Germinating Seeds in Soil versus Paper Towel

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Germinating your own garden seeds instead of purchasing seedlings is fun and saves you money to boot.
However, seeds are delicate and may require coddling during germination and when transplanting them
to their final location. There are two popular home gardener methods for germinating seeds:

A germination bed made from moistened paper towel or filter paper

Planting seeds directly in a small amount of soil or soil-less starter mix

Starting Seeds in Soil

Starting-Seeds-in-Soil

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normanack under cc2.0

Unless you have a hydroponic garden, the soil is where your seeds are destined to live after sprouting.
Starting your seeds directly in small pots or seedling trays filled with a good quality soil will eliminate
one transplanting step. The soil must be sterilized, light and loamy so that it fosters an environment
where air and moisture move freely and is free from diseases.

Plan to water soil germinated seeds from underneath. Top watering can disturb the seed and lead to
overwatering. Use porous pots or pots with holes in their base. Set these in a pan that will hold about
one inch of water. The soil will be uniformly moistened as it wicks up the water from below. When
germinating seeds in soil, it is easy to plant them too deeply. Small seeds should have only a light
covering of soil, whereas larger seeds should be no more than one-half of an inch below the soil.

Paper Towel Germination

Paper towels, filter paper or even newspaper provides an excellent medium for germinating seeds. They
are pathogen-free and make it easy to control the moisture content for proper germination. This
method also takes the guesswork out of knowing if your seeds have germinated since you can easily
observe them.

Paper-Towel-Germination

Photo credit to

mannewaar under cc2.0

To use this method, tear a paper towel in half and moisten one of the halves. Place four or five seeds on
half of the paper and fold the other half over the seeds. Blow open a clear, sandwich size zip-close bag.
Place the paper with seeds inside and reseal the bag. Set the bag anywhere out of direct sunlight that
stays at room temperature. The bag acts like a miniature greenhouse that retains heat and moisture.
You should observe seeds sprouting in about five to seven days.

The biggest drawback to the paper towel method is that the delicate, sprouted seeds must be
transplanted manually to soil or another moisture-holding medium such as vermiculite. The main root is
very delicate and should not be touched. Use tweezers on the seed body or the cotyledons when
moving them to moist soil.

Do not push the seed into the soil. Instead, make a hole in the soil for the entire root, hold it in place
and push soil gently over it. If the seed is already showing true leaves, make sure those remain above
the soil. In a few weeks, the seedlings should be ready for outdoor planting if the weather has warmed
up.

How to Germinate Seeds in

Cotton Wool
Written by Eulalia Palomo; Updated December 10, 2018
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 2Germination of Bean Seeds Without Soil
 3What Plants Grow the Fastest From Seeds?
 4Grow Plants in Paper Cups
For the first part of germination, all a seed needs is warmth and moisture. Soil and nutrients come
later when the seedling starts to develop. Gardeners generally would use a soilless seed-starting mix
to germinate seeds, but they can keep it even simpler by using common cotton wool. This medium
provides moisture and, as an added bonus, allows gardeners to watch the seeds germinate on top of
the pillowy white surface, an exciting project to get kids engaged in the magic of gardening.
Spread a layer of cotton wool over the bottom of a seed-starting tray, whether it's unwrapped from
long sheets or formed from cotton balls.
Mist the cotton wool with water until it is evenly damp.
Pull the cotton wool apart slightly to break up the fibers a bit. Nestle the seeds into the top of the
cotton wool spaced 1 to 2 inches apart.
Put the seed tray in a bright area in indirect light. Keep the environment around the seeds at 65 to 70
degrees Fahrenheit.
Mist the cotton wool daily or whenever it starts to dry out. The seeds need a consistently moist
environment to germinate but will rot if the cotton wool gets soggy.
Transplant seedlings into 2- to 3-inch pots or cell packs when they form roots and the first leaves. Fill
the pots with damp potting soil.
Gently separate the cotton wool from the seedlings being careful not to damage the roots. Leave
some of the cotton wool growing around the roots. If you try to pull the seedling out of the cotton
wool, you might break the new roots.
Make a hole in the center of the pot just large enough for the seedling roots. A pencil or your pinky
will make an appropriate hole.
Place the seedling with any remaining pieces of cotton still attached into the hole so the roots are
covered and the stem and leaves are above the soil line. Push the soil around the seedling to secure it
in the pot.
Keep the seedlings in 65 to 70 F environment during the day in bright light, at least 12 hours per day.
At night, bring the temperature down to 55 F (See Reference 1). Water using a gentle mist or spray
bottle whenever the top of the soil feels dry.
 Things You Will Need
 Seed-starting tray
 Cotton wool pads
 Spray bottle
 3-inch pots
 Potting soil
 Pencil
Tip
Some seeds need to germinate in the dark. If the seeds you are planting require a dark environment to
germinate, put them in a warm, 65 to 70 F, dark cupboard until they sprout. Most seeds germinate
between 65 and 70 F, but some need cooler or warmer temperatures. Check the specifics for your
seeds before planting. Germination time varies depending on the seed type. Some will germinate in
as little as five days while others take two to three weeks. You can use a damp paper towel to start
seeds in place of cotton wool.