Starting 2012

So I actually started my growing season for 2012 a few days ago. 

On December 22nd I put some seeds into soak - just a little water for 24 hours prior to planting. I'm not completely convinced that this is necessary, but I do it anyway, it's not like it's a lot of effort. 

Start for this year was 16 different varieties, a different mix from last year, to combine with the 12 over-wintering plants from previous season(s). This year most of the seeds were bought out of curiosity - trying to grow some unusual types rather than the classic hot and superhot varieties of the past few years. 

Seeds in soak - I use some lids from plastic bottles for this purpose. This seems to work for me. 

Whilst this was going on, I setup the heated propagator under the germination lights. I like to line the base of the prop with sand - this seems to even out the temperature and humidity levels better than running it as is. Otherwise I find some of the cubes dry out too quickly and others dont seem to get enough heat. 


By setting this up 24 hours in advance, the whole system (including the cubes) get chance to get up to temperature prior to actually inserting the seeds. 

Propagator lined with sand:

With the trays for the cubes added: