Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patricks Day! I'm doing it AGAIN..................

Happy St. Patricks Day!
                           Wear the Green!



The weather this week has been better than fabulous so yes "I'm doing it again!" I am starting seeds. A while back Samantha G asked me to write a post about my baggie method for seed starting.... Here it is:

I soak the seeds first in hot water. Water about the heat that you would hand wash dishes in is fine. Too hot and it can kill the seeds. I sometimes soak them overnight, but I have also soaked them for just about an hour at the time.  These are cat food cups that I have an abundance of and they only have about 1-1.5 ounces of water in them.

I then fill a cheap  ( from the dollar store)quart sized ziplock baggie. 1/3 full with my seed starting mix. ( usually miracle grow potting soil because it is easiest to come by and it is light weight.)
Then I dump the seeds and the water they are soaking in all into the baggie. I seal it up and label it and then put it in a warm spot and wait...........and wait...........and wait...... ( I am not very patient sometimes.)

Most seeds like temperatures in the low 70's-80's for germination and some like light and others dark. Most of the seeds I am planting will take anywhere from 7 days to 2 months to germinate.
I then check on them at least every couple of days. As long as there is condensation in the baggie, there is enough moisture and humidity for them to do just fine. You don't even have to open the bag. When I use quart sized bags and the seedlings reach the top or have at least 2 pairs of true leaves, I know it is time to take them out and transplant them into pots, or their growing spot. Depending on where you grow them, you may need to harden them off for a few days before planting out in full sun.
This week I have started : coneflowers, rudbeckias, stokesia, jasmines, vines, and tons of other things. When they all come up I may need help getting them planted.
There are many many methods of seed starting, but this one works best for me. Since I have started growing in bags, my germination percentages have increased exponentially.
Good Luck.

If you have a way to start seeds that really works well for you, leave me a comment and let me know. I love to experiment.

5 comments:

Sandra said...

Very interesting - I haven't seen that method before.

Anonymous said...

Happy St. Patty's day to you too! :)
Sandy, when you dump all th seeds in the baggy with the dirt.... do you mix the soil up???

I use the baggy method for leaf cuttings.

Della said...

That is very clever!

Samantha G said...

Thanks so much for posting! I haven't tried this method, but this is a great thing to do with my old ziplock bags. I usually wash and re-use them (depending on what was in them) but this is another way that I can get more than one use out of them and not have to throw them away :)

I used a Jiffy Garden seed greenhouse for mine this year.

Anonymous said...

What a clever idea this is - I am going to try it!

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