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seeds First from-the-seed year - some questions
- Thread starter Pimental
- Start date
Thanks for all the advice!
I didn't end up getting a heater, but a friend gave me some planting cells and nice Amish dirt he likes, so I'm at it again with some old seeds and some new seeds.
In answer to some of the questions, almost all of the seeds are from White Hot Peppers. I put all of the seeds I may have toasted in the last attempt in this dirt, along with some new seeds, which I didn't treat with H2O2. If this setup (described below) doesn't work, I'll break down and get a real germinating setup, or just buy plants when its that time of year...
I took a coffee tin and supported a 6-cell planter on its rim, filled with some good, loose starting mix, and placed the seeds on top. I put a little water in the bottom of the can, to keep the air humid, and moistened the soil with mists of water. I then made copper wire hoops and covered the thing with plastic wrap, then placed it under a lamp. Below is an ok picture of the contraption. Any suggestions? Should this work?
NJ
I didn't end up getting a heater, but a friend gave me some planting cells and nice Amish dirt he likes, so I'm at it again with some old seeds and some new seeds.
In answer to some of the questions, almost all of the seeds are from White Hot Peppers. I put all of the seeds I may have toasted in the last attempt in this dirt, along with some new seeds, which I didn't treat with H2O2. If this setup (described below) doesn't work, I'll break down and get a real germinating setup, or just buy plants when its that time of year...
I took a coffee tin and supported a 6-cell planter on its rim, filled with some good, loose starting mix, and placed the seeds on top. I put a little water in the bottom of the can, to keep the air humid, and moistened the soil with mists of water. I then made copper wire hoops and covered the thing with plastic wrap, then placed it under a lamp. Below is an ok picture of the contraption. Any suggestions? Should this work?
NJ
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Pimental said:
Perhaps this was omitted from your description, but scattering the seeds on the surface of the potting soil will work poorly.
The seeds need to be about one-half to an inch deep. The seeds need to be below the surface to use the soil to remove the seed husk as they germinate. If they're just sitting on the surface, many of them will end up trapped in the seed husk. This is often referred to as "Helmet Head".
If I misunderstood, Great! Otherwise you should still have time to mix these into the soil if you just did this today.
I think soaking the seeds helps and probably speeds things up some, but not totally necessary. I use seed starting trays similar to what's posted above sitting on top of a heat mat. and just bury the seeds a little bit. I get surprisingly high germ rates and it's easy.
Keep them moist and warm. I think you probably had them too warm earlier if the paper towel was burning.
Keep them moist and warm. I think you probably had them too warm earlier if the paper towel was burning.
Everyone has their own way of doing things but I don't seem to get good germination from planting the seeds straight into seed compost (or "dirt" as you people over the pond probably call it.)
My method:
Soak the seeds in warm water (sometimes I use weak tea or chamomile tea. I haven't tried peroxide yet.)
In my experience, any seeds which are still floating after 24 hours won't germinate. Only the ones that sink to the bottom are viable. (I stir them round a few times during the soaking to make sure surface tension of the water isn't an issue.)
Transfer the seeds onto moist tissue in a sealed plastic box. Keep in a warm place (I use my airing cupboard.)
When they "pop" i.e. the root starts growing, transfer them to growing medium - I use Jiffy 7s.
When the roots grow through the Jiffy 7s (usually at about 2 pairs of true leaves) then plant up in a larger container (I use pop bottles or porridge pots which are like large cups. I like to re-use as many single-use plastics as possible.)
When the weather is warm enough to put them outside, plant up into large pots.
Remember, the seeds don't need light to germinate, only warmth. If you have a warm, dark place, they will be happy there. You only need to give them light once they have germinated.
My method:
Soak the seeds in warm water (sometimes I use weak tea or chamomile tea. I haven't tried peroxide yet.)
In my experience, any seeds which are still floating after 24 hours won't germinate. Only the ones that sink to the bottom are viable. (I stir them round a few times during the soaking to make sure surface tension of the water isn't an issue.)
Transfer the seeds onto moist tissue in a sealed plastic box. Keep in a warm place (I use my airing cupboard.)
When they "pop" i.e. the root starts growing, transfer them to growing medium - I use Jiffy 7s.
When the roots grow through the Jiffy 7s (usually at about 2 pairs of true leaves) then plant up in a larger container (I use pop bottles or porridge pots which are like large cups. I like to re-use as many single-use plastics as possible.)
When the weather is warm enough to put them outside, plant up into large pots.
Remember, the seeds don't need light to germinate, only warmth. If you have a warm, dark place, they will be happy there. You only need to give them light once they have germinated.
Mitzi said:
You may have more false positives applying this screening technique when you use peroxide. You get many more floaters from bubbles forming on the seed casing.
As the peroxide goes to work, it turns into tiny air bubbles. Sometimes, it's just the peroxide air bubbles that are causing the seed to float.