Here’s what we do. I know it’s not the only way to test each crop. But with these mediums we’re able to get reliable and consistent results.
So there are 3 mediums we use.
For this post I decided to focus on veg crops rather than flowers and herbs because they were the easiest to do without a lot of little footnotes.
Between Two Blotters
Crops: Onions, Leeks, Brassicas, Beets, Chard, Carrots, Radishes (I know, they are brassicas!), Squash, Melons, Watermelons
In Sand
We plant big seeds in sand. The sands provide some extra moisture without soaking the seeds. We buy sandbox sand from the local hardware store for these germ tests.
Crops: Beans, Peas, Corn
On The Top Of Blotter Paper
We test these seeds on top of a blotter paper. Light helps these crops germinate. (Especially when they are freshly harvested.)
Crops: Lettuce, Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant
And one other thing about germ tests – make sure to label them!! We label all germ tests with the Crop Code, the lot number, and the date we started the test. We label the blotter paper and we label the Petri dish lid for the test. Double labelling keeps big mistakes from happening!
Next workshop: Tuesday Dec 6 at 2pm Eastern
Hi Dan,
I’d love to know the source of the clear plastic trays you’re using for the germ tests – we’ve mostly put our towels in open ziploc bags, but those look nice. And thanks for sharing all this great information about both seed production and data tracking!
Hi Stacey,
Here are the petri dishes: https://www.hoffmanmfg.com/products/cont-92c/
And the blotter papers that fit in the dishes: https://www.hoffmanmfg.com/products/unbleached-blotter-paper-clone/
It is an investment to get started but they are really easy to work with.
Thanks for reading!!!
Dan