What do you use to start seeds? Survey:

Go Blomma Go! I seeded quite a few seeds that I found in the seed fridge from 2005 this year. Amazing germination with some. Others... sigh. Unfortunately my big bummer is I have f*u*n*g*u*s g*n*a*t*s this year in my indoor grow op for the first time ever (I wrote in secret code so they will be confused and won't spread) so I will probably not be moving any seedlings from the indoor grow op to the greenhouse :(

Finally got the light set up on my shelf today and moved all my babies under it. More had broken through the soil in the flats after germinating with the paper towel method, including Daturas, and 12 Helianthus maximillian (Prairie Sunflower) for my daughter. Also 7 Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Weed).

The Prairie Sunflower seeds I stratified in the refrigerator first. They germinated when placed in a warmer location.

I forgot to take a photo before I started writing.

What really amazes me is that some seeds I that had trouble germinating when sown in seeding mix, germinated easily in moist paper napkins.

Checked on my Hibiscus moscheutos that I had sown in moist paper towels and stuck in baggie after I nicked, then soaked them overnigth. These seeds were old so didn't expect much. I tried them when I first bought them and only one came up.

I sowed these on March 1, 2009, the photo is taken on March 3, 2009

What a surprise!!!

See for yourself. Already placed in a seeding flat for further growth.

And here is the Helianthus maximillian in seeding flat after germinating in moist paper towel and baggie.

Some have not broken through the soil yet.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2009 1:55 PM

playinindirt - I'd love to see your shevles from Home Depot. Do you have a picture?

Once I got a hang of peat pellets, I love them. Took a few years though. But I internet order the tall 3" ones so I can produce deeper roots before planting.

I may have mentioned this, but I start all my seeds in ziplock baggies. I mix fafard 3b right into the bag with the seeds and about 1-2 ounces of water, then put the seeds under lights or on heat and they germinate right in the bag. When it is time to pot them up, I use a plastic fork and then I toss whatever sowing mix is left into my "recycle bucket". When it gets full I use the recycle bucket to top dress a flower bed and if there are any seeds left in the mix that hadn't germinated when I potted the seedlings, they germinate where I have top dressed them. I can always move the seedlings to a permant home when they are larger.

I tried the papertowels in the ziplock bags, but it seemed as though it took twice as long to me.
Linda

must be fun finding something growing you did not intend to plant in that spot

ibartoo (Linda):

Do you put any holes in the tops or bottoms of the bags? Do you ziplock them completely closed?

Denise

There must be a trick to transplanting the sprouted seeds because I kill them every time.

I am not good with ity bity ones either... when they get a couple of sets of leaves.. then I am good

The only trick to transplant sprouted seeds is to make a hole with a pencil, use tweezer and grab the seed shell and carefull guide the root into the hole and tuck it in from the sides. Then add more mix to the level the seed was suppose to be at, had you sowed it in soil.

Denise, I zip the baggies completely until the seedlings emerge. then I open them and let the little plants get fresh air.
As long is there is condensation on the inside of the baggie, the seeds are moist and humid enough.

The neat thing is that you can leave the seedlings in the baggies until they have a couple of sets of true leaves.
Sometimes I transplant too early, but other times I actually wait until the plants are a couple of inches or so above the baggie.
I will try to post some pictures later on today.

KaperC:
If I licved in CA I would certainly garden myself to death. By fall, I'm ready for a break to do other things, like crafting.

how do you keep the baggie of the babies?

blomma - when it hits the 90s here, I'm pretty much done except for early morning!

I didn't have good luck with the paper towel method; maybe I waited too long? But the roots were stuck to the towel, which I just tore pieces off and left intact with said roots. And the seeds had shifted and the roots were intertwined.....

I may try the baggie idea, but I too want to know about keeping the plastic away from the plant-lets.

Onewish & cedar 18, there are 2 ways, 1 keep a lot of air in the baggie, and 2 if you have already opened the baggie
you can stick plastic knives or popsicle stick in the mix to keep the baggies off the babies.

I will go take pics.

I stumbled on to this because I failed at germinating them in baggies on coffee filters and paper towels. The idea came to me, what if I just put the soil right in the bag.

This is my 3rd year germinating this way and my success rate has improved dramatically.
Linda

I've been using peat pellets for a lot of years. I don't like that the mesh doesn't disintegrate, but it has not stopped roots IME. I tried the super-long pellets but found that the top tended to dry out in my setup. I tried using cellpacks a couple of times but didn't like them much because if every slot didn't sprout you had slots going to waste. Which just offends my sense of efficiency, lol! However, I have tons and tons of cellpacks left.

I used to use plastic cups for pots with holes made in the bottom with a phillips screwdriver--a little top-heavy. Finally one year I caved and bought a bunch of 4" plastic pots. I've been using those same pots for years now and I am glad I have them.

Question - if a seed doesn't germinate - do you reuse whatever method you were using? i.e., put a different seed in the pellet or cell or cup????

I did that last year and ended up growing sunflowers & tomatoes in the same cow pots... LOL

onewish1
To keep the plastic from laying flat, zip up the baggie to 1/2" from end. Blow in it so that it becomes like a balloon. When you feel that no more air will go in, quickly zip up the rest. Make sure the tracks on the baggie are lined up or the bag will not keep the air inside.

cedar18
You left the germinated seeds in the paper towels too long. Remove the sprouted seeds when you can see the radicals (roots). Check every days because those can grow overnight. See my post on March 4. I have a photo of Hibiscus seeds that sprouted in 2 days after nicking and soaking. They are now planted in a flat and just broke through the soil.

CAPTION: All the plants in the photo was started in moist paper towels. The Hibicus is growing on the left side in the flat in upper right. It is just breaking through the soil. The other plants are hardy Geraniums, Asclepias incarnata, Heliopsis, Helianthus, and the tiny seedling of Dianthus in the flat upper left.



This message was edited Mar 8, 2009 8:49 PM

thanks for the info

Every year I drive up to an Mackey's Agway in Colchester, Connecticut to get fertilizer, potting mix and other supplies. It is still farm country up there and prices are much better than on the coast.

This year the prices were amazing. Lambert potting mix was $11.99 for a 3.8 cu ft bale. I bought three. Asked if they had made a mistake because last year the same mix was $21. No...no mistake. Last year I used Lambert and ProMix. Saw no difference between the two except that ProMix runs around $33 a bale here.

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum, and have learned a lot about seeds today. This year, I'm trying egg cartons to start some seeds. I'm using the clear plastic kind, and I punched hole in the bottom of each egg holder. You can keep the top of for a mini greenhouse, or cut them in half like I did for double the trays. I use planting soil and bottom water. We'll see how it turns out.

Welcome to DG BlindingBrown. What a great idea!