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Every now and then, someone says that they have done a germination test on their seeds... I assume that this simply tests whether an older packet of seeds is worth bothering with, but how do you do it, and what are you looking for?

Hi Angie,
I think this is when you put the seeds between two pieces of damp kitchen roll and keep them damp. Then you can see if the seeds sprout and what the germination rate is.
If im wrong im sure another grape will be along to give you the correct answer.

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Thanks Vicki,

Assuming this is the case....can anyone tell me if you then go on and plant the sucessfully germinated seeds?

Yes you can, if you're very careful not to knock the emerging shoots off. One method is to mix up some wallpaper paste, mix in your germinating seeds, and then squeeze out through an icing bag into either seed trays or drills in the garden/lottie. This is supposed to be useful for slow germinating seeds such as parsnip - can't say I've tried it myself. I usually start my sweet peas off by soaking in water and waiting til they sprout before I put them into pots and have very good success rates. However, sweet pea seeds are easy to handle, much more so than smaller ones such as most veg seeds.

In a nutshell...yes! By planting pre germinated seeds you are guaranteed a 100% take as you wouldn't plant the duff ones.
For ease, it would work better with the bigger seeds which are easily transplanted individually!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Yes of course you can Angie, I've just planted my Birds Eye Chillies that were pre-germinated on damp kitchen paper in a bowl covered with cling film. You will need tweezers though

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Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

I find it easier to handle the germinated seedlings by growing them on large postage stamp sized pieces of folded kitchen towel, that way the whole thing can then be put in the pot and covered with a sprinkling of compost.
Sue

This is a common trick for parsnip seeds as they are notoriously difficult to germinate outside.

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Geordie

Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure

Hello Angie, yes, it is a method of checking if the seeds are viable, so that you're not planting duff seed, and can also be used to make sure the seed you are planting is 100% guaranteed to grow.
I do it by wetting a sheet of kitchen roll , folding it in quarter, placing the seeds on one side and folding the other half over. I then put it in a food/freezer bag and seal it to stop the paper drying out. Check the seeds daily. You are looking for a little white sprout coming out of the seed. This seed will grow. It means the seed is good so you can plant it, or get rid of it and plant the seed at a better time.
I hope that answers your question.

SUE, what a brilliant idea. Why Am I so stupid. Offcourse that's the way to do it. From now on I will put seeds for sprouting on little squares of paper which can just be lifted and planted. No more tweezers for me. Thanks again.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Sue, that's what I call "the stamp of genius" !
On behalf of my pin-tip seeded Lavatera, (and my poor strained eyes ) I thank you for this wonderful idea.

Thank you all so much.. i shall try this on some old seed packets and certainly with the parsnips - the small paper pieces idea is genius


xx there is a lot of wisdom between us grapes - thanks for sharing xx

Brings a whole new dimension to the phrase, "We're on a roll..." !

Wow glad to see i was on the ball with the answer. See i am learning from this forum all the time.
Havent tried this method myself but i am trying parsnips this year so will have a go with the parsnip seeds.

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Alice
Ah yes, but I hadn't thought of the covering up with a plastic bag bit, so shall add that bit of wisdom to my seed germinating
Thankyou
Sue

I inherited some old packs of seed with my allotment. I've jsut started doing germination tests on them to see if they are duff or not. I'd rather do this than chuck seed away without knowing. I'm using the folding kitchen towel in a placcy bag method also.

Kirsty

i'm currently doing tests on a lot of my seeds but i looked today and found a thin layer of mould growing over some types of them that comes off when touched, am i making the tissue too wet and leaving them in too warm conditions? i know for a fact that most of the seeds im testing were ok last year and some started to swell not long after i started this as though they were planning on doing something, please help

x

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Hi Shine
I would agree with your theory that possibly the seeds are too wet and warm.

On another matter, I really wouldn't bother trying to germinate parsnip seed that is over a year old - it is best bought fresh each year, as it's %age germination is alleged to deteriorate quite rapidly after year 1.

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Rat

British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God

Blog updated Wednesday November 13th

okey doke, thank you. i think i'll let them dry out a bit and keep them somewhere cooler then check in a few more days

x

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I always germinate my lettice seed on the wet tissue then plant the ones that have germinated,as by planting them 'normally' I dont seem to get very good germination!