Propagation: Help! Now what do I do with my germinated seeds?, 1 by

wrote:
lily_bud You sowed seeds by my favorite method. I used the baggie method for all my seeds this year. To me, it is the perfect method because it is the quickest way to get them to sprout.

As far as your question. What you see is the root. I use a pair of tweezer and pick up the sprouted seed by the seed cover/shell. I make a hole in the soil with a pencil, then gently place the root downwards in the hole. Make sure the hole is deep enough for the root. If there is already tiny leaves, then plant so that the growth is above soil. If not, plant the seed at the depth recommended for that seed.

If no seed cover/shell is attached hold the tiny plant with your fingers, ever so gently. Or pick it up with a fork, small if you have one, then manuever the plant into the hole.

The trick to using the paper napkin method is to check seeds every day and catch them before they sprouted to long of a root. As mention above, you can trim the towel around the root and plant it. I had to do that with some seeds and it works. Never tear the roots off the towel because they have already developed tiny feeder roots along the main one. They are too small to see with the naked eye and blend in with the napkin.

Photo of hardy geranium seeds in paper towel just prior to planting in soil. The unsprouted seeds are swelled and ready to sprout. I left them in the paper napkin until they did. I now have 12 healthy seedlings growing in pots.

This message was edited Apr 10, 2009 7:49 PM