Problems germanating seeds..."support ticket"

Grow Cycle Preparations
1

Okay, I figured I better get some advice before more bad things happen. I have five plants living and in six inch pots, but its taken me 12 seeds to get there. I first started seven seeds many weeks ago in water for 24 hours, one seed never opened up and one seed swelled slightly but never grew once places in peat pellets, one of those containers that have a clear plastic lid, and even then I had problems with the five, I thought I didn’t have them deep enough. I went to do some replacements twice, once with three wet peat pellets only for germinating, and two more in wet paper towel. Both times I put them in peat pellets a little deeper so they wouldn’t start growing at the surface like the first time I had to carefully put several in a deeper hole, root and all, so these last times I put everything in deeper in the peat pellets. I use distilled water and the ph is 6 on everything. Using the white widow seeds I bought of buy ten get ten free, etc recently, and I haven’t added any booster or anything cause those are still in transit. I mean, I have experience with starting vegetables from seeds, but its almost like these didn’t want to grow, maybe it is from distilled neutral water, or maybe I planted the seeds too far in the peat, or maybe I kept the peat too wet. I waited a week and I uncovered the seeds and saw they had started but stopped. I have another seed in water to try to get me to my allowed number of plants, nothing so far after twelve hours, will know by tonight if it swells open for germinating. I think my next step would be to open bottled drinking water for 24 hour soak.

“Support Ticket” into your forum post.
Answer these simple questions the best you can.
If you do not know, or do not use something; Just say so = NA

Strain; White Widow (FEM)

Soil in pots, Hydroponic, or Coco? Germanating peat pellets

System type? soil

PH of runoff or solution in reservoir? 6

What is strength of nutrient mix? EC, or TDS Not there yet

Indoor or Outdoor: Indoor

Light system, size? One starter bulb of t5 four foot long

Temps; 65-75

Humidity; about 16% in the room but higher inside the starter container

Ventilation system; NOT applicable

AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,:NA

Co2; Yes, No:A

Add anything else you feel would help us give you a most informed answer. Feel free to elaborate, but short, to the point questions and facts will help us help you :slight_smile:

2

The seed I had in water did start sprouting, so I put it in a peat pellet, not so deep, and there is a article on the blog section I am about the read. I almost wonder if the temperature was too low maybe when I failed on the five seeds, there have been some cold temps, but I keep my thermostat for the home heater at 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

3

It sounds most likely keeping them too wet might be the problem. Distilled water is just fine and one of the better types of water to use for germination, that likely did not cause the problem. Bottled regular drinking water should also be fine.

4

I noticed your PH at 6.0 If you can get that to 6.5 that would be spot on.

humidity at 16% is way too low. I understand humidity is higher in tray, but you need to get it up at least into the 50% or higher range,

5

Yeah, I right now in the tray have one very strong start sprouting its first leaves passed the initial leaves, gonna have to removed it today and put it in a pot of soil mix and half strength fertilizer water, a six inch round pot. I have another seed that I started yesterday out of the water, but I am ironically a little concerned with it, seems either slower going than the last one or it is giving up the ghost. I do know one thing, its in the same general area that is getting fan air over the rest of the other plants, maybe it is cooling the tray off and taking away its inner humidity. Its time for me to move my five three week old plants to a vegging setup under the multi t5 assembly, they look smallish, I think I didn’t give them enough nutrients early on worrying about nute burn. Anyway, I think what I could be doing to foil my germanting is having them near a running fan blowing air on them, well, it wouldn’t explain the one newer start taking off, I’m getting superstitious maybe, ha.
Maybe I should invest in some sort of heating pad for germination, I mean, some days around here are cold and others have been sunny warm heating up the home, I don’t have these seed starts in a tent but a spare room under a starter light. If I find out I have another seed not wanting to grow, wow, I’m gonna turn germination into a down right science by the time I work it out right. I mean, I am thinking of all the things I have read about, acquarium bubblers, heating pads, maybe a specialty seed starting domed environment, bought somewhere or made by me, large enough for plants to sprout and get a bunch of inches/centimeters high before removed, its own over head light, etc.

6

HOW DO I INCREASE THE PH OF THE PEAT CUBE ENVIRONMENT? Would that be maybe from putting some sort of stronger fertilizer mix water over the seedling? Maybe I need some sort of solution that I’ve seen sold that increase ph or decreases ph, seems like I seen something along those lines. I got the three sets of three pack of booster coming from this site, maybe that does something, or in the plant care other bottles two sets of those I have coming also? Man, I should have ordered those first, when I think bout it.

7

So far, I can tell the last seed I germinated will be successful, which will make me seven plants total. I HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING A “GERMANATION CHAMBER”, where I take a clear plastic tote container with a clear plastic lid, I will take a 18"(eighteen inch) under cabinet fluorescent light and I bought a 18" plant/acquarium fluorescent mainly giving out about 500 lumens, just enough to get a seed started and making proper heat/warmth and beginning light, maybe I might have to vent the lid to let heat escape, to remove the peat cube or cubes once I see plants sprouting, to be placed elsewhere under a single t5 starter lamp fixture. AND IN THE “GERMANATION CHAMBER”, I want to affix a container to hold water with a acquarium bubbler oxygenating the water while seeds spread open and ready to be put in a peat pellet. Inside of course will be one of my humidity and temperature monitors.

8

Screwing a small floro tube light to the underside of the lid on a cooler made a great nursery for me, i used a chopstick to prop the lid open just enough to keep the temp perfect if the light is 24/7. I keep planty of loose water on the bottom to keep the humidity level up. With the light on it gets warm in there, keep the lid open a bit, a remote cooking timer keeps me posted on the temp inside. I seed my seeds in rapid rooters suspended over a cup of water by 4 toothpics stuck in the side of the rooter. Just set the seed half inch down and in three days theres leaves. Prop the lid up enough to keep 72 deg, make sure theres just enough water in the cup to touch the bottom of the rooter. If it can grow, it will. Then when the roots pop out transplant. Works just as good with clones, same process, except roots come out in 12 days instead of three.

9

Thats interesting heartodixi, your method, seems like you got a foolproof method there. I believe what foiled me earlier was plummeting temperatures at night, and AFTER I started running a fan across my growing seedlings across my jiffy peat pellet chamber which had a clear plastic dome and not realizing I was making the seeds extra cool, figured it out when I inserted an accurate temp/humidity monitor inside the dome, which is what wiped out five together, I’ll never do that again. I almost ordered one of them heated seedling starters the other day, still unsure if something commercial would be my perfect solution, or something I could modify further with “improvements”, considering its spring now and warmer home temperatures are definitely on the way. Of course, my last two individually germinated seeds worked, but doing them one at a time seems almost bazaar, right now I don’t need to start anymore seeds, I believe, on my license, I’m thinking bout waiting to do cloning now of cuttings when I have any. I have my plants in a 4’x2’x5’(48"x33"x60") IPower brand grow tent with 8 t5 48" bulbs with 4" exhaust fan going over to my bathroom, having it indoors, so I can see things every step of the way, checking, that is how I am “learning” to be a better grower, later will put a larger tent right next to the smaller tent, and later use my outdoor shed once I have it all built out there. Just like the seeds and seedlings, I like to monitor them a lot all day long, I use “accurate” temperature and humidity monitors, need to buy more of those, they are very nice to have and don’t cost but bout ten dollars.