The Dirty Laundry Behind Organic Seed Germination


© Tamara Galbraith
Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic
Page 2

Feb 4, 2005


  • Gently pull the netting away slightly from the top hole in each moistened pellet. Then, give each pellet a slight pinch or squeeze, which will open up the planting hole on top a little further.

  • Place a rubber band around each pellet. Not tightly, though.

  • Begin placing two or three seeds of each seed variety per pellet. Space them apart on the pellet as much as possible, but make sure each seed comes in contact with and is slightly covered by the peat.

  • As you work each pellet, write on a plant marker what species it is and slip the marker into the rubberband. Pay attention to what you are doing; it's easy to get things mixed up if you work too fast or get distracted.

  • When you're all finished, place the cover over the tray and put the tray on top of your dryer. Proceed to do several loads of laundry.

    C'mon, C'mon and Do the Germination With Me

      Eh? Did I lose you there? Laundry? Dryer?

      Most seeds require some degree of warmth to germinate. (Exceptions include the hard, lumpy seeds like beets and spinach, which like to be chilled first.) You've probably seen the fancy seed mats in the gardening stores and catalogs. Ridiculous, I say...for this purpose, all you need is a front-loading dryer and a few loads of wet clothes. (Please don't run your dryer with nothing in it...that's wasteful!)

      Sundays are my laundry day, and even though it's just me and my husband (and two big sloppy dogs), I still manage three or four loads. Most need to run an hour minimum. So that's pretty much an entire afternoon of nice baking heat for my new seeds. I've found that, using this cheap and easy technique, many seeds will germinate nearly twice as fast as without under-heat. The plastic dome cover steams up, creating a terrarium-like atmosphere and perpetuating the constant moisture that seeds also need to get started.

      At this point, it's important to do a daily check on your seeds. With this last batch I started, several of the broccoli varieties emerged in a mere two days. When sprouts begin poking out from the peat, you should open the vents on the lid and check the moisture level at least once a day. Keep your new sprouts moist but not soggy.

    Seeing the Light

      When an actual stem is visible on nearly all varieties, it's time to set up a light source. I bought a couple of really cheap, lightweight 4' shoplights at one of the Big Hardware Conglomerates a couple of years ago for about $7 each and they work great. Insert one warm and one cool flourescent bulb in the light.
    • Assemble your seed starting supplies
    Leave plenty of room between pellets
    		      

    Go To Page: 1 2 3 4


    Post this Article to facebook Add this Article to del.icio.us! Digg this Article furl this Article Add this Article to Reddit Add this Article to Technorati Add this Article to Newsvine Add this Article to Windows Live Add this Article to Yahoo Add this Article to StumbleUpon Add this Article to BlinkLists Add this Article to Spurl Add this Article to Google Add this Article to Ask Add this Article to Squidoo
    Print Article Print Article
    Email Article Email Article
    View All Articles View All Articles

    Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages
    2.   Feb 5, 2005 10:17 AM
    Thanks Jerri! It's something that I've been doing for years and seems to work very well.

    -- posted by Tamara1062
    1.   Feb 4, 2005 11:58 AM
    to put your potted seeds on the dryer. Sounds like a pretty foolproof way to set seeds, well explained.

    -- posted by jerrib



    Join the latest discussions

    For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Tamara Galbraith's Organic Gardens topic, please visit the Discussions page.