Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Paper Towel Method

austinnhanasmom · March 24, 2014

I start many varieties of tomatoes and peppers (seed whore here so I have more varieties then I could ever grow) and wanted a less time intensive manner for seed starting this year.

In the past, I soaked the seeds in a bleach solution and then did the paper towel in a baggie method. The time involved with setting this up and searching hundreds of baggies for sprouting seeds is what I was trying to avoid.

So, this is what I did this year:

I copied this from someone and am forgetting who - sorry

I cut paper towels into little squares, wetted them and each seed got it's own square. The squares were placed on a paper plate, one plate per variety, and the plates were stacked into a glass baking pan. I covered the glass pans with plastic wrap and placed each glass pan on a heating pad. What I found with this is that the little squares dried out and I am certain that the heating pads were overheating the glass pans' contents. I was worried that I had cooked my seeds and I could not keep the little squares adequately hydrated, even when I checked on them 3 times a day. The stacking of plates could easily crush the seeds, the plates seemed to soak up a lot of water and became flimsy. But I love the time savings that this set-up provides - quickly able to look at the plates for sprouts.

So, I bought clear plastic plates and glued metal nuts in the middle of each plate. I used 1/2" thick nuts and went all frugal, buying only one nut per plate. But, the plates were stackable, with caution, and I no longer worried about squishing the seeds. I replaced the paper towel squares with thin slices of root riot cubes. These cubes are amazing in that they hydrate well.

To house the stacked plates during germination, I bought a tote (with lid) large enough for 3 sets of stacked plates. Because I was all frugal with the nuts, the stacks were VERY flimsy and would easily tip over - and they did MANY times. I cut wooden sticks and tried to glue them to the tote's bottom, to create pillars that would keep the stacks in check. I used a nut at the bottom of the sticks, and gorilla glue to glue the nuts to the tote's bottom. This held up until the tote heated up. Then the glue tended to release.

I kept the tote in the warmest room in my house.

I very well may have cooked my tomato seeds, during the paper towel stage, because a few failed to sprout but the harder to sprout peppers LOVED this. They must be able to withstand a little extra heat.

For next year, I will figure a better way to secure the "pillars" and will add more nuts to the plates. I may heat the tote as well, with a heating pad and thermostat. And, I will return to the bleach solution soak.

March 24, 2014	#28
austinnhanasmom Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Z5, CO near Denver Posts: 225	I start many varieties of tomatoes and peppers (seed whore here so I have more varieties then I could ever grow) and wanted a less time intensive manner for seed starting this year. In the past, I soaked the seeds in a bleach solution and then did the paper towel in a baggie method. The time involved with setting this up and searching hundreds of baggies for sprouting seeds is what I was trying to avoid. So, this is what I did this year: I copied this from someone and am forgetting who - sorry I cut paper towels into little squares, wetted them and each seed got it's own square. The squares were placed on a paper plate, one plate per variety, and the plates were stacked into a glass baking pan. I covered the glass pans with plastic wrap and placed each glass pan on a heating pad. What I found with this is that the little squares dried out and I am certain that the heating pads were overheating the glass pans' contents. I was worried that I had cooked my seeds and I could not keep the little squares adequately hydrated, even when I checked on them 3 times a day. The stacking of plates could easily crush the seeds, the plates seemed to soak up a lot of water and became flimsy. But I love the time savings that this set-up provides - quickly able to look at the plates for sprouts. So, I bought clear plastic plates and glued metal nuts in the middle of each plate. I used 1/2" thick nuts and went all frugal, buying only one nut per plate. But, the plates were stackable, with caution, and I no longer worried about squishing the seeds. I replaced the paper towel squares with thin slices of root riot cubes. These cubes are amazing in that they hydrate well. To house the stacked plates during germination, I bought a tote (with lid) large enough for 3 sets of stacked plates. Because I was all frugal with the nuts, the stacks were VERY flimsy and would easily tip over - and they did MANY times. I cut wooden sticks and tried to glue them to the tote's bottom, to create pillars that would keep the stacks in check. I used a nut at the bottom of the sticks, and gorilla glue to glue the nuts to the tote's bottom. This held up until the tote heated up. Then the glue tended to release. I kept the tote in the warmest room in my house. I very well may have cooked my tomato seeds, during the paper towel stage, because a few failed to sprout but the harder to sprout peppers LOVED this. They must be able to withstand a little extra heat. For next year, I will figure a better way to secure the "pillars" and will add more nuts to the plates. I may heat the tote as well, with a heating pad and thermostat. And, I will return to the bleach solution soak.