More Convenience for Warm Starting

[digitS']

a germination test? If they sprout, plant them.

I've moved this over here from @AMKuska 's thread since we had drifted afield and I thought to take it further ...

I have recently learned that some gardeners start their transplants just in this way - plastic bag, paper towel, water, a warm location, then moving the sprouts to soil. They do this because of their limited warm locations - be it on a heat mat or just some other location. Some heat mats are only 10" by 10" but even one twice that size would only hold 2 of my cookie box starting containers .

Has anyone done this moving of sprouted seeds? With a measure of success - that is. I would very much be concerned with damaging them with my fumbling digitS'. Many varieties of tomatoes have very tiny seed, surely seed from some species of garden plants would just be too too tiny to handle!

Here's a strange idea: toilet paper is sometimes used for homemade seedtapes. I can't image trying to move a piece of toilet paper that has been wet for a week! Do you suppose that a paper towel would interfere with the seedling's development if placed in the soil mix?

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you suppose that a paper towel would interfere with the seedling's development if placed in the soil mix?

I would not think so. Don't some people make starter cups out of wet newspaper, let them dry, then just plant the starter cup without disturbing the roots? I haven't tried that but I've read about it. I'd think you'd want to be careful about what depth you set them, especially if they are tiny and don't let them dry out. The paper towel might wick moisture out of the ground if they are exposed to the atmosphere and dry out.

For what it is worth (which isn't a lot since you are talking about tiny seeds) several years back I did that (pre-sprouted bean seeds in a wet paper towel in a zip-loc bag) and stuck them in the ground after they sprouted. Not in the paper towel or bag, just covered them with a little dirt and kept that dirt moist. They came up fine. I'm trying that again this year. I'm having trouble getting certain beans to come up so I did the germination test and got 3 out of 6 to sprout, jut show signs of the root starting. I put those three in the ground today. Hopefully I can tell you that it worked in a few days.

I thought you were doing peppers, not tomatoes. Shows how bad my memory is. I'd think the trick for you would be to keep the bud above ground and the roots damp until they get established. Might take delicate maneuvering.

 

[digitS']

peppers, not tomatoes

Yes indeed, peppers were the problem - this year and often.

However, others like eggplant is still struggling to show up in good numbers. And, tomatoes would also benefit from higher-than-room temperatures.

I am thinking of the number of sandwich bags that could fill a 10" by 20" heat mat compared to the amount of space required currently with cookie and berry boxes. The paper towel could be pulled out of a bag and unfolded. It would amount to about the same square inches as a cookie box. A problem would be the moving of small seedlings off the paper. Perhaps, just laying the paper on the soil and covering it with more soil would work - if the paper towel would decompose quickly enough to allow the seedlings' roots to reach the soil below.

The Sun Sugar tomato seeds are just one of the tiny ones and needed nearly 3 weeks to emerge in 2022 (older seed). I'm having a difficult time imagining being able to move the sprouts off the paper without damage. And yet, some gardeners say that they pre-sprout all their seed.

Steve

 

[meadow]

I pre-sprout most of my seed. I have small hands though, so it is probably easier for me to maneuver.

For tiny seed, I use tweezers and a magnifying glass. Either in lightly dampened paper towels or unbleached coffee filters.

For larger seed, I use the same method as for making sprouts (a shallow colander nested inside of a solid tray). The tray with colander is flooded, swished and colander removed while dumping water. For garden seeds, it's important to wipe the bottom surface of the colander with a paper towel to break any surface tension that keeps water in the holes (so that the seeds are not left sitting in any puddles).

I try to catch them as soon as the root becomes active and pop them right into some planting mix, or directly outside.

Oddly, now that I think about it, I've never done this with tomato seeds (and it has been a long time since I've grown peppers). For tomatoes, I use a plastic drinking cup for each variety, moving individual plants to their own cups when they are still small, and then to larger containers when needed. I tried starting them in egg cartons last year on someone's recommendation but would not advise it because the cardboard tended to wick moisture away from the soil. It might work for other types of egg cartons though.

The metal of my colander looks just like this one, except it is more shallow and has steep sides and no expansion bars. It fits nicely within the bottom of a Costco rotisserie chicken container. I bought mine at H-mart

:
eta: oops. Forgot to mention that there is an initial soak time too. It varies depending on what seeds you have. I like to err on the side of caution, and either soak for a few hours or else keep an eye on them to watch for swelling.

 

[digitS']

I had a response from a gardener who pre-sprouts seed .

He uses more than one technique but suggests the following:

Set sandwich bags vertically - opening at the top. The seeds respond to gravity and the roots will grow down. This, of course, is the proper direction for roots.​

Use tweezers, as needed.​

​

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

I HATE STARTING SEEDS!!! It's like babysitting your neighbor's kids!!!
Meanwhile, I found this out about starting spinach.
"To germinate seeds faster and more reliably, there is a process called “priming.” A week before sowing spinach seeds indoors or out, soak seeds in room temperature water overnight or up to 24 hours. Next, place the seeds on a paper towel to air dry for one or two days. Once the seeds appear dry, place them in an airtight container and store the container in a cool place. The seeds will have soaked up and retained enough water to stimulate the first stages of germination. Wait at least five days, but no more than seven, and sow the seeds.

Primed spinach seeds will germinate both faster and more uniformly: In about five days, the grass-like seedlings will emerge."

https://joegardener.com/how-grow-spinach/#:~:text=The seeds will germinate one,long before many other crops