Growing Chillis, Peppers and Aubergines: Day #1 - Using paper towels for germination
The "paper towel method" is mentioned in just about every article on growing chillis & peppers, so here's my version of it. The alternatives to using paper towels for germination are to sow seeds in rock wool plugs, coir plugs or directly into potting compost. As I mentioned in my previous post, planning for germination, this year I'm going to use the paper towel method because 1) it means heating a smaller space and 2) I can easily watch the progress of germination. Watching the seeds is important to me this year as I'm still learning and want to see exactly when the seeds germinate, especially the tricky Habanada.
As it's the first round of germination this year I won't pre-treat the seeds in any way (eg. soaking, cold treatment) as I want to find out which seeds germinate without. But if I have poor germination I will try some pre-treatments in the next round.
I want to grow 6 plants of each variety so will initially sow 8 seeds of each, except Jalapeno and Habanada because I don't have many seeds and don't want to risk them all on the first try. A sheet of kitchen paper is big compared to 8 tiny pepper seeds, so my first step was to cut a sheet of kitchen paper into quarters. Each quarter was then folded in half and then in half again to create a small square paper envelope. I created 6 of these, needing only 2 paper towels for 6 types of pepper.
Next I labelled each small paper square with the names of the variety plus the date. I used a pencil since it will stay when the paper is wet, however the pencil was quite soft and I have to tilt the paper to a certain angle to read the names clearly. Next time I will use a harder pencil with a sharp tip so the labelling is easier to read.
Once all of the envelopes were labelled I placed them under a tap for a couple of seconds. The paper soaks up water very quickly and becomes waterlogged doing this, so I then pressed each envelope quite hard (keeping it flat) to remove excess water.
Time to sow seeds! The paper towel envelope was unfolded and the seeds spaced evenly in one quarter and then the envelope was folded up again, enclosing the seeds.
When all of the seeds had been sown into their paper towel envelopes I stacked all of the envelopes and placed them in a small plastic container. In a previous life this container was a hummus pot, but now it's a germination chamber - I buy far too many gadgets so it feels good to recycle something.
And the last step: the gemination chamber and a thermometer were tucked underneath a shoe rack on an under-heated floor. I'd previously found this spot to be the warmest in the house because of the enclosed space between the shoe rack and heated floor, maintaining 26 celsius.
What next? I wait.
As it's the first round of germination this year I won't pre-treat the seeds in any way (eg. soaking, cold treatment) as I want to find out which seeds germinate without. But if I have poor germination I will try some pre-treatments in the next round.
I want to grow 6 plants of each variety so will initially sow 8 seeds of each, except Jalapeno and Habanada because I don't have many seeds and don't want to risk them all on the first try. A sheet of kitchen paper is big compared to 8 tiny pepper seeds, so my first step was to cut a sheet of kitchen paper into quarters. Each quarter was then folded in half and then in half again to create a small square paper envelope. I created 6 of these, needing only 2 paper towels for 6 types of pepper.
Next I labelled each small paper square with the names of the variety plus the date. I used a pencil since it will stay when the paper is wet, however the pencil was quite soft and I have to tilt the paper to a certain angle to read the names clearly. Next time I will use a harder pencil with a sharp tip so the labelling is easier to read.
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| Paper towels fold, labelled and ready for seeds |
Once all of the envelopes were labelled I placed them under a tap for a couple of seconds. The paper soaks up water very quickly and becomes waterlogged doing this, so I then pressed each envelope quite hard (keeping it flat) to remove excess water.
Time to sow seeds! The paper towel envelope was unfolded and the seeds spaced evenly in one quarter and then the envelope was folded up again, enclosing the seeds.
 |
| 8 chilli seeds placed on damp paper towel |
When all of the seeds had been sown into their paper towel envelopes I stacked all of the envelopes and placed them in a small plastic container. In a previous life this container was a hummus pot, but now it's a germination chamber - I buy far too many gadgets so it feels good to recycle something.
 |
| Humus pot germination chamber, packed with 8 types of seed |
And the last step: the gemination chamber and a thermometer were tucked underneath a shoe rack on an under-heated floor. I'd previously found this spot to be the warmest in the house because of the enclosed space between the shoe rack and heated floor, maintaining 26 celsius.
What next? I wait.
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