I shake the jar once a day until all the seeds settle to the bottom. Next I clean out the debris and change the water a couple of times. After that I filter the seeds through a white coffee filter and allow the filter and seeds to dry on a shelf for about a week. I then store the seeds in an old pill bottle with a small desiccant pill. I’ve had no problem using this method to sprout seeds that had been stored for three years. 

I usually sow the seeds in the middle of October. This provides plenty of time for them to grow to sufficient size. It typically takes about two weeks for the seeds to sprout and then another two weeks for the pads to surface. After a few more weeks, I pick through them to identify the ones that look most interesting. These I repot into four-inch pots for further growth.

Let me explain a little about my basement tanks. I wrap my tanks with fiberglass insulation to keep in the heat. I have three 45-gallon plastic tanks that are heated from underneath, each by a heavy rubber foot warmer measuring 24 inches by 48 inches. They only use around 60 watts of power, which is reliably sufficient. Each one has a thermostat for maintaining the water at a constant 80 F. degrees. I also keep submersible heaters for standby in case the pad heaters fail. I have had two of the pad heaters for ten years.

The warming pads had never failed until one of the thermostats did in December 2005. I had gone away for a few days and upon returning I discovered that the thermostat had stuck in the full hot position. The water temperature was well over 100 F., 107 F. to be exact. All the pads had been cooked and I thought that I had lost them all.

But lo and behold, a month later each pot had a little tuber the size of a kidney bean and they are all sprouting again. This demonstrates Mother Nature at her best -- allowing me to accidentally force my tropicals to tuber!