How To: Germinating seeds

Before plants can be grown in the Bucket Farm, they must first be germinated (or started). I'll explain here how I do it. I germinate my seeds in the cheapskate DWC system, which you can read about here.

 Now, let's get started with my overproduced explanation of my germinating process!

Step One: Materials

1) Seeds. In this photo, the incredibly tiny specs at the left side of all items are my Alpine Strawberry seeds.
2) A rooting plug. In this photo I show a Rapid Rooter plug, which are my favorites. [Rapid Rooter]
3) A two-inch net pot.
4) A small drinking glass or clear plastic cup that is at least 2 inches in diameter at the rim.
5) Tweezers or forceps (if you are dealing with small seeds).

Step 2: 'sow' the seeds

Using the forceps or just your fingers, place 2 to 3 seeds into the tiny hole at the top of the rooting plug. You can only keep one plant per plug, but we plant additional seeds to ensure we get at least one plant. If multiple seeds germinate, we'll have to select the strongest-looking seedling and snip the others off.

If you are using large seeds like cucumber or squash seeds, put only one seed into each plug and use multiple plugs to ensure you get more than 1 viable plant.

Step 3: Pot the plug

Plop the rooting plug into the net pot. That's pretty much it. Now take the potted plug and your drinking glass to your cheapskate DWC system.

Step 4: Installation

Insert the net pot with plug into a vacant site in your cheapskate DWC system. Very Important: Ensure that the water level inside the reservoir is high enough that water makes contact with the bottom of the rooting plug. If it doesn't, then add water to bring the level up high enough to touch the bottom of the plug by 1/2 inch or less.

The plug will draw water through its body and to the seeds so you don't need to submerge the plug. Note that in this photo you can see that the water is indeed coming into the net pot and touching the plug.

Step 5: Dome

Place the overturned glass or clear plastic cup over the net pot. This creates a tiny little environment that will get warmer and more humid than the open air, creating better conditions for germination for most plants. This 'dome' should be removed once the plant(s) sprout and have any sort of visible leaf structures.

Perhaps the best improvised dome is the small containers that you get at the nicer taco restaurants to hold salsa for to-go orders. However, I didn't have any of these on-hand so I went with the drinking glass.

Now you just have to wait a week or so (some seeds take even longer!) for your plant to germinate!