Re: germinating seeds
>Hi to all-
>
>I am a second year grower and this is what worked excellently for me last
>year in germinating my AG seeds. From what I understand you only soak your
>seeds in the paper towel/baggie for 24 hrs., then I plant in 3" peat pots
>with seed starter soil. Then I put about 5 of these "pots" in a 5 gal.
>lizard
>terrarium with a small electric "heat rock". This keeps the enclosure at
>about the recommended 80-85 degrees consistent to germinate seeds within
>4-5
>days. This year I'm also using a 50 watt "gro-lite" bulb, 24 hours a day,
>as
>my seedlings last year were really leggy from lack of light. I've had my
>seeds in the terrarium for 72 hours (& counting:) as of tonight. I will let
>you know percentage & time of germination- this worked so well last year, I
>think all but one came up. Good luck & keep us posted on your results-
>Rebecca Steward Martinez, CA
>
Soaking seeds for 24 hours would be way too much, but moisturizing them in a
damp paper towel (like you said) for 24 hours would work good. This actually
is the best method for a lot of seeds that are sensitive to water, like bean
seeds. Some of them take on too much water at once and ruin the seed. But I
don't think this happenes with pumpkin seeds.
Exposing seedlings to 24 hours of light can really screw them up though.
Seedlings NEED dark about as much as they need light. At night is when they
convert the energy from photosynthesis into food. They need dark, so it is
best to use no more then 14 hours of light. What you should try instead is
to make sure the light is more intense. The seedlings should be no more than
2-3 INCHES away from the light tube. If they were leggy, it sounds like you
had them way too far away. Most people don't realize that the tops of the
seedlings should be about as close to the tube as possible without touching
it, about 2 to 3 inches at most. They need intense light. Also, if you are
only using one gro-light tube, try to pair your gro-light tube with a
regular 40 watt COOL WHITE tube) in a double tube fixture. Cool White tubes
put off more of the blue end of the spectrum which encourages more stocky
growth. Keep seedlings real close, 2-3 inches away, 14 hours of light, the
rest dark. Also make sure the temps under the lights are COOLER than you
used for germination, no more than 80 or so, since that can cause seedlings
to get leggy too. Do all that and you should be fine.
-Steve
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