Spring begins in 15 days, and three months after that it’s summer! That means that it is time to put gardening planning into action. Before I start seedlings in a few days, I am going to test their germination to see what percentage of seeds are good.
To do this, I label a paper towel with the variety names and put 4-5 seeds by each name, carefully! We do not want seeds to fall into a different variety.
Then, I mist the seeds, which also acts like a glue for the paper towel. I gingerly slid the paper towel into a zip lock bag, mist it some more, and left it unclosed.
In a few days, the good seeds will sprout and after some math, I will know how many seeds to start to get to the total number that I want. For example, if 1 out of 4 seeds sprout, I’ll know my germination rate is 25% and start seeds accordingly.
Here is a PDF from the University of Illinois Extension that explains the process thoroughly.
Happy seed starting!
Sew and Sow 