I liked the message about germinating in the soil, just making sure there is a proper growing medium for the seed to germ in. The only thing I would add is it just said peat moss, if I remember right, but no specific types or things to look for/ask/make sure of or be ready to adjust/allow for. The pH of different types of peat moss range from a very acid 3.6 to slightly alkaline 7.5.
That is far to large of a range to feel that regardless of where in it you fall the seed and then seedling will have a good growing environment.
Peat is cool and the gang. Just be sure you know what you are getting or check it if you do not know and like other things, if you do have to adjust, adjust. Just do not assume.
I am not the biggest lover of the paper towel method but I will use it, with a few slight variances from what some might do. For one I do not use paper towel. I grab a fluffy freshly/recently washed washcloth and when folded into fourth fits perfectly flat in a low, roughly 3-inch deep, Tupperware container.
It is only my opinion but I believe the washcloth, the fluffier and fuzzier the better, will do a better job of keeping a bean more fully and more evenly surrounded with moisture than a paper towel. I know it is not much of an air pocket but how many times have people looked at their beans with the paper towel folded over them and there were small air pockets at least partially around some beans, if not all the way around all of them?
Maybe to the bean the difference is negligible at most, but I like the idea behind it so I do it.
Another reason I like the washcloth is while like many growers I like to brag about the size of my …. well, ok … that’s something different … that’s a guy thing … but I tend to have pride a generally rather successful germ ratio too. Still now and then I can feel snake-bit and will set out to grow ‘X’ number of plants and a few beans just will not cooperate. I can have some or most in the soil and then need to attempt whatever more number is needed so I add the beans.
Maybe it is just the brands of paper towels I have bought over the years but in cases like that where I might germ over several days or so I have had paper towels get rather slimy maybe it doesn't make difference to the beans but then I want to change the paper towel. If one or some beans in the container had just started to push out a root I hate to handle them any more than I have to, so I found a washcloth does not get slimy over time so if you end up in one of those, darn I need three more popped beans, SHOOT, I need one more popped bean situations you can just keep adding rather than wonder if or worry about changing paper towels.
One more thing I like about a washcloth is that with my incredible amount of skill and prowess at popping beans it is not unheard of to have one pop in 9 or 10 hours and most are normally popped in 18 hours … and then you get that one or three stubborn ones that take forever or never pop and between checking early and checking over time I have had paper towels tear pulling them back to check or folding them back into place. Again maybe it doesn’t matter in the least, but I don’t like it so I avoid it.
Something else I do with the washcloth. Freshly/recently washed or not, I rinse the heck out of it to make sure there is no leftover detergent in it. At the end of the rinse I switch to warm water. Not hot, not sort of hot, just warm .… and I start my beans out in a washcloth with water that would just qualify for being called warm. Warmth opens pores more and that increases the ability for transfer of moisture into a bean sooner, and possibly more evenly with the washcloth, and maybe that is part of why I have read so many messages about 24 to 36 or 48 hours or more for beans to pop and normally most of mine are popped by 18 hours, and a fair number faster.
The Tupperware part pretty much speaks for itself. It will seal the best so there is the least loss of moisture and a paper towel, or washcloth, will never dry out, like I have read in so many threads and messages about how someone’s paper towel dried out because the plastic wrap they sealed the plate with did not seal as well as they expected ….. same with things like margarine tubs etc. they do not seal as well and people tend to believe. Another nice feature about Tupperware, or some other brand of the same basic thing, is the container is rather rigid and if you have to move it around the paper towel, or washcloth, in a Zip-Loc bag or something will not move around and there is less chance of damaging a new root. It is also far more 'squash-proof' than a plate with plastic wrap over it. If you have a cat you might appreciate something firmer to germ your beans in. Small paws can easily break tiny roots.
Even with most of what I said being about a variation of the paper towel method I am not saying it is better or suggesting anyone try it or switch to it. I believe beans germed in the soil produce more vigorous plants, in general. If your growing medium is good for popping beans or if at least you create a ‘pocket’ or ‘pot’ of a different soil mixture in the center of your pots to germ the seeds in and then the roots can spread out into the other growing medium, I believe it is a better way to go.
But there is no denying that the paper towel method, and some variations on it, work very well and it is very simple, in some cases far simpler that other methods for some reason or reasons, so I can see why it is so popular.
