- 1). Dampen paper towels, and place exactly 10 seeds in a single layer on each paper towel. Roll the paper towel with the seeds inside. Try to group the seeds together for each type of plant and for each seed packet.
- 2). Place each rolled paper towel with seeds into a plastic sandwich bag, and seal the bag. Label the plastic bag with the plant name for the seeds it contains.
- 3). Store the plastic bags in a warm location with air temperatures of 70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. A good spot in most homes is on top of a refrigerator.
- 4). Remove the paper towels from the plastic bags, and unroll them to inspect the seeds after one week. Count the number of sprouted seeds in each paper towel. Multiply the number of germinated seeds by 10 to get the percentage of viable seeds per group.
- 5). Determine the viability of each group of seeds. If you had all 10 seeds germinate in the group, you have a perfect germination rate of 100 percent. A rate of 80 to 90 percent is also very good, but you may need to sow more seeds of the groups with only 60- to 70-percent germination. If the germination rate is 50 percent or less, you should discard the seeds.
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