Old seeds - to throw or not to throw

[TheDante]

@ TheDante,
I soaked pepper seeds from 2011 in: 250ml water(about 1 and a half cup) did 1 teaspoon guano in it. Let the seeds 24 hours in it and than (01.01.2020)I did the seeds in the germination bag...today they germinate!
Than storage life from:
eggplant - 4 years
broccoli - 4 years
beans - 3 years
peas - 3 years
cucumber - 4 years
carrot - 2 years
pimpkin - 4 years
corn - 2 years
chard - 4 years
melon - 4 years
pepper - 3 years
tomatoes - 4 years
onions - 2 years

Yayyyyyy asmx! Nice! I am sooooooooooooo happy that the seeds are still viable (able to germinate) and that they germinated!

And btw, 2 days before full moon is supposed to be very good to sow seeds helps ´germinate´ quickly too.

[MsCowpea]

Thanks for the tip. I will try the guano on really old pepper seeds. So do you think it was the germination bag that also did the trick. How long were they in the bag?
How do you do that? I have tried doing other seeds in moist paper towel and they sprouted but I don’t get how to move them into potting mix. Do you position them a certain way and then cover? Thanks for the great report.

[TheDante]

Thanks for the tip. I will try the guano on really old pepper seeds. So do you think it was the germination bag that also did the trick. How long were they in the bag?
How do you do that? I have tried doing other seeds in moist paper towel and they sprouted but I don’t get how to move them into potting mix. Do you position them a certain way and then cover? Thanks for the great report.

Elaine, did you ever watch Charles´ videos about how he pricks out his seedlings into those cell/module trays?

I am going to dig out some pics of mine whereby I germinated seeds from parsnips and other some others on wet paper towel method. And then transplanted them. Bear with me ok. I am eager to share these with you. I experimented many methods over the years.

[TheDante]

Here are some of his sowing and pricking out methods videos to give you an idea and I will post some pics of mine ok =)

[TheDante]

When you get the seed leaves (the 1st 2 leaves), they are ready to be transplanted.

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[Nan6b]

Aren't the roots stuck into the paper towel? do you cut the paper towel or just yank out the tender roots?

[TheDante]

Not really Nan =), just gently pry the roots loose from the wet/damp paper towel. Or else, just wet the towel a little more. The paper towel also will tear fairly easily.

Hold the leaves between 2 fingers and gently nudge it from the wet paper towel.

I have seen some videos how rough some pot their seedlings…. horrific!

Mine are treated with lots of TLC

the 1st pic are celery seeds, fyi.

[MsCowpea]

I find what NaN said happens to me. Plus they are so teeny tiny you can’t really plant the thing in the mix-right? Do you just set it on top? Haven’t had a chance to see videos but I will. The sprouted seeds on paper towel pic is really helpful.

[TheDante]

I find what NaN said happens to me. Plus they are so teeny tiny you can’t really plant the thing in the mix-right? Do you just set it on top? Haven’t had a chance to see videos but I will. The sprouted seeds on paper towel pic is really helpful.

Oh yes, you definitely can. These seedlings are fairly tough, just not too roughly handled - not yank (grinning at Nan

And if you sow plenty, you can practice your ´rough-handling´ skills. =)))

You need to first

wet the potting mix well
dib the hole with a dibber (if you see one of Charles´s later videos, he uses this green dibber that I gave him too - he used pencils previously.. lol)
pick the 2 seed leaf seedling gently
´plonk´ into the dibbed hole
gently close the mix around the seedling
bwala!

You need not water anymore so long as you have wet the potting mix well. A dibber helps to ease the root into the hole too. (oh lawdy, this sounds a tad kinky, sorry, my bad )

Watch Charles´ propagation videos that I showed you - same thing =)

[asmx92]

Soaking seeds:



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Germinating in the germination bag

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she helps me...

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[MissS]

Well done!

[MsCowpea]

asmx, nice seedlings but your helper looks like she/he is not about to Move off that warming mat.

What is the picture with the orange cup and the folded paper inside?

And are you using small little bags to germinate? People always show a big folded paper towel in a big plastic bag.
I have alot of small bags. Do you use paper towel too. How do you transfer to the cups?

———- ———

Karen, Dowding’s videos are fantastic. I can prick out and plant larger seedlings (one or two seed leaves) —it is the tiny
Sprouts on the paper towel technique I don’t get. In the first video he did show moving teeny snapdragons , which by the way, I would love to learn how to grow from seed. I have a lot of old snapdragon seeds. I should try asmx small bags for germination. Elaine

[asmx92]

In the orange cup I did my Guano solution (1 and a half cup water and 1 teaspoon Guano) When you have no Guano you can also take a cup hot water and in it a chamomille teabag. Because I have so many different kinds of seeds I do the seeds into the newspaper. So I can solute about 100 kinds.
and - I use papertowels, too.
When 2 real leaves are here, I water the papertowel again and than I do it into the earth. For that I use a thin chopstick, make a hole with it and than I do the little plant in it. This method needs not much square. It is more work, but I have the time.

[TheDante]

Karen, Dowding’s videos are fantastic. I can prick out and plant larger seedlings (one or two seed leaves) —it is the tiny
Sprouts on the paper towel technique I don’t get. In the first video he did show moving teeny snapdragons , which by the way, I would love to learn how to grow from seed. I have a lot of old snapdragon seeds. I should try asmx small bags for germination. Elaine

Hey Elaine, watching his videos definitely helps to have a better idea how to go about with handling these tiny seedlings. Like the saying goes, seeing is believing. =) Ha! I guess it helps when one has small, tiny, nimble fingers to handle these really tiny seeds. The celery seeds were TINY!

Tbh, I stopped using the wet paper towel method because I have observed that the roots tend to get twirly and all. Unlike if I sowed them in potting mix, the roots tend to be ´straighter´ and a whole lot easier to prick into those cells/modules.

The bigger advantage with the wet paper towel method is that one can visibly see when the seeds germinate. If you would like to try this method, wet a piece of paper towel and place it onto tray. Then broadcast the seeds onto the wet paper towel. Take another piece of paper towel and also wet it and gently place it over the paper towel with the seeds sown on it. If your surroundings are very dry, then maybe place a plastic sheet over the top. I hope my explanation helps. Peek under the paper towel daily to see if any of seeds starts to germinate. Make sure the paper towels are kept moist but not overly wet.

Since you have a lot of old snapdragon seeds, you can try both methods and see which works better.

Elaine, please do ask as many questions as you like, no matter how ´silly´ if you think it might be, I will be more than happy to share my own personal experiences. Truly =)

[TheDante]

Asmx, deine Katze ist sooooooooooooooooo niedlich! Ich liebe Katze sehr! ^-^

(Your cat is sooooo adorable - think it is obvious I am nuts about cats!)

[TheDante]

asmx - it is very obvious you are sooooo passionate with what you do =))) thank you for sharing the pictures.

[asmx92]

look, so I do the seeds into the germination bag:
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I use a plastic spoon (the handle I break away) you can use a peace of plastik to do the the paper towel on it. You must do that, because you must water the seeds...

[MsCowpea]

I get it. Going to try it-I have more old seeds than anybody.

(Wish my cats would oversee the work like your cute cat.)

[imp]

I have some old seeds, don't we all?! But just use a more live and let die thing with mine for the most part. Unless it is something special, then I will do a Miracle Grow blue stuff soak before planting, but always just put in/on starter medium in trays and keep warm and moist. I'll sow fairly thickly and separate anything that needs to be by simply taking out the cell block and plucking the plantlets out as I break apart the moist medium, up pot them to a new pot. Water with tap water and a very weak solution of MG.

Ill do the above for most all I start if not direct seeding.

Pretty much as the video's posted at Tomatoville for Craig's dense planting method*, and I don't do the ( for me) fiddly pricking out each plantlet thing. I am a bit rough perhaps compared to some, but then so is nature, and if they are that fragile or weak, no sense growing them out for me. And mostly, seedlings WANT to grow and do just fine if they sprout. Didn't sprout? Well then they are compost eventually.

Though as MissS and some others can testify, I hate to cull tomato babies that are healthy!!

* I strongly recommend watching how Craig did the tomatoes in his video. Very clear and excellent information that works well, too.

[EdieJ]

Digging through my seed box a month or so ago, in the very bottom I found a tiny cellophane baggie with a small handful of Estler's Mortgage Lifter seeds that were from the very last batch my Uncle Bob saved in 2011. I thought about them and thought about them and finally couldn't stand it any more. About 3 weeks ago I started 3 seeds. In less than a week, one sprouted. OMG. And that was all there was until earlier this week. Lo and behold, the other 2 sprouted too. At that point you could have knocked me over with a feather! It really is too soon for seed starting but I really had not thought they would sprout and now I'll be darned if I throw them away. So they are in potting soil under seedling lights - I will have to worry about how to keep them going until I can figure out the next step. But I am just over the moon about them!!