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seeds Just started seeds in paper towels, should I use a light or heating mat?

I just put several hot pepper seeds (Carolina Reaper, Brazilian Moruga, and Chocolate Moruga Brain) in wet paper towels to start them using this video (yes yes I know I am very late) 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDaiFGhxnRY 
 
Thing is, do I need to put them under a grow light? Or not yet and giving them light could cause harm? 
 
Also, considering it's still rather cold here, should I put them (again, they are just in wet paper towels in a zip-lock bag for now) on a heat mat? And if so, I am assuming it should not be at the normal seedling temperature of 80-85F, so what should I set the mat to? 
 
I was recommended that light was not needed until they are at the stage where they are seedlings in soil, so then would a light cause damage if I were to use it this early? Or would it just do nothing so I can leave it plugged in for now? 
 
Also, others recommended I use a heat mat still at 80F, and when I asked what I would do with the temperature sensor since it normally is supposed to go in soil and there isn't any right now, they recommended I put it between the mat and one of the bags of seeds. Would this be an accurate way to get the temperature? Or would it measure too hot/cold? I am a little worried that I would dry out or even cook the seeds with too much heat, but the floor of my house right now is pretty cold and I am not sure how well they would germinate if I were to leave them alone with no heating. 
 
Finally, in that video it was recommended that you leave about one inch of the bag unsealed... but would that let the water dry out if I were to put them on a heating mat? The video recommended I leave a piece of the bag open, while others recommended I seal the bag completely if I wanted to use a heating mat. 
 
Any suggestions about any of this? I haven't had much luck in the past trying to grow these so I am trying to find any advice and tips I can.
 
I tried 2 methods this year. One in moistened paper towels in a zip lock, and one where I moistened a paper towel and placed it in a small deli Tupperware (juanitos method).
The zip lock baggie I did leave open about an inch or two, and occasionally had to re-wet. I also placed it on a heat mat.
The deli containers I placed in the cabinet that contains my router and mostly snapped the lids shut. Additionally, the water I moistened the paper towel with in this method was a weak strength camomile tea brew.
Both methods gave me great results, but I do think the deli container method was easier to manage, as I didn't have to open it up to check germ status. I could just look through the side of the container. It did seem a bit quicker, as well.
Hope this helps
 
Thanks, that helps.
 
How hot did you set your mat? And if it had a probe, where did you place it to get accurate temperatures?
 
Also, you said you had to re-water the ones on the mat, how often did that happen for you?
 
Cyber Akuma said:
Thanks, that helps.
 
How hot did you set your mat? And if it had a probe, where did you place it to get accurate temperatures?
 
Also, you said you had to re-water the ones on the mat, how often did that happen for you?
Mine didn't have a thermostat, I just plugged it in and let it go.  I touched a probe to it when I first plugged it in, and it was around 85 degrees. 
I had to add a little water every few days, pretty much whenever it started to feel more dry than wet (as much as that sounds ridiculous, haha).
 
Oddly i have just as much luck at near room temp using the paper towel method. My germination rate has been excellent. If you dont have a heat matt try the oven. Just leave the oven light on. On the top of the fridge near the back works well too especially if you have a cabinet above the fridge.  Mine will stay in the low to mid 80s with just the light on. Some of my seeds such as West Indian burr gherkins LOVE this method in potting soil trays.
 
Well, this is becoming a disaster so far, and I haven't even started. The free Jalapeno seeds that were included with my order germinated very quickly, far faster than any others who haven't germinated yet, I didn't even have any Soil/Peat Pellets yet to transfer them into. I finally got some today, but I think I may have waited too long. They were all basically embedded in the paper towel, some of them actually had the seedling tear off the seed, even when I attempted to cut around the paper towel and just plant them towel-fragment and all in the pellets. Pretty much all of them even looked like they had separated from the seed on the towel itself.
 
I am guessing pretty much every single one of these is dead now... and that's just the Jalapenos, not even the others yet which haven't germinated so far.
 
.... I also just remembered that I used tap water on the towels and had forgotten to use bottled water instead, I hope I haven't killed them from any chemicals in the tap water.
 
Eventually, the seedling needs to discard the seed casing.  That part is good.
 
When it discards the seed casing, it should unfurl two starter leaves called cotyledons.
 
If the cotyledons get stuck in the seed casing, and are torn off the seedling, then that seedling is going to have big problems.
 
So, if the two cotyledon starter leaves are still on the seedling, you're still in good shape.  But if you don't see the cotyledons, then your assessment may be correct.
 
 
They did all have two leaves on them. On nearly all of them the seedling had grown to about an inch or so, I was not prepared for how fast they grew since the superhots are supposed to take several weeks to germinate and so far still look like seeds, even the other bag of free peppers I got has not germinated yet, so I worry I left them in the paper towel too long.
 
This is what they look like after my attempts to put them in pellets:
 
https://i.imgur.com/JjZsWiC.jpg
 
https://i.imgur.com/KfZJlwh.jpg
 
It isn't unusual for Jalapeños to germinate faster than super-hots.

Your Jalapeño seedlings are looking good.

Give you super-hots some more time, and hopefully they'll start to germinate. If you started on March 30, they're not especially late yet.
 
DontPanic said:
Give you super-hots some more time, and hopefully they'll start to germinate. If you started on March 30, they're not especially late yet.
 
Yeah, I know the superhots shouldn't be ready yet, I was just caught off-guard when the other free seeds I got haven't germinated yet but the Jalapenos should have been removed from the towels long ago.
 
Plus i was worried if I had damaged the Jalapenos or if the tap water could have hurt the superhot seeds.
 
Ok, so I have been checking the remaining bags more often as I don't want to risk ruining any of the others, especially the superhots. To my surprise, one of them has germinated already, even though it should be way too early since it's only been roughly two weeks, and the other free non-superhot hasn't germinated yet.
 
It's still in a very early stage though, most of the seeds just have barely had a tiny part of the seedling growing out of it, though one (near the top) seems to be much further along.
 
Am I supposed to plant these now since they have started to germinate a tiny bit, or am I supposed to let them grow some more before I touch them? I am worried about them suddenly growing quickly like the Jalapenos did and becoming embedded in the towel/separating from the seeds. This is what they look like right now:
 
https://i.imgur.com/wNCn373.jpg
 
(Yeah, I know it's not that clear, but you can make out the green coloring from the ones that have germinated, even if it's tiny for some of them, like the one at the middle-bottom)
 
As you've seen with your Jalapeños, they can get much further along, and still be fine.

 

For me, I'd let it get further along.  But you've still got nine more, so experiment if you feel inspired.

 

The cool thing about the paper-towel/ziplock bag method is that you have a whole bunch to play with.

 
 
Well.... this is becoming a disaster. :(
 
Started them on paper towels then transferred them to peat pods, issue is, I think I didn't bury them deep enough in the pods as at least half if not more of them seem to have zero foundation and many actually had the roots exposed if not flat out unrooted themselves.
 
I tried what I could to re-plant those who were like this, but I am sure the damage is already done, and I doubt me poking around with exposed roots did them any favors. Some of them were even growing upside-down.
 
Is the paper towel method really that helpful? This could have been avoided if I just planted the seeds directly in the peat pods, has anyone here just done that? Do they grow well? At first I was happy because I had very high germination rates with the paper towel method when these seeds apparently have notoriously low rates, but the transfer was pretty difficult and just ended up in disaster when they weren't taking a hold in the pods. Is just directly planting the seeds in the pods next time that significantly less effective?
 
Cyber Akuma said:
 
Well.... this is becoming a disaster. :(
 
Started them on paper towels then transferred them to peat pods, issue is, I think I didn't bury them deep enough in the pods as at least half if not more of them seem to have zero foundation and many actually had the roots exposed if not flat out unrooted themselves.
 
I tried what I could to re-plant those who were like this, but I am sure the damage is already done, and I doubt me poking around with exposed roots did them any favors. Some of them were even growing upside-down.
 
Is the paper towel method really that helpful? This could have been avoided if I just planted the seeds directly in the peat pods, has anyone here just done that? Do they grow well? At first I was happy because I had very high germination rates with the paper towel method when these seeds apparently have notoriously low rates, but the transfer was pretty difficult and just ended up in disaster when they weren't taking a hold in the pods. Is just directly planting the seeds in the pods next time that significantly less effective?
 
 
I do not use peat plugs, I use coir plugs instead, but I always start seeds in the plugs, on a thermostatically controlled heat mat, under a humidity dome. They do not get light until fully sprouted.
 
Of course, the quality and age of the seed does have lot to do with germination rates; I would guess I generally get about 85%-95%.
 
You can check my glog for pics of this years grow.
 
I have two suggestions.

First, it's getting late in the year to start peppers from seed unless you live in a really favorable climate. If you want to grow some peppers this year, you may want to buy some pepper seedlings that are already well along from a local garden center or big box hardware store.

Second, I would start experimenting with several different ways to germinate seeds. Try throwing a few directly into the peat plugs. Maybe try throwing a few seeds directly into some potting soil. If you poke around this site, you'll run across countless ways to germinate pepper seeds.

It's a great time to play around with trying new methods to germinate seedlings. Maybe you end up throwing them out, but at least you'll have a method lined out for next year.
 
Peat pellets and the paper towel method both work for me, I used Tupper Ware instead of baggies for the paper towels though.
 
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I don't use heating pads, all i use is the top of my fridge. I put them in paper towels then i put them in zip lock baggies leaving the zip open to allow ventilation. They don't require much heat to germinate, just moisture. Hope this helps :)
 
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