This might be a long post.
I have been thru 6 seeds in the past month. All of them ILGM seeds. I soak them for at least 18 hours in the house water but I have a filter which removes a lot of the chemicals in the water. ph’ed to 6.0.
I have never had a seed sink on it’s own. If I put my finger on the seed in the cup, it sinks after the 18 hour soak.
The first two seeds (one week apart) both broke ground but both of them came up with the helmet attached and lasted 3 days until they bent over and were done.
Next time I did two at the same time. I can only grow one plant in my tent and if both of them come out good, I would have to remove one of them. After soaking, I put them directly into the Happy Frog soil. Nothing. 4 seeds done…
So again I put two seeds into the water but after 20 hours I put them between two paper towels in some plates in a dark place. One developed a root, a small one and the other just sat there, nothing. I planted the root down and waited a week and again nothing.
The seeds had a plastic dome and I watered the dome once or twice a day.
I did the sequence again and again the seed is between the paper towels but will not develop a root.
My final seed is in the cup. Afraid of another failure I thought I would post my experiences to see what I am doing wrong. After this one, I have to order some more seeds.
This has been going on since mid-October.
It is my 4th grow in soil. The first GDP was excellent. The second grow had a lot of stretching and the flower was weak. Third grow was difficult and a week before harvest it got mold.
My first grow two years ago l followed a guy Smoking Beaver. He didn’t use much nutrients except he put nutes into the soil when he filled the bag with dirt. Turned out to be a fantastic grow. After that grow I thought I would add nutes to the second grow of GDP. It had problems and was weak. The third grow was Purple Punch but it got mold.
That brings me up to today.
I can’t see what I am doing wrong. Any ideas.
PS I can’t give you any pictures because it would just be a picture of paper towels with a dark spot.
Are these the same 3 year old seeds you posted about in the past?
First I would reach out to ILGM sales support to get replacement seeds before you buy more. They have a guarantee on germination. Me personally, I skip the whole soak process and germinate in damp paper towels. My method has served me very well. I take a small plate, fold up a single paper towel to fit the plate. Spray the paper towel with water until damp, not soaked. I then fold another paper towel and repeat spray. Place another plate of the same size and clamshell it by turning the plate upside down, bottom of the plate up. I check it daily and re-spray to keep them moist.
As far as seedlings. You are in happy frog soil, you don’t need any nutrients for about 4 weeks or so. What I do is once the seed sprouts, I place it in a solo cup with Mykos in the seed hole. Helps roots grow, I swear by it. I dome the seedling and mist the dome a few times a day. At the early stages of growth, the plant absorbs water through the air. I still keep the medium damp but not soaked. I will say I grow in coco. Once the plant develops leaves, I remove the dome and water about 4 ML of ph’d water in a circle around the plant to encourage root expansion and growth. What height are your lights at? And what intensity? For soil, ph at 6.0-7.0 is generally a good level. You’ll want a good ph pen like BlueLabs or Apera. I have Apera and it’s been great. When you get to the phase you want to add nutrients, I add the fertilizer, then use ph up and down (general hydroponics) to adjust ph to proper level. I then add any microbe supplements after the water is ph’d. Water to runoff and test the runoff ppms. You’ll need a cheap EC/ppm pen. They’re like $20 on Amazon. Don’t skimp on the ph pen, but EC/ppm can be cheap.
Once you get a runoff level around 800ppms, time to feed. What nutrients are you running? That’s about it. Just water and test runoff. Once you get good numbers, you should be off to a good start.
Here’s basically what I do. Works for me, but you can decide if it would be something you’d want to try. It’s basically what you were saying that other guy did.
Get some fox farm happy frog soil, and solo cups. Moisten the soil, and fill the solo cup. Plant the seed directly into the soil (not very deep), spray a little water on it to settle the seed, and stick a baggie over the top to make a little greenhouse. Keep it warm, and it should break ground in about 3 or 4 days. Stick it under your light on low power, and don’t water until dry.
When seedling is as wide as the cup, transplant into pot of happy frog mixed with perlite, worm castings, and fox farm fruit and flower 4-9-3 per the instructions on the package. Then top dress with the fruit and flower after 6 weeks, then once a month after that. I use a little kelp me kelp you during veg. I also use recharge occasionally to keep the microbes healthy.
These are new seeds.
Howdy @Me75
What temperature?
You want it between 20-25 degrees Celsius.
At this temp you should have action within 3 days.
That has broken droughts for me. I also bought a bag of seed starter soil. My reused soil is just a tad hot.
Good starter soil/solo cup. Burn couple holes bottom side solo cup. Premoisten soil in a mixing bowl. If water comes out when squeezed its too wet. Should just clump. Fill solo loosely. Donot pack it. Poke a hole 1/2"deep or so. Drop bean in and cover with soil. NO COVER YET.
Warm environment…heat pad/hotter tent. Cold will stop them. Warm they will sprout. PATIENCE!!! Can take a week to 10 days. Sometimes a bit more. Use distilled water or something for this stage. Screw watering them till a few days after up and second leaves start. If low humidity now is time to cover with clear something. Last drought was 6 or 8 beans. 4 ways of germ. Just happens to me sometimes. Relax and dont stress. Go for the germ guarantee for sure. The drought will break. This is a picbof plants after drought and new auto coming up now. Direct to soil this round.
Domes cause humidity is low. Just my thoughts.
Thanks!
I finally got one to pop!! Now I still have 3 more in the process of germination. I have only a one plant tent so 3 will have to go.
The one I have now is long it still has the helmet. I’m trying to get a photo of it.
I have read all of your comments and I want to thank you all for the help. I believe the problem was old seeds.
Another problem with the new soil I got. I had a lot (20) of bugs running around. I had the stick strips in but I had top use a spray that I got on line with one of the nutrient providers. no more bugs!
looks pretty rough…
I have the high quality PPM and ph devises.
@Hashtonbutcher I have the temp at 23. I am in the southern U.S. so the temps are usually pretty warm. However, we get cold fronts twice a week so the temp is monitored with a small heater if I need it.
Your soil is hot I think. Or some way off ph. Dome her up I suggest and lets see what she does. Get a couple on deck for sure. That girls color is pretty far off. We will have you sprouting gems soon. Lots of knowledge up here.
Howdy
Put a dome over it and spray inside of dome ,don’t over water seedling .
When you water , keep water away from stem.
I have lost many seeds from over watering and loving them to death, I mean well though. 
Now when I germinate seeds ,I leave seedlings for up to two weeks without watering.
Merry Christmas 
So far my germination is working great. I just use a spray bottle for the first couple weeks. That way I can not over water. Looks.like yours might be getting to much to drink. Keep it up you will get it right. This is the place for great advice. Mine is just ok. 
Is the soil to hot??
I am using Happy Frog soil. I have used it before with good results. However this container had a lot of bugs. I sprayed with one of the nutrient companies bug killers with all natural ingredients.
It is now looking pretty good compared to two days ago.
It looks like it is stretching. I just moved the light to 18 inches with the MarsHydro 1000 light at 80%. A couple of sprays at it’s base. ( If I put my finger in the soil where it is damp, it is only moist for less than an inch.)
I am so glad this plant has turned around. I still have 2 more seeds germination in case this one changes for the worst.
Thanks Crew
Yes, it is stretching. 3 3/4 inch tall and 4 leaves. I have lowered the light to 11 inches at 75% of my TS1000 Marshydro light. I’ll have to try and support it.
Add more soil up to about 1 1/2"-2" from the cotyledons. It will help support it plus she will grow roots out from the new soil level. 
Glad you got one going. I saw one comment about temps. Crucial to have the bean in water at 75-80°F so she thinks it is spring and time to do her thing. Cool, that rhymed so it must be true. Also here is a germing thread with mutiple types of growers with different mediums.
Here is the link to that thread.
Well, The one that was stretching bent over before I could put mor dirt around the stem.
So here is my deal…I can’t tell you how many videos I have seen and I have read all of ILGM notes on germinating. I am still failing…
I dug up a couple of the seeds that did not break the soil. They look like the picture. Any ideas?
Well, when I can get the photo downloaded, I will post a picture.
I have tried almost every type of germination to get the seeds to grow. I started in mid-October and I still have nothing. I guess I have been through 12 seeds and I just received 10 more. My first two grows went well but I am now failing every time I try.
New Fox Farm Soil. I went back to distilled water about 5 seeds ago, ph is 6,7
Temp in the tent is 82 - 87 degrees, no water and no light. Clear glass over the seed spots.
sprayed with water in the glass 3-4 times a day. 2.3 X 2.3 tent MarsHydro TS1000 light. The seeds are planted in plain Happy Frog soil with no nutes added.
I have had 4 seeds with 3/4 inch tails that do not grow.
I am at a loss as to what to do next
