I got a surprise when I added the seeds that had been imbibing on the kitchen table for the last two days to the bag of stratifying seeds in the fridge: @treehugger - I see a radical from your Ceanothus americanus emerging. Per Prairie Moon's instructions, I poured boiling water over them (didn't scarify them, though the directions say to do so), let them soak, put them in potting mix in a baggie and set the "timer" for 70 days in the fridge. That was was on 1-28-17. Time flies

Edited to change "coffee filter" to "potting mix." No idea why I originally wrote coffee filter, as I was staring right at the baggie of potting mix. Weird

Most of the seeds I have started so far have done really well. I have been having a lot of fun checking on them several times a day.

They look great Audrey

Esperanza said: I have been having a lot of fun checking on them several times a day.

Lol, me, too--back and forth and forth and back!

Thanks Ronnie, I bought some grow lights this year so I could start everything inside. I am having so much more success doing it that way without crazy wind and temp fluctuations. I have no doubt that I have been keeping a better eye on them with them being indoors.

Taqiyyah I know it seems silly but sometimes new seeds are sprouted that were not there just hours before. I love that first sight of green!

Just planted this little guy. He'll hang out in my kitchen for a bit, then go explore the great outdoors. I did some reading on how to germinate cotton and this worked in 5 days.

I also tried it with the peanut butter bush seeds and the paper turned green where the seeds were and red in a few other spots. Normal? I went ahead and changed the paper towel just in case.

Oh, I missed out on the lovely foliage of peanutbutterbush ? That is on my to do list. Sorry that I do not have advice but I am listening

If me I would plant the sprouted one..right away.

Ya, it's planted, watered, & sitting in the warmest & brightest part of the house. I wrapped the other 2 up in hopes they'd sprout too.

I've been noticing more tomatoes than usual failing to thrive. They can't seem to push out of their seed coats. Peppers and eggplant did the same. Any reason for that? They're all under lights and evenly moist but not growing much algae so they're not drowning. I ended up re-sowing a few tomatoes and most of the peppers and eggplant this morning. Sprinkled worm castings on everything and spritzed, too. Hope it will give them some oomph.

The biggest reason for me with seedlings having trouble breaking out of the seed coat is low humidity. If I lightly spritz the seedlings and cover them for a day or two they generally shed the seed coat readily.

The seeds are moist when the seedlings sprout. Perhaps the lights you are using are drying the seed coat out too quickly.

Sometimes planting the seeds a little more deeply helps me. It seems to give more distance for the emerging seedling to drag the seed coat off.

Sometimes it seems related to a batch of seeds, too. I've had a full batch of "helmet heads" from a single tomato variety when no other variety was affected. While performing the surgery (usually involving manicure scissors and spit), I get to wonder what on earth I did differently when I saved those particular seeds

Lol, manicure scissors and spit! I don't have the scissors, unfortunately, so my surgical attempts have failed more often than not.

Thank you both for the help; they're enclosed in a makeshift greenhouse with grow lights, but it's possible the lights are too much.I'll spritz next time I see one start to pop up. Also possible they weren't buried deeply enough, and I did replant, so we'll see.

janinilulu said:
old but were still full of life!

Sounds like me!

These are Bedder Blue Salvia I got from bluee19 at 19 days past sowing. I love the sprouts but not the fungus. I don't want them to get damping off.

Leslie, have you tried spraying with chamomile tea? It usually works for me.

Christine, thanks! I'll try that.

I didn't have tea, so I sprinkled some cinnamon on some yucky looking cells this morning. Anyone have that work for them?

I don't know about cinnamon, but I second the chamomile tea spritz. It has always worked for me. Even the cheapest dollar store chamomile tea works If you can find a way to get a bit of air circulation as well - especially when the sprouts are first emerging, it will cut down on the damp-off.

I've had mixed results with sprinkling ground cinnamon. I've wondered if it matters what kind of cinnamon is used? There are several varieties in my cupboard.