Don't sprout seeds in bags (was Re: [CH] My poor troubled plants)

David Stanton (jstanton@southtech.net)
Mon, 09 Mar 1998 22:55:59 -0500 

Anton and several others have written of their troubles in pre-sprouting seeds in plastic
bags. Why do this?

Unless you have a good reason to put your seeds in a bag, stick with the normal ways and
you'll have better luck. Don't make it complicated. If you transplant them before they
have real leaves or roots, you can hurt them. 

Plant about 1/2 inch deep in a quality soilless mix, unless you are a committed organic
gardener. (Insert your favorite organic method here.) I like the commercial seed-starting
mixes, but I have had luck with good, peaty potting soil (screened to get the chunks and
sticks out). I use an antifungal powder -- Captan -- to treat the seeds before planting.
This reduces the risk of damping off, but clean and (most important) warm soil is more
important for that -- the Captan is just an added safety measure. Keep the soil evenly
moist, not wet, at 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit, and most varieties should sprout within 10
days. Some will take longer, but I have never seen the longer times some report for habs
and their relatives. The only ones I have had to wait on are the wild ones -- the little
berrylike things that are accustomed to traveling through a bird's gullet before finding
the soil. Some of these require special effort, but for most, all you really need to do
with the seeds to speed them up is to freeze them for a week or so to help break their
natural dormancy. More than anything, it seems to help them all come up almost at the same
time.

I wrote this because I saw people using a troublesome method when they may not need to do
so. I would appreciate it if those of you who do this for a reason would also post on this
subject -- maybe you can help someone out there who would benefit from doing it this way. 

David

SchoenBacher, Anton wrote:
> 
>      I have been having a few problems with my plants.  My first
> question
>      is about my seeds not germinating with this ziplock method.  This
> is
>      what I did and maybe someone could determine if my method is wrong
> or
>      if my seeds are crap.  I took a few habanero, ortega, and
> ornamental
>      chile seeds, got a paper towel wet (not sopping wet), put the seeds
> in
>      the towel, placed it in a ziplock and closed it about 3/4 of the
> way
>      shut.  Put them near my heating pad so they are 85-90 deg.  Its
> been
>      about 3 or 4 weeks and they are a little fatter but nothing is
>      sprouting.
> 
>      My next question is about my tomatillo's which I am growing
>      hydroponically.  They started blooming about 2 weeks ago but after
> the
>      flower, the bud turns yellow and falls off (stem and all).  This
> isn't
>      normal is it ?  My apple peppers are flowering and I don't want the
> 
>      same thing to happen to them.