Easy Germination

[Andy1982]

Hi guys. Just came across the forum and it look great, so thought I'd get my feet wet by sharing a tip I use when germinating my seeds, especially carrot seeds as their success rate is fairly low.

Get two pieces of kitchen paper and soak them. Drain off some of the excess water and place inside an empty DVD case and place the other piece on top. Close the case and place under the back of a laptop. Within 48 hours you will have seeds thriving and ready to go into pots or into the dirt.

 

[zigs]

Welcome to Gardening Forums

 

[firelily99]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the quick tip on germination. Carrots can be a bit problematic, I don't usually start them inside, I start them in the garden and I seed heavily in the rows. When they reach at least an inch high I thin them out to roughly a half an inch. Generally that works well for me and I have a decent crop of them several times throughout the summer.

 

[claudine]

Hello, Andy1982, it's nice to meet you
I love the idea of using an empty DVD case, it's pretty creative. I've never tried to germinate carrot seeds, but now, I'm tempted to try to do it. It doesn't sound complicated at all. I love fresh carrots!

 

[cmckinney01]

I've never used an empty DVD case to germinate seeds. What a creative and unique idea. I usually just start seeds in tiny plots down in my cellar. I don't use anything fancy.

 

[Andy1982]

Welcome to Gardening Forums

Thanks for the warm welcome zigs.

 

[Andy1982]

Hello, Andy1982, it's nice to meet you
I love the idea of using an empty DVD case, it's pretty creative. I've never tried to germinate carrot seeds, but now, I'm tempted to try to do it. It doesn't sound complicated at all. I love fresh carrots!

Like firelily was mentioning that he would normally do carrots outside which is really the done thing because they are so small and poor germ rate, I always get a bit impatient and this method speeds up the process of anything instead of putting them straight into seed cells.

 

[justusforus]

I think it's a great idea and also a way to repurpose the cases. I want to give it a go as well. Love learning new and creative ways and with something like carrots, its a great way to be able to track the germination rate easier. Thank you!

 

[Pat]

Welcome to the forum. What a great idea, have you started any other type of seeds with this method?

 

[Andy1982]

I think it's a great idea and also a way to repurpose the cases. I want to give it a go as well. Love learning new and creative ways and with something like carrots, its a great way to be able to track the germination rate easier. Thank you!

I spend most of my time trying to come up with different methods of working around my grow areas and being resourceful. I'm very tight with whatever money I have and like to make things work for bits and pieces kicking around the holding instead of wasting money on new kit.

An example is keeping the lids of spirit bottles, poke a hole in it, lay them all out on a tray and you have yourselves some metal seed cells for herbs. You just need to be potting them on fairly quick.

 

[Andy1982]

Welcome to the forum. What a great idea, have you started any other type of seeds with this method?

Thanks for the welcome. I will use this for things I'm only doing a few of like cucumber or courgettes as well as any type of onion seed family.