Sprouting Seeds Using Paper Towels Without Damaging the Roots

[BII]

Another reason to use the entire paper towel and to reconsider the other method suggested is the discovery of Rhizophagy. seeds contain bacteria, which move into the soil on germination. If you don’t bury the entire paper towel, you’re losing some of them. You might be losing all of them. The other methods may also result in a loss of important bacteria. See “Teaming with bacteria“

This is why most growers add beneficial microbe products, with these products hopefully containing optimized, more functionally active and higher titers (no, of live cells) of bacteria and fungi.

 

[pop22]

I've been using the paper towel method for over ten years. I've grown a thousand of plants ( probably more ). Not once have I had a sprout damaged in transfer. As for then benefit of the paper towel, there are Billions of bacteria and fungi per square centimeter... I truly doubt what may be on the paper towel could even matter, not to say out compete what already exists. This is also the reason that compost teas don't do anything for the soil life, whats a few million in the gallons of teas going to do vs the billions per sq/cm? Unless it's sterile soil, it's too late to the party.

 

[paulg]

So, I did a little more investigating. I liked @bill s idea of keeping the sprout in the paper towel to avoid any potential stress. I was very intrigued by @Sootdwag s vertical hanging technique. I added my use of unbleached coffee filters. I don’t know if the paper towels have any chemical residuals or not, but I just want to remove any possible variables.
I started by scarifying three Amnesia 7 seeds in water with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide overnight. I placed them in a wet coffee filter in a baggie and hung in my closet. They sprouted overnight. On the second day I transferred them to soil. On the third day they sprouted. I’m impressed!
One area I think could be improved: cutting the filter with scissors didn’t work well. I ended up using a razor knife. Better but the seeds did get jostled a little. I’ve got some ideas for improving this ,next time.
I’d recommend giving this a try. Very simple and doesn’t take any extra time. Please post any results.

 

[automan2]

Not trying to start an argument here, but promoting the psychology of 'viewing' a root before actually planting it is beyond my understanding. Why not just plant a seed in a prepared medium to start a plant therefore avoiding any possible damage to the most delicate parts of a sprout...... Just planting a seed has been the only way I've done it for over 2 decades and with 99% success, I've not found any reason to punish a seed otherwise.
A good medium, 1/4 inch planting depth, moisture and warmth will skip all the rocket science.
Having managed a 'legal' seed business for years and raised in a farming community, our methods of just planting any seeds were far more successful than any other.
Guess some just have to try to re-invent things that aren't broke.

 

[SOOTDAWG]

Not trying to start an argument here, but promoting the psychology of 'viewing' a root before actually planting it is beyond my understanding. Why not just plant a seed in a prepared medium to start a plant therefore avoiding any possible damage to the most delicate parts of a sprout...... Just planting a seed has been the only way I've done it for over 2 decades and with 99% success, I've not found any reason to punish a seed otherwise.
A good medium, 1/4 inch planting depth, moisture and warmth will skip all the rocket science.
Having managed a 'legal' seed business for years and raised in a farming community, our methods of just planting any seeds were far more successful than any other.
Guess some just have to try to re-invent things that aren't broke.

Sometimes I may grow up to 50 plants at one time this method helps me weed out those that don’t pop and such because if I made up final pots/containers for each seed, that would be a waste of space that is valuable to me….. once sprouted they are so easy to sew, especially with their straight roots from hanging vertical. They have never missed a beat nor have I lost one after germination….. not reinventing just making practical use of the space I have to work with.

 

[pop22]

Not trying to start an argument here, but promoting the psychology of 'viewing' a root before actually planting it is beyond my understanding. Why not just plant a seed in a prepared medium to start a plant therefore avoiding any possible damage to the most delicate parts of a sprout...... Just planting a seed has been the only way I've done it for over 2 decades and with 99% success, I've not found any reason to punish a seed otherwise.
A good medium, 1/4 inch planting depth, moisture and warmth will skip all the rocket science.
Having managed a 'legal' seed business for years and raised in a farming community, our methods of just planting any seeds were far more successful than any other.
Guess some just have to try to re-invent things that aren't broke.

For whatever reasons, not everyone's success with any method is the same. My success with the paper towel method is far beyond that of direct to soil. I've tested this several times with seeds I have taken from my own breeding projects, ten in paper towels, ten in small soil pots. over three trials i had 100%, 100% and 90% in paper towel, and 60%, 50% and 70% in direct to soil. I have slightly better germination rates when I pre-soak the seeds for 1-2 hours, but not a significant improvement. I'm careful about cleanliness with both methods. So I use what works for me, and that's the paper towel method.

 

[BII]

Not trying to start an argument here, but promoting the psychology of 'viewing' a root before actually planting it is beyond my understanding. Why not just plant a seed in a prepared medium to start a plant therefore avoiding any possible damage to the most delicate parts of a sprout...... Just planting a seed has been the only way I've done it for over 2 decades and with 99% success, I've not found any reason to punish a seed otherwise.
A good medium, 1/4 inch planting depth, moisture and warmth will skip all the rocket science.
Having managed a 'legal' seed business for years and raised in a farming community, our methods of just planting any seeds were far more successful than any other.
Guess some just have to try to re-invent things that aren't broke.

I also presume sprouting in the final pot/container is likely ideal. But that's not always convenient.

I now use paper in a baggie because it allows me to easily incubate the seeds at a warmer-than-tent temperature (on top of a router). Sprouting in final containers in the tent seems to often be days slower vs. incubating the seeds in paper and then (trans)planting in the final pot/container.

 

[paulg]

I thought I’d post an update on the technique I’m using to sprout seeds. The seed is a Swaney Beans Lecter. I scarified it in water with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide for about four hours. The big change from my earlier post was making a roll with the unbleached coffee filter. Worked great. You might want to give it a try.

 

[NamasteDaze]

Not trying to start an argument here, but promoting the psychology of 'viewing' a root before actually planting it is beyond my understanding. Why not just plant a seed in a prepared medium to start a plant therefore avoiding any possible damage to the most delicate parts of a sprout...... Just planting a seed has been the only way I've done it for over 2 decades and with 99% success, I've not found any reason to punish a seed otherwise.
A good medium, 1/4 inch planting depth, moisture and warmth will skip all the rocket science.
Having managed a 'legal' seed business for years and raised in a farming community, our methods of just planting any seeds were far more successful than any other.
Guess some just have to try to re-invent things that aren't broke.

Appreciate everyone's feedback as I struggle with germination. I do think some people are growing in other mediums beyond soil, so perhaps that is why people gravitate to the paper towel method? My two grows have been in coco/perlite and most recommend not doing a direct sow into coco (cocoforcannibas.). Of course, there are folks who grow in coco and direct sow successfully.

Go with what works for you in your setup. Some folks like me are still looking for techniques to be more successful germinating as seeds are expensive.

 

[NamasteDaze]

I thought I’d post an update on the technique I’m using to sprout seeds. The seed is a Swaney Beans Lecter. I scarified it in water with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide for about four hours. The big change from my earlier post was making a roll with the unbleached coffee filter. Worked great. You might want to give it a try.
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What was the temperature in the space you germinated? Curious about that variable...