Hydrogen Peroxide for all seed starting?

Does anyone routinely use a Hydrogen Peroxide and Water soak for their seed starting?

I know daylily growers sometimes use it, and some people use it for hard coated seeds, but does anyone use a weak solution-- say, ml 15H2O2 to 1000 ml distilled H20-- on almost everything? (or in layman's terms a solution of about 1/3 of a cup H2O2 to 4 cups of (distilled is best) water)

I have heard of gardeners watering seedlings with it, etc., but I am wondering about a general aid to germination...

If you do soak your seeds in H202 and water, how long do you soak them?

This message was edited Feb 19, 2006 4:28 PM

tabasco, check out this thread: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/423028/

Lots and lots about H2O2

Thanks, Katy--

I did read through the thread and several others here and on GW, but they were mostly about the amazing rejuvenating oxygen effect of H2O2 on plants...(which seems to work, by the way!)

I was wondering about general seed starting with hydrogen peroxide...and personal experiences.

I went ahead and soaked many of my seeds for a few hours, so I will see how the germination goes... I may have made a grave error, but, we shall see!....

Please let us know how things turn out, I'm very interested to know. I've thought about doing the same thing, but was always too nervous to try it. I'll be looking for your future posts and hoping everything goes great with your seeds!!
Heather

Will give a full report. But I was hoping somebody would reassure me! :-)

So far I haven't heard one bad thing about using H2O2!! Whether folks were using it on seeds or cuttings it's all been good news that has only helped the plants/seeds grow better.

I hope that's a bit encouraging!

I used it on all 8 flats of seeds, ranging from some rare MGs to small tree/bush seeds and they almost all germinated. The very flat seeds that I did not soak also germinated, the milkweed seeds.

I do use bottom heat, dome and lights. Hope that helps.

Hi DGers, due to a stroke 11 years ago I through years of trial and error start all my seeds by soking them overnight in water and a capful of peroxide. the left over watetr is used to mix my pro mix that i start my seeds in. i have no damping off disease.no fans going and i also grow indoors hydroponically. lew

Lew,
How much water do you use when you add the capful of peroxide?

Sorry to hear about your stroke, but it sounds like it hasn't kept you down! :)
Heather

Hu Heather, I feel truly blessed a great day for me is outdoors in my wheel chair with my trees (around 200 in pots that i rescue or grow from seed)anyhow, i soak my seeds in a cup of water with a cap of peroxide. I feel ihe water mixed with the the pro mix is the main reason for no damp off, because my early years were big losses. lew

I'm trying peroxide for all my seed starting this winter to. Most of the seed I've sown so far have been small, so I did'nt soak them, but watered from the bottom with peroxide solution. The first couple of pots I started using only water and had some damping off, but after that all with peroxide have had no problem and are germinating fast, and I'm not even using bottom heat.

This has been experimental for me as well, and so far I'm pleased.

Thanks for the info Lew! I'm learning more here every day.

200 trees? Holy cows! What kind of trees? I don't even have 200 plants! Being in a wheel chair must make it difficult to garden, but obviously you've found a way around those obstacles...where there's a will, there's a way! :)

Well Heather, I live in the beautiful mtns. of ky. where strip mining and logging is rampant, one year I saw hundreds of beautiful flame azaleas destroyed so i made it my mission to resue as many trees and shrubs as I can.So when I'm anle to hire a driver and digger i go looking. i also rescue animals, but that is another story. lew

All of this info is reassuring to me since I soaked all my seeds in a peroxide/water solution! We shall see what happens.

I will report in a month or two when I see what happens (I wintersowed and everything is under a couple of inches of snow today.)

tabasco, I bet you're going to have the best seedlings ever! Between the soaking and the wsing. I can't wait to see what happens!

Lew, they do strip mining near me also. I hate the look of those bare mnts, so I know what you are talking about. God bless you. It's a shame you have to hire a driver and digger, it would be nice if someone would volunteer. Have you ever thought of trying to get a volunteer from a environmental program? Might work. I used to do that kind of thing for a friend of mine...drive him around so he could test waters from streams and creeks to see if there was run-off from old mines and etc. It was a lot of fun...we were allowed into areas that no one else was. He isn't in a wheel chair, but he is handicap, he has a stiff knee. He doesn't do water testing anymore, but we had so much fun! Some of the areas where no one had been in years were filled with so much wildlife it was incredible! Deer, bear, beaver, etc. The one place had so many wildflowers growing...and there was a swarm of butterflies like I'd never seen. It was always a great experience to go out running in the woods with him. I miss it. Keep up the good work! :)
Heather

gemini--are you doing any winter sowing?

lew-- pretty interesting that you go out and rescue plantings. Kentucky has such beautiful mountains and hills, it's good to know somebody is out there watching out for it.

Oh yes, I'm in to the seeds this year. Have already direct sown some poppies, myosotis, aquilegia, dianthus, and rose campion. In the next couple of weeks I'll be direct sowing larkspur and more poppies. Several starting indoors as well (violas, snapdragons, spinach, and lettuce) that will go into the cold frame soon, then I'll be working on Ipomopsis, Bells of Ireland, zinnias, marigolds, tomatoes, and peppers.

gem-- we are trying some of the same-- bells of Ireland, Ipomopsis, poppies, myosotis, aquilegia and rose campion... I am using the wintersowing method, though, since I think the birds will get my seeds otherwise...

What winter sowing method are you using?

The one explained on Wintersown.org. http://www.wintersown.org/

with lots of tips on the Wintersowing forum here http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/coldsow/all/

pic of some of my winter sowing obsession....

That's a great idea! I'm using the fridg for my Oriental poppies and hardy geranium, but that is a super way to do it. How have I missed all this!

Yeah, why use the fridge space when it's already cold outside?!! Makes some sense, doesn't it?

Well, we'll see how WS works out in a couple of months, but many seem to swear by it, and I think it's worth a try.

Just be sure to put plenty of slits for drainage in your containers and try to fill them with about 4 to 6 inches of potting soil (you don't have to use 'seed starting mix' they say.)

It's not too late to start. Good luck. t.

pic of my parsley, sage, chervil, basil, dill, etc., etc. and various butterfly attracting flower seed pans (I used roasting pans from the Dollar Store and Giant Zip Locks from Walmart)

Sorry, I guess this is off topic, but I did use H2O2/water to soak the seeds, although I really think that is 'Overkill'.

I'm using H2O2 religiously now to. Have'nt had any damping off since.

That's excactly how I'm starting my poppies. This is when I usually sow them anyway, and the seed is so small it's hard to have enough control over them in the garden. I'm lining 4" pots with newspaper, then filling with potting mix, so I can slip them out and plant paper and all.

I sent this to someone else . Not many people post amounts and strenghts of H202 .
The last seeds took almost a month to germanate [ sp ] . The seeds were both Daturas and Brugs . Don't plant and expect to see something in a week or 2 .
Tomatoes , Santa Maria , 7 crowns and Hibiscus - 3 days or more to sprout .
White bird of paradice , Noni , and Gauva haven't sprouted yet . [ 3 weeks ]
I soaked the first ones for about 24 hours in distilled water .1 gallon distilled water [ Drinking water ] with 1/2 cup of Hydrogen Peroxide [ 3 % - the stuff at the dollar store ] .4 or 5 drops of supertrive in the same water . I put the jiffy 7 peat pellets and rockwool to soak at same time .
I cut the small plastic drinking water bottels in half to soak seeds . At this time of year I am starting a lot of things .
Then I put the seeds in jiffy 7 peat pellets with bottom heat .
The water mixture thats left is sprayed on other plants and the jiffy 7 peat pellets when they dry out .
Same thing on 2 nd batch but for about 48 hrs .
Hope this makes sense and helps .

Thanks, tony--

I think in terms of germination, the percentage of germination improves and the length of time to germinate generally improves, depending on the particular seeds requirements...

I will look later to see if I can google the university research on the H202 seed soak. Could give more details... t.

Thanks for your observations, tony-- I'm interested in your timing of the soak and I will be interested to know when germination takes place.

I will try to google the university research I found to get some more details on the solution and the process.

Any updates Tabasco?

no, no updates! Still working on it. Do you have any updates?

I'm doing wintersowing, so won't have any sprouts for several weeks.

The ones I started under lights have already succumbed to neglect, etc.

(I'm no good at seed starting inside, hence the fascination with Wintersowing and hydrogen peroxide solutions and so on!)

they say 'Wintersowing' is 'seed starting for dummies' and I hope so!

I have used H2O2 for a couple of years now. I soak my seeds in it (maybe a couple of tablespoons per gallon), I put it in the water that I water the seedlings with, and I put it in the spritzer bottle. Zero damping off.

Help! I'm new to this seeding stuff. What is meant by damping off? Sounds like something one does to a seed with a towel after one showers it with water. Thanks

Well, 'damping off" of "damp off" is a fungus that causes seedlings' stems to rot off and can affect the whole flat of seedlings.

Usually it can be avoided with impeccable sanitation and using sterilized potting soil.

It's an annoying occurrence and that is why I am so 'into' Wintersowing seeds. Damp off isn't a problem with Wintersowing.