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pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:28 pm
by Spoon
do you guys sterilise the container?
would a very diluted milton solution be ok?

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:52 pm
by EmzyT
hey :). I'm currently using this method myself. I have been using jam jars washed in the dish washer! I then rinsed thoroughly with water and made sure i dryed it well with a clean towel. I never sterlised as such, and i've successfully germinated! I cant help on what to use if you wanna sterlise.. Lol cos i dont know. But i'm sure someone will know! Good Luck!

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:55 am
by Spoon
hi EmzyT,

well i decided to try your way, as i was worried of residual chlorine killing off the seeds. thanks for replying so quick mate 8-)

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:45 pm
by EmzyT
no problem. I just made sure it was totally dry. My seeds germinated fine though, and in no time at all. Any chlorine risidue would of been highly diluted i reckon by the pure water. :)

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:25 pm
by Andrew
Just throwing this in, but when I did mine, I boiled the jars in boiling distilled water.

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 1:53 am
by EmzyT
thats a good idea andrew!

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:56 pm
by waterbutt
Because I am new on the forum please can someone tell me what the water germination method consists of ?

I guess you put seeds in distilled water and place the container in a warm place until germination can be seen to have taken place.

What kind of surface do you put the newly germinated seed on ?

Do you just rest the seedling on the surface ?

Thanks !

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:02 pm
by Andrew
Waterbutt,

The water germination consists of putting the seeds in to a jar or container, with about two inches of water. If using natural sun, I suggest putting a shade cloth up to prevent the seeds from cooking. Once germination is visible, put the seeds on their sides on to your soil mix. Make sure that your soil mix is very damp so that the seedlings can adjust easily.

Try to keep them warm, but not too warm. DO NOT COOK THE SEEDS ;)

You can put the newly germinated seeds right on to your regular soil surface. Peat/Perlite, Peat, Peat/Perlite/Sand.

Just rest them on the surface. I don't know if putting them roots-down would be beneficial or not, but the roots should find their way down due to gravity. ;)

I hope this helps Waterbutt!

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:15 pm
by waterbutt
Potassium Permanganate is an ozidising agent and would make a suitable sterilizing solution.

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:18 am
by cbennett4041
I didn't sterilize my containers at all when I germinated seeds in pure water.... and I think I paid for it. I don't know if was the seeds or the containers, but several of the seeds ended up developing a floaty, filmy, white mold on them. I still got a lot of seedlings from this method, and fast. However, I feel that if I would have sterilized my plastic Tupperware containers and cleaned my seeds with peroxide or maybe even bleach I would have had better germination rates.

Up to you! To give you an idea of the numbers, I submerged about 150-200 seeds and have 55-60 seedlings at the moment. About 50 of the seeds are still waiting to germinate, but I have since moved them to a peat/sand mix.

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 7:12 am
by waterbutt
I have found an ebay source of 100 small test tubes (75mm x 10mm) for less than $10 so I have ordered them. They will be easy to boil in order to sterilise them and I am going to put one seed in each tube. It will then be easy to pour the entire contents out onto the compost and avoid the fiddly job of individually picking out the seeds that have germinated. If any seeds do develop a mould it will not infect its neighbouring seeds and seeds that germinate will not become tangled with their neighbours.
I have not tried the water method so I am on a learning curve.

Re: pure water method container cleaning questions

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:00 am
by cbennett4041
Nice approach. I think I'll try that next time. Clever.

Let us know how the test tubes work out! I like it.