How to Successfully Germinate Seeds

Germinating seeds can often be one of the most frustrating things when starting your grow. Here we will discuss what you need to do to have a successful germination. Water is a vital component when it comes to germinating seeds. Water activates the seed and from their first interaction, the seed will begin developing its root system, breaking out o its outer layer and awakens from its dormancy. There are a couple of ways to germinate your seedlings but in todays discussion we will talk about the wet paper towel method.

STEP 1:

Stack two pieces of paper towel sheets (un- bleached) on top of each other. Once you have done this, dampen the paper towel, if possible use a spray bottle to achieve this step but if not, lightly drip water onto the paper towels. Its important to note that too much water will effectively drown the seeds so keep a keen eye on how much water is in the paper towels. Place your seeds onto the paper towels, leaving a centimetre or two between each seed to avoid overcrowding the space.

STEP 2:

Dampen another two paper towels and place them over the original paper towels that are holding your seedlings. Once you have done this, place your seedlings in a zip lock back. Do not seal the bag off as that will cut off all oxygen to the seedlings themselves.  Place the zip lock bag between two plates; one as the base and the other should be flipped upside down and placed on top of the base plate, this creates a dome in which the seeds can sit in. At this stage, Light is not important, in fact light will actually stunt or even stop your seedling from hatching out as root exposure to light is detrimental to plant growth. Place your seedlings in a warm and dark place. Anywhere from 21 – 24 degrees celcius is ideal. If you happen to live in places where temperatures are very low, buying a heat mat will help you out tremendously with this problem.

STEP 3:

Once we have found a nice spot for our seeds all we need to do is maintain their environment. Check back every 6 hours to ensure the paper towels haven’t dried out, if you feel that they are, light spray the paper towels and place them back in the zip lock bag. It is also important to monitor temperatures within the germination environment. Temperatures getting to low or high will kill or stunt your seedling.  Keep a close eye on your seedlings until they show their first roots.