How to Get garden seeds to germinate in half the time

How to get your garden seeds to germinate in half the time as well as a larger percentage.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Saucer
• Spray bottle
• Paper Towel

1. In this method in place of putting your seeds in soil to start the germination process we'll simply use a paper towel. Using this method you will not plant any bad seeds.

2. Take a paper towel and place it on a saucer or if you have a lot of seeds you can use a plate.

3. On top of the paper towel place the seeds you wish to germinate. Then place another paper towel over the seeds.

4. Next take a spray bottle of water and mist the paper towel until well soaked. You will need to keep the paper towel moist until the seed sprout roots. Place your seeds in the warmest part of your home. In the kitchen as high as you can get them is a good bet in most homes. Remember light plays no part in the germination process. The germination is affected more by the warmth or heat rather than light.

5. Most seeds will sprout roots in about half the time it takes in soil. I have seen cucumber seeds sprout in as little as 24 hours.

6. Once the seeds have sprouted roots it is important to remove from the paper towel and place in soil cups. Do so by using a pencil and make a hole deep enough to accept the root. Place about 1/4 in. of soil over the seed itself. Place in a sunny window and plant will get leaves in 24 to 48 hours.

Tips & Warnings

• Chose a good potting soil, remember most potting soil has no soil in it at all. It is a mix of peat and other items to be water retentive.
• Do not set the young plants outdoors until after all danger of frost has passed

[thenana]

on 3/26/2009 Sounds like a good plan, I am going to start my next okra seeds like this. This sounds a little like a science project. Can we get extra credit? Thanks for the great info!

[smsissel]

on 2/15/2009 Easy to follow and well written. Definately an idea I'm going to have to try. I get very impatient waiting for them to pop in the soil mix! 5*

[stefanie720]

on 2/9/2009 I also did this a long time ago. It worked great! You can practically sit and watch the seeds germinate.

[clytie]

on 2/7/2009 I have done this before, and it works. My only problem was remembering to take care the planting once they germinated. Out of sight, out of mind! Next time, I will put a reminder in my Outlook calendar.