Seed Germination – It’s Beginning to Look Like Spring!

Hi folks –

I’m just getting my supplies together to start germinating some seeds for this year’s garden. I can’t wait to get my hands dirty!

To germinate my pepper seeds, I use the “wet paper towel” technique. It’s pretty simple: wet a paper towel, lay your seeds out, layer a paper towel on top, and place in a sealed container. This provides your seeds with a humid environment, allowing them to take off in a fraction of the time that they would take in soil.

Check out the video below for more information.

I know it seems a bit early to be starting our seedlings, but pepper plants take a long time to get going, especially in a low-light environment. Since our apartment windows don’t receive a tremendous amount of sunlight, we’ve learned to start early and start weaning the plants off on our deck as soon as warm weather hits. We give them an extra 2-4 weeks of indoor growth and it seems to work out just fine.

For more information on indoor seeding, check out the Farmer’s Almanac. The almanac recommends 8-10 weeks of indoor growth for pepper seeds, which would put our planting in May – if only!

Happy Gardening!