Fill the plastic bag with water and reseal it. Then leave it for a couple days and it will be evenly wetted. But if you ever let it dry out all the way again it will become waterproof again. :-(

I tried the eggcarton thing this spring. I didn't like it -- the plants outgrew their little compartments almost as soon as they'd sprouted and long before they were ready to be transplanted.

Put the envelopes (6 or 8) on a plastic tray and dampen them, insert the entire tray into a large plastic bag to prevent drying out.

The seedlings don't need light to germinate, but heat to about 70 to 75 degrees. I have grow lights that come in handy here for temp control mainly.

When the seeds sprout, gently remove them and plant into a planting medium. Seeds don't need fertilizer, but I use my homemade compost mixed with peat, that is screened fine just for this. I know it has been made right - (no mold spores or diseases left). If using potting mix - I would either sun dry or heat dry to remove any mold spores.

The sprouted seeds are planted into yogurt cups - about 6 to 8 to a cup with the moistened compost mixture. I can fit about 8 cups into a plastic shoebox type container, which is then slipped into a large plastic bag and placed under grow lights. Temps again about 70 to 75 degrees.

When seeds start to show signs of "taking hold" remove bag and allow the seedlings some room, water when necessary.

When outside temps are right, harden the growing seeds by placing them in the shade - with a plastic cover on top, until ready to plant into the ground - watch ground temps - each veggie has their own preference there.

Hmmmm - bet that's more than you wanted to know.

Bejay

for potting soil we use Black Gold and petemoss.

we give away 5/6 of our seedlings so we are non-profit. this means we do a lot of thins by hand and with volunteer labor. we have fun and we get all the seedlings we want for our gardens. what a deal.

we put a large bag of Black gold and 1/3 of a large bail of pete in a large wheelbarrow with some kind of plant food. also a quart of pearlite. we then soak that mixture with water. one person turns the mixture with a shovel and the other put the water in. we make it real soggy.

we put this mixture in propagation trays about 1/2" thick and put about 500 to 1000 seed spread around on the tray. we then cover the seed lightly with dry Black Gold and a piece of cotton cloth. like an old sheet cut to fit the tray.

we then put the trays on our heating pads. not the kind you use to warm your feet at night in the winter. these pads are water proof and are about 18" x 4 feet.

when the seen is germinated and the seedling is about 1" to 2" tall we then transplant them in to 4 and 6 packs.

for most home gardeners this is way to much. so i will try to make the points you need to know.

you can get sterilized potting soil that has plant food in it.

you will need to soak it well.

you can get six packs from your local garden supply store.

you can put our seed right in to the six packs an avoid a step.

cove with cotton cloth.

put in a warm place. at least 80 degrees.

remove the cloth when the seedlings poke their heads up.

put in the full sun on a cookie sheet to catch the water that drains off the plants.

water often. two or three time a day.

set them outside when it is not freezing to harden them off about a week or two before you set them out in your garden.

plant twice as many as you think you need. if they all come up share with family and friends.

i don't think i have missed anything.

that is a lot of work for plants you can buy for 50 cents but the up side is you get to grow what you want not what the nursery is offering. and the satisfaction of doing it all.

my production is really getting into full swing now and i get to enjoy the fruits of my labor at least until i start put the food up.

good luck

WM

Once some of the seeds have sprouted, the seedlings will need light, so I move the cell packs out into the sun during the day (even if some seeds haven't germinated yet), and bring them in at night (I live in California, so there's generally enough warmth during the day no matter what time of year it is.... night time temps are another story, though).

With heat lovers like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and melons (and others, of course) I use heat mats under the trays at night, putting them out during the day for light. This means that night time temps are warmer than day time, but it doesn't seem to matter to the seedlings, and I have good success doing it this way.

If the seedlings need to be transplanted into another container, I generally use plastic cups from the grocery store, and I do that in a timely manner, never letting the seedlings get rootbound, which can set some of them way back.

I have to say, starting plants from seed is lots of fun, peeking at their progress every spare second, and choosing varieties from the vast array not available to those who buy plants.

Dave

Thanks,
Amy

For my fall planting I just used good, fine garden soil with some compost. I figure that all these seeds will and can grow in normal soil. The single most important thing right now, that it is hot, is to keep your seed beds or pots/trays moist. My radishes, chards, cabbages, aurugula... are germinating fine. I have sown some of them in a big flat tray , placed where they get about 3-4 hours of sun. I also top them with fine broken leaves/pine straws to keep the moisture better. Today the temperature got to 93F. So I had to water them twice.

I might get ripped by some of the more sophisticated gardeners on the forum, but, I have, in the past, successfully germinated seeds (and grown the plants) using the damp cloth or paper towel in a plastic bag method, and then planted them directly into the garden as soon as they began to sprout (make sure any danger of frost has passed, of course). I just kept them in a tray in a warm room and made sure the cloths didn't dry out, and if you're using tap water, either boil it and let it cool to room temp. before dampening the cloths, or let it sit for a day for the chlorine to evaporate. The germination rate will likely depend somewhat on what you're trying to start, and whether or not you've followed any recommended pre-germination treatment (stratifying) for that particular seed. As always, some seeds in a batch may not sprout.

You might also want a backup plan just in case, and you may have to also plant any seeds that don't germinate.. If you still have a poor germination rate within 10-14 days using this method, you'll want to get the seeds into a medium immediately and follow one of the above methods. Don't let any of the sprouts get too big before getting them into the ground, which means you might not be planting them all at once, but a few at a time. As soon as the seeds pop open and you see tiny sprouts, get them into the garden with whatever you mix with your soil (compost, peat...). As a rule, don't plant the seeds any deeper than the size of the seed, itself.