It's seed starting season again! Especially looking forward to this batch THIS year because we've had a horrendous (for us) winter this time - actually, the snowiest (and coldest) in my life! I have had flowers coming up in my yard in mid February in the past, and definitely by mid March - but so far, nothing this year. It's been rough...
End of whining - for now. ..
So back on topic! My very favorite seed starting equipment I use are these trays -
Where did I get these things? Well, at my job YEARS ago ( the days of typewriters, fax machines and answering machines that used full sized cassette tapes ), we ordered a bunch of tapes for our answering machines and they came attached to cards with these plastic rectangles! Me being one of the original "repurposing" queens, I kept them. I don't recall whether I just thought I could use them someday or if I knew right away what I was going to do with them, but I grabbed 'em. You can see that I've had some of these a LONG time by the way they're yellowing. Wish I could find more, but the cassette tape era has come and is long gone...
I can use these clear plastic rectangular trays to germinate seeds by nesting two together with a moist paper towel or tissue sandwiched between (I normally use coffee filters cut to size) and placed on a low heat source like the top of the water heater.
And in 24 hours, I have some already! This is the ideal time to get them in some soil. These tiny first roots (called radicles) are very brittle, plus they are covered in "hairs" that will attach to the paper - then you have to cut them out to plant them! They are easily broken, so I would rather not have to do that. You just want to know which ones are viable so you're not wasting time and space planting "dead" seed.
After they sprout and are planted in a normal cell pack, these trays can be used both as a pan underneath the pack AND as a little "greenhouse" on the top!
(Notice the printing still on it - "Quality leaderless tape fits most answering machines") LOL!
Stick 'em under fluorescent lights and they have a great start on life!
