Soaking Seeds

[MrBig46]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

The only seeds I soak are okra and carrot. Everything else just gets planted into moist soil and they do just fine coming up. Those planted in cell packs or small pots get covered by plastic wrap and set under the lights. I guess there's enough warmth coming off the lights that help the germination. No heat pad underneath. As soon as the seeds pop, the plastic comes off.

Pepper seed averages 8-10 days to germinate and tomatoes 4-6 days.

I wonder how you do it with that carrot. You soak it (for how long?). and then you dry it and sow it in the flowerbed? Wet it probably wouldn't be possible to sow?
Vladimír

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by MrBig46

I wonder how you do it with that carrot. You soak it (for how long?). and then you dry it and sow it in the flowerbed? Wet it probably wouldn't be possible to sow?
Vladimír

I put the carrot seed in a shot glass of water and soak it overnight. The next day I dump the carrot seed into a very small mesh strainer and blot excess water off the bottom of the strainer with a paper towel. Then I tap the seed onto a small piece of paper towel, fold it up and carry it right to the garden.

The seed itself is now damp, swollen a little and very easy to pick up between finger and thumb for sowing. That's how I do the okra seed too except the okra seed soaks sometimes for two days.

Hope that helps!

[MrBig46]

If I understand correctly, you take one seed after another in the garden and lay it on moist soil. Then you bury it. If so, how far apart do you put seeds? I ask mainly because I have a problem with germination of roots parsley , it germinates for a long time and unevenly.
Vladimír

[GoDawgs]

I draw a shallow 1/4"-1/2" deep furrow with my finger. Then I grab a small pinch of carrot seeds and roll them off between finger and thumb into the furrow, trying to be careful to keep my hand moving along so the seeds don't fall too closely together in the furrow. That avoids a lot of thinning later and thus wasted seed. When the seed is sown, I then lightly pinch the little furrow closed, lightly pat it on the head and wish them well.

I think I know what celery root veggie you're talking about but can't think of the name. I tried it one year and it took forever for them to come up and then they didn't do well at all. That was the last time I tried them.

[Milan HP]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

I draw a shallow 1/4"-1/2" deep furrow with my finger. Then I grab a small pinch of carrot seeds and roll them off between finger and thumb into the furrow, trying to be careful to keep my hand moving along so the seeds don't fall too closely together in the furrow. That avoids a lot of thinning later and thus wasted seed. When the seed is sown, I then lightly pinch the little furrow closed, lightly pat it on the head and wish them well.

I think I know what celery root veggie you're talking about but can't think of the name. I tried it one year and it took forever for them to come up and then they didn't do well at all. That was the last time I tried them.

I can offer the English equivalent. It took a lot of effort to find it. They say it's celeriac. There's no guarantee it's a widely used English word though.
Milan HP

[zipcode]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

I think I know what celery root veggie you're talking about but can't think of the name.

I think he's talking about parsely for root not celery. Very used in Europe, especially more eastern, for soups and other things, the root looks like parsnip, but it's somewhat different tasting. Not sure it has a different name.

@Vladimír, the problem is the cold (and usually dry) soil in spring. What you can do is germinate them on wet paper in the house, and make a suspension gel (water with starch for example), mix the germinated ones in by shaking, and pour in your rows.

[MrBig46]

This vegetable is indispensable in Czech cuisine. Carrots, parsley root and celeriac (not petiole). Parsley varieties are also grown only for green leaves, but in my wife and my wife, parsley root leaves are better. But it is not so easy to grow at home through the window.
Vladimír
PS.:I was in the store a while ago. The picture says more. Parsley horseradish is twice as expensive as carrots and celery. Sometimes at Christmas, when this vegetable is needed the most, there is no parsley in the shop and parsnips are offered. But that's not it.

[GoDawgs]

OK, Hamburg Rooted Parsley is what I tried and failed at. Mystery solved.

[MrBig46]

The main problem with sowing Rooted Parsley is that the seeds germinate for up to three weeks. They are sown to a depth of about 1/2 inch. It is a problem to keep the soil moist in the flower bed all this time. The soil dries quickly in the spring and when you water the bed, it forms a shell and it is even worse. Covering with non-woven fabric does not help much. I still have plenty of time for possible sowing of Rooted Parsley, so I bought two packages of seeds and I want to try at home how to prepare the seeds for sowing in the flowerbed.
1. In one gardening book, I read that Rooted Parsley germinates better in light than in darkness. (I will have part of the seeds germinating in the light / 1 / and part in the dark / 2 / and I will compare the results)
2. I will soak part of the seeds in a diluted bleach for about 5 minutes. I want to remove germination inhibitors / 3 /. Dilution as used by b54red.
3. I also read that some herbs should help to remove germination inhibitors, but I don't really believe it. / 4 /. I don´t know, which.
4. Use a fertilizer as recommended for germination of old seeds / 5 /. I will now have to go through the threads which it deal with this problem on this forum. Does anyone else have any ideas that I could test?
Vladimír

[zipcode]

Once you'll germinate them in the house on wet paper, you'll see that they are not hard to germinate, I don't think you need to worry much about special techniques. I use calcium nitrate added to the wet towels as an extra boost to germination for some seeds.[COLOR=inherit !important]


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[MrBig46]

Originally Posted by MrBig46

The main problem with sowing Rooted Parsley is that the seeds germinate for up to three weeks. They are sown to a depth of about 1/2 inch. It is a problem to keep the soil moist in the flower bed all this time. The soil dries quickly in the spring and when you water the bed, it forms a shell and it is even worse. Covering with non-woven fabric does not help much. I still have plenty of time for possible sowing of Rooted Parsley, so I bought two packages of seeds and I want to try at home how to prepare the seeds for sowing in the flowerbed.
1. In one gardening book, I read that Rooted Parsley germinates better in light than in darkness. (I will have part of the seeds germinating in the light / 1 / and part in the dark / 2 / and I will compare the results)
2. I will soak part of the seeds in a diluted bleach for about 5 minutes. I want to remove germination inhibitors / 3 /. Dilution as used by b54red.
3. I also read that some herbs should help to remove germination inhibitors, but I don't really believe it. / 4 /. I don´t know, which.
4. Use a fertilizer as recommended for germination of old seeds / 5 /. I will now have to go through the threads which it deal with this problem on this forum. Does anyone else have any ideas that I could test?
Vladimír

I tried everything, germination in the light, in the dark, with the addition of fertilizer and also immersion in bleach. I didn't know any difference, everything germinated in eight to ten days. I want to test the possibility of making from sprouted seeds made sowing tapes. I'm just worried the glue won't break the sprouted seeds. I still have some time to test it at home.
Vladimír

[Milan HP]

Vladimir, maybe I'm teaching an eagle to fly again, but I used either starch or flour mixed with water as the glue. In either case the seeds had no problem getting rid of it.

Milan HP

[Shapshftr]

Originally Posted by Keiththibodeaux

I recently woke up some 21 year old Wild Everglades Tomato seeds by soaking a mild Superthrive and Gibberellic acid mix.

Where did you get your gibberellic acid, and did it come with mixing instructions for small batches?