Germination is the process in which all new plant life begins to grow, and essential when starting your garden from seed. All growers follow the same principals when “popping the seeds”, as these basic steps have proven to be effective for cultivating a garden with healthy plants and heavy harvests.
However, like any craft, there are tweaks that experienced growers have learned to improve the basic steps of germination. First and foremost, make sure to plan-out your garden, providing the proper canopy space, which will allow the plants to live freely and fully mature over their entire 3-4 month life span.
As a reminder….IT ALL STARTS WITH GOOD GENETICS!
Some tricks and tweaks that Andrew has learned about germination, over his years of gardening….
- Always use SPRING water for the added minerals.
- Clean your damn seeds….30 seconds in water with some drops of peroxide, will save you future heartache.
- Start the seeds in a moist napkin or paper towel and then place them inside of a sandwich bag.
- Hang the bag in a dark place vs. storing flat…this allows the roots to travel down with gravity, and in one direction.
- Use basic soil without nutrients when transplanting.
- Dust the hole with microbial life, then water with a nutrient rich “tea”, containing the enzymes seeds need for a strong start to life.
- Top it off with water for the first couple of weeks, being careful not to fry the seedlings.
- Place a humidity dome or sandwich bag over the starter pots, to keep the temperature and humidity above room temp.
- Allow the plants to air-out once per day.
Additional info on seed germination….
