There’s nothing more annoying as sowing seeds in your veggie garden and having a very poor germination rate. This is why it is always recommended that you carry out this diy seed viability test for any of your stored seeds. There is also this diy seed germination test and this diy garden soil tests that you can implement in your garden.
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It is wise to have an arsenal of these gardening techniques in hand, as they can end up saving you a lot of time and energy in the long run. After running this test, any viable seeds can be stored in glass jars for up to 5 years. I always try to ensure that I store mine in a cool dry location with very little to no humidity. In the same breath, it is also important to note that different seeds will have different viability duration periods.
Here’s What You’ll Need:
- seeds
- paper towels
- Ziploc bag
- plastic spray bottle
- marker
Step By Step Instructions:
Step 1.
Lay one sheet of paper towel on a flat surface like your kitchen table.
Step 2.
Place at least 10 seeds evenly on top of it.
Step 3.
Use the spray bottle to wet the paper towel, as well as the seeds.
Step 4.
Lay another paper towel sheet over the first one and wet it too.
Step 5.
Take care as you roll the paper towels into a ‘seed’ burrito.
Step 6.
Label the ziploc bag using the marker, with the seed type and the date.
Step 7.
Place your ‘seed’ burrito into the ziploc bag and seal it.
Step 8.
Store the ziploc bag in a warm area and wait for germination.
The type of seed will determine the germination period, anything from 48 hours to 2 weeks. After which you can then count the number of seeds that have germinated and use that to determine your germination success rate. For calculation purposes, each germinated seed is 10%, therefore if only 6 seeds germinate, ultimately you have a 60% germination success rate.
You can watch the video below on Seed Viability Test 101…
You can watch the video below on How to test the viable seed by Tetrazolium test…
You can watch the video below on easily test seed viability baggy method….
