Jubilation! Germination!

The impatiens showed their "milk leaves" or first leaves last night. I will have plenty of plants for the shade garden. The seeds germinated in a flat with a plastic dome - all set under lights. (following the directions on the seed packet). Tomorrow, after the slow guys push their way to the top, I will remove the dome, move the flat to the cooler basement and set under the lights there for 16 hours a day. More about the lights set-up later.

I planted some old basil seeds in a six inch pot and set the entire thing inside a big zip lock bag and put it in my warm porch in the sun. Old seeds usually have a poor germination rate but not these - the pot is crowded with tiny basil sprouts after only a few days. This is Genovese basil which I believe has the best flavour.

The geraniums planted in coffee filters did not germinate. The ones on the wet paper towel have sprouts. Moral - always follow the advice on the seed packet. I quickly moved the still dry seeds from coffee filter to warm, wet paper towel, folded them up into a packet about 4 inches square and put them back into the zip lock bags. Back to the warm porch. I will transplant all sprouted geraniums tonight. More info on that later.