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Re: Starting seeds in the dark?

Cindy Meredith & Mike Szwarc wrote:

> >Have you tried turning off the lights?
> >(smiles)
> >dw
>
> Really, though, starting seeds in the dark means the seeds should be
> covered with growing medium instead of just pressing seeds into the
> top of
> the medium and letting the light help germinate them. Some seeds need
> light
> to germinate, some don't, some don't seem to care......
> CM in TX

  Hi there, you all gardeners,

You are too serious about this "starting seeds in the dark."  Reminds of
the story with the marriage counselor's apprentice who was hidden behind
the curtain so he can be invisible and yet hear how to counsel couples.
So, first the husband comes in and complains about the wife.  The
counselor says to the husband "You are right."  Next day the wife comes
in and complains about the husband.  The counselor tells her the same
thing "You are right."
After the wife leaves, the apprentice comes out from behind the curtain
and says they can't be both right.  So the counselor says "You are right
too!
The moral of the story is: You  all are right.  Very tiny seeds which
you must sow on the surface need to germinate in darkness or deep
shade.  They have no protection from the sun because they germinate on
the surface and in nature they couldn't survive in the first hours after
germination if the sun were to hit them.  So they wait until there is no
sun and there is enough moisture to get them through the first few
days.  If you cover your flats with a newspaper and keep the soil moist
they will germinate and form a root system so you can give them
gradually more light and finally after a week or two they can get a
little bit of sun.  Later they will take full sun.  Lobelia seeds behave
like this, for example.
Other seeds don't care because they germinate under the soil, where it's
dark, and that protects them from the harsh sun in the beginning.

Alex Teller
E-mail: alextell@pacbell.net
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