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So I got some bird seeds that came 5 to a pack . I am having difficulty getting them to sprout. I watch some of you get 1/4 sprouts. I can only get them to bust and show white then they stop. I have done the paper towel method with only being damp and in a dark place inside a container. I just got a clone dome and have 5 more in there with a heat mat. Same thing. 2 nothing and 3 cracked and shows white. They have been this way for a week now. I got some free bird seeds but only one each and its the same way. So I am doing something wrong here. This learning curve is getting expensive. Any suggestions on mistakes that I am doing?
I’ve also done the pre-soak method in a cup. Once they bust and show white I place them between two paper towels that are damp only. Then into the container they go.
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Thanks for the question! What are you planting them in? I’m wondering if they start ok and then get some stem rot at the base due to moist conditions. They are very sensitive at that point with no ‘woody type stem’ defense
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Once it starts to show any root at all, into the solo cup it goes.
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It sounds like you’re using too much water and you’re drowning them before they can get going! I use the cotton pad method as described here use a spray bottle on mist setting and spray each cotton pad three times and then place the seeds on the pad and cover with another pad and spray the top one time and spray the inside of a ziplock bag with two sprays and place the cotton pad with seeds in the bag and zip it halfway and put in a warm dark place and wait 48 hours before checking them for tap roots and plant accordingly!
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I float seed in 5.8 pH in a prescription bottle for 12 hours and then onto a paper towel moistened with Homegrown Cannabis Cos. Germ Genie and pop them into a plastic Chinese takeout box, sitting on top of my warmest tent for 24. I’ve lost one seed in a year. GLOVES and cleanliness are a must too.
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I’m gonna do this just once; i soak the seeds for 6-8 hours in water ina clean receptacle with a clean paper towel on it so the seeds get wetted all around if they float. Then put new ph neutral sterile soil in a clean 4″ pot, when i do a hundred i use jiffy peat pellets, but that is a bit different. So i plant the seeds right after soaking, but before that fill pots to the rim because, i will water the soil in the pots to make em verry wet but not quite saturated, then plant seeds around one centimeter deep, i put them sideways( two tips horizontaly) and do a quick watering after. I prefer them sprouting right when and where they should, in soil. Now for humidity maintenance, this is relative to conditions, so warm wet and dark, but warm is just warm, not hot…and wet is just wet not mud, and most of all, your seeds is not realy drinking water, wich means that a completely saturated soil can go rank with bacteria, so you want to create a soil environment that does need a light watering after 3-4 days, but its not about watering the seed, its about refreshing the soil, then as they emerge from the soil they will appreciate a high air humidity, wich is why people use domes or a cover over the soil, but you dont want that to cause unbalanced soil so you better open and air out the dome regularly and refresh soil anyways…it all about balance of temps and soil humidity.
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Here i said water, but you can also use a light solution of high quality kelp emulsion right from the start, no problem.
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Wich leads me to think more about your problem; they pop, then they dont grow…so as we know that the germ has all it needs until it can photosynthesise, but the germ is a root and roots need air too, so as it emerges it likes a warm and humid ambiant aireal environment, but at the same moment the conditions below grownd must become more like a normal plants needs in terms of air and moisture equilibrium.
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