Day 1 - December 21, 2023
So it begins. The breeder warned me that these seeds can be tough to crack, but, I don't mean to brag or anything, but I've been germinating seeds for more than two decades now. There are a lot of tricks, but as long as you keep the 3 basics in good order, everything else is fluff. They are: heat, moisture, and darkness. I planted all of these in moist peat cubes, and could see them all the next day, but I let them fully emerge a couple more days before calling it.
I'm just throwing that out there, because, it isn't rocket science, and I had to recently document the unsuccessful germination of the last few of 16 seeds a (different) breeder sent me, with 2 that cracked bu took 2 weeks to form a first set of leaves. Plant propagation is the one thing I have down more than anything, as I have been doing it my entire life, much longer than with strictly cannabis.
I have never had a bad germination rate before recently, and with good genetics and unaltered, properly stored seeds, nobody should. I'm happy to give some helpful tips if you ever get frustrated with some stubborn seeds that just won't seem to crack. Just DM me. I don't bite, just talk a lot.
@PersonalSmok3s, I agree. The breeder was kind enough to send me some original SolFire's and some new grow equipment to help them out, too. Very cool people, with some crazy genetic crosses that sound exciting. These are testers though, so anything can happen.
@Exotic_Gardener, yeah, a breeder that never made it to a diary yet always wants to blame the grower. After I documented everything I did, then the answer was "it must have went through a large anti-virus or X-ray scanner". Ok, that was it. Definitely.
Well, this seems like a very early start for northern season outdoor. Planning on huge plants I presume?
Anyway, I saw an interesting story about some researchers who recently discovered that ethylene gas really promotes early seedling growth. Done at the earliest stage before light when the seed is germinating. They were surprised and was not a known thing. So, I’m going to have a ripe apple in the dark (under tinfoil) beside this year’s seeds.
Good luck, as always.