Hi Bruce,

First I soaked the seeds for a few hours.

I sprayed the paper towel almost wet. Inside the bag I use some polystyrene beads for avoiding sandwich the paper towel. I cannot tell the temperature because I do not use any special device for heating the bag. I put the bags on the windowsill (over the radiator) it is warm. I had experience with opened- bag and closed- bag some of our forum member preferred opened bag too. Now I used closed bag because it hold the moisture a bit longer and avoiding dry the paper towel fast.

{{gwi:1140603}}

When I transplant in the containers I use tooth pick and tweezers. I preferred to use a bit harder paper towel than the soft. I keep the seeds a bit longer in the paper towel after germination, it is also very helpful for the transplantation.

Thanks
Caelian

First thing to do is clean all your tools and hands carefully.

Temp should be 85-87F (measure it, don't guess).

I closed the zip-lock to minimize evaporation.

For large batches I will reuse to-go containers from a restaurant, the paper towels seem to even out to the right moisture without having the condensation sticking to the plastic in contact with them. Also it sort of protects the whole setup better from things like the cat, the parrot, the husband... I like the reuse of the packing peanuts Caelian.

Thanks guys. I think I will be testing most of my seeds this way before planting this year.
Bruce

My outside the box method

1/2 sheet paper towel, place seeds on 1/2 of the paper towel fold over seeds, wet paper towel, place in ziplock bag, leave unzipped, place on DVR, wait few days for for tap roots then use toothpick to place in starter pot with soil, place on shelf above DVR until seedlings break the soil, place under shop lights

Mark

Just took this pic; I tested both CP tomato seed and the germination spot which is on top of a DVD player below the TV. At a glance it appears I've had 100% germination in three days.

I have an infrared thermometer, from one side to the other on the top of the DVD player temps range from 82 - 94F, I picked 89F for the 'spot'.

I never soaked the seed, I dampened a whole paper towell, folded to like a 3" square and wrang as much liquid from it that I possibly could.

I'm pleased with the results.

Sidhartha, it looks very nice, are they supper hot chilies? How many days it took?

For me the super hot chilies germinated faster than the other chilies such as Rocoto De Seda, Wild Tepin, Aji Chuncho and Lemon Drops.

Enjoy your new germinated seeds and good luck.

Caelian

Chilliwin, no, these were Cherokee Purple tomato seed. Don't know if that helps concerning chile seeds or not. I remember years ago I tried to germinate some Aji Dulce seed 'the standard way' in potting soil with no luck, never tried chile seeds using the paper towell method though.

sidhartha0209: did you put the paper towels in ziplocs or any other container to keep them from drying too fast???
Bruce

Updates

One of our forum members "megachili" mentioned about this book "Starters Handbook by Nancy Bubel" in his old post of 1st April 2010. I have read a little bit and found it is useful for me. Thank you megachili for this book, I do not know whether you are still active or not.

I was wondering about how thick I should cover the germinated seeds in the containers. I got the answer from our forum members before and here again in this book I found the answer. So I share this information here.

âÂÂCover the seeds. Expert for very fine seeds, which may be simply pressed into the soil, you will need to cover the seeds with soil. The few seeds that need light for germination are noted in the encyclopedia section. These should be simply pressed into a damp seed-starting medium and covered with clear plastic or glass. The rule of thumb is that seeds should be covered to depth of three times their size. A one-eighth-inch seed, then, would have three-eighth inch of soil over it. I hardly ever put more than one-half inch of soil over any seed, and then only for larger seeds. For indoor sowing I simply spread fine, light soil or vermiculite over the seeds. This last layer neednâÂÂt be wet. If the planting medium on the bottom is well soaked, the top will soon become damp, too.âÂÂ

I am going to try what I have read in this book.

Regards,

Caelian

i use newsprint instead of the towel. get the newsprint wet, then put on seeds, fold, put in baggie, and away you go. paper towel soaks up too much water, plain newsprint gives the seed some air space to breath.

I use coffee filters(the wavy bowl-shaped ones). They're easy to write on with a pencil and the sprouted roots don't dig into them. I fold them in half, spritz them with water to dampen(they'll flatten out), sprinkle with seeds, fold again, place in a zip-lock baggie and set in a warm place(I used to use the shelf above the modem/router). I just keep an eye on them and open the bag now and then to vent. I'll hold them up to a light to see if roots have sprouted and take out the ones that have to place in seed starter.

I've never understood the popularity of the paper towel, coffee filter or any of those type methods of germination.

I tried it a couple of times, what a pain.

I prefer to start in moist starting mix on a heat mat covered with plastic wrap. Can check progress by just lifting the wrap, instead of opening a baggie and unrolling whatever you have the seeds rolled up in.

The potting up transfer is also easier. Spoon out the small seedling and place into your larger container of mix. No messing with toothpicks or tweezers.

Just my opinion...

This is my first time with the baggie method. I didn't cover the seeds but laid then on a folded towel, then inflated the bag with a straw and zipped it shut. That way I can see the seeds without opening the bag and the moisture stays in.

Sounds impressive in theory. Now if it will only work...

"sidhartha0209: did you put the paper towels in ziplocs or any other container to keep them from drying too fast???
Bruce"

Sorry for the delay Bruce, yes I put the paper towell with the seeds inside a fold top sandwich bag. I also placed a 'coaster' as a weight on top the baggie.

DMForcier: By leaving the seeds uncovered in an inflated baggie, you run the risk of having them dry out. I have been using this method for many years using Byron's tea for the liquid, and using coffee filters, folded twice, about 4 types of seeds per baggie. You can write on the filter with a sharpie and the ink does not run. I leave the baggies open a bit, put them in a little tupper ware container on top of the cable box. And for Robeb, this way you can hold the bag up to the light and see when sprouting has started. I just pot up using a dibber and my fingers. This way, I never have to re-pot, which I dislike intensely. In my experience, good fresh pepper seeds will germinate in a few days.

Coffee filters may be better than the pepper towel. I had experience of paper towel stuck and could not open the folded paper towel easily. Thank you Northerner_on for sharing your experience.

Caelian

I wouldn't be germinating seeds for growing peppers using this method. My purpose for starting this thread was simply to find a way to test the viability of seed stock prior to planting the regular way. But I understand the reasoning behind this method for starting and growing plants.

Bruce

Did someone tried this with almonds. (How long took it to germinate?)

This post was edited by Plant_ on Thu, Jan 17, 13 at 14:17

Robeb's response tickled me. I used to say the same thing, I've started my own plants for decades and always used peat pellets (yeah, I know but I've always had great luck with them) or Fafard. I tried the paper towel method last year and hated it. But, I decided to try it again this year after getting some instruction. So far, it's working great. Not only that, but it's much faster for me, and when you start 2000+ seeds, the faster the better. I now love it. I have yet to find a negative, starting the seeds is faster and easier and less mess, takes up less room, and once they sprout, transferring them into pots is much faster (I put them directly into the 2.5" pots that I put the seedlings into). I don't think I will ever go back. - plus, it's MUCH more efficient, you know which ones are sprouted, so no waste in soil or pellets. Yesterday I popped 3 into pots in the time it would take me to transplant one seedling into a pot. never going back! :-)
Pam