Seed Starting At Light Speed

I believe I hit on a supreme method for getting vegetable and herb seeds to germinate quickly. Many of my seeds germinated in only four days this year.

This also proves why keeping a garden journal is so important, because I kept copious notes on exactly what I used and how I used it.

Materials:

* Seeds (duh...)
* Burpee Fiber 3" Square Pots
* Jiffy Seed Starting Mix
* Myke Tree And Shrub Transplanter
* Plastic trays to hold pots
* Clear Plastic sheeting (enough to cover pots)

I had read that adding a Mycorrhizal fungi mix to your potting medium will speed up germination and build a stronger root system, so I thought I'd try it this year. I bought Myke Tree And Shrub Transplanter for this use, as it claims to include Mycorrhizae. (disclaimer: it's specifically marketed only for use when transplanting trees and shrubs).

I potted 40 Burpee fiber pots with the following seeds: Carnival Peppers (Burpee 2010 and 2011 issue); Tomatoes: Black Krim (Culinary Couture, 2010 issue); Super Beefsteak (Burpee 2010 issue); Super Italian Paste (Burpee heirloom 2010 issue); RedTomato Seed Sprouts Cherry Large (Livingston Heirloom 2011 issue); Thyme - Tomillo (unknown company, 2010 issue); Italian Parsley (Livingston 2011 issue); Paramount Parsley (Page's Seeds 2010 issue); Sweet Basil (Livingston Seeds, 2011 issue); Genovese Italian Basil (Livingston Seed 2011 issue); and Sweet Basil-Albahara (Page's Seeds 2010 issue).

After I filled the pots with the Jiffy potting mix, before adding the seeds, I soaked them thoroughly with water. I then placed a few seeds in each pot (you can usually only count on a 70-80% germination rate), sprinkled a pinch of the Myke's over the top and then pressed it all in lightly with my index finger, making sure every seed was slightly under the surface of the mix and in contact with the medium. Then I used a spray bottle to moisten the top of each pot's planting medium with water.

The pots were placed in plastic trays on an old card table underneath a South facing window. I covered the pots in their trays with clear plastic sheeting tucked tightly under the trays to create a greenhouse effect and trap humidity (to keep the medium surface from drying out). I added a small space heater in the room to bring the air temp up to a consistent 70+ degrees and sprayed water on top of the potting medium once per day thereafter.

In 4 days all of the Thyme and Basil seeds had germinated and on Day 5, all of the Tomatoes had germinated with the exception of the Black Krim seeds, which poked their heads through on Day 6(year old seed). As stem growth was pretty significant already on the herbs, I un-tucked (but kept covered) the plastic sheeting so the plants would get some airflow, to lower humidity and avoid damping off.

On Day 7 the Carnival Pepper seeds from 2011 germinated and on day 8 the Carnival Pepper seeds from 2010 were up as were the first of the parsley seeds.

Typically it's at least two days later that herbs and tomatoes germinate and up to ten days for the rest, but this year they appeared in record time. In theory, faster germination leads to a hardier plant, so I hope it's a sign of good things to come this season!

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