Skip the jiffy altogether, no matter what i tried with those things i never got as good a result as just going straight to a small pot
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Same here, I follow blunts method. Paper towel germ, if an auto straight into final pot, if a photo I put into a solo cup with happy frog soil
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I don’t even bother with the paper towel any more. 12 hour soak in a 1% hydrogen peroxide solution and straight into a pot. I like to handle them as little as possible just because im guilty of killing plenty before they had a chance lol
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Okay, I’ll try the wet paper towel method. Since it’s my first time using this technique, I have a few questions about the process:
I place the seed in a damp paper towel, inside a closed container in the dark. I wait until the taproot appears, and then I plant it in the soil with the root facing downward.
Questions:
- Should the water I use to moisten the paper towel contain any nutrients?
- How long should the taproot be before planting the seed?
- Should the soil around the planting spot be moist, wet, or dry?
- In the days that follow, should I keep only the surface moist, or also deeper down? (I’m trying to figure out how much to water.)
- Should the water I use for watering at this stage already include nutrients?
- Would you recommend covering the pot with plastic wrap to maintain high humidity in the soil?
I’m growing in soil and using demineralized water with added CalMag as a base, plus nutrients when needed.
Sorry for all the questions, and thank you so much!
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So I soak the seed for 12-24 hours in a shot glass. If the tap root hasn’t popped after this, I then pour out the water and seed onto a paper towel folded in half. Once the seed is on the paper towel I then fold it in half again to cover the seed. I stick that into a zip lock and seal it. This gets placed in a warm dark place like the cabinet above your stove. Then it’s a waiting game, I check it every day looking for a tap root. Once it shows itself I place into in moistened soil. I put a clear solo cup over the place I planted the seed. For the first few days I only mist the soil enough that I know the seed got moist. The seed shouldn’t be more than a 1/4 inch deep so not a lot. Once it’s popped I use a turkey baster filled half way. I run a circle around the sprout but not the base so it doesn’t fall over. If it does I just prop it up with garden wire or a toothpick. Once it’s a week old I use a whole baster full in the same manner. Watering around the seedling but not the base. I try to make the ring bigger each time to encourage the roots to spread out. All of this should be plain water no nutes or calmag. By this point I take off the clear solo cup. No nutes should be needed for the first few weeks depending on the soil you are using and how much nutrition is already in the soil.
Hope this makes it easier for you. If you still have question feel free to ask away.
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Thank you so much for the advice!!
So even when using demineralized water, I shouldn’t add CalMag during the first few weeks? Just plain demineralized water? I thought that since it has no mineral salts at all, it wouldn’t be suitable on its own. I don’t really trust using tap water, since I have no way of knowing exactly what’s in it.
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You can look up what’s in your water from your municipality. But the plant should have enough to make it a week to 2 depending on your soil. I’ve gone as long as 4 weeks before a feeding. Also check out Amazon.com : Boogie Blue Plus Garden Hose Water Filter for RV and Outdoor use - Removes Chlorine, Chloramines, VOCs, Pesticides/Herbicides Boogie Blue Plus High Capacity Filter - The Organic Gardener's Choice : Patio, Lawn & Garden as a way to filter tap water. I just bought a hose adapter for my sink and a small hose so I could water my plants.
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Alright, I’ve started!
Two days ago, I placed 3 seeds (autoflowering) in damp paper towels and sealed them in an airtight container. Today I checked, and all three had sprouted little white taproots! I immediately planted them in the soil, about 1 cm deep with the root facing downward. I lightly moistened the soil where I placed the seed using a spray bottle (with demineralized water at pH 6), then covered it with a bit more soil and gave another light mist on top (again with demineralized water at pH 6).
I placed the pots as shown in the photo, with plastic wrap on top to maintain humidity.
The light (MarsHydro TS1000) is set at 30–35 cm away, dimmed to 30%. I haven’t used any nutrients at all.
Ignore the clips — I ran out of rubber bands 
I really hope I’ve started off on the right foot this time!!
If you don’t mind, I’ll keep posting updates as I go, so with your help I can hopefully figure out what was going wrong before.
Thanks!
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Looks great!
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We finally have our first sprout!!
One of the three seedlings broke through the soil yesterday! The other two are just about to emerge too -
Do you think the one that’s already out is starting to stretch a bit? Should I increase the light intensity? (Right now it’s dimmed to 30% and 30 cm away.)
I don’t think lowering the distance is the right move — it would be too close.
I used the Photone app to measure, and it shows around 300 PPFD, which should be correct for newly sprouted seedlings,
but I trust your experience more than any app 
I’ll wait for all three to come up, and then I’ll start the 18/6 light cycle — is that right?
Humidity is staying between 65–75%, and I’m only using demineralized water with pH adjusted to 6.
This time it HAS to work!!
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If they are stretching you can definitely increase the light. I would do that and raise the light. Typically lights should be 18 inches from the top of the plant. Right now you are about 11 inches above it.
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Yes, I’m following MarsHydro’s guidelines, which recommend keeping the light at 30 cm and dimmed to 25–30% during the seedling stage.
Do you think the seedling is already stretching?
If I raise the light to 45 cm, what dimmer setting would you recommend?
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Do you have the photone app to measure your par?
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Yes, yesterday I measured after calibrating, and it was reading 300 PPFD. In the evening, I slightly increased the dimmer and it showed 380 — is that too much?
This morning, after a night at 380 PPFD, the sprout looks like it’s “pulling away” from the light (see photo) — could it be because the light is too strong?
I’m not sure if it was the right move, but I raised the light by about 5 cm. Now the PPFD is around 320.
I’m asking all these questions and feeling so anxious because the last 8 seeds I planted all stopped growing just a few days after germination. So clearly, I was doing something wrong right from the start — and I really want to figure out what it is.
Thanks!
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Those numbers are fine. Not sure why the bend. Maybe needs more water. How much are you watering?
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I’m using a turkey baster to avoid overwatering.
I also gave some yesterday — about 3 turkey basters’ worth — making a circle around the base.
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In all honesty I think you’re overthinking this whole thing right now you can leave it be it’s not drinking from the roots like that rn it’s pulling moisture from the air with its leaves you can keep the plastic wrap over it for now or keep your growing environment with humidity about 80% and temps around 75-80f and let it grow micromanaging is doing more harm then good Ik you just want your plant to succeed I was the same way as a beginner always worried but now I sometimes plant and forget and when I come back they are ready to be fed and watered throughout the pot you can prop her up with a tooth pick or just let her grow she will straighten out happy growing and good luck. Also would like to add that when your plant breaks soil and establishes the top part of the plant and you notice a slight dip in top growth around that time your plant is growing roots and anchoring in just because you see no growth happening like you want doesn’t mean she isn’t growing her roots establish then she takes off like a wild fire in vegetative growth so basically she starts slow then slowly picks up in rate of growth.
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Look Icirazy, with all due respect, before judging, you should really understand the reason why I’m analyzing everything I do in such detail.
I’ve been trying to grow since December (it’s been 5 months), and I haven’t been able to get a single successful result.
My seedlings always stall at the exact same stage. I’m wasting time, money, and mental energy — so you can understand why I’m overthinking everything.
And it’s not like I’ve never succeeded before — on the contrary, before these repeated failures, I successfully grew 4 plants with great results. I personally went through the whole process from start to finish.
Now, once again, after 9 days, this is the situation: seedlings that have stopped growing for several days, leaves that are already starting to yellow, and one of the three has strangely twisted leaves.
Just like every other time, the seedlings grow fine for the first 3 days, and then they stall and begin to yellow.
I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong — but this has happened with 9 seeds in a row now.
What could possibly be causing this??
I haven’t used any fertilizers at all — only demineralized water with a pH of 6, using a dropper to water only when the soil looked dry.
I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. I’m desperate — it always ends the same way and no one can tell me why.
Please, if anyone can help me, I would be so grateful.
Thank you.
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The only thing I can think of is either you are removing the humidity dome too early. For me that doesn’t make sense because I no longer use them and I have no issue. So the only other variable I can think of is the demineralized water. Plants need minerals to survive.
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I’d agree. Unpopular opinion, but I don’t even ph my water. I just let it sit for 24 hours to dechlorinate and that’s it. I do use advanced nutrients which has the ph perfect but my seedling only get water and I don’t even ph it. For me, keep it as simple as possible and improve a few things every grow. Baby steps!
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