A SECRET TECHNIQUE to growing plants from SEED (you NEED to try THIS!) 

When we lived in Costa Rica we used to buy our trays of vegetable seedlings from a particular nursery that was in very high demand, industrial growers used to buy seedling trays by the truckload. Over time we befriended the owners and they explained to us some of their growing secrets. They used to make their own potting mix from only two ingredients: pure sand and rice husk charcoal. Both ingredients were devoid of nutrients for the developing plant, bit it did retain moisture. The seedlings developed very strong and very well branched roots looking for nutrients, and performed very very well once transplanted into a normal garden soil. Same principle, quick results.

This is the concept of hormesis and plant epigenetics. I’ve been studying this and implementing this method for years. It works incredibly well.

This makes so much sense! I was so worried about germinating my seeds since I don't have money to buy "fancy" soil from the store. The soil over here is arid, according to any gardening video it's absolutely not suitable for getmination but now I see it's a blessing in disguise! Thank you for sharing such a valuable information, sir! ❤❤❤

Ha! No wonder people (me) buy plants from a nursery, plant it and it's dead once it's in the ground despite it's supposed hardiness zone compliance. The only ones that survive are the ones I am consistently feeding, watering and sheltering. (I also live in high desert so I have a few extra challenges) . Thank you! And thanks to your Kiwi friend! ❤

For edibles the most amazing programming I've experienced is as per Anastasia's advice in the Ringing Cedar Book series. The idea is to place the seeds in your mouth for 9 minutes standing (with bare feet) on or near where they are to be grown, The seeds apparently register (from your saliva) the deficient nutrients in your body and uptake more of those nutrients as they grow specifically for you. The buzz from eating food using this method is indescribable. There is other hints in the book also. With your advice I might also make a small pocket of poor soil for them to germinate. 😎🙏

I did this experiment myself at 14 with weed plants and all my vegetables started them all out in bad conditions let them go to seed in bad conditions for a few years and now to this day the seeds are breed are abundant they start in the middle of winter and get going in spring my other thing is just simply piling leafs

Before experimenting on your expensive tree seeds. Rig up test trays of different soil using bean seeds to see any differences. Big bag of supermarket pinto beans for a few dollars.

This has been my method only the strongest survive. Thank you for strengthening my thoughts

i will have to try this. i have been developing another method, for 30yrs and mostly with veggies and small fruit, that works extremely well. before i plant seeds, i place them in a cardboard box with a ripe banana for a week. this boosts the robustness of the plant noticeably. the reasoning behind it was that normally, seeds are dropped in the wild where vegetation is decomposing and producing the same gas that we use to ripen fruit. so the seeds have plenty of ethylene which is a plant hormone. i have been experimenting with this for decades and the results are consistent for the plants. some plants do respond more to this. any fruit would give the best result. tomato, pepper, cucumber, pumpkin, etc show easily withing days of sprouting. i have not tried it with large fruit as i buy them bear root for my orchard and have not tried raising from seed but i would think it would work. try it sometime 🙂

My father (born 1937) uses this technique since the 1970s on his (organic) farm in SE France. He uses fine rocky gravel, a bit larger grains than sand usually is, about twice the size thereabouts, multicolored. (Similar type you often see in fish-aquariums..) He mixes that with cinnamon powder and thyme-leaves, which are especially good for seeds that need a long time to germinate, prevents mold, fungi and moss forming. The details about thyme-leaves I have no idea why, but it works. And like you describe here, he waters very little, usually just with a fine-water-dust spray once each evening. He also uses rotting fruit gassing techniques someone else mentions here in the comments, he does not just use banana, but all kinds of fruit peels rotting, like plums, pears, apples. And he does the gassing in the same closed cage during germination, in the same go, so skipping a pre-gassing option. His seedlings grow like crazy after that, and fruit and veggies are always abundant. We're now trying the same in our food-forest. You have to closely watch the gassing thing, because you need to avoid fungi/mold from the rotting fruit reaching the seeds. Light and extra heating are not needed during germination stages. My father even says heating during germination results in weaker plants. Light is only needed as soon as the first green appears, and then you should always avoid direct sunlight for more than an hour a day. This is also logical, evolutionary, seeds would never be in full sun. Most seeds genes are based in thriving jungles, with shade or filtered green light on ground level. Keep this in mind too. Full direct sunlight for young seedlings is rarely good.

I’ve heard my great grandfather started his seeds in egg shells filled with sand. I see an experiment in my near future

Thinking of trying this with tomatoes, and once they're sending out shoots, to snip those off, and placing into really good soil. This may also be a good way to extend the harvest a bit since late season tomatoes fetch a better price since most others have died off.

Wow this incredible and it totally makes sense. Also explains why sometimes when we bring plants home from nurseries and plant them in our less than stellar soil they struggle. It's because those plants were given ideal growing conditions from the very beginning.

I enjoyed the video! I really like the idea of programing seeds! The video also made me realize I have been doing (similar) to this to my garden plants... I grow as much as i can from seed (hundreds of plants) to get the healthy plants I want. (Most plants you buy here are expensive & struggle to get started.) I start them in a mostly peat moss mix. Maybe just a weak mix of liquid fertilizer after the true leaves if needed. When they are transplanted into the garden plots, within a few days there thriving!

Basically, putting the seed for programing (about 2 months) in the poorest soil (like sand or pure sand and rice husk charcol) and with the minimum amount of water. The idea behind is that when the first root discover and analizy the enviroment where it will grow, the seed programs itself to poor conditions and low water (programing), then you can transplant to a rich soil and you will have a strong plant.

We are with you please continue the researches ❤

Very interesting, it reminds me of the experiment the cannabis seed company Dutch Passion did. By manipulating factors such as light temperature, light hours, wind, NPK levels etc. they were able to raise the ratio of females from around the standard 50%, to over 80% and up to 90%.

This makes SO MUCH sense! I'm going to try it this spring. Thank you!

It seems counter-intuitive - but the logic makes sense. As the old saying of growng a lotus plant in (------) - and once above all that it really grows tall, firm, stable, and productive. Childhood (and seed) young experience when growing up, having an initial hard life, then getting into proper environment and culture - and both child and seed become abundant producers in society.

Really interesting video. What a great way of thinking about starting seeds. I normally get plants from the nursery that are in great soil that is watered every day. I take them home and put them in the horrible soil in my yard. No wonder that they all die.

This works with every species, not just plants, nature's code sometimes needs a little kick to unlock

Fascinating. Thank you for taking the time to record this and share.

I’m going to test this out with a great different qualities of soil I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of tree seeds

Absolutely fascinating. I am so glad I clicked on this video. This is truly enlightening material. Thank you so much. I cant wait to put this to use!

Good tidings to you Stephan Sobkowiak and yours. I started an experiment with this technique, 2years ago, late in the summer. My criteria: Plant a few varieties of test seeds, the medium was to be ‘clean’ and low cost: Sand. It worked. An Australian fellow had a vid about using it for all his seedlings. A success this past year transplanting plants to a predominantly lake sand soil garden with some amendments. Most did much better, stamina & yield. There was a severe blight however, affecting tomatoes-wet conditions, but the crop was set to be good, so I’m hopeful this year. I’m interested in your adapting this for trees; seeds, cuttings? Thank you for the additional info on its uses. I have fruit seeds saved, lol, need to research that; a project? Have a blessed day.

Love it! Yet another bit of knowledge to try, learn from, and add another part to the whole.

I saw something similiar in a permaculture forest, dude has a 40 Year old Jaboticaba Tree that hasnt fruited even once. On my suggestion he took an air layered cutting and planted it into a pot with poor soil, 6 months later i get a call from him all excited that the cutting is full of flowers and that i should please explain to him why. I told him that my guess was that the regenerative forest soil is so abundant in nutrients and water, that the Tree doesnt want to reproduce itself, its like, i live in abundance and perfect conditions, i can get 500 years old if i want, why make babies 😁.

Wow, marvelous application of epigenetics! ❤

What a brilliant idea :) I will definitely be trying this, although my plants are always neglected and roughly sown lol. thank you very much for sharing.

I wonder if this explanation partly works to explain why volunteer seedlings can grow and survive in areas they would likely die but definitely struggle if I planted them as an already growing nursery plant. It obviously doesn’t include the moving to richer soil and excelling. But these volunteers don’t necessarily grow exceptionally well in these difficult conditions. But they do much better than if they had been planted there by us

Fascinating.

Wow, such meaning for life in general!

This is amazing info! Glued to the end! Thanks🙏👍✌️

Brilliant! In Mid coast NSW AUSTRALIA, I accidentally found this out about 6 months ago, mid winter, with Banana pups. Got 2 from a local guy but kept in pots. I couldn't visit them very often. They both dried out & died. Just left them BUT a bit later we had heaps of rain then more sun. They both came back to life, along with a brother or sister. So 1 + 1 = 4. They are powering on in the ground now in a banana circle, compost pit in the middle...

very interesting way to look at seeds. I wonder cuttings growns can genetic switches manipulated this way..

Great video! 🙂 I wonder if this would work well for creating a “superior” rootstock. And then to graft a specific cultivar. 🤔 Interesting! Thank you! 😃

I now understand why my different seeds, some that are known to be difficult to germinate, grew so well. I purchased vermiculite cubes with no fertilizer, and I had the best crop of plants that I have ever had years ago. I have not been able to germinate certain seeds because I started using the so-called best seed starting mixture. I will just use vermiculite and see what happens. Cuttings from roses, lavender and hibiscus plants are started in just plain sand. Wow, thanks for this lesson. Adding other nutrients is not needed in the rooting stage.

I haven't heard the term "Seed Programming" before; however, it sure sounds similar to what is termed seed suppression. A handful of native horticulturists use the technique in their nurseries in Australia. Keeping seedling in tiny pots with minimal care for 6-10 months. Then went planted into fertile soil,,,BOOM, growth accelerates. This method been around for a long time.

David The Good mentions you a lot and this is the first video I watched. This is one of the best gardening videos of all time. I still need to test this to believe it but now I have a mission to find out and that’s the absolute best gift to give to humanity. Thank you sir.

Brilliant! And THANK YOU for sharing your experience and knowledge with the world. I hope everyone understands you are saving so many people literal years of trial/error, money, frustration, etc. Your example of using sand and gravel as a poor soil is great. I have mostly clay (wet) soils. I'm assuming I should use that as a starting mix as well. Do you see any issues with using a silty-clay starting mix?

I will try your amazing experiment to see the results

Great Video thanks.

A good video. A world class professor of gene switching is Dr. Adam Rutherford in the UK. He has written several books and is a funny read. Anyway, he speaks to the idea that genes get turned on or off and the effect for the organism. Mostly it's about humans, but it is about all creatures.

I have made an experiment with peppers, willing to verify this method a bit faster that it would be possible with trees :) I have planted same seeds in very poor (80% sand, 20% peat) soil, and in very rich (50% compost, 50% peat) soil. When the seedlings reached 4 true lieaves stage, I have transplanted them to the rich soil. After a month, there is no difference between these two groups, but I will continue to experiment :)

This sounds like it's worth a try. There are limits to the bad soil though. I lost a bunch of seeds by trying to start them in poor soil. I later discovered that the ph in the soil was about 7.

Very interesting!

I think this is why my seedlings have been underperforming, as I really tried to give them everything they could ever want and probably overdid it. This year I'll start all my flowers and vegetables in the worst soil I'll manage to get and hopefully they will grow faster. This or I'll just drop seeds directly in the garden, because I found the seeds planted this way performed better than the seedlings planted weeks earlier (!) and kept at home when the weather outside was still too harsh 🤯 I've already learned that little abuse is beneficial for most plants and since I started to trim the ones I want to grow faster (including orchid's roots) they bloom like there was no tomorrow 😅

i’ll do a bunch of different tests on my video 😊

That's an interesting idea that also matches with Landrace Gardening techniques (look up Joseph Lofthouse), save your own seeds so you can get them to adapt to both your soil and your gardening techniques (lofthouse lived in a high altitude marginal rain environment and didn't like to weed or spray chemicals, survivors thrived). The seeds also appear to have many bacterial riders that the plant stores so it can put their favorites into the soil around the roots to feed with exudates that collect minerals for the plant; while compost tea users put that into the crop trench so the plant is finding more of the right biology already there that it can feed, incorporate, and thrive. I decided against using seed starting mix this fall (concerns with grazon and other chemicals) and already have a big bucket of seed tray material from the garden, so we'll see this spring.

very interesting and makes complete sense ! Will the seeds ( say I plant tomato seeds this year in poor condition with this technique) next year be planted in poor soil again to start with or is it already programmed ?

I wonder what the impact is of this technique on long-term survival/viability of the plant though? Great for timber production or Christmas trees, but maybe not for something you want longevity from?

For sure I will try it. It a super discover for me.

Never heard this. Does anyone have anymore tests of this to share? I want to see more

Thank You! I will be trying this. Pretty sure the hardest part will be to manage the minimum amount of water...

This is why landrace gardening is so much better.

Makes sense! Amazing 😅 thank you so much 👍👍👍

So with grafted fruit trees, would you have to program the seeds of the rootstock only, or both?

Stefan, I have started to be a farmer in the last 2 years, LEAVING SOME MATURE TREES WHERE THEY STAND, 4- 300' rows 15'ft apart and 15' spacing of Apples mix FUJI & CAMEO, PEACHES MIX ELBERTA & SOUTHERN BELLE, PLUMS SANTA ROSA & ?, COMICE PAIRS. IN THE YARD WE HAVE CHERRY TREES 5 DIFFERENT KINDS, FIGS, 100 CONCORD GRAPE VINES AND 75+ BLUE BERRIY BUSHES AND 3 LARGE GARDENS 40X40 VEGS. 30X50, WATERMELON AND 30X30 CANTALOPE PATCH WE HAVE AN OLD FARM THAT HAS NOT HAD ANY CHEMICALS OR BEEN FARMED IN 65+ YEARS IT WAS A DAIRY FARM BEFORE. THE SOIL IS LIKE WORM CASTINGS EVERYWHERE. BESIDE PERMACULTURE FOREST ORCHARD AND THE MANUAL WATERING BACK IN THE WOODS, I LIGHTLY CLEARED. WE HAVE HONEY LOCUST, SILVER MAPLE, CHERRY TREES SICAMORE AND THE INVASIVE FINGER OF HEAVEN TRASH TREE. MY BIGGEST BATTLE IS THE 15 DEER THAT LIVE HERE I USE 5FT FENCINING WITH A 5FT RADIUS AND 3 WOOD STAKES AND AN ELECTROCULTURE. I USE HARDWOOD MULCH AND NOW INTSALLING ELECTRO CULTURE COPPER PIPE ANTENNAS ON BAMBOO STAKES OUTDOORS AND MY INDOOR CUTTINGS AND PLANTS LIKE BLUEBERRY, AND SOME HALF DEAD GRAFTED APPLE TREES I PICKED UP CHEAP THEN REPOTTED AND INSTALLED A 18" PC OF BARE COPPER WIRE TWISTED AROUND A STICK OR JUST THE WIRE TWISTED AND THE TREES AND BUSHES HAVE RESPONDED GREATLY THE GRAFTED APPLE TREES HAVE SHOOTS OF 9- 10" IN JUST 3-4 WEEKS. AND THE BLUEBERRY BUSHES ALMOST THE SAME ABOUT 7-9" NEW GROWTH. ALSO, IT RAISES THE NUTRIENT LEVELS OF THE SOIL HELPS WITH DROUGHT TOLERANCE AND FROST RESISTENCE. A WIN WIN WIN FOR SURE. LOOK INTO ELECTRO CULTURE FARMING THE OLD KNOWLEDGE THAT HAS BEEN HIDDEN AND THEY SURELY DIDNT TEACH US IN SCHOOL NOW DID THEY? WAIT TILL YOU SEE THE OLd ARTICLES and ON HOW THE AG DIRTBAGS SHUT AETHER ENRGY ELECTRO CULTURE DOWN early 1900s BECAUSE IT WOULD PRODUCE TOO MUCH FOOD AND PUT THE BIG COMMERCIAL TYRANTS OUT OF BUSINESS. THE EARTH IS RUN BY TRAITORS TO US ALL. GIVE US AN EDUCATED VIEW ON THIS SOMETIME SOON? Peace brother from Frederick, Maryland. Jimbo

Thank you so much. I'll be setting some seed to stratify on Jan 2d (Earth's perihelion with the sun) and will experiment. 👍👍❤️

Very interesting, but according to that theory, would the plant not be more susceptible to fungal infection if you start it in dry soil and then transplant it?

Do you think this can work with wet napkin baggy and then plant in bad soil each day you see a root poke out?

Do you think this method simply makes the programmed plant a heavier feeder than usual? Should this method be used in primarily in heavy fertilizer contexts or will it work regardless?

I wonder what the new roots from a fig tree cutting might be doing? I start my fig cuttings in bark because no Mould will form . Not much nutrients there .

Brand new to the channel and love this video, is there anything like this for cuttings? Grow cuttings in poor soil then treat them like royalty after a bit? Also how about grafting? Would having poor soil seed starters help a grafted variety much more

I have never heard anything like this, thank you so much.

This is amazing. And it's very practical - something anyone can do!

That’s interesting. However I grew some Tamarillos and they grew well then the frost last year was really bad in UK and they died and since then all my seeds didn’t germinate so on the package it says plant in sterilised seed compost so this time I have and I’m waiting to see if they grow. Mandy UK

3:15 in: what you're describing is called "Epigenetics."

This is a good insight into how we, by our "too much love" approach for plants, disable some of their possibilities. Dear Stefan, does this apply equally to the annual or biennial plants (veggies)? Could poor conditions increase the risk of enhancing wild traits of plants and somewhat diminishing the cultural traits (e.g. quality fruit of apple seedlings)?

a french from france pascal poot does the same. planting in minimum watering etc.

Thank you i really needed this

Can’t wait to see this! Thank you!

Another great video, thank you Stefan! I do believe this method makes absolut sense for annuals. Concerning fruit trees, more precisely cultivars, I have been told so far that you cannot propagate them via seeding but you need a scion in order to conserve the properties of that cultivar. Or am I wrong?

Nice presentation kid Very Interesting

Excellent. Thanks.

I'm currently cold stratifying 405 red oak acorns. I had planned on starting them in the best potting mix I could get. They are going onto a mostly clay hillside but clay is no good for a treepot, what would you suggest i mix in with the native clay soil to get good enough drainage to use it in small containers?

This got me thinking. How do wild plants manage to survive in the wild with barely any water for long periods except once every year and when you transplant domestic plants on a farm or somewhere they fail to adapt if not watered consistently. and if you try to plant a wild plant at home without enough water it also fails to adapt. Could it it be as a result of natural genetic programming. and if so, like you are saying, is it possible to program fruit trees to survive on minimum water or without close supervision🤔?

Is there another word for this technique that I can search the internet for more?

My garden transplants always get a shock when putting them out. My soil while not lacking in nutrients has a ph of about 8. Coming from a peat starter to that I’m sure is a shock. I wonder if I started them in the garden soil in pots how that would do? We have very high calcium carbonate so adjusting the ph isn’t an option so one must work with what they have. About the only thing you can do to improve conditions is increase the organic matter in the soil and last spring I was at about 5%.

Very interesting content, I will try this method, thank you very much for your help!

Wanted to combine this with another tip…was watching David to Good and he cut out the main top of the tree out when he planted it in his “grocery row garden”. Could I do this with a 6’ bare root jujube tree in the bad soil, or wait to cut it after I plant in good soil.

I don't have poor sandy soil! And I don't have a real garden. I grow plants ( food) mostly in small pots..Maximum was 11 litres growing bags

thank you.

I wonder if this applies to seed storage. Here in Florida maybe put a few seeds in the incubator so they lock in high temps into their DNA. Probably lose a few seeds to bacteria or fungus… but it would be fun to see if those seeds become plants with more heat tolerance.

Tough love. Love it.

maybe we can skip the potting and transplanting phase, dig a hole thats enough size for those couple of months growth and fill it with that worst soil. There would not be a transplant shock. Does this sounds good ?

Awesome video! Thank you very much! I have one question: I have studied epigenetics and in humans during the Dutch Hunger winter the exact same concept caused obesity and diabetes in almost all the kids born in that period. Has there been some research on potential health risk for the plant grown in this way? I don't know, maybe they will limit the exudes to feed the bacteria to save some nutrients or the rapid growth might attract aphids (just hypothesis), thank you!

so how long should you leave the vegetable seed in the poor germination soil before transplanting? just the normal transplant interval? and do you re pot them or put em straight into the field?

I definitely need to experiment with this! ❤

I will try it with my pawpaw seeds

Brilliant!

wil try it .

I'm starting my seeds on a damp paper towel. Do you think i should move them to sand after germination?

Will this technique work with cuttings? We have beach plums in New Jersey. My neighbor has a tree that is barely surviving. The tree was part of a program where beach plum trees were provided as a strategy to encourage planting native trees. Every year I think about the tree and want to understand what can help the tree thrive. Mostly I believe it needs more sun. It should grow in the sandy soil unless the trees were started in rich potting soil and people planted them in the sandy soil thinking they would produce fruit which it has merely put out a couple of plums occasionally. I live on a bay island. If cuttings would work I'd like to give it a try planting the cuttings in sand to see if the programing technique would stimulate happy trees in our climate here.

Sounds good but there are also genetic switches that get turned on by humic acids, which are not present in sand but rather in rich soil. These switches activate plant immune systems. With no immune protection, your seedlings in "the poorest soil" will really need to be babied to survive, plus probably stunted. To each their own but "damping off" is a real concern here.

Instead of saying plant seeds in a “worse” soil it would be better to say plant them in a soil with “low nutrient levels”. But, use a soil that has an ideal texture to allow oxygen and drainage for seedlings. Also a soil and water with the correct ph and abundant with beneficial bacteria’s and fungi. That’s perfection.

Does it work if I soak the seed in wet napkins just till it breaks the shell or should it be from the very start?

Wow, this seems to be the exact opposite of what Helen Atthowe recommends. Maybe because she focuses on annuals? Her testing has shown you want the seeds to start in extremely organic-rich medium.

For annuals, is it 7-10 days in the poorer medium after placing the seed in the soil or after actual germination (because germination times vary)?

Would this work with clay soil?