The paper towel method is a germination technique in which seeds are placed between two damp (not dripping) paper towels, usually on a plate or in a sealed box, and kept warm and dark until the radicle emerges. It lets the grower see exactly which seeds have popped and count a germination rate.
In practice
Fold seeds into a damp towel, cover to hold humidity, and keep at about 22-28 °C (72-82 °F). Check twice a day. Move each seed to its plug or pot once the root is about 5-10 mm (0.2-0.4 in) long, root pointing down, handling it by the shell rather than the root. Waiting until the root is several centimetres long invites root hairs growing into the towel and damage during transfer.
The trade-off: it adds a handling step. For autoflowers, sowing straight into the final pot avoids both that step and a later transplant, which GenetixBay prefers.
Don't confuse with
- Soaking: seeds in a glass of water for 12-24 h; often done before the towel step, but long soaks risk oxygen starvation.
- Direct sowing: seed goes straight into the medium with no pre-germination.
Germination is the stage where a viable seed absorbs water, splits its shell and pushes out a root (radicle), usually within 1-7 days at 20-30 °C.The embryonic root, the first structure to emerge from a germinating seed, which grows down to become the primary root or taproot.The protective outer layer of a seed; in cannabis it is fused to the fruit wall and forms the hard shell that cracks open at germination.A microscopic tube-like outgrowth of a single root epidermal cell near the root tip that greatly increases surface area for water and nutrient uptake.A day-neutral cannabis plant that starts flowering by age, usually a few weeks after germination, regardless of light schedule; the trait is mainly recessive.Transplanting moves a plant and its root ball into a new container or the ground; done gently it causes little shock, but GenetixBay advises against it for autoflowers.A seedling is a young cannabis plant from emergence of the cotyledons until it has several sets of true leaves, typically the first 2-3 weeks.The dominant primary root that grows straight down from the radicle of a seed-grown plant, with lateral roots branching from it.
