ONE cheap food item isn’t just tasty, it can also serve as a gardening trick.
The tip is ideal for growing difficult seeds and even prevents root damage.
Redditor Usda-5b shared their easy hack for saving seeds.
“Many people germinate seeds in plastic bags lined with paper towel. It’s very common with seeds like ultra-hot peppers that can be somewhat finicky about sprouting,” they said.
“It makes it easy to control the heat, humidity, and responding quickly to mold or other problems,” they continued.
Still, they had their own desired method.
“Using a covered cup – or Cool Whip container – lined with paper towel and coffee filter has been more convenient for me,” they said.
“Roots don’t penetrate coffee filters like they do paper towels, so it minimizes the possibility of damaged roots.”
It seemed they had whipped up one valuable and affordable technique.
Target sells an eight-ounce container of Cool Whip for $2.19.
They also explained how they use paper towels underneath to retain moisture.
Those fussy plants can’t fool them.
As soon as they notice a root “poking out,” they plant them in a small pot.
“With peppers especially, the root digs in, the stem emerges upward, and then the seed leaves get pulled out of the seed case by the stem,” they said.
“If they aren’t deep enough, the seed case can get stuck on and kill the seedling,” they continued.
Their growing tip even worked for “questionable” seeds.
“Instead of devoting a bunch of pots to seed sprouting space, I can pick out and pot up the healthy seeds as they sprout,” they said.
“Bad seeds usually get moldy, and I remove them before they can affect the good seed.”
Others were eager to try out the treat for themselves.
“Thanks for the tips, especially with the coffee filter,” wrote one Redditor.
“Might have to try this for next year’s peppers – I’ve just been planting twice as many as I want and culling the weaklings this year,” they added.
“Next year, I plan to buy a heated propagator mat and some grow lighting to start everything off earlier.”
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