Effective germination of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant - critical parameters

[nctomatoman]

I may have posted something like this in the past, but I hope people find it helpful. Everyone does this slightly or drastically differently, but my method seems to work reproducibly well for me each year, and it is just something I wanted to share so people can compare against it. If you find it helpful, great.

Once again this year I am getting great germination, healthy seedlings and no damping off at all - and probably have 6000 or so babies growing. I am going to try to point out what I think are the specific success factors.

1. The germination mix - I use fresh soilless mix - my brand of choice is Sungrow's MetroMix 360.

2. Fill the pots with dry mix (must have holes in the bottom!), then water with warm water until water starts coming through the bottom holes just a bit.

3. Sprinkle on the seeds - I plant densely, but you can read about that in the dense planting thread.

4. Sprinkle dry soilless mix over the seeds only until the seeds are no longer visible - very, very thin covering!

5. Mist lightly with a spray bottle to moisten the surface - if a few seeds show, add another pinch of mix.

6. Cover the flat with Saran wrap - doesn't have to be tightly sealed all around.

7. Place in front of a south facing window on a heat mat.

After 3-4 days, the seeds should be popping up. I don't remove the saran wrap until most of the seeds are up - just drape it loosely over the tray, the seedlings easily push it up.

As the seeds germinate, I spray with water to push off the clinging mix - this also moistens any stuck seed coats.

Once most of the seedlings are up, the flats go into my cool garage under fluorescent lights - the top of the seedlings about 1-2 inches from the bulbs.

At this point, I water from the top to ensure that the fluffy mix does not dry out.

Once we get a few mild sunny days, I ease the flats into the sun - 1 hour the first day, 2 the second - within a week they spend as much time as possible outside.

Doing this, I get great germination and no loss to damping off at all.

To me the most critical factors are the medium (light, fluffy), the very shallow planting, the south exposure and bottom heat, and the loose covering to keep the seeds and seedlings hydrated.

Use this in good seedling health and success!!!