Thursday, February 21, 2013

Seed Starting Success!

First sprout was yesterday on the Melampodium, and very late day yesterday on the dahlia. 

As of this morning, I see the Mimulus (monkey flower) just starting to poke up.

On average, that's about four to five days (I started some on Saturday) for first sprout, and should be another 2 days until sprouting is complete and they're ready to go under the lights downstairs.

That's actually fairly fast, but I find the seedling heating mat I use raises the temperature of the soil to about 80, and that tends to accelerate the sprout.  For non-heated seeds, seven to ten days to first sprout isn't unusual.

Using something like a space heater isn't recommended.  Temperatures will rise too high, and the seed slows sprout.  The fifteen watt seedling mat I use is just about perfect.

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