the mother ship seems a bit lacking.
I feel you bro your frustration and your lack of faith at this point like I said I’m having problems popping 1 seed
Live just tooken so with some patience of my own perhaps in another day or so I’ll be planting Missy .
Have you tried using hydrogen peroxide to help germinate your seeds . 1 shot glass of distilled water and 1 drop of hydrogen peroxide . I had some trouble awhile back germinating some seeds . The good folks here told me to try it and it works great . I found a good explanation by @Tylan by using the search bar . I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing it here .It’s there to help the seed get more oxygen. The peroxide breaks down there seed coat slightly allowing more oxygen to the seed. From the web:
Recent scientific studies back up the effectiveness of chemically scarifying seeds by soaking them in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water. Hydrogen peroxide is thought to increase germination rates by breaking down the seed coat, thus allowing the seed to take in more oxygen. In a study reported in the journal “HortScience,” aged corn seeds (Zea mays L.) treated with a solution of 15 percent hydrogen peroxide germinated at a significantly greater percentage (nearly 95 percent) than seeds treated with aerated water but no hydrogen peroxide (67 percent germination rate). In addition, oxygen consumption rates of seeds soaked for 24 hours in the hydrogen peroxide solution were approximately twice as high as seeds soaked in aerated water for the same time.
Help Your Seeds Breathe
It’s easy to improve your at-home germination rates by using hydrogen peroxide in your pre-planting routine. Simply add 1 ounce of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide to 1 pint of water; choose one of the following three methods. One, soak your seeds for 18 to 24 hours, rinse and plant. Two, place your seeds on a length of paper towels, use a mister filled with the hydrogen peroxide-water solution to thoroughly dampen (but not soak) the towels and the seeds, then roll up the towels loosely or simply fold them over so that all sides of the seeds are in contact with moist paper towel. Mist them lightly each day (or when the towel dries out) and plant them when sprouts emerge. Three, just rinse your seeds with the solution, then plant. I hope this helps .
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Peroxide method worked well for me on my new girls. Was having issues popping ILGM Jack Herer Autos, got the peroxide tip on here. Next 3 popped within 18hrs. One of em was even still floating. I fully recommend trying what @Seeddog suggests. I used 1ml to 50ml
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@Seeddog no i have not but i will if Mother Nature doesnt do it herself.
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@tribblesr Peroxide really helps. I’ve got a 95%+ success rate with my other ILGM seeds and with seeds from other companies using peroxide after agitating the seeds in a small jar lined (sides) with sandpaper for a few minutes. 24-36hrs in that water then I use that water to moisten paper towel and put them inside. I put the paper towel between 2 saucer plates (top one upside down) and I do ALL this on top of a cable box. Then, I have a warming pad with a thermostat (iPower brand for about $32usd on Amazon) set at 80° and it goes under whatever I put them in. I’ve been trying Root Riot cubes besides putting them into Solo cups and 6” pots. I make SURE the hole is covered (sprinkle a few grains of soil over the hole in the cubes) To make sure they don’t get ANY light. As SOON as I can see even the slightest emergence they’re put under T5 fixture about 4” above the medium.
Now, if ILGM will just reply. I sent them a final email today. I have heard NADA from them in a week now, since I first notified them of the problem.
Check out this batch of ILGM White Widow Auto Fem seeds I tried to germ. The 2 that separated from the husks didn’t grow although I’m still watching them. I’ve never seen that happen. Doesn’t happen with any other seeds, just this one strain from ILGM
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@Hogmaster can you do me a favor and look into this guys account and see to it he get taken care of ?
As a favor for me ?
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@DTOM420 all i can say is be patient Brother i tried to call in for a personal favor but who am i ?
@tribblesr Thanks brother!
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@DTOM420 you’re welcome Bro I hope you’re taken care of now. Are they going to square you away
@tribblesr I FINALLY got a reply today. I don’t know if it was because of you or the barrage of new emails I sent to customer support and Robert himself; but I did get a quick reply saying they were sorry the seeds weren’t germinating properly and would be sending out replacements to me. I ended up making a new email account JUST to email them from because I got a weird message from my email host saying that they kept having an email I sent bounce off the ILGM server. Made me feel like, somehow, my email account had gotten blocked. To make SURE they were getting my email I sent emails from the new account, my usual account that they have AND through the contact form on the website. I apologized for the barrage but explained that, after 10+ days without a single reply to my first email, I wanted to make sure that they were actually getting my emails. In any case, I was grateful to get their reply and appreciate istive that they’re going to make it right. I’m going to chalk it up to a fluke that my email somehow got missed. All’s well that ends well…when the replacement seeds arrive. Lol! Thanks for your help and for the pep-talk, brother!
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Perhaps everything is going to be alright but I will leave this 1 in 
‘S of Someone Higher than me …