Gardening with Allen: Get seedlings off to a good start

I have some flower and vegetable seeds I bought last year and never got planted. Do you think those will still be good to plant or should I buy some more?

Most seeds will germinate satisfactorily for two years. Some will last several years. There is a simple way to test them to make sure.

Start by moistening a small square of paper towel. Count 10 seeds from a seed packet and place them in a row on one end of the towel. Roll the towel with the seeds inside and place it in a large pan. Repeat this process with each packet, placing the rolls side by side in the pan. Place a strip of masking tape on one side of the pan. Place numbers on the tape at the end of each roll. Place the same identifying numbers on the seed packets. Place the pan in a warm place such as the top of the refrigerator. Add a little warm water to the pan every day to keep the towels constantly moist.

Some seeds will start to sprout in a week. Others will take 2 weeks or longer. Check the individual towels to see which are starting to bulge. Lift the towel out, unroll it and observe the sprouting. If only one or two seeds are starting to sprout, you will want to wait a few days to give the others a chance. Seeds that start to mold will probably never sprout.

When it looks like most seeds have sprouted, count the number. Multiply by 10 and you have the approximate germination percentage. Write this on the packet with the date. Eighty percent or more is quite good. Even lower germination seed can still be planted. You just need to plant more.

If the seed is quite valuable you can test fewer seeds. With expensive seeds I have waited until it is almost time to plant and then planted the sprouted seeds.

I start some of my vegetable and flower seeds inside. I start my tomato and pepper seeds this month. I wait until early April to start marigold, zinnia, cucumber, melon and squash seeds. It only takes five or six weeks to get transplantable plants.

I use a seed starting heat mat ($16) and a plant grow light ($30), which I purchased online. I use 4-inch pots with new potting soil to start my seeds. Used pots are dipped in bleach solution to make sure there is no disease on them. I plant five to 10 seeds per pot if I transplant to other pots (tomatoes and peppers). I plant two or three seeds if I don’t transplant to other pots. Once they are sprouted, seedlings go under the grow light 24 hours a day.

When plants have three or four leaves, I start taking them outside during daylight hours. They need shade for a few days until they become acclimated to the bright light and dry air. This combination of cool days and warm nights causes plants to grow more compact. Plants dry out quickly outside so be prepared to water more than once a day.

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