Seed HELP!!!!

When rooting seeds in a jar with water, H2O2 and paper towels, do you keep the jar sealed? Do you poke holes in the lid? or do you close it up so the mositure stays in the jar? I soaked the seeds for 24 hours in warm water and H2O2 and they didn't seem to plump up much, if at all...so I thought I'd try the jar thing...but I'm not sure about the lid. Any help would be appreicated. Right now I have the lid on the jar, but it doesn't have a real tight seal, so maybe it is a fair compromise.....

Use a small jar, such as a Pimento jar. Close the lid.

Not all seeds 'plump' up, but will germinate.

I am curious to know why you used warm water
with H2O2?

That was what my favorite 'green thumb' advised me to do...the warm water helps them to germinate faster and the H2O2 also helps them to get more oxygen.....She said that is what she always does with hers and it works. She only does the jar and paper towel thing if they are old seeds and she thinks they will need an extra boost. But she didn't tell me whether to seal the jar.

This sounds like a version of the baggie method, just using a jar instead of a baggie. With the baggie method, you fold the baggie closed but don't ziplock it if it's that kind. Also, the cheap thin baggies are supposed to be better because they let in a little more oxygen. So maybe put the cap on loosely?

Cool beans. It seemed to me it would need some oxygen. I've got it in a jar where the lid fits loosley, not air or water tight. It is larger than what was suggested, but we just moved in a few months ago and I haven't started pack ratting again yet, so I am pretty limited on what I have to use. Heck, when we moved in with my MIL 3 years ago, my hubby threw almost everything out because he knew our stuff would be in storage for a while (although we never expected to be there for 3 years!) and he wanted to get it into the smallest space possible...so when we moved here, we had to buy so much stuff! I pretty much had to restock all my kitchen gadgets and stuff....not to mention all the foodstuffs. Plus bathrooms and bedrooms....Wow! Did it cost a fortune to start over again, almost from scratch! We had most of our furniture, and our dishes, but that was just about it.

I checked with a Chemist. The H2O2 gives the seeds oxygen,
and the warm water speeds the action.

The jar must be closed tightly.

The Deno baggy method does not involve H2O2. Of
course one could soak the paper towel in H202, and
it might help. The bag must be closed to hold the
moisture needed for germination.

What little oxygen that could enter the plastic bag would
be zilch.

Read this old thread on H2O2.

Propagation: Stolen Idea! http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/423028/

I just wished that others wouldn't have highjacked the thread later on.

~* Robin

Yep, that is where I learned about it! Then when I talked to my sis, she told me to use warm water and to change the water every few hours. For some of the seeds, all but 5 (out of abut 30 or so) germinated in the solution. However, other seeds didn't do anything in the solution so I tried the papertowel thing and they looked like they might be dong a little something, so I went ahead and potted them up. Time will tell....

You can sprout tomatoes, tomatillos, ground cherries,cucumbers, eggplants, pepper seeds, melons & others in the paper towels too. For easy removal of sprouted seeds, use a spray/mist bottle to gently nudge them off of the paper towel; or if they're stubborn just gentley tear off the piece paper towel seedling & all & just plant it with the paper towel attached; it will disintegrate in a few days (I promise.)

I've tried it.

Peas, beans, pole or runner bean, pole lima, all need to soak for 24 hours in water first & coated with a legume inoculant before putting them into the plastic baggies. I'm going to try some cinnamon powder on my next batch. It's supposed to be a natural fungicide too.

~* Robin

A site for a lot of information on H202
http://www.h2o2.com/intro/faq.html#2
The warm water helps expand the seed casing , allowing , air oxgen , etc in a little easier . It helps to break dormacy .
I have a book that says pouring very hot water on raduis seeds wraped in a paper/tisue will make them germate in as little as 8 minutes .

tonyjr,

Did you just misspell the word radius?

~* Robin

I'm new to this type of H202 seed starting but will definitely try it! I usually try to start indoors either way to early or way to late but I think the baggie method would fit in great with the too late time frame:) I'm kinda impatient and wondering how important it is to have distilled water as I don't have any at the house right now. And are there any type of seed that you would not recommend for this type of procedure? Thanks for any help!

First, I must say that I am VERY new to gardening, not to mention starting from seeds. I decided to experiment with the H2O2 formula, and it's amazing to see the seeds sprouting after only 24 hours! I had spagetti squash, pole beans, onions, cabbage.. wow, it's so cool to see these things sprouting like that. I then put them into peat pellets, and I'm curious how long it will take for them to start peeking their heads through the surface.

dmac, I don't think the distilled water is crucial, but then again, I have well water. I think it depends on how much crud is in your water. I think the most important part is to make sure the water is very warm, almost hot even. If you don't have distilled water, just experiment and only test it on a couple of seeds.

-Deborah

I used tap water and my castor beans germinated overnight. I used a styrofoam egg carton for growing the seedlings in and poked holes in the bottom, then put in a layer of rocks for drainage, then a layer of potting soil..laid the beans on the top, then added another layer of potting soil. They are doing really well. We had a hard rain today and it washed a little of the soil loose...enough that one of the beans was exposed and I was able to see that it has a nice sprout about to push through and roots pushing down. It has only been 2-3 days since I planted them....and all I did was soak them in the H2O2 and warm water for 24 hours prior to 'planting' them.