germinating seeds in plastic bags

[crannman]

talking to a fellow gardener he tells me he ad good results starting seeds off in freezer bags with a little compost or paper towels he said larger seeds are ok you can see when they germinate and transplant into pots ect .anyone tried this method and what seeds work for you

[donnakebab]

I've never tried it myself but have heard about it. I think people try it with an old pack of seeds, instead of setting up loads of pots, to see if the seeds are still viable. Give it a go.

[Ger-annie-um]

I've tried something similar. When I'm chitting peas or other large(ish) seeds I put them on damp kitchen towel in a small gravel tray and then cover it with cling film. Works a treat.

[Penellype]

Not sure if this is similar but I put a plastic bag over pots of tomato and pepper seedlings, secured with an elastic band. I've just done the same for a pot of indoor sown carrots. These are too tender or too tall to go in my unheated propagator and I find it helps to keep the compost moist until germination.

[Thelma Sanders]

Many people do, especially for difficult or old seeds
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...eds_88324.html

[WilliamD]

I did the plastic bag thing to start my chillies a month ago - varieties which are reluctant to germinate under normal conditions.

1. An hour's soak in water and germination powder.


2. Fold them into wet kitchen towel(paper), put in bag with as much air as poss.


3. Bag into airing cupboard for a couple of weeks. Check every couple of days and water if necessary to keep moist.

4. After a couple of weeks, reveal your tiny seedlings.


5. Plant them carefully into propagator.


6. A couple of weeks later (today):


Sounds like a lot of fuss, but these varieties are said to be v.difficult to propagate and all have come true.

[WendyC]

What's germination powder? I've never heard of it!
I successfully chitted parsnips seeds last year, as I know many others do, but it planted them as soon as the root had started to show rather than the whole seedling like you have done.

[Shooter]

A lot of chilli growers use this method (folded kitchen roll very damp in a sealed plastic bag and on or over gentle heat eg sky /free view box works very well

[WilliamD]

What's germination powder?

I don't know what's in it, but the chilli specialist sold it as special chilli seed germination powder.

[WendyC]

I don't know what's in it, but the chilli specialist sold it as special chilli seed germination powder.

Learn something new every day!

[Lisasbolt]

I tend to do it with a lots of seeds, works really well for onion seeds as i have a problem of little ants walking off with them, but if i help by giving them a head start they tend to work quite well.

[Chris11]

Germination Powder Chilli Seeds

It doesn't say on the website what the active ingredient(s) are, but if you emailed Chilli Gerald, he might tell you.

I'd guess it might be Sodium Hypochlorite, the same ingredient you'd find in Milton sterilising tablets or fluid. It acts to sterilise the seed and also break down some of the outer seed casing to help it absorb moisture and swell more quickly. I'd be cautious about using it, and careful about not exceeding concentrations or soaking times.

Normal water soaking and a heated propagator should be enough for most people to get reasonable germination rates.

[rary]

Germination Powder Chilli Seeds

It doesn't say on the website what the active ingredient(s) are, but if you emailed Chilli Gerald, he might tell you.

I'd guess it might be Sodium Hypochlorite, the same ingredient you'd find in Milton sterilising tablets or fluid. It acts to sterilise the seed and also break down some of the outer seed casing to help it absorb moisture and swell more quickly. I'd be cautious about using it, and careful about not exceeding concentrations or soaking times.

Normal water soaking and a heated propagator should be enough for most people to get reasonable germination rates.

Sodium hypochlorite is bleach so if using that it would be very small amounts, and DO NOT mix with acid as it gives off chlorine, thats vinegar etc. the reason for putting that in is I use a vinegar solution for washing my pots

[Scarlet]

Yes, I pre-chit my chilli seeds in a Tupperware box, lined with damp kitchen towel, also my peas get stolen by mice if I sow them in the GH so they get the same treatment indoors. Mice don't bother with them after germination.

[rary]

I have set up two bags one for sweet pepers and chilli pepers in the other, I sieved some vermiculite and some compost then put the mix in the bags added the seeds gave them a shake then added water and put them into the propagator, will see how they do.