As can be seen, we split 3 liter plastic bottles and line them with a wet paper towel. 10 seeds are spaced around the bottle between the wet paper towel and the bottle. The clear bottle allows us to easily monitor the germination situation. Using 10 seeds makes the percentage of germination easy. We do this before planting so we know how to space seeds.
We do it again the day of planting. That allows us to predict when the seedlings will begin to break through the soil surface. That allows us to scrape clean the soil surface above the planted seeds the day before they germinate so they have a competitive advantage over the weeds. That reduces our need for weeding.
We don’t use any herbicide….so this is our technique. Seed varieties behave differently. Some have shoots going up shortly after shoots begin going down. We observe the timing when doing the initial germination test. That allow us to time the cleaning so it’s very shortly before they break through the ground.
I tried to upload a short vid showing it but this site doesn’t allow video. So, I will upload a couple of pics. Hopefully, they illustrate what I am trying to explain.
