yea i see what you mean haha ... i will keep a eye on them twice daily.Jeez, dude, lets party! You could do a James Bond "shaken, not stirred martini" in that thing. Might get a little tippy if you're starting a bunch of different seeds and trying to corral them in a tray over a heat mat.
It will work, but keep an eye on moisture in there. If the seeds are too high on the sides of the cup on the paper, it might dry out sooner than you think. Over time, you'll see moisture on the lid, but the paper below can actually dry out in places.
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seeds Germinating experiment: cups vs bags
- Thread starter PepperJam
- Start date
do you let any air flow to the cup? Do you hide your cup ( without any light)?
Just make sure the paper isn't too 'fuzzy' or the root will grow into it--not a deal breaker, but kind of a hassle. I use 3 layers of coffee filter paper which has a tight weave. It does dry out quickly, needs to be checked every day. I apply just enough water so a droplet of water will roll around when I tilt cup to the side.
I open cups once or twice a day, then re-seal. I do keep mine in the dark, in a pie tin covered with aluminum foil, over the heat mat area. Not sure how much dark vs. light matters, though.
I didn't realize this thread was around, but I experimented last year with a small pill box and cotton. I used a steak knife (pointy knife type) to make small pouches and seeds went in there. on a heating pad, the seeds went crazy. This year I used toilet paper to hold the moisture. When the TP gets soppy wet, it gets really loose, which is great when the root tries to take hold, you can pull the seed and root out easier than a cotton ball. My best container so far is one of the smaller cat food containers that come with a plastic lid. I figure the aluminum base will transfer heat better than plastic. I filled the bottom with TP and used one of the wife's round cotton makup wipes. Wipes work best as you can peel back the top and see everyting very easy. I'll see if I can get some pics. Using cups, three of my four types of peppers had 100% germ rate...fourth only got one of 7 going...but I think those seeds were bad.
Using cup method, my fastest sprout was 3 days. Most pop off around 4-5.
Using cup method, my fastest sprout was 3 days. Most pop off around 4-5.
millworkman
eXtreme
I never had an idea this um idea would take off the way it has. I take full credit for everyone's successes and absolutely absolve myself of any of your failures 
.
.
I'm not sure why, but I have hardly had any luck with cups/paper towels. I had one pepper germinate using them. My set up is:
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
- Small glad cup (http://www.glad.com/products/food-storage/containers/mini-round/)
- Small torn piece of paper towel
- Wet enough to get a glassy look across the paper towel
- Add two to three seeds.
- Close lid
- Place on heat mat(http://tinyurl.com/88nre93)
- Open them for a few seconds once a day.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Ok, thanks! I'll try that. I can't take a temp. Though the ambient temp is somewhere between 75-77F. The matt probably kicks that up to about 85-87F I would guess.
I never had an idea this um idea would take off the way it has. I take full credit for everyone's successes and absolutely absolve myself of any of your failures
Lol, yup great idea mill. I just promoted/marketed it for you. Now pay up
Now there's a disclaimer a lot of knuckleheads on this board could use, including myself...I never had an idea this idea would take off the way it has. I take full credit for everyone's successes and absolutely absolve myself of any of your failures
Original Poster PepperJam found that putting the seed on top of the paper was better. It sure makes it easier to check on the seed progress and moisture level.
Lol, yup great idea mill. I just promoted/marketed it for you. Now pay up
Many thanks to both you guys for the idea and testing it. I've made the switch from using baggies. The cups are really effective method for testing seed viability and fast germination--especially for tough to start seeds or anything unknown. Also can do jello shots after the germination season is over....
millworkman
eXtreme
I have also found that putting them on top of the paper towel rather than in between works better. Something to do with air.
Dang it. I must be missing something. I've had various seeds in plastic cups, inbetween a coffee filter, on a heat mat for about a week now. Nothing is happening. Even some hungarian hot peppers, which are supposed to grow fast. They aren't under water, but they do have enough water. The seeds I have put in the cups are a ghost, hungarian hot pepper, tepin, devil's tongue, and a couple of others.
Ok, so i read this whole thread last thursday and was intrigued. On that date i put in three seeds (some habs and some carrot ppers) per cup in two different cups with the preferred on top of the paper towel method. I looked yesterday and i have a seed rooting to paper towel (i am too lazy to take my own pic and put on internet so i stole this one from earlier in thread, it is representitive of where i am in the process). The question is now, when do you guys move these things? first non-true leaves? Any advice is appreciated.
Hey just want to say after reading this thread i put half my seeds in small glass containers with airtight lids on them..used paper tissue as i couldn't find anything else at home and then put them in my heated propagator. 4 days in i have the first signs of sprouting from naga king (morich) and ring of fire seeds..will update when the others start sprouting (ive got naga viper, bhut jolokia, choc and orange habaneros and fataliis in there too)
thanks for getting me off to a good start pepperjam!
thanks for getting me off to a good start pepperjam!