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| I usually use the wet towel method the get most seeds a head start in the spring (except peas, beans, radish, etc). For the wet towel method, the seeds are sandwiched between wet kitchen paper towel. Then they're placed in plastic takeout boxes with translucent cover. The boxes are placed on top of my indoor water heater in the furnace closet. Since the old heater busted, the new heater doesn't really get hot but it's warm enough in that closet.
This year I got almost 100% germination on all the seeds I started with the wet towel method, except for Malabar Spinach (red vine) and Culantro (Eryngo). So far, zero germination after almost one month. The seeds were all in the frig for a few weeks, then went into the wet towel. For half of the malabar seeds, I also tried scratching their hard shells. Neither the original seeds nor the scratched ones germinated. I tried both light (green house window) and no light (furnace room) and no luck. I think I can grow malabar from cutting but our farmers market do not have these until mid summer. Anyone has experience with starting these from seeds? Any help would be appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by belgianpup Wa/Zone 7b (My Page) on Tue, Mar 30, 10 at 14:47
| Since both of those are tropicals, they may need more heat than what you're providing. Even peppers prefer about 85F. But there's also the possibility of bad seed. (I heard of a woman who was carefully heat-treating seeds she was trading, thinking she was sterilizing them. Well, she WAS, but not in the way she intended...8-) ) Culantro (which I have never tried) is apparently tricky to start. I have added a link to a site about starting it. Sue |
Here is a link that might be useful: Germinating culantro seeds
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- Posted by bluebirdie Z9 SF E Bay (My Page) on Tue, Mar 30, 10 at 15:13
| Temperature might be the reason! On my water heater, the temperature is above 70F. If these needs over 90F like your link suggested, then I will need to do this much later in potting mix. Or just hit the farmers market :-) These were also probably old/bad seeds. They were from evergreenseeds.com. I purchase an assortments from them, and got mostly 100% germination except Malabar, Culantro,(zero) and Basil(30%). This year I also sow same type of basil seeds I purchased from another online store 7 years ago and got better germination than evergreenseeds. Too bad I threw away the old seeds when the new ones arrived. Thanks for the link. I've read through many web pages during planning but never saw this one. Bookmarked for my library. |
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- Posted by belgianpup Wa/Zone 7b (My Page) on Tue, Mar 30, 10 at 15:22
| If you happen to have a frost-free freezer (I don't know why it has to be frost-free, but my brother says so *shrug*), the sides tend to always be warm. I tested some traded seeds by wrapping them in a damp paper towel (not too wet), putting them in a plastic ziplock bag, then taping them to the warm spot on the side of the freezer. No change after a couple of days (I'm impatient & I have a very cold house), so I hung a folded hand towel over the bag (again with tape). SPROUTS! YEEEEHAW! Good luck! Sue |
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| I soaked my malabar spinach seeds in water last year overnight, then planted them in a seed starting tray with coco coir. It took them a while to germinate, like I think maybe a week or so, but they did all sprout. I didn't put the tray on any heating element at all, just room temp in the house. So sadly I think maybe you got some bad seeds. |
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- Posted by bluebirdie Z9 SF E Bay (My Page) on Tue, Mar 30, 10 at 20:47
| Hm... my frost-free freezer top is about the same temperature like my furnace (70F). But I will try to add a hand towel over the mini-greenhouse and be patient. Extra insulation makes sense. Thanks :-) |
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- Posted by bluebirdie Z9 SF E Bay (My Page) on Fri, Apr 2, 10 at 16:47
| Okay! I haven't had time to add insulation or change anything yet. But for the record, one of the malabar seeds finally sprouted after five weeks in the frig and one month in wet towel (70F). Patience, patience! Gardening is an humbling experience! |
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- Posted by bluebirdie Z9 SF E Bay (My Page) on Sat, Apr 3, 10 at 15:34
| This morning when I check the box, all culantro seeds in the towel germinated overnight. So far 100% of culantro seeds from evergreenseeds germinated. One malabar seed germinated out of 20 so there's still hope. I guess maybe both culantro and malabar prefer a little higher temperature than 70F so they took longer to sprout. Aubade, I've never heard of coco coir until your post. I should try it next time. Thanks! |
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- Posted by ivanbelenjr none (My Page) on Wed, Jan 15, 14 at 12:51
| Malabar seeds need stratification to accelerate germination aswell as cilantro. Just take a knife and bust the seed hull open but not all the way. Cilantro however has to be separated with a towel and a rolling pin. The seed is actually two seeds and they will split apart and germinate a lot faster. |
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| I never stratified my Malabar spinach. I just planted the seeds in 1 gallon containers in the full sun when it was hot out. It grew like a weed. |
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| There's a difference between stratification and scarification. ivanbelenjr is doing scarification. The period in the fridge is stratification. But it seems odd to me to stratify the seeds of tropical plants. What's the reasoning behind that? |
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