Annual Seeds
Soil Temperature
Soil temperatures should be 70-72F to be successful. Understand that soil temperatures are typically 10 degrees colder than air temperatures so if you maintain a house temperature of 72F, the soil will only be 60F. This is too cool for many annual seeds to happily germinate reliably.
Temperatures that are too cool (plus other conditions described here) will lead to damping off.
I personally use a heat-mat. This gizmo, available from many of the larger garden shops, is automatically thermostat regulated to produce a constant 70F heat. You put your seed starting tray on this heat mat and it will keep the soil at the right temperature for germination.
Water
Seeds want to be moist. They don't want to be swimming. Seeds want constant moisture around them – not dry one day and soaking the next.
Commercial growers use mist systems. The rest of us cover our seeds with transparent covers or plastic to keep moisture around the seed. Remember – it doesn't have to be wet, simply moist.
Many gardeners overwater their seeds and drown them
Interestingly enough, many gardeners use cold water to water their seeds. This is an excellent way to retard germination. Always use warm water to water seeds and seedlings if you want to see them grow properly.
Soil
Use an artificial soil if possible (promix or something similar) These are sterile and weed free. They also have a structure that allows small seed leaves to penetrate quickly and easily to establish themselves.
You can use a potting soil but you'll find it will compact quite quickly and may contain weed seeds.
Light
Seedlings don't require full hot sunshine – in fact, they do much better with a northern light while germinating. Immediately after germination, they will require full sunlight or they'll quickly stretch out into something ugly.
Seeds also don't have to be deeply covered to germinate. In fact, when covering seed, I generally only put the smallest amount possible over top of them. It is not to exclude light that most seeds need covering but rather to maintain a constant level of moisture around the seed.
Summary
*Use an artificial soil
*Barely cover the seed
*Keep the seeds warm
*Keep the seeds just damp using warm water
And that's the deal on successfully growing annual seeds of flowers and vegetables
Click here if you have a question about germinating annual seeds
