Keeping Seed Tests Neat

I recently posted a tip on the importance of testing seed. You can see it here: Test Seeds for Vitality. This is a good practice if you have older seed, or seed you, for any reason, have doubts about. This tip is sort of an expansion on that previous one.

I purchased some small, plastic storage bins from Wal Mart. They came 3 to a pack. The pack sold for a dollar. I placed 4 regular size pudding cups in each bin.

One brand of pudding now comes in a larger cup, as well. I took these larger cups, cut small drainage holes in the bottom, filled them with soil and placed one in each of the regular size cups in the bin.

Next, I placed seed atop the soil in one of the cups and covered with recommended amount of soil. Then, using a label cut from old, vinyl, Venetian blinds, I make note of the year I harvested the seed, the name of the seed and the PD (plant date). I list the amount of seed planted (e.g. 10 s). I leave a bit of room to enter the days to germination. This label can be kept for future reference.

I continue preparing each cup. When the bin is full (4 cups), I place the bin on a heating pad (set on low), which is seated under fluorescent tubes. I can get about 8 bins on a small heating pad.

I've found this method I've come up with to be neat, clean, and to take up a minimum of space. (My seeds are tested on a kitchen counter top, underneath an upper cabinet).

If your seeds don't need to be tested, this method would still be ideal for starting a small number of seeds indoors just to get an early start on planting.