Hints:

Temperature: The 68 and 70 degree temperatures aren't set in stone, as most annuals and tropicals should pop up at any temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees. Perennials and hardy annuals, which tend to prefer cooler conditions, usually will sprout at any temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees.

Chipping Seeds: To protect your fingers, hold each seed between the "jaws" of needle-nose pliers on top of a cutting board as you nick it with the tip of a utility knife.

Soaking Seeds: You easily can soak seeds overnight in Styrofoam cups, writing the name of each seed on the side of its cup. If you need to heat the soak-ing water to a certain temperature, use a candy thermometer to measure that temper-ature. Otherwise, use lukewarm (room temperature) water.

Smoke Treatment: For seeds that require smoke treatment, add 1 teaspoon commercial smoke flavoring to every 3 tablespoons of water you are using. For the best results, find a flavoring that contains only smoke and water in its ingredients list.

Cold or Warm Treatment: When seeds need to be kept damp and either warm or cold for a certain number of months, fold a paper towel into a card shape. After writing the name of the seeds and the date on front of the "card" with an indelible marker, soak the paper towel in water, squeeze out the excess water, and place the seeds inside the card.

You can keep several such cards inside a folded-over sandwich bag to help preserve their moisture.

Gibberellic Acid: If you need to use gibberellic acid, dissolve a 100 mg packet of the white poweder in about 1/2 cup of water overnight. Then add an equal amount of water to the mix to make a 500 ppm solution, which is best for most species, before soaking your seeds in the solution overnight.

Keep in mind that, when a seed begins to sprout inside the towels, the first thing to emerge usually is a radicle (main root). So, if you pot up the seed at that point, be sure that you position it with the root underground and lower than the seed from which it is protruding.

 

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P

Q

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Plants Beginning with Q

Quisqualis (rangoon creeper): Snip off the pointed tip of each quisqualis fruit's shell and peel off the rest of the shell to find the seed inside. Soak all the seeds overnight before sowing them 1 inch (25 mm) deep in damp and sterile seed starting mix. Keep the container at about 77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (25 to 30 degrees Celsius) until the seeds sprout, usually in 5 days.

 

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