DIY Germination Chamber: Fast and Consistent Seed Starting
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- čas přidán 19. 01. 2022
- It's time to start plant propagation for the season, and I usually begin with my seed varieties (perennials mainly) in mid January. This year we put together a DIY version of a seed germination chamber to help sprout our seeds quickly and consistently. The overall setup is really simple: temperatures around 25C/77F and consistent high humidity. So far, the results have been great: some varieties of seed have been coming up within 5 days or so. I'll talk about the temperature/humidity controller I used for the project and also some alternate methods.
DIGITEN links for the thermostat and humidity controller:
Amazon US:
www.amazon.com/dp/B08K31FCFC
Amazon CA:
www.amazon.ca/dp/B08K31FCFC
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It’s interesting to see other people’s set ups, especially at a commercial level, beats having all of my gazillion heat mats with all the wires everywhere!
I could have written this comment many times before, but I wanted to let you know that I really enjoy your channel. I especially like your approach & methodology to various gardening issues. I am not much of a rose gardener (couple of White Dawns & a JFK) nor a small nursery owner, but I am a serious gardener. I find that your tips & insight to be very useful to me. Their application is quite broad. Thank you. Wishing you a successful & happy new year.
Thanks so much Orrin. That's what I'm hoping for... maybe not every topic is equally useful for all gardening situation, but that you can take some value from the conversation anyway.
My sentiments exactly. I have grown roses but stopped due to my adverse feelings about chemicals and spraying. And through Jason's channel and easy advice to follow have started planting my gardens with roses in mind. The variety of old roses he has brought to my knowledge inspired me to help and try to save some myself.
I've had so much issue with consistent germination I've settled on a germination chamber. It's the most energy and space efficient solution.
Nice set up. My husband built me a much smaller germination chamber. I take care of heat and humidity with a crock pot filled with water and no lid. Works great!
That's really great. I bet I could just throw some meat and veg in there in the mornings before work and when I check my seedlings in the evening, serve dinner and put clean water in.
That's a neat idea - heat and humidity all in one!
SO happy to have found your channel! Always clear information that the layman gardener can understand and implement! Thank you!
I love the dual purpose of the cooler/germination chamber.
Thanks! Flower cooler, germination chamber and even sometimes a rather large beer fridge!
This is going to help me so much. I am usually a month behind every year. Always have been. And I laugh at myself. I don't know why. No New Year's resolutions but maybe this should be my one and only. Lol
Jason I love your solution for doing this! You have a great idea. Got my David Austin Rose Book Today!!! Yeah!!
Nice - what dreams are made of!
So smart! I would even use the box in winter to store my dahlias! Thanks for sharing.
I was planning on making a heated table, but this is a much better idea!
Thank you very much for your informative and well presented video. Your expertise and your honest comments are greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the encouragement Ziad.
Very helpful tips as usual Jason.👌
Here are a couple of small home gardener suggestions.
If you only have a handful of seed varieties for sprouting try using a styrofoam cooler or camping cooler for climate control. Same idea, but on the corner of a room type of scale.
Another way to heat the box is to use rounded river stones. Place them on or in a source of heat like the oven, wood stove, under a heat lamp until they are at the appropriate temperature and then place them in the cooler for transferring their heat (use a board, box to keep them together so the heat will stay concentrated and last longer). You can also use a box or bag of sand (kidney/navy/pinto beans) and heat it up in the appropriate source of heat. I prefer wetted burlap fabric for the humidity as well as containing the river stones. You can also use a deep aluminum cookie sheet with wetted sand as a heat/moisture control as well.
I am actually in negotiations to purchase a 2 acre/.8 hectare property, hopefully closing by April, so I may be doing a spring move. I think the elevation is 4,700ft/1,432m. On Saturday at 2 pm the temperature was 62F/18C. I know that it gets down to 38F/2C in the predawn morning right now, so hopefully by April it will be more like 45F/8C. I guess we'll see what happens. It's definitely going to be a process, but I will be taking pictures and will try to send you some as things progress.
Very useful video.👌🤙
Thanks. I do love that gardeners find the appropriate project for their own size needs and conditions. Definitely not one size fits all. I didn't know it could get that cold where you are!
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm That's the thing about elevation, the higher up you go, the cooler it gets, even here in Hawaii. Right now Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea (the two main volcanoes) have snow on them and it will be there until at least March. The chill effect (like opening the refrigerator door and your feet get cold) is quite noticeable at that elevation. That's why I will probably need to build a green house for the tropical plants, just to buffer that 7-10 degree temperature drop to protect those most sensitive plants. It's all an experiment, so I guess we'll find out.😬😳😁
Thank you for sharing your expertise this has been very useful,🥰
tanks for all your
Once again so much help and some reminders for me. I had totally forgotten about this method. I have used it in forcing caladium. Thank you. Much appreciation.
Your most welcome Jason. I tried to send a link to a rose enthusiast that was on a channel I follow. Flock Finger Lakes. I think it got sent somewhere else. But I hoped you would know my intention of learning more because of you. Is real.
Love your videos, nice to see a grower from BC
Thanks Cindy!
Thanks for the reminder about your germination chart, it was super helpful last year. It was my first time getting my own seedlings into the ground! 🙂
AND for the reminder to get going NOW, I was a little _late_ getting those seedlings into the ground.
Good luck with your growing season!
Got the SeedSprouter and love it. It has a growlight included. I use it with a heating mat. Great success in my garage starting seeds.
Nice! Thanks Janet.
Iv got a walk in fridge made from that material, Iv got an air conditioner for cooling and heaters for heating. It's set on a bed of gravel and rain water flows under. Iv got a humidifier also. I use T5 and T8 lights for overwintering mother stock for early propagation of basket plants. Iv also got root trainer trays and can do upto 7300 hard wood cuttings over winter of weigela, sambuca, and roses. I use either course sand or seedling compost with perlite. My fridge room is about 8ft tall, 12ft wide and 20ft long. So I can squeeze lots of plants in there.
That sounds like a great multi-use growing space!
Jason, I started selling my plants online and do you ever get customers asking," Well i want to see all the photos of plants you have in inventory?" If i have time ill send them a few photos but i will not be taking a 100 photos of the plants i have. I only promise that the plants i send will be healthy and strong. But if i'm selling 1 bonsai that is unique then ill send photos but my website has enough photos of any plant i'm selling. But on your video, i currently use plastic tote box's to grow my cuttings with a small light source in the box and a heating pad under the cuttings. The totes provide the right temp and humidity for growing bougainvillea's.
So basically a large humidity controlled incubator, right? I had considered this as a solution but you only get a small amount of space and it’s a high price. This is more efficient and price friendly.
Very Very Good Vid !!! you could make a heck of a egg incubator out of that also....
Yes - or a home-brew setup.
Now I know what to do with my old freezer to keep it out of the landfill! Thank you. BTW, where did you get that mister/spray bottle?
Great idea... ready made! I got the sprayer from Tovia for my Garden Gear Reviews channel: czcams.com/video/m_-kuyFfUGo/video.html Handy gadget.
I want one. lol I need seed starting intervention.
Hi Jason, as a fledgling backyard grower/nurseryman I enjoy your videos, lots of good information. There are an increasing number of perrenials available today which can be grown from seed. The seeds for some of these can be quite expensive, I have seen Echinacea Red Ombre seeds priced at nearly $1 each, Cheyeye Spirit Echinacea are also expensive. Can you offer any particular advice regarding seeding instructions for these types to maximize germination rates and growing? For example, should the seeds be covered or just pressed into the seed starting mix? Also, do some seed suppliers buy 'old' seed from seed suppliers and sell them at a discount and therefore it's a case of 'you get what you pay for'? Thanks.
Thanks Paul. The right conditions for germination vary a lot by species. I get my specifics from the Jelitto website usually. I like Jelitto, Hazzards and GeoSeeds for assortment and price - but you're right, some can still be pretty dear. BTW, Jelitto says for echinacea: cover lightly and germ around 20C/68F
The problem I have with the seedmat that I have from Amazon is that if I set it on a towel or a table, the build up makes it entirely too hot. But if I put it on a wire rack thing like you have in your starter setup, there is no build up of heat but I can barely feel any heat at all.
Sorry to hear it! I've seen some heat mats with external thermostatic controls, but it's tough when the built-in controls are running hot.
Do seeds need some oxygen exchange happening in the soil to germinate? I ran a test this spring where I put a cover right at soil level in one tray and another tray with a dome. Few if any of the tight closed cover germinated. Same seed and temps.
Not that I've seen. We ran germination trials at a large grower with herbs and for some crops we placed black and white poly (black side down) directly on the tops of the seeded flats to retain moisture. Excellent germination! I'm not sure what happened in your trial, but I'd leave open the possibility that on the same heating mat (for instance) a tightly covered flat might actually have much warmer soil than the one under the dome. But that's just a thought.
Is there a place where I can print off your seedling chart? I'm retired and have begun to do a few things, like start seeds, before I plant them in my garden and would find this chart handy to have in my hands.
A comment: I'm particularly interested in lavender since I recently moved to a place that has about 80 plants. I didn't have a clue about them and left them to grow too big, etc. Anyway, I've started a few new plants from shoots so I can replace a few big plants that split. I've learned a lot from your channel. Thanks so much.
Thanks Clarissa. I think I dropped a direct link to the picture file in the description of the original topic video: czcams.com/video/ENKBp7cTpls/video.html
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Found it. Thanks so much
Are those open pollinated seeds or cross bred?
A little bit of both. I get a lot of my perennial seeds from Jelitto, and they off both species and hybrid selection.
I have seen oriented strand board plywood get rained on for weeks before roofing , siding or even a vapor barrier touches it. A little humidity is a fart in a windstorm to this product. Forget about it .
Thanks Howard. That's reassuring. I noticed a small a amount of swelling on some of the edges, but I only use this for seedlings for a few weeks at a time anyway. Seems to be holding up okay.
Thank you for this video. I shared it with a few friends. They were so excited.. You need P r o m o S M!!