Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie
This year I mixed extra perlite in my pro mix, soaked that in a container of water, removed it, dropped seeds, and covered in about a quarter inch of vermiculite. Then I misted the vermiculite with a spray bottle to wet it.
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I load a 72 cell tray with mix, flood the tray from below and set aside to allow the water to be drawn up. When I see dampness in the top of the cells, I pour off the remaining water and set the tray in my "staging" area for overnight. Next day, I pour out any other remaining water in the catch tray and begin planting. This also allows the temperature of the mix to stabilize to the room temperature overnight. Again, this is one of the things I do as a stress deterrent - no shocking temp changes during germination. I actually use skin temperature (warm/comfortable to the skin = usually around 85 F.) water for all the germination steps.
While what I do is not everybody's panacea, I do get very good results. This year, I tested some Tommy Toe (red) seeds that I had saved back in 2004. My germination rate was above 97%. I thought the rate would be something like 30% and had to move the contents of the cell quickly as it filled up with seedlings.
Anyhow, as George Peppard said to "Mr. T" so many times, "I love it when a plan comes together".