Seed Germination

Today lets talk about seed germination techniques. There are a few different ways that are commonly used by growers and they pretty much all work for most seeds. Probably the most common method being the paper towel method, or maybe just a direct sow into the media of choice. Personally we do not recommend using the paper towel method because if the seeds take more than a couple of days to germinate there is a good chance for mold or bacteria present on the seeds to grow, and kill them. Some seeds such as old ones or certain varieties like landraces can take up to a week or more to begin germination. From my experience most seeds that take long to germinate will rot out in paper towel before ever having a chance. Direct sow can be a good alternative for stubborn seeds but this can have drawbacks as well. Today I want to talk about the way we like to germinate our seeds at the Hawaiian Exotics HQ. We do a soak and sow method using a special solution after a quick peroxide bath to kill any pathogens that may be present on the shell of the seeds. The first step is a peroxide bath. We begin by placing the seeds in a small cup, ramakin, or bowl. Then cover them with a 3% peroxide solution for 5 minutes. Then we leave the peroxide in and add filtered tap water; you want to dilute the peroxide solution by at 4 to 5 times with water. If you have poor quality tap water where you live then you may want to use bottled or distilled. Next we will add a few drops of fulvic acid, we use Bio Ag Ful-power here is an Amazon Affiliate link in case you want to get some for your garden (https://amzn.to/3ROIaRk ). Fulvic acid helps by increasing germination speed through stimulation of mitochondria improving nutrient uptake, cell synthesis, as well as improving resistance to pathogens such as fusarium and Microdochium nivale. Next we like to add a few drops of Hormex liquid rooting hormone (https://amzn.to/4cJLvJy) to assist with root development and increase overall germination speed. For very stubborn old seeds you may also want to look in using Gibberellic acid though I do not personally have experience with this technique nor have I ever needed to use it. Recently we popped some 12 year old Ethiopian Landrace sativa seeds that we previously were unable to germinate using the standard methods with this soak and sow method. So after the 5 min peroxide soak you will add 4 to 5 time the water to the solution. Then add a few drops of fulvic acid and a few drops of rooting hormone. Allow the seeds to soak for between 8 and 24 hours. I think 12 hours is really the sweet spot. sometime the seeds will germinate between 12 and 24 hours with this method and if they sit too long in the solution it can actually kill the seedlings. you can wait until you see the shells crack open but I prefer to plant them after roughly 12 hours to avoid damaging the seedlings. We take the soaked seeds and put them into a fresh new quality bag soil. There are tons of options out there and you can probably find something good locally but we will add a link to something we like to use here (https://amzn.to/3zASLc8). Now you just need to make sure you don’t over or underwater them and you should be able to get just about any batch of seeds to germinate even old or improperly stored ones. Using small fabric pots can help keep you from overwatering your seedlings. I like to use 1 gallon fabric pots from Amazon but depending on your lights if you use LED you might need a smaller pot to ensure proper dry backs (https://amzn.to/4cHHsgS).