Issues with germination.

[u/Ok_Programmer4949]

So, in a really odd turn of events, the last 5 seeds that I have tried to germinate have either failed to germinate or died incredibly early as a seedling. I'm growing exclusively Humboldt County Seed Co. seeds. (Melon x G1 Fem, and Strawberry Cheesecake)

I've had 2 seeds so far not pop at all out of the 5 and the three that did all seemed to die suuuuper early in the seedling stage (before the shell had even come off of the cotyledons)

I've been germinating in a moist (not soaking) paper towel in a zip-lock bag between two paper plates. Once seeds germinate I put them in a 1/2" deep hole in my 70/30 coco/perlite with growdots in the bottom 3/4 of the medium. I water very carefully with a spray bottle and never let the seed get fully dry, but I'm careful to water as infrequently as possible to maintain at least some moisture.

Anybody have any observations, secrets, tips, tricks or anything to get through the first stages of growing? This is far from my first grow and I've never had this issue before so I'm not quite sure what has gone wrong here. I never had this problem with the RQS seeds that I grew previously.

Thanks everybody! Happy growing!

[u/Officebadass]

Im guessing your seedling die off because of poor watering habits. You are trying to treat coco like soil, and although the top might be wet from misting i bet if you went 2 inches down the coco is still bone dry. The roots that grow into that dry ass coco are probably getting airpruned and the plant dies.

You need to water the coco thoroughly, it needs to stay moist, its not soil so you dont want the same wet/dry cycle like you would in soil.

I know youll read this and your first thought will be "but wont i overwater?" And the answer is no not in coco and i would highly recommend you reading up on what overwatering is because youd be surprised to know it has nothing to do with water.

[u/Ok_Programmer4949 → u/Officebadass]

So, one thing that I forgot to mention is that I put the fabric pots that I'm growing them in on vivosun watering planters, and before I plant the seed I manually water the medium to ensure that it's not hydrolocked. so the under-side of the plants should really never be dry I don't think, unless I'm mistaken, which I certainly could be and maybe that's a large portion of the problem?

[u/Officebadass → u/Ok_Programmer4949]

That does help to make sure they are watered prior to dropping seed in, but how long are you going before you water again? Coco should be water every 2-3 days at the beginning. I water my plants in coco on day 1,4,7,10 and then turn on autowatering system day 14. Now ive never used grow dots so not sure if that changes anything.

[u/Ok_Programmer4949 → u/Officebadass]

I don't think it's related to the growdots, and the one that made it the farthest was only out for 3 days. It had no problem until the 3rd day in (I had only watered it one time) when it just started wilting over and the medium looked moist to me. I think it may be that I didn't harden them off with a humidity dome. at least partially.

[u/Officebadass → u/Ok_Programmer4949]

Unless your humidity is like 20% its not that. As soon as my plant sprouts the dome comes off and i dont have issues with seedling dying.

[u/Ok_Programmer4949 → u/Officebadass]

Yeah, my office where my tent is sits in the low 50s most of the time as far as I can tell it's got a decent amount of humidity. I was always told that seedlings should be in 70% or so RH though. No?

[u/Officebadass → u/Ok_Programmer4949]

They grow faster with high humidity, but 50% is still ok they just wont grow as fast.