An Ottawa scientist has discovered that certain seeds germinate very quickly while exposed to the constant low heat yogurt setting of an Instant Pot. The kitchen appliance, usually used to accelerate slow-cooking dishes, may have another use.
Lyanne Betit is a government scientist with a background in biochemistry and organic chemistry. She first experimented by putting pepper seeds between layers of damp paper towel inside a Ziploc bag, then placed them into the pot. The results were no surprise to Betit.
"I expected it to work. I knew it was the perfect temperature for seedlings that grow in very hot countries ... about 32 to 33 degrees Celsius."
According the Betit, it’s the perfect temperature to germinate hot-weather seeds such as peppers, hot peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, watermelons, and cucumbers. Seeds like basil require slightly cooler temperatures, so Betit simply placed the Ziploc bag on top of the Instant Pot lid, which holds a cooler temperature at about 24 degrees.
[Compared to window growing and using a heat mat system], the percentage of actual germination is much lower than with my Instant Pot," said Betit. "I still had over 70 per cent yield. And that's unusual … for home gardeners. A lot of people have a hard time with peppers and eggplant. They come to my door and say, 'I failed,' and I say, yeah, it's very hard until you put them in the Instant Pot."
Betit’s viral video demonstrating the process can be found here.