Seed Germination

Jun 2nd, 2007 by Robo

Teas, Elixirs, & Tonics?

Ever struggled getting those tough germinating varieties to sprout? There has been a lot of discussion and antidotes about concoctions people use. Results?? Well, count all the different methods, multiply by two and you have the amount of results.

One method that seems to get good recommendations is “Byron’s World Famous Tea”. It is actually quite simple, and perhaps that is why people like to use it. If it was a bit more complicated, would people still be using it? Who knows!

To make your tea, steep a tea bag in a cup of hot water for 4 minutes. Remove the tea bag and discard the tea. Steep the same tea bag in a second cup of hot water for another 4 minutes. Remove the tea bag and dilute the tea with water to make a quart of solution.
Place seeds on a plate between two paper towels and moisten with the weak tea solution.
Place plate in the refrigerator overnight.
Plant seeds as you normally would.

Now all your questions??

What type of tea bag? Well, as usual, there is no one clear choice. Some say it doesn’t matter, some like black tea, some like chamomile tea. One theory is that the tannin in the tea helps soften the seed coat, in which case black tea would provide the most tannin. However, others have claimed that the chamomile tea help prevent fungus and damp-off, and suggest bottom watering the seedlings with this solution as well.
Why the refrigerator? This is to break the dormancy stage. The transition from the cold fridge to a nice warm seed starting medium make the seeds think, “hey, winter is over”.
Does it really work? There is obviously no clear answer to this, but some top notch gardeners claim they get a germination rate in the high 90% for their hard starters.
What should I do? That’s entirely up to you, man has flourished on this planet for many years by just dropping the seed into the ground, but if you would like to better your odds of seed propagation, you might want to consider giving the tea a shot.

6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Seed Germination”

on 08 Feb 2009 at 12:13 pm1Sharon

This really works! I did it last year and every seed germinates.
It takes a little extra trouble, but it is really worth it to get seeds
to germinate.
on 12 Apr 2009 at 11:28 pm2Roger G. Byerley

Refrigeration does work; germination dependps upon the
age of the seed! Some tree seeds require dormate refrigeration and strification. Remove pulp from seeds
that have pulp, (magnolia) and others. Try air layering,
or soil embedding, to propograte plants. Paper towels are
the best medium to germinate seeds.
on 21 Apr 2009 at 10:41 pm3David LaFerney

I never had very good results starting seeds inside until this year when I built a bottom heated bench using old rope lights as a heat source – http://doorgarden.com/02/home-made-bottom-heat-seed-starting – It really works. I grew all of my garden plants from seed this year. Set them all out last Saturday.

Cool website BTW.
on 22 Apr 2009 at 8:54 am4Robo

Thank you, thank you, thank you…..

I’ve been trying to brainstorm ideas in my head to come up with some bottom heating for my seeds. I am just too cheap to buy the commercial units, especially since I would need a bunch of them. This is perfect, and the ironic thing is my dad just picked up two perfectly good rope lights that where going to be disposed of. Probably too late for this year, but will definitely give it a try next year.

rob….
on 14 Aug 2009 at 5:58 am5cindy

this is an amazing theory.. it had really helped me with varios parts of my essays.
thanks
on 07 Mar 2011 at 9:30 pm6Jeff

I used the tea method you described here on my Korean Evodia seeds. I left them in the fridge for a couple of weeks to get spring weather timing lined up. I planted 2 in each peat pot of a 72 pot set and I now have a bumper crop of sprouts. I hope each and every one lives because I am going to plant them all. I have never really had any luck on stratifying seed but this worked well. Thanks for another valuable lesson.