Paper Towel Method - Failed?

[chiefbeaz]

Originally Posted by recruiterg

Dampen the seed starting mix (use seed starting mix, not potting soil) in planting containers. Put the sprouted seed on top. Use a pencil or other gadget to push the rooted part into the mix. Make sure the root has good contact with the soil and firm the soil slightly with your fingers around the root. Make sure the seed part remains on top of the soil. You can cover very sparingly with mix or not at all. Cover with plastic wrap or place in a zip top bag opened slightly. Now you can place on a heating mat or in a south facing window (or both). Once the seeds get going, place them under lights on a timer. No need for heating mat once they get going.

Thanks, that what I needed to know

[Doug9345]

I suggest for anyone that is having germination problems with their set up to get a kitchen thermometer. I'm talking about the kind that is sharp on one end and a temperature range of below freezing to 400°F or so. I've used it to solve all kinds of problems. Particularly ones that seem random of why one cup of seeds did great and the next failed. In that case I had hot spots and cold spots in my set up.

[Worth1]

There is a nut like thing at the base.I carry something like this at work all of the time.
Mine can be calibrated on the spot.
How you calibrate one is to get ice water and stir it up put the thermometer in it.
It should read 32F or 0 C.
Mine has a built in place on the cover you put the thermometer in to hold it.
You twist the dial cover and all till it reads correctly.
These things are cheap and worth every penny.
Worth
This one is really cheap probably too cheap mine is a tel tru

http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=C...PID%253D537298

[goodj@ck]

Me too. garbage !: (

2013 : Normal sawing




2014 : 50%

[aconite]

I suggest a laser thermometer. Paid 27$ for one on ebay that goes up to 700C, it is useful for plants, cooking, my stone bread oven that gets way too hot for normal kitchen thermometers etc. A laser thermometer will show you temp changes as you drag the beam over the surface, giving you an extra quick reading on hot/cold spots, while having no physical contact to the item.

I use a simple diy heating pad, a kitty litter box filled with sand, and in that sand is immersed a 2m long heating cable. The cable is on a timer to prevent overheating because i still haven't bought a thermostat. Oh well.
I have noticed though that peppers germinate better when set in a tray where they are just set upon a wet material (i use a few layers of paper and a coffe filter over that to prevent the roots from sticking), and the tray is placed in a bag with some water. This has them exposed to air much more than when closed in folded paper. I also keep them as close to 30C as possible, with errors going a degree or two over rather than under. Had morugas,7pots and douglahs germinate in less than a week. I grow around 30 varieties per season this way.

[goodj@ck]

Many thanks Aconite.
Which power cables ?

[aconite]

Some random one i got off ebay, it was sold by the meter, i originally bought it to wrap around my water pipes in the garden...umm don't know the english word, the hole where the pipe comes out the ground and branches out for attaching hose and stuff. The gosh darnoodley thing froze during a particular cold period so i decided to take preventive measures.

[Worth1]

Don't get one that is for heating pipe like Frost king.
These have little buttons on them that make them automatically come on right before freezing.
You tape the button to the pipe so it will detect the temperature of the pipe.
I use this for my outside pipe and keep it plugged in all winter.
It only comes on if there is a freeze.
A better choice would be something that is automated and for plants and soil.
In the link below is some nice stuff you can regulate to the temperature you want.

Here it is.

Worth
http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=C...3Dheat%2Bcable

[aconite]

The one i got was a naked cable, connected to just a plug, even that was optional for diy-ers. It cost something like 10$ (which is my total cost for this lol ). I can't open your link for some reason but i did see the frost king ones when i was searching, they were very expensive so i crossed them off from the start.
I like the real seedling mats but they were too expensive to ship to me, they are probably the best solution if one is within range.
reptile mats are ok too, or the incubator bulbs someone mentioned.
After my seeds sprout in bags/trays i transfer them to cups with growing media, then put the cups on top of a cheap lighting fixture where the ballasts warm them up from below. I found that sometimes seeds will stall even when sprouted if suddenly left in a cold growing media. Then they become vulnerable to fungus attacks. When they emerge i transfer them below the light fixture. It's like a factory line haha

[Worth1]

Wow the price can vary a lot.
I saw a $10 cable like you have in one place for $10 another site had the exact same cable for $49.

Worth

[livinonfaith]

When using regular heating pads under some of my germinating seed pots, I use cheap baking racks over the pads. (the wire rack you put cookies and cakes on to cool) The ones I found hold the pots just above the surface of the pad so that it doesn't actually touch.

The pots are also in a drip tray so that I can water them without fear of getting the pad wet. (pad is unplugged during watering, just in case there is a spill)

As I recall, a meat thermometer stuck down into the soil measured about 80 degrees in the pots in the center of the pad. The pots on the edge were a touch cooler. I do remember that the one I put directly on the pad to test it was WAY too hot.

When I bought them, they had the baking racks at the dollar store. I think there were 2 in a pack. Definitely worth it if you are trying to give heat loving seeds a little jump start without cooking them!

[pdxwindjammer]

I restarted all of my seeds using the paper towel method and a baker rack on top of the heating pad. I mentioned that we keep our house at 65 during the day but we both like it really cool at night with the window open so we turn the heat down to 57. I don't think the seeds would like that much so a little heat coming up from the heating pad seemed to work.

Today I potted my Marconi Red, a couple of shi★★★★o's, some Chinese Five Color and some Fish Peppers! I expect a few more over the next few days and maybe another week or two for the super hots.

Thanks!

[austinnhanasmom]

I start many varieties of tomatoes and peppers (seed whore here so I have more varieties then I could ever grow) and wanted a less time intensive manner for seed starting this year.

In the past, I soaked the seeds in a bleach solution and then did the paper towel in a baggie method. The time involved with setting this up and searching hundreds of baggies for sprouting seeds is what I was trying to avoid.

So, this is what I did this year:

I copied this from someone and am forgetting who - sorry

I cut paper towels into little squares, wetted them and each seed got it's own square. The squares were placed on a paper plate, one plate per variety, and the plates were stacked into a glass baking pan. I covered the glass pans with plastic wrap and placed each glass pan on a heating pad. What I found with this is that the little squares dried out and I am certain that the heating pads were overheating the glass pans' contents. I was worried that I had cooked my seeds and I could not keep the little squares adequately hydrated, even when I checked on them 3 times a day. The stacking of plates could easily crush the seeds, the plates seemed to soak up a lot of water and became flimsy. But I love the time savings that this set-up provides - quickly able to look at the plates for sprouts.

So, I bought clear plastic plates and glued metal nuts in the middle of each plate. I used 1/2" thick nuts and went all frugal, buying only one nut per plate. But, the plates were stackable, with caution, and I no longer worried about squishing the seeds. I replaced the paper towel squares with thin slices of root riot cubes. These cubes are amazing in that they hydrate well.

To house the stacked plates during germination, I bought a tote (with lid) large enough for 3 sets of stacked plates. Because I was all frugal with the nuts, the stacks were VERY flimsy and would easily tip over - and they did MANY times. I cut wooden sticks and tried to glue them to the tote's bottom, to create pillars that would keep the stacks in check. I used a nut at the bottom of the sticks, and gorilla glue to glue the nuts to the tote's bottom. This held up until the tote heated up. Then the glue tended to release.

I kept the tote in the warmest room in my house.

I very well may have cooked my tomato seeds, during the paper towel stage, because a few failed to sprout but the harder to sprout peppers LOVED this. They must be able to withstand a little extra heat.

For next year, I will figure a better way to secure the "pillars" and will add more nuts to the plates. I may heat the tote as well, with a heating pad and thermostat. And, I will return to the bleach solution soak.

[aconite]

how many varieties approximate are you talking about? is your problem the surface they would all take or something else?

consider a system like mine, also for germinating a decent number of varieties.
this is one of my boxes:


just nick one corner of the fabric or whatever is on the bottom, then map out the seeds on paper in relation to the cut corner. the biggest plus is being able to check for sprouting seed without unpacking and contaminating everything (just like you said), and that a lot can fit in one tupperware box.

and this is what not to do - forget to check on your seeds for a few days


luckily peppers are really hard to kill, they survived fine. coffee filters stop them from sticking, on cloth or paper they will hang on and then when you try to separate them you often break the root. which they can also survive, if it's not broken really high up, but better avoid.
notice the brown-purplish bit on the bottom of the pic that goes under the cloth and out of the box - this is a wick, which serves to protect the box from drying out on the heater. i pour some water into the bottom of the bag, the wick then draws a bit of that water and keeps the cloth moist. take something on experience, don't pour too much water, or the wick will draw too much and make a puddle in the box, in which all your seeds float and mix. duh.

[austinnhanasmom]

I like that method too

This year, I started 54 pepper varieties and 52 tomatoes. Tomatoes will be planted in the next week or so - using protection.

Maybe the coffee filters are better seed starting media then paper towels.

Your system is very similar to mine. Yours seems less time intensive as well.

Originally Posted by aconite

how many varieties approximate are you talking about? is your problem the surface they would all take or something else?

consider a system like mine, also for germinating a decent number of varieties.
this is one of my boxes:


just nick one corner of the fabric or whatever is on the bottom, then map out the seeds on paper in relation to the cut corner. the biggest plus is being able to check for sprouting seed without unpacking and contaminating everything (just like you said), and that a lot can fit in one tupperware box.

and this is what not to do - forget to check on your seeds for a few days


luckily peppers are really hard to kill, they survived fine. coffee filters stop them from sticking, on cloth or paper they will hang on and then when you try to separate them you often break the root. which they can also survive, if it's not broken really high up, but better avoid.
notice the brown-purplish bit on the bottom of the pic that goes under the cloth and out of the box - this is a wick, which serves to protect the box from drying out on the heater. i pour some water into the bottom of the bag, the wick then draws a bit of that water and keeps the cloth moist. take something on experience, don't pour too much water, or the wick will draw too much and make a puddle in the box, in which all your seeds float and mix. duh.