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seeds Pre germination work?

A

aphiron

What should i do to my seeds( if anything) before i put them in trays for germination? Just to name a few: White Lightning Hab, Czech Black Chili, Peter Pepper, and of course Bhut Jolokia.
 
aphiron said:
What should i do to my seeds( if anything) before i put them in trays for germination? Just to name a few: White Lightning Hab, Czech Black Chili, Peter Pepper, and of course Bhut Jolokia.
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1.) Open seed packet
2.) ?????
3.) Harvest
 
Don't blanch them, that would be too hot. You can soak them, a lot of people here do, but you don't have to do that. You can just stick them in the seed starting medium if you like.

People here swear by soaking their seeds in water, Superthrive, chamomile tea, and other potions. They generally wet a paper towel or coffee filter with the solution of their choice and put it in a warm place for from 24 hours to a week. Some soak and plant, some wait for signs of germination before planting.

Have I hopelessly confused you?
 
Well, I soaked my seeds for around 2 hours in small saucers in regular tap water (tap water that has been sitting around in open plastic gallon water jugs). So far I have 19 peppers germinating out of 51 in 6 days. Peppers that have germinated so far are as follows: Three 7 pod, six aji limons, one fatalii, six red caribbean habanero, and three NuMex Bailey Pequin. Soaking them seems to soften up the outer seed coating pretty good.
 
They're plants, not rocket ships :)

Hinky's 8 steps to a fairly successful seed start-
  • Temp between 75-87ish degrees
  • Humidity less than 90%ish, greater than 20%ish
  • Poke a little hole in the dirt with a pen/pencil tip
  • Drop 1 seed in each hole
  • Cover the seed with about 1/8" of dirt
  • Keep soil damp- don't turn it into mud, don't let it dry and crack
  • Take pics and mark the calendar for the date and species (Outlook Express Calendar works great for this and it's already on pretty much every computer...)
  • Go drink a beer and watch a movie and wait

Me personally, I'm a big fan of boiling rockwool starters in plain water, soaking them in a very diluted nutrient mix until they are back to ambient temperature, then follow the above steps. I used to just use the rockwool boiler method on just the rare stuffs but any more I use it for just about anything I want to start from seed because it works. But it's not absolutely necessary. Lots of folks still practice the presoak method- it's completely unnecessary if you keep your soil moist and it adds another chance at mucking the start up, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

IF you look at different threads here you will see that some folks here do their damnedest to turn their grow operation into a disco-LED encrusted rocket ship or at least as complicated as one (myself included), and others are of the egg container/SOLO cup in the window sill philosophy- and you will find that both methods and all variations in between are for the most part going to deliver some fruits.
 
I take a 72 cell starting tray....fill with seed starting mix (as light as I can find), put the seeds between 1/4" and 1/2" in the mix...cover seed and "tamp" down to insure the seed is surrounded by the mix...stick in a container and bottom water the tray until the seed starting mix looks dark from the moisture...then put in an 82-86F environment until seeds sprout or 21 days which ever comes first...they only got 21 days in AJs germinator....
 
Ok, so i think ive got a setup in mind. I have a secluded small room downstairs where the temp is steady at 84 degrees. i am also using the 72 cell tray. Since the temp is steady, should i leave the dome top off?
Also, i am using miracle grow seed starter instead of the pelets.
 
aphiron said:
Since the temp is steady, should i leave the dome top off?

Also, i am using miracle grow seed starter instead of the pelets.
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dome off or on is up to you...I didn't have good luck with the domes, so I don't use them...

I am using Hoffmans, Jiffy, or FoxFarm seed starting soil of which I prefer them in the order listed....I don't use anything that has any nutrients built in to the starting mix...
 
aphiron said:
So AJ, you think the miracle grow is a bad idea?
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I think you'll be fine w the MG. I think AJ is just stating the ones he likes. I've had good luck with the MG Cactus Mix. I like to leave my dome on until most of the seeds have germinated. After you get some germination though, you should take it off for an hour or so a day to keep the air a little fresher for the seedlings. I think you get faster germination with the humidity, but the same humidity can be bad for seedlings. Mostly it's trial and error to see what works for you. Here's a couple of links to seed starting.

http://www.sherrysgreenhouse.com/pages/seedstarting/index.html#healthy_seedlings

http://www.ecoseeds.com/Pepper.growing.tips.html

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/ten-seed-starting-tips.aspx

Lots of info there - not of it the same. There's more than one way to get the job done.
 
what BigT said ^^^^^^

just what I like...
 
Hi Aphiron,
I just soak them over night in plain water that I have adjusted the ph to 6.2 - 6.4 and sterilized by boiling first then let the water become room temp, after that I put them in either small rockwool cubes or Jiffy pellets and place them in a thermostaic heated tray at about 26c - 28c and cover to keep them humid, depending on the seed I usually see my first seeds sprout in about 4 days
I have also soaked some in Nitrozyme but have failed to notice any difference in the percentage of seeds that germinate
 
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