Monday, April 27, 2015

Seed germination: the paper towel method

The traditional way of starting seeds in seed trays and graduating hardier seedlings up to larger pots before putting them outside requires more interior space than we can provide.

We use a method my ingenious father-in-law taught us--back when we were living in a small basement apartment--and it's worked every year without fail.

Materials: 
--seeds
--paper towels
--sealable sandwich bags
--marker


Steps:

1. Wet a paper towel with room temp water (I don't know if the temp matters, as with houseplants, I try not to use very cold water thinking it might be a shock).

2. Wring out paper towel until it's simply damp.

3. Place seeds as evenly spaced as possible on half of paper towel, but don't get crazy about it because some seeds inevitably shift.

4. Place folded paper towel in labeled sandwich bag.

5. Hang bags where you have space.

Check on the dampness of the paper towels every other day, when the towel gets too dry add a splash of water into the bag, seal it and let the towel soak it up. I try not to harass the seedlings too much so I don't take the paper towel out that often (ok, more than I should because I'm impatient and want to check their progress, especially when I have other work to do).


The seeds will germinate and grow about 2-3" in these bags. At this point we transfer the seedlings to a small hoop house we made for just this purpose and they thrive, but you could also use this method for germination and then plant the seedlings in pots.


Your seedlings may have rooted into the paper towel and become difficult to separate from it: DON'T pull them from the paper towel! Why damage roots when you can just cut out that section of paper towel and plant it with the seedling.

Happy Springing!

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