Live Stoners Mephisto Disappointments

[Trichome Jim]

@Bob's Auto's what can you do? Hopefully they got the information needed. Whatever method they go with.

 

[Waira]

Hi
Indoor tent grow in UK.
I've used Mephisto seeds for a few years, but have noticed germination rates going down over the past 18 months. I'm fed up. I used to have an 80%-90% success rate, but now it's down to 40%-50%. Really poor. I drop into a glass of water for 24 hours, before transferring to a wet paper towel in an old cd case and left on top of the LED for heat.
Also, the yield is poor - 18-28g per plant. I use Biobizz Light Mix and All Mix soils. I use Biotabs as my only nutrient. Advice please...
1. A UK supplier of seeds that might produce higher germination rates?
2. Any germination methods that might produce better results?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers

-- the tough question: is it at their end or yours? ...Frustrating AF, I know well!

I've not been following MG much anymore, for various reasons... So I can't say I've heard of any germ' issues with them currently.
It has happened in the past, but no breeder is immune to some snafu's like this.
Always though, it's cultivar specific. Have you seen others with the same cultivar(s) and approximate seed age/batch that had poor rates too?
There is an arms-length list of things that can cause hiccups like yours, and most long time growers have had that bad Ju-Ju hit them out of the blue at some point! .....No apparent rhyme or reason; same MO, good storage practices, seed age accounted for, etc.,...

More specifics from you could at least boost the process of elimination...
Temps' are super important for good germing... A CD case atop a light will be tough get a T reading on unless you have an IR surface reader type.
That said, I worry that the temps may have been too high and partly cooked them. The line for that is pretty thin, and duration of exposure a big part of that too...
...upper 70's- low 80's where the seed it physically at is the sweet zone.

For sure like @Bill.de.Cat mentioned, PT's are made with some nasty shit, I myself have suspected they were the culprit with sudden-shit-germ-syndrome!
Not all are so bad, clearly, but I stopped doing that way regardless and haven't looked back since...
If in doubt, soak/rinse it out before used...

Soak times, you'll get a lot of comments about! But it's also true, too long can be a factor. My experience is 24hrs isn't a total no-no, but longer than needed and might be borderline. Again, there are mitigating factors in this as well like seed size, case thickness, age along with a seeds own set of variables, right?
Point is, it's usually not a simple answer if you can't at least finger a pretty suspect cause...

...Myself, I do overnight time, that's all (8-10hrs). But I do sandpaper the buggers a bit along the case seams and the tip split end (where the shoot pops out)... Not always necessary, bit often as not I'm running older seeds along with fresher and in my grow sched', timing is pretty tight so no lingering over late germs; I do what I can to boost the odds!

On that, I often do make a weak soak solution: couple oz of good/drinking water (lower ppms desired, not RO or DI though, nor hard tap water) + a drop of Si + few drops kelp extract (good hormones) + humic-fulvic (weak restated!)... h-f is usually very concentrated so dosing in such small water volumes needs be done with some care. It's easy to just pre-dilute it and use a dropper...
Scuff, soak and sow, that's my MO!
I use 24-32oz styro cups as hatching pots, kept in a steady, warm place. ...usually about 3 days to signs of emerging, give or take a day


As for your yield issues, that's out there in who-knows-if-it's linked land, fairly said... Possibilities snowball into a tangled mess of cause vs. effect.