Starting Seeds

[dsyukon]

Hello to all ,
When starting seeds is it wise to put the seeding pots inside of a Ziploc bag to try to heat them to germinate ? I am starting to notice to see some kind of fungus on top of the soil ???
Pls. advise.

Thanx in advance.

[Kisal]

I wouldn't do that. In fact, I don't cover my seedling pots in any way, but some folks do just until the seeds germinate. However, putting them inside plastic bags would drastically stop air circulation, which can quickly lead to fungal growth.

If the bags are closed, open them and see if that solves the problem. If the bags are already open, remove the pots from the bags and see if the fungus doesn't dry up and disappear. I think it will.

[floridahillnursery]

Hello, if you are new to starting seeds may I suggest humidity domes over trays. We use ph down on nuetral coco coir to get the ph at 5.5 when growing cuttings. Once the plants take off we water with nuetral water and the ph will self adjust. So in a nut shell water the plants with 5.5 adjusted water until they take off (before true leaves appear) then water with ph nuetral water (regular water). Once the seeds have sprouted slowly remove the humidity dome (over three days) and harden off your seedlings. This will help prevent or slow fungus growth.

Another way is to use a sterile growth medium and introduce synthetic nutrients.

The ziploc bag way works on seeds that sprout quickly but the trick is to grab them as soon as the seed cracks open.

Hope this helps

[rainbowgardener]

Personally, I skip the humidity domes all together. My seeds germinate just fine without them. Seedlings are most vulnerable to damping off from too much humidity/moisture. If the soil is warm enough (heat mats), the seeds germinate quickly without humidity domes and then you don't have to worry about getting the dome off quickly enough to prevent your seedling damping off.

[floridahillnursery]

Hello dsyukon, We generally grow cuttings or T.C. but find ourselves germinating approx. 15,000-20,000 plants per year of various cultivars and have come to realize that there are several things to be considered ambient humidity, temp. time of year, light source and many other things. We recommended humidity domes for their sheer versitiity in controling humidity. generally speaking most domes contain vents that allow for a wide range of humidity levels (they can be callibrated to Hygrometer standards) I think a wholesale approach is counter productive to sucess rates. We germinate Passiflora which needs to be soaked in GA-3 to extract germination inhibitors and incubated for up to a year. Seeds such as these need to be kept in a sterile enviroment for long periods of time. Where others are fairly easy like beans, peas and such.

The tomatoes in our personal garden for instance are started in a sterile media with bio-organic nutrients added and my sucess rate is close to 100%

[img]https://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o519/floridahillnursery/248045_185166644867383_161808617203186_484131_6594047_n.jpg[/img]
eb seedling tables

[img]https://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o519/floridahillnursery/248045_185166648200716_161808617203186_484132_6283816_n.jpg[/img]
eb seedling tables

dsyukon, Might I ask what you are germinating. This information will help us provide you with very specific directions.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Hello, if you are new to starting seeds may I suggest humidity domes over trays. We use ph down on nuetral coco coir to get the ph at 5.5 when growing cuttings. Once the plants take off we water with nuetral water and the ph will self adjust. So in a nut shell water the plants with 5.5 adjusted water until they take off (before true leaves appear) then water with ph nuetral water (regular water).

When you say, "neutral water" do you mean a pH of 7? Regular water? All water sources are different. Do you recommend a pH Up or pH Down to adjust.

I've been using a Perlite Coir mix for all my seed starting. Is the Perlite not needed?

Eric

[floridahillnursery]

Hello Eric, On the pH scale of 0 to 14, normal tap water measures out an approximately neutral 7, or slightly either side. Acid In the case of rainwater, alkaline in the case of chemically altered municipal supplies. I would say with a degree of certainty that it would be PH down. COCO Choir tends to carry the right numbers Nuetral, moisture vs. airation and bio degradation in germination and cuttings. Each grower has their special blend here in the florida heat straight coir works well for us on plugs. When growing in larger containers I would recommend a 50/50 blend.

[Bobberman]

I usually use rain water in my seed boxes. I think people tend to wet the soil too much then cover it which is not good and may rot some seeds! Moist soil covered till the seeds start to sprout is best. Air seems to mean nothing till after the seeds sprout. You can start seeds in water in a closed bottle with no air if you want!

[DoubleDogFarm]

When growing in larger containers I would recommend a 50/50 blend.

I start out in 1020 open flats and prick to transplant into 4" pots. Some large seeds are sown directly to 4" It's been working pretty well with 1:1 Perlite Coir. I've also used 1:3 Perlite Coir.

The tomatoes in our personal garden for instance are started in a sterile media with bio-organic nutrients added and my success rate is close to 100%

At what stage are the nutrients added?

Eric

[rainbowgardener]

Florida hill nursery is obviously a commercial and very large scale operation and needs to be concerned about efficiency, standardization, replicatability of results, etc.

For us small scale home gardeners, it doesn't need to be rocket science and you don't have to have special equipment. I start at least 500 plants a year from seed in my basement. I have regular fluorescent tubes in shop light fixtures, basic potting soil in cells in 1020 trays, transplanted to 3 or 3.5 inch pots, pharmacy heating pads for germination. No humidity domes, tap water that sits in a pitcher for 24 hrs to outgas the chlorine. My basement is already a somewhat controlled environment that doesn't get real cold or hot or windy. All the tiny seeds, I have no way to know if I'm getting 100% germination, since I certainly can't count the seeds. (Some things like thyme and mint, some times I would swear it's 110%, as in "I couldn't possibly have planted that many seeds, could I?") But certainly they germinate and grow well and if it's actually 90% instead of 100%, it doesn't matter to me.

I worry about making people who just want to grow a few things from seed at home, feel like this is all so technical and you have to have lots of fancy stuff. It is in the nature of seeds to sprout and plants to grow and they will do so in a fairly wide range of conditions, given half a chance.

[floridahillnursery]

Hello Eric, That sounds perfect. Depending on the cultivar we don't apply nutrients until the plants form true leaves it cuts down on problems. For hardier plants we will add a bio organic fertilizer to the mixture in low doses. 1020 trays are a gardeners best friend. If you are interested I have some trays that are 2-1/2" x 5" deep they will hold a plant for around 2-2.5 months before needing transplanting. Generally speaking 2-2.5 months is the time frame needed to grow plants out before planting in the spring. This will aleviate the need to transplant into larger containers and will reduce root damage and stress. Shoot me an email with your address and we'll mail you some. These seem to be the best thing going for starting seedlings with the intent on transplanting in the spring they are also designed to force the roots down. Rainbowgardener I do tend to get too technical but over time we have come to realize that 1/4 turn of the screwdriver is all one needs to go from good to great. I am simply sharing that 1/4 turn with interested readers.


[img]https://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o519/floridahillnursery/CIMG1810.jpg[/img]

150 tomato seedlings in 4" deep trays in my personal greenhouse.

[dustyrivergardens]

Great information Floridahillnursery I make that mistake every year starting my seedlings off in to small of trays I think if I just went with the trays your mentioned it would be a lot less work for me. lol thx I am going to give it a try this year.

[floridahillnursery]

For all interested readers may I suggest the Landmark 38ST. Here is a link to an online retailer. We generally buy our trays locally and have had no experience with this particular supplier but here is a link to show what we are depicting. https://www.stuewe.com/products/datasheets/landmark.pdf

[Bobberman]

I plant my seeds in mostly boxes 12 by16 that are 4 to 5 inches deep and I keep half of them in there till I plant them directly into the outdoor garden! Very healthy thick stem tomatoes! I agree that seed sprout mostly in any soil with a few precausions! The word kiss also applies to planting with some people killing their plants with too much water or to much fertilizer. Over eatting is just as bad as over feeding plants! A little stress on plants makes them tough. Som seeds grow best in regular soil like lettuce and most cole crops because the regular soil does not dry out like some potting soils!

[DoubleDogFarm]

FHN,
Many think I have a screw loose.

Eric

[Bobberman]

They say the same about me except I am a nut but screws and nuts have something in commom we post on more threads!