What is your preferred method of sprouting seeds?

[Ansarac]

Before discussing different methods, I will open the discussion by saying I have never done any better than 5g pots, filled with native soil, out in the open.

[gnappi]

I  put everything I want to  sprout in small ~1 pint pots if I have them and move them up as they mature. The downside is if they're neglected for a short time they dry up and die so they take a lot more care than if started in a bigger pot.

[rliou]

It honestly depends on the seeds u are trying to germinate.  For mangos I like to wrap them in a wet paper towel and seed them in a sandwich ziplock bag.  The same method works for me as well for dragon fruit.  Some seeds have to be sowed deeper in the soil so it's important to know what u want to germinate.

[LivingParadise]

In most cases, scarification, soaking overnight, and then the wet paper towel in a ziploc bag on a sunny windowsill works best. Sometimes a plant (not most tropicals) needs chill hours first, so many need to place that bag in a fridge for a few months first.

I have tried all different kinds of things though. Planting directly in the ground, throwing on top of the ground, sprouting in water only, sprouting in medium like coconut coir, sprouting on a wet paper towel in a styrofoam container with holes, sprouting in window boxes with soil, sprouting in trays with soil, sprouting in deep bags of soil, sprouting in water on styrofoam peanuts (works way better than one might think!)... the things I have tried are endless. Really, all of them have worked, if done in the proper conditions where the seed was going to get enough warmth and water over a consistent period of time to do what it needs to do.

The problem is, a lot of tropical seedlings are delicate. They can dry out and die easily after sprouting. They can overheat. They can get cold, or waterlogged and moldy. A lot of them are very sensitive to soil changes, and have delicate roots, so trying to transplant them kills them with the shock, even if they started out healthy. Many tropical seeds take months of the right conditions to germinate, but need to be planted almost immediately after coming out of a fruit. Some only need a few days to germinate.

I follow different methods depending on what plant I am growing, and what my plans for it are. I try to minimize transplanting, because it is just too traumatic for many small plants. In some cases, the plants are so sensitive to soil change, and to local pests, that the best way to germinate is the hard way - I plant the seed directly in the ground where I want the tree to grow, usually right before rainy season to allow me less need to remember to water all the time, and hope for the best. That way, they grow up in harsh soil and exposed to the pests right away, so only the strongest survive. But it still seems to work - better actually than babying them and then expecting them to survive transplantation into harsher conditions than they're used to.

Some plants I intend to have in containers, and they grow fast so I put them directly in their final container, because disturbing the roots which become long so fast just kills half of them. As I water one or two that start out strong, eventually more and more in the same container start to germinate - even months later. Some plants do really well sprouting on the paper towel or styrofoam quickly, and the roots grow right into the medium and are sturdy so it is easy to pick the paper or styrofoam right up and place it right on top of the soil in the new container with no problem at all. Or I use a shallow container and cut out the bottom at transplant time, so all I have to do is lay the roots right down on top of their new soil, and they are not really jostled around at all. For some seeds, I actually want to eat them fairly young with the roots included, so I grow them just in an enclosed container with water and some air holes, and no or virtually no medium at all, so harvesting them and the root too is easy and with no mess or waste.

So it's hard to say what it the right method, because it depends on not only the species, but what you intend to do with the plant. A large coconut is going to need different care from a tiny dragonfruit seed. But generally speaking, true tropicals want warmth, moisture, and shelter from extremes. Some need those conditions for many months, and scarification can help ensure successful sprouting.

[Ansarac]

I have put dark-colored coffee cans through the dishwasher, fill those with water, put them in the windowsill, and refresh them, daily. When I look inside, it's not quite hot, but very warm against my face. This seems to wake-up date pits.

I make strong paper cups, out of recycled newspaper and magazines. These hold wet dirt and typically remain intact, if I use enough layers of paper. I fill a plant saucer or plastic container with these. Usually, what will happen, is the outer ones dry-out, first. The paper acts as a sort-of wick, drawing water, up into the pot  of dirt.

A third method I am using is have a small pot or bowl of sand. I place seeds on top of the sand. I put the  pot toward the bottom a clear plastic produce bag or zip lock. The top is open for ventilation. This way causes larger seeds to mold immediately.

Mold is mitigated by washing the seeds first. I have used antibacterial soap and a tea strainer. Cinnamon seems to stop an infection, immediately.

I started experimenting with sand, because small seeds get attached to the wet napkin, if you wait only a day or two, too long. Removing the small seeds and tearing the napkin breaks them. The paper causes the seedlings to lose moisture, if it is planted in one piece.

But, some will survive, inside of clear, plastic waterbottles, filled part way with dirt, to create a ventilated humidity dome.

[greenman62]

Before discussing different methods, I will open the discussion by saying I have never done any better than 5g pots, filled with native soil, out in the open.

i grow a lot of papaya from seed.
when i first started, i had eaten a papaya, and just threw the seeds in a container and forgot about them.
it was full of native soil, which was mostly fine sand.
i couldnt believe how fast they grew and healthy they looked.
i did some reading, and there is a mycorrhizal association with papaya.
the peat moss and potting soil i was using, was a poor substitute, and obviously lacking in the mycorrhizae

i also have a spot i have been dumping leaves for years
at the bottom is a rich black soil.
i use that, with the regular soil (fine sand)
and mix it %60 sand, %40 leaf compost
and sift it.

[Ansarac]

How to make paper cups.

My motivation in developing this was that peat pelets are not available, at local stores, during the months when you would actually want to start seeds. Then, they are expensive and sell out quick.

There is no nutrition in these pellets. You have to buy liquid fertilizer, or the seed will eventually use up it's reserves and lose vigor.

There are other products, to make your own cups out of paper. One of these has a sort of ball, pressing pages into a bowl. That is not secure.

I believe I can make a commercial prototype out of HDPE plastics (milk jugs, bottle caps, coffee containers) which melt at low heat and can be shaped with hand tools.

Maybe, this will be a late night commercial, someday.   

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Different sized tools, made of scavenged materials --

A sprinkler pipe, pole from an obsolete, analogue antenna, and cleaned-up trailer hitch found in a gutter.

Pieces of firewood were turned in a lathe and sanded, but the basic shape could be hand carved, or made from anything else that will fit, for instance, a smaller piece of pipe.
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The expanded image (up close) shows me using the edge of the tool, to remove staples. Don't try to do this too many times, using your finger nails.
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Use the tool to flatten your paper and make creases. The more layers you use, the stiffer it will be.
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Use finger tension, to roll up your paper.
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The paper is allowed to hang off. This will eventually form the bottom of your pot.
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Force the paper inside.
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Making the bottom of the pot, by compressing the paper, under force.
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Bottom of the pot, shows how paper has rolled up, inside. It doesn't matter, if there is a hole in the bottom. Later, compressed soil will stay inside.
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It's easy take the paper cup, off the tubing. Notice how the diagonal fold is nicely tucked inside, so that no flaps of paper hang off.
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It's tough! It can't be pulled apart, unless you try very hard.
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Filtered compost, using recycled materials.
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Force the dirt inside, under thumb pressure. It holds a lot of soil.
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White pomegranate seedlings. (Hard water and wood ash leach through the paper.)

The paper will wick water up, from the saucer, and into the dirt.

You can plant the entire cup in the ground, but must water frequently, while the plant is getting established, because the paper can also wick water away from the seedling.