How to Sow Your Seedlings For The Most Germinations Every Time

The avid gardener usually gets a jump start in early Spring with an almost ritual sowing of selected seeds in small pots and just hoping that all the seeds germinate. Sometimes the percentage of germination is so low that they have to be restarted and this can waste some valuable time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• some knowledge of gardening

1. 
    
   Photo shows water catch tray used to keep seedlings moist for quick germination.

   What's A Dedicated Gardener To Do?
   
   Most serious gardeners are fairly familiar with the fact that no matter how new the packet of seedling they will never get 100 germinations for every 100 seedlings planted. This is true of virtually every packet of seedling. Of course, there is a way to increase germination, but you will rarely see 100%. The first requirement is that the seed must be packed for the present growing year and the seed supplier should be well known and reputable.

2. 
    
   Some early seedlings with pot placed in larger tray

   What Are The Simple Steps That Will Insure Optimum Germination?
   
   1- Place some commercial sterile potting soil in an eight inch pot with some drainage holes in its base. Place your pot in a tray which will catch the excess water. The growing pot can be virtually any size, but 8 inches in diameter that is only 3 inches high would do fine but the depth is not critical.

3. 2- Before placing the seed in the soil to the depth that is called for on the package and with the pot in the tray, fill it 3/4 to the top with simple tap water. Leave the water level drop to about 1/2 its height as it is sopped up in the potting soil in your 8 inch pot. The purpose of this procedure is to pre-moistine the soil that will hasten germination of whatever seed you will be planting. This could take a couple of hours, depending on the soil characteristics you are using. The top of the soil should feel slightly damp when you place the back of your hand on it. If you find that after three hours you can not feel the soil dampness just add a little more water to the tray until it does.

4. 3- Once this has been done it is time for the next step which is to place a matrix of holes using a pencil head to a depth which is slightly more than what is called for on the packet. Just eye balling this is fine. Try to place the seed slightly over an inch apart. They will only need room to spread later, so you don't have to be critical. Just drop each seed in its prepared hole and when done just use the same head of the pencil to bury each one. Using a simple cover from a jar such as peanut butter or similar cover and press down the soil to compact slightly so the seeds are touching the most soil particles possible.

5. 4- Check the estimated germination time on the package and wait. Once the pot absorbs all the water in the catch tray it should last a few days before it needs to be replenished. You can easily judge this by lifting the pot and if it feels light just add a little more water. As soon as you see sprouting begin you should place it under the lights or in a south facing window. If grow lights are used place them only three to four inches beneath them. By keeping the soil moist until germination you will get the most seeds to survive. If the soil is left too moist for any length of time you could lose most or all of them.(Please see Warning below for precautions.)

Tips & Warnings

• It must be noted here that over watering of seedlings could cause rotting of seed and a loss of germination. The suggestion is to use a water spray bottle and only spray from the top on a daily basis until germination occurs, then you can add water to the water tray.