Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Seed Starting 101 Step 4

Time to plant the seed. Fill the container you are going to plant in almost to the brim with the medium you are using. Be sure it is good and moist but not soggy. I usually get the medium wet up some, fill the containers they set them in a tray of chamomile tea to finish wetting up. The purpose of the chamomile tea is to help prevent any fungus growing while the seeds are germinating and last ward off dampening off. Will explain mixture etc. after.

Once the medium is wet up you are ready to plant. Be sure you know if the seeds are to be covered with medium or not. If the packet say light needed to germinate just drop the seed onto the medium and press lightly with your hand when finished. If it say cover lightly with soil sprinkle the medium over the seed. Usually seed are planted to 4 times the thickness of the seed. If I am going to cover the seed I have a cut off piece of wooden skewer that I make little furrows in the medium with to place each seed in. Once covered with medium I spray the top with the chamomile tea, place plastic wrap over the container and either set it in a warm place if it says grow at 72-80 degrees or what ever the package say. If it says 50s or 60s find a cool spot to set them. It may say 7-10 days to germination but it can happen anytime. After the second day I check my seed every morning and night. It happens quickly and the cover need to be removed immediately once growth is seen and get them under your lights and get the fan going. Quick example. Last night there were no signs of growth in my peppers. This morning they are up an inch and pushing against the plastic wrap.

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