Coffee Filter Germination for...

17 years ago

Hi, all. Despite 10 black thumbs and years of no success, I am now able to successfully propagate cuttings and divisions from hardy shade plants like ivy, pachysandra, liriope, impatiens and hostas. I actually am averaging a 90% success rate on these. In fact, if anyone wants to trade for any of these, please let me know and post here.

After years of failure with a 0% success rate at trying to grow from seed, but being an optomist, I'm gonna try it again. I've read the FAQ on using chamomile tea on seeds and the FAQ on germinating seeds in coffee filters. This sounds good to me. Sounds like it is hard to kill the little guys in a coffee filter in a baggie by watering too much or too little. I might be able to do this one. I'd be happy with a 10% success rate.

So, could you filter-baggie-tea growers tell me if the following list of seeds could be put in a tea-treated coffee filter in a baggie and then under my bed until they germinate? I'm not sure what needs light and what needs dark out of this group,what's the right size and what's too tiny, and, for that matter, what needs hot and what needs stratifying (questions about stratifying for another thread later).

Even when I'm really, really bad at something and fail miserably and repeatedly, it has never stopped me from trying again and being overly optomistic in the latest attempt. So I bought a lot a lot a lot of seeds. Also, these are for trade too, since your thumbs are probably not as black as mine and I would love to see something actually survive and grow.

Ok, here's the first list. Which of these will NOT work with the filter-tea baggie idea under my bed:

jacob's ladder

chinese lantern (pysalis)

astilbe chinensis

blue flax (linum lewisii)

chamomile

st john's wort

chicory

sesame

wormwood

Also, when you check the baggie and it needs water, do you just use the sprayer at the kitchen sink, a mister, or what? And which is better...chamomile tea or hydrogen peroxide to keep the nasties away?

Thanks in advance for helping these poor black thumbs.

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Comments (4)

GawdinFever
17 years ago
jacob's ladder and st john's wort typically do not like to be transplanted. But honestly, as long as you do it while they are small, you are very gentle, and you water generously afterwards they are usually okay.

The rest of them should be no problem. I would use a bottle to mist them---it's a lot gentler!
And it doesn't really matter which you use of the two, but I've always used hydrogen peroxide. Just personal preference.

Hope this helps and good luck! (NEVER give up!)

Susanne
sundazing
Original Author
17 years ago
Hey, Susanne, thanks a lot. I think I'll try a coupla methods then with the jacob's ladder and st john's wort. What would you recommend I do with them after they sprout in the coffee filter under the bed? I'm very shaky on what medium to use, too, for these sprouts and the others.
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Okay if you answer my post. I'll answer yours, it sounds like you put those seeds in a coffee filter that didn't have any coffee grounds in it. If that is the case I would find my tweezers, and find some potting mix and put those seedlings in it. They are very tender at this point, so they need to be grown indoors in a bright window or under artificial lights. Fertilize them lightly, and you're on your way. Okay this is this deshima signing off.
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Unlike tomato seeds, I've received a lot of pepper seeds that haven't germinated so I can see some use in using the baggie method for peppers. Plus rotting chaf and seeds in an empty pot in my house is just fungus gnat food. I mostly agree with linrose but right now, I have more baggies started than I should. I enjoy fussing with them and watching them germinate. Soon it will be too time consuming. For small seeds that are too fussy, I only start a couple to test the batch and then start the rest in a pot. I guess this depends on your timeframe and whether or not they are annuals. If you are having problems with your coffee filters molding and you are using new filters and new baggies, I have three suggestions for you: 1) Boil your water first. All you need is a bowl full of water to wet and squeeze out your filters so this isn't a lot of additional work but it's really helped me. 2) Like Shrubs n Bulbs said, your seeds may be dead or some may be dead. In this case, remove the moldy seeds and change the filter and... 3) Your seeds may have been contaminated to begin with so in this case, you might soak them in 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 10 parts water mixture (you don't have to be exact). Let them sizzle a bit and rebag. This year, I've been experimenting with an alcohol dip instead but I can't recommend it yet.
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Oh Alex, how disappointing! I'll be happy to send you some sprouted seeds if you like. I actually checked the gelcups and baggies in the fridge on May 25th, and transplanted 14 'Heinz Klose', 16 'Elizabeth Town' and 30 'spotted strain'. And now the ones in the greenhouse in pots are all coming up, must have a couple of dozen of each. I thought I'd keep the ones in the fridge as 'back up' in case I cooked the others, or forgot to water, or some other tragedy took them. But honestly, just checked them and except for 'Heinz Klose' I have lots of all of them. If I sent you half of them, I'd still have lots of all of them. And H. sternii 'Boughton Beauty' is sprouting like crazy now in the fridge and the greenhouse too, though I don't know how this will winter over for us. Let me know, it's still cool enough to ship, but probably won't be for long. Taryn
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If the seed's big enough to grab with tweezers, even tho' there aren't leaves yet, I'd go ahead and move it. With tiny seeds (which rosemary really isn't), I might leave it on the filter paper and then cut the paper into bits, each containing a couple of seedlings, and plant the bits intact. My main concern with planting on the (whole) intact filter is that in my (limited) experience, the paper doesn't degrade terribly fast, and I'd want to have lots of open soil around it so the roots had someplace to go. (If you've sowed a whole packet on one filter, you also have a LOT of seedlings there, so if you leave them together, you'll have a tangled mess and regret it when you do come to transplant finally.) Either way (with or without paper bits), best to transplant as soon as you have a root. Doing it later just gives you more root hairs and root branching that can be destroyed by the transplant process. Trust me, a seed which has sprouted a root will, in its own good time, sprout leaves as well, providing you don't accidentally break off the little seed at the top of the root. Just keep the environment good and humid, to avoid stuck seed coats (common on tomatoes, haven't had much problem with other plants).
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sheltieche
17 years ago
Also read up on winter sowing forum FAQ. Easy and great results.
Never liked coffee filters myself. I either use moist sand inside of ziplock bag or just put whole pot/ moist medium and seeds/ inside of plastic bag.
sundazing
Original Author
17 years ago
Hey, thanks, Linda. I've tried winter sowing with disastrous results so the coffee filter thing is my latest attempt to succeed at something with seeds!

Can you tell me more about your method? For instance, do you use tea or hydrogen peroxide after you sow them, what kind of medium do you sow in when using pots, do you refrigerate overnight for regular seeds (not those needing stratification...I'll be starting a new thread later for that), do you seal up the baggie or poke holes in it, and where do you put them afterward? I'm not sure if all of the ones on my first list here are ok in dark or not. Thanks a lot for the tips.

Coffee Filter Germination for...

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GawdinFever

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GawdinFever

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sheltieche

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