Three days is normal for tomatoes, at least here. A week is normal under other conditions. I'd rather watch paint dry than watch seeds sprout. Far more exciting.

This is the first time I've used seeds other than some interesting heirlooms I'd bought from very reputable tomato lovers sometimes mentioned here. Those took 6 -10 days. So these numbers surprised me because they were twice as fast at the same temperature I'd used for those heirlooms.

Since they are indoors, it is more like watching out for them than watching them, so not to trip over them and wanting them moved out! Thanks for the help. Has anyone seen germination happen within 48 hours?

About 24 hrs for the fast ones LOL up to 3-4 days for the rest.
I presoak seeds in lukewarm water, then germinate in a bag on the radiant heat bathroom floor.
After working with hellebores and aconitums tomato seeds are breeze.

Hi Lindalana, that is very good info. 24 hours sounds amazing ;-) Are you counting the soak time or is it just a few minutes, and if you didn't do that do you think those varieties/freshness quickies would germinate roughly that fast anyway, or maybe in less than 48 hrs at most? Or would they probably be at the three day mark. Really I'm asking if you think it really shaves time off or is it more to be sure everything gets going when it should.

It is more than just a polling question since my seeds are not uniform my favorites take 10 days, the difference is really driving me bonkers since I don't have a place to germinate out of the way nor much space in the yard for my plants and when some are slow to start it has frustrated my project.

I have a very short fall season in front of me now, and every single day really counts. Summer is not very heirloom friendly in Florida, and here in the north of it the tomatoes are schitzophrenic as the weather goes back and forth between Florida conditions and Georgia conditions, but the bugs never let up.

I generally work with fresh seeds. With old seeds or improperly saved all bets are off and I would probably not do paper towel in a baggie method.
Soaking time depends- I hesitate to say much as it is something you get with experience but I can use fairly warm water and shorted soaking time to 30 minutes or if I am not in a hurry it could go overnight in room temp water, I had good results either way. But no really hot water as it might cook the seeds.
Adding some stuff like fish hydrolyse or kelp seems help too, just a drop.
Radiant floor is pretty warm during winter time so packets with paper towels are placed into plastic container to protect from curious dogs and then on the floor. There is substantial difference in temps when you touch the packets, they are def warmer than room. Again, you do not want to cook them but it is really plenty of moisture and heat that makes seeds come out and play.
I transplant as they germinate to the single cell of the tray, which is on electrical blanket under lights covered with plastic dome until I see green cotyledons firmly established which again takes about another 24 hrs.
Once I see first true leaves they go into cold treatment where they usually stay as given time outside weather gets better and my glass porch is much warmer anyway.

3 days here. I started my seeds in Coffee Filters - with Ziploc Sandwich bags
. (The Baggie Method (GardenWeb)).

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 12:06

I bought a small heater and put the temperature around 80â F.

Some varieties took 3 days for seeds to sprout, while other varieties took 7 days. Even in the same variety, some took 3 days while others 4-5 days.

I was very happy to discover this method, because it allowed me - after choosing the nicest seeds - to select the best sprouted seeds. Than, selecting the best seedlings, I came up with some really nice plants.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 17:20

Thanks Lindalana for sharing the specifics of your techniques; I had started some exotic ones last night and when I read what you said, I actually put a heat lamp/heating pad on them as they were well insulated under a humidity dome and tucked in with a thermometer, and I took it up to 92 degrees F before removing the heat (room temp is close to 79 F here all the time). The temperature settled back within a few minutes; so maybe that will do for the lukewarm water, it was only one variety and probably my slowest one and the seeds had just (finally!) arrived.

Daniel thanks too and for the great pictures. I was going to try something similar and it is reassuring it is working nicely for you and probably solves a uniformity problem if you need that. There are three reasons why I held off doing that, disease, expensive or having few seeds, and bumblefingers me stressing small sprouts upon a transfer.

Here's the thing with me. Molds are a great problem here. Not necessarily initially, but later as the seedling develops. I used to add a small amount of fertilizer to my seedlings but now I do everything germination related in pure (distilled) water under sterile conditions including no paper, filters, etc. Holding off on the small nutrient content doesn't allow anything undesirable to get much of a start and the fertilizer can always be added diluted later. But I think I'll try next a few minutes soak in a very weak soluble fertilizer like Lindalana mentioned and then sowing the seeds into distilled water as normal (for me), though it will be inorganic.

If that doesn't cut down on the scattered germination times, I'll think about pre-germination but once I get a plant going the problem is usually slowing its growth, not selecting for vigor, at this latitude, though for fall it might make more sense. I'm just frugal with the seeds as I usually only get about 20 and preselect only the well-formed ones. I started by double sowing, and that has the same problem, too much seed waste and leaves decaying material.

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 10:49