Simple Seed Germination

One of my favorite tunes from Elton John is the song entitled "The Circle of Life". Although germinating a seed has nothing to do with the movie...the concept of a life full circle remains the same. It is magnificent to watch something so small and trivial as a seed perfect itself into a sustainer of life.

It is that full circle that perpetuates a seed to grow into a life that will draw from the soil its needed sustainment and then grow into a plant that will take carbon dioxide and filter it and produce oxygen. It is also pure amazement to me that a seed so insignificant can grow into a fir tree that will reach 90' tall. And from that same tree, we will heat our homes, build our house, create furniture and paper.

We understand that the whole perpetuation of the vegetable life is dependant upon one small seed being able to germinate so that it can reproduce itself by many fold. It seems; at times, a contradiction of life itself that a seed must produce a plant, and then that same plant be required to die in order to reproduce.

It seems that most all life is based upon this very same principle and as much as I am awe-struck of this concept...I am glad that it is so.

It is for this reason why that one or two plants can virtually turn into millions of plants that will either produce a flower, grain or a fruit that will virtually help feed millions and billions of people. Every time we sit down to eat; we as humans minimize the fact that something has given its life, so that we may be nourished in order to grow.

Therefore, it is for this reason that gardening for me is such a pleasure. I get to help return the favor to nature and its abundance to my well being by spreading and propagating the seeds in order for them to continue their mission of life sustainment to me and mine. And one of the ways that I perform this task is to simply give the seeds and opportunity to germinate. And this; of course, is the reason for this writing.

I would like to share with you a quick and simple way in which I germinate a lot of my seeds-if I am for some reason...way behind in getting my seeds started. This method is fast and I don't recommend it for all seeds, but it works for many of them.

I first take a piece of aluminum foil that's about 24" in length. You can make it any length you choose, but I very seldom plant more than a row of any one item longer than that.

Then I will take paper towel and lay it down on top of the foil about the same length. Then I will lay out my seed in the desired spacing on top of the paper towel.
For lettuce...I don't worry to much about spacing, but for radish's; I will space them about 1" apart. You can look on a package of seed and it will usually tell you about how far to space them.

Then I will take another strip of paper towel and lay over top of the seeds. (I don't use the full width of the towel. I use just enough width to adequately cover the seeds.)

I then take a misting bottle full of non-chlorinated water and spray the paper towels until wet.

Take your fingers and press the paper towel down over top of the seed until the towel does a good job of folding around the seeds. Then I place the whole thing on top of my fridge or in some other warm place.

I mist the paper towel every day so that the towel stays moist. Do not over-spray. You just want the towel staying moist. The area that you place the seed in or on should be at least 72 degrees. This could be on top of the VCR, refrigerator or a stove of some sort. Just make sure the top of the stove don't get to warm.

You don't need light. At this point...light is not necessary.

Somewhere in the vicinity of 5-6 days; your plants should be sprouting and on their way to growth. You can check them and you will see when they have germinated and are on their way to growth. This is the time when I take them out to the garden for planting.

Planting this way is also very simple and easy.

Take the seeds to the garden while still on the foil...this will give you a little stability in handling.

Make a very shallow trough in your garden row the same length as your paper towel.

Lay the foil and seed on top of the trough, then slide the foil out from underneath the paper towel. Now the paper towel should be lying on the soil.

Then cover the entire paper towel and the seed with about 1/2" of soil. (Don't pat the soil down.) Take your spray bottle and soak the soil. As the water is sprayed on the soil, you will see it compress as the air in the soil is replaced by water.

And this completes the germination and planting process. There is no pots that you have to deal with, no potting mix preparation and no root shock. The paper towel will act as somewhat of an insulator from chilly nights and it will decompose in the soil.

I don't try to impress on anyone that this is the best way to start seeds, but it is certainly simple and fast. I don't do this with every seed that I put in the garden, but I do love it for lettuce, radish, carrot, and greens.

You will find that with small seed such as those mentioned above...it will make life a whole lot simpler and you don't have to go back later and thin out.

Just another simple idea to ponder!