In article ,
songbird wrote:

Billy wrote:
...
I'm guessing that these seeds are meant for direct planting. The
coatings are meant to assure germination and/or spacing. IIRC, much of
this pelletizing is done for grain crops, and alfalfa (lucern) which are
then mechanically sown. With that in mind, pelletizing peppers, and
tomato seeds would seem to imply a more ambitious planting than most
gardeners would consider.

coated seeds in quantity are for greenhouse growers
who have machines to plant entire trays at a shot (using
air pressure). rather nifty idea actually. some of
them are even pre-treated to start germination so that
the grower has fewer days of waiting for sprouts. these
must be kept carefully refrigerated.

in field applications (alfalfas, clovers, etc) the
coating is also likely innoculated with beneficial
nitrogen fixing bacterial species.

for damping off problems i've always done ok using
grit on the surface instead of cooking the soil.

And where do you get the grit, bird?


songbird
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