are my seeds ready to be planted?

[iwanttoknow]

I've been reading and gaining knowledge here on GWE for a couple of years and have had a few successful grows but I am having a bit of trouble and need input/advice. I soaked the seeds pictured here in distilled water, and see that the seeds have started to pop. I had a few like this 2 weeks ago and at this stage moved them to starter plugs, which then promptly died . New batch of seeds, soaked in distilled water, it's been 48 hours and they appear to have popped open, no real tap root just yet. I just placed them on the plate / paper towel - do I leave them on the paper for another day or longer, OR do I move them to the soil? ( I think I want to skip the starter plug ) When I move them to soil it will be in a clear solo cup (so I can see the roots). The picture of 3 seeds are Ice Cream Punch from Greenpoint Seeds, the picture of 6 seeds are from a friend, we have been consuming the same strain and it smokes well.

[DW2]

Howdy iwanttoknow, I grow in a DWC set up, but starting the seeds should be similar. I start the seeds on a paper towel using water pH'ed to 5.0. This was the recommended way (by a friend) and has worked very well for me. Like Your photos, the seeds are sitting on top of a saturated towel, not submerged (or floating in) the water. I wait to transfer the sprouts into the rockwool cubes when the root is out and the seed hull is split open. Here is a photo of a past grow with some of the seeds ready to put into the cubes.

[DeadlyFruit]

Sometimes I’ll sprout them on paper towel before putting them in a peat grow cube but mostly I just put them straight in the cube. Occasionally I will have one that doesn’t pop but I don’t think it happens any more often than other methods. Not sure why your seeds would die right when you put them in a starter cube. The only thing that comes to mind is damage when moving the seeds or letting the cube dry out too much. I assume you are watering the cube regularly and not feeding it until it the plant is larger.

[iwanttoknow]

Thanks DW2 and DeadlyFruit for the replies - the first set that went into starter plugs were kept wet, maybe too wet. I'll keep the paper towels wet/very damp with distilled water until I see the tap roots before I move to small peat pots and Happy Frog soil.

[Ckbrew]

I would put them in a solo cup with coco/perlite right now. If you use a clear cup transplant into what ever medium you are using as soon as the roots are visible. The light is not good for them. Make sure there are drain holes in the cup, soak the coco well until it drains.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I grow in coco. Last batch, I soaked the seeds in a shot glass until they sank then placed them directly in a dimple in the coco, dusted the seeds with mycorrhizae then covered the seeds. I've used the paper towel method before when I grew in hydro with decent results. If you use rooter plugs you can split them down one side and place the sprout inside with the root tail down and close it back.

[dilvish]

tap root should be an inch before going into anything...then it should be kept moist not wet. Humidity domes help a lot.

[Rwise]

Why distilled water? It cannot be PH'd as there is nothing in it to read, and it is acidic as it takes on CO2. One can boil it for 20 minutes (I think) to remove the CO2.
Myself I plant the seed in its final destination.