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seeds Germination aides

megamoo

megamoo

I have had about 50% germination rates and all I do is stick the seeds into seed mix and wet the soil then seal them in a plastic tub on a shelf that stays around 30C.

What do experienced growers on here find works well ?

I have read a post about soaking the seeds in 2% salt peter but it seems to be hard to get hold where I live.
I know some people pour boiling water on seeds from other plants but haven't heard that done for chilies.

I really need to try a different method. Throw out any ideas you have. Thanks
 
I know for NEXT season I will be using Neil's method of germination. Using a fish tank, get your water up to a steady 85 degrees f, put your seeds in pellets or starter soil, put into a container that will float in the water, put a lid on top, then wait for them to sprout.
I havent tried it yet, but HE gets upper 90's for germination, in pellets, and gets most seeds that usually take 2-3 weeks to germinate in a week or so. Had most of the materials laying around, so I figured I would give it a try.
In the past, I just put the seeds in soil, or in pellets...put a heating pad underneath, put a little light on them from above for heat, and made sure they stayed moist and warm. Usually had germination in the 80's. Still want the percentage in the 90's though.
 
Get a zip lock bag and a paper towel.
Distribute seeds on paper towel....

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Fold paper towel in half and insert it in the zip lock bag

IMG_8543.jpg


Wet the paper towel (wet, not sopped) and close the zip lock bag. Put the bag where it is 80-85F and leave it. Measure the temperature, don't guess.

IMG_8545.jpg
 
I've used the paper towel method for peppers and lots of other seeds. It works great for me. I put the bags on top of my fridge for heat but have never checked actual temps. Next time I will for fun. I've never counted the seeds to figure out the actual germ rates, but would guess it's about 80-90. I think different pepper types have different germ rates and the seed source is a big factor as well. I like to keep things as simple as possible and this is pretty simple. The fish tank method mentioned by Hot Pooper sounds like it would work good, but with my luck I would come home from work to find my pots have sunk and $75 worth of mystery seeds floating around! :)
 
+ 1 on the paper towel germination method. Works best for me and its very very manageable, space-wise.

High germination rates and i dont have to waste my peat pots/starter soil, i just plant what germinated.
 
I prefer the simple old seed tray, good seed raising mix and controlled temps. Wasted too many seeds trying alternate methods.
 
What I do is put the seeds on wet cotton and put that in a plastic bag. I put the seeds in room temperature. So like 20 degrees during the day and less during the night.

Then a root will emerge after 3 days or so. I then put the seeds in potting soil on the proper depth. I have very high germination rates. If the seed is fresh and potent it will be close to 100%.

Either your temperature is too high, or you have seed that has problems, like wild seed or old seed or seed of some cultivar that isn't very potent.

If you use paper towel, that will dry out very quickly. Cotton will maintain moisture much much longer.
 
I tried a method with four barrackpore seeds from Tony a month or so ago.

Get a six pack of egg cardboard carton. Four used tea bags. A Chinese food container or other tupperware container to for said egg carton to fit in.

Get used tea bags and fold nicly into cardboard egg container bit. Cut off tea bag top exposing tea leaf. Poke hole in the tea leaf and put seed in and cover back up with tea leaf. Fill up tupperware container to 1/4 up egg container height with water.

What I have found is the cardboard egg carton soaks the water and feeds the tea bag/tea leaf creating a warm just right place for germination.. Place in a warm spot ( my window here in Surfers Paradise ) and bingo, 90%+ thus far on all and including 100% on barrackpore seeds.

Further to success germination I feed seasol and power feed solution to water in tupperware which passes through the egg container into tea leaf etc etc. Moist tea leaf does not clump or go hard so is a perfect place for a seed to easily break through as long as it is moist by checking when egg carton looks a bit dry and adding a bit more water....

To easy peasy.

EDIT: oh yeah, on re-potting just cut out he cardboard egg portion containing you seeding/tea bag and plant that whole in pot cardboard/tea bag and all into new pot or ground. No root damage, no unsettling of plant/roots. Egg carton is no match even for young roots and is just food when it breaks down further :)
 
Hmm I just posted a reply but now its not there so here we go again! Hope it doesn't double.

Thanks for all the replies. I have heard about the paper towel thing but the photos make it clear. The cotton ball idea sounds good. I'll try it with seeds I have a lot of so I don't waste the good ones. I might even put the srouted ones into some rockwoll and set up another hydro system.
 
hello,
I use the moist paper towel in a ziplock bag method, has been working excellent for me everytime i have tried it, i keep them next to a heat lamp just far enough from it to get around 85-90 degrees F....
IMG_0008.jpg
 
I've got 5 x styro coffee cups with holes in the bottom and about 3 Bhut seeds in each. Best part is they are safe and sound behind my computer at work with a nice fan from the computer itself blowing warm air at them....
 
I used to use the paper-towel method, and it works great. Last year I just planted them straight into Jiffy cells, wraped with plastic-wrap and put in a south-facing window. Once the seed sprouted in that cell I cut the plastic wrap above that cell.

However, since joining this site and seeing that the people using lights were passing me up, when I started before them, I'm using lights this year.
 
If you are careful and dexterous, you can plant many seeds per cell or cup. After they've sprouted you can gently dump the cell/cup and pull the seedlings apart to transplant them to individual containers.

This year I am going to buy/build a temperature controller and use a heat mat or perhaps a heat lamp to control the temperature.
 
Cube said:
I tried a method with four barrackpore seeds from Tony a month or so ago.

Get a six pack of egg cardboard carton. Four used tea bags. A Chinese food container or other tupperware container to for said egg carton to fit in.

Get used tea bags and fold nicly into cardboard egg container bit. Cut off tea bag top exposing tea leaf. Poke hole in the tea leaf and put seed in and cover back up with tea leaf. Fill up tupperware container to 1/4 up egg container height with water.

What I have found is the cardboard egg carton soaks the water and feeds the tea bag/tea leaf creating a warm just right place for germination.. Place in a warm spot ( my window here in Surfers Paradise ) and bingo, 90%+ thus far on all and including 100% on barrackpore seeds.

Further to success germination I feed seasol and power feed solution to water in tupperware which passes through the egg container into tea leaf etc etc. Moist tea leaf does not clump or go hard so is a perfect place for a seed to easily break through as long as it is moist by checking when egg carton looks a bit dry and adding a bit more water....

To easy peasy.

EDIT: oh yeah, on re-potting just cut out he cardboard egg portion containing you seeding/tea bag and plant that whole in pot cardboard/tea bag and all into new pot or ground. No root damage, no unsettling of plant/roots. Egg carton is no match even for young roots and is just food when it breaks down further :)
Click to expand...

I've tried very similar to this method and worked great for me. But now I prefer rock wool. It's easy to see if it's too wet or dry and you simply pop the whole thing into pot or hydro when ready.

Good luck mate.

:cheers:

Jas
 
Ok I did the thing with the paper towel and like magic
seedgermination001.jpg

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Now that some have germinated if I stick them in a soil pot now will they just grow like normal? or should I wait until there is more than a tiny little root sticking out of the seed?

I want to start planting them out now if possible because I have 20 bags of different types each with about five seeds. I don't want to be stuck doing 100 at once :eek:

edit: I just googled paper towel germination and learnt a lot about growing cannabis! :high:

But one important point said was to remove the seeds as soon as the root emerges so that it doesn't become entangled into the paper towel. Even though they're not talking about pepper seeds it's good enough for me. Sounds logical.
 
Now that some have germinated if I stick them in a soil pot now will they just grow like normal? or should I wait until there is more than a tiny little root sticking out of the seed?
Click to expand...

i once tried doing the paper towel trick before and when i got some to germinate and had some roots showing, i just stuck them in the soil at the proper depth and it came up within two days. at least with seeds that's got roots showing, you'll be sure that you're gonna have a seedling soon. just gotta be careful with the roots and handling them as gently as possible. i wasn't very good at using this method so i went back to good old sowing it in seed raising mix.
 
If the seeds put roots into the paper, simply cut the paper with the seed and plant the whole thing. The paper will rot.
 
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