I'm totally lost... I hope somebody finds me!

I plant my seeds in the dirt then go inside and drink my tea.
So far it has worked every time(when I was sure I hadn't planted any seeds up-side-down)

Lou

OMG - I laughed until I cried - I so very much resemble your story; well except the microwave part! I've settled on Byron's tea in a spray bottle AFTER I've got the dry seed where I want it.

And yeah, I need to tackle those itsy bitsy I can't see them even with my tri-focal seeds again this week; grr if they weren't so expensive I'd be less worried about too many in one planter; hmmm? On the bright side; they do divide pretty readily as little seedlings; just carefully tease out the soil and separate them by gingerly holding on the baby leafs. Not the speediest of methods; but I've got oodles of time.

And I'm looking forward to more of your stories!

~dianne

Oh, and Lou - after you brew your tea; toss the tea bags in a container with some water. Periodically pour the water off into a baby seedling fertilizer container. Then compost the remaining tea bag. It's suppose to be nirvana for baby seeds. Mine aren't saying anything about it yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Byron's World Famous Tea Recipe

Hi stoneeater

Welcome to the forum! My advice to you would be to keep it as simple as you can possible can. You are probably doing more harm than good with all the seeds taking a bath!

I am with Lou, lost,lol

Silvia

I agree you shouldn't make this too complicated. Your story made my brain hurt trying to figure it out. Plant seeds in a seed growing medium, either in the dirt outside or in seed starting mix inside. Water. Wait. Then you have a seedling.

I don't know what planet Byron comes from but around my neck of the woods mother nature just shakes the seeds off the plant with the wind and lets the seeds fall to the ground, then she pees on them with the rain, and shines on them with sunlight.
Guess what?? That old way still works here, down on the farm, and I relax, pet my cat, and drink my tea(before the dang tea freezes).

Lou

I was trying to keep it simple. Used that "Jiffy" prebagged starting medium, premade peat pots, etc... Just didn't forsee so many complications. :)
Too cold to start outside here yet but the local paper said to start peppers and tomatoes inside to be ready by march. Still got some weak tea left for anything that decides to show up. Supposed to be a couple days of near freezing weather then I get to transplant cauliflower seedlings. Yeah!!!

Stoneater: BEST story I've heard all week! (we may be related...your story sounds like my life, lol)

Should have been there the time I tried Teff for bread...OMGosh, you know how dough rises? this stuff was like the dough that ate Orlando! It rose alright, over the side of the 2 gallon bread bowl, down the sides of the rack, covered the toaster oven and was trying to escape through the drain (which it found after covering a good 3 feet of counter space)...I found my phone in it as well...dang.

Seems like those (hilarious) problems might've been avoided by careful & thorough reading of that thread. &, FWIW, Byron(another GW veteran from way back) is located in New Hampshire & works in large volume. I'm guessing he's had more problem's w/ damping off than we would down here, where we can get seedlings outside sooner.

& w/ apologies for pointing out the obvious, but you can simply wet the planting medium w/ the tea - before or after planting the seeds. Another trick I've used in the past is to sprinkle ground cinnamon over the surface after planting.

I just do not bother w/ any of those 'tricks' anymore, tho - Jiffy seed starting mix works great for me & my small garden & I get my seedlings outside ASAP.