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Square Foot Gardening

Germinate in paper towels; is heat necessary?

14 years ago

I remember germinating seeds in paper towels in a baggie, and when I read here about people doing it, I decided to try again myself this year. My question - once the seeds germinate and I plant them into starter pots, will they need additional bottom heat? I don't usually heat seedlings for long, as I don't want them to get leggy, but I'm not sure what to do when the seedlings are so small.

If I do need to heat, do you heat for just a few days, or ...???

Thanks for the help!

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Comments (3)

daylilyfanatic4
14 years ago
I germinate all my seeds in a paper towel on heat but as soon as there is a root the are taken off the heat and I pot them up. hope this anwers your question.
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
Heat is always a requirement for germination. Seedlings have a soil temperature requirement as well and will suffer if below that range.

Dan
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kr222
14 years ago
I do the paper towel method and put them in a Ziploc. Then I sit them in a sunny window until they germinate. If it gets really warm in the plastic bag, I unzip it just a bit so I don't cook the seeds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's Garden

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