- Boil a pot of water for at least 10 minutes to sterilize the water
- Cover the pot and let it cool
- Place the seeds in a piece of cheesecloth (I double it) and tie it at the top, making a little bag
- Mix 1 Cup of the sterilized water & 1/4 Cup Chlorine Bleach
- Swirl the seed bag around in the mixture for 10 minutes
- Remove the bag and swirl it in a fresh cup of sterilized water for about 1 minute to rinse
- Repeat the rinsing step 6 times in fresh sterilized water
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
How to get Old or Hard to Germinate Seeds to Sprout
A few years ago, I had some new hot cherry pepper seeds that would not sprout. I found this tip on the internet and it works great!
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This really works??? I'll have to give it a try since I have an awful time trying to germinate old pepper seeds. I always wonder - who was the first to come up with these sorts of brilliant home remedies.
ReplyDeleteIt really works well. I had some seeds that I couldn't get to germinate and this did the trick!
DeleteHi Robin, random question - I did you set the "reply" feature on your comment section. I can't seem to find it on mine. this makes replying to people's comments soooo much easier. I'm surprised blogger is just thinking of this.
DeleteNevermind! I figured it out. It's only available if you embed your comments. It not available for pop-up comment windows. :)
DeleteYes sir, you've got it!
DeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteIt's a handy tip in case some of your seeds won't germinate
DeleteVery cool advice. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you can use non-chlorine bleach? It is what I have around the house, so I might give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. Give it a try and let me know how it works out. The thing is to kill the bacteria & fungal spores.
DeleteThats really interesting - I have quite a few that I will give this a try on. I just need to get some bleach.
ReplyDeleteBleach and seeds? No way I'm putting those two together! No just can't do it. Mind you if my seeds haven't germinated I've only discovered when it was far too late to sow again!
ReplyDeleteI hesitated too! The bleach and water solution kills the spores. The seeds are thoroughly rinsed after dipping them in the solution. Granny dips her late tomatoes in a water and bleach solution to kill those nasty spores! I don't know if I could do that even though it is supposed to be safe.
DeleteVery interesting, germinating old seeds is one my priorities. You've seen my stash, LOL. I'll have to give the bleach bath a try.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting how you get seeds to sprout.
DeleteWhat a cool tip!
ReplyDeleteI just had to reseed my peppers and lettuce. If they don't sprout this time I'll give it a try.
ReplyDeleteLiisa, I have only done this a couple of times. The first time was with Hot Cherry Pepper seeds. They just wouldn't sprout, it was getting late to start them and I didn't want to spend more money on shipping for one packet of seeds. It worked great! I also used it this year on some pretty new lettuce seeds. They are coming up!
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