Seeds sown, keep your fingers crossed

[TimN]

I sowed the first batch of 27 pots of seeds. Mostly my own seeds, but some from others. I'm expecting seeds from Mesa Garden today that I will pot tonight, if possible. These are some more exotic species including Astro caput-medusae, Mammillaria sinistrohamata and others. I'll post the entire list in the next few days. This is a new process for me. I've always used the baggie method in the past with mixed results.

They are on a heat mat, next to a window with an LED grow lamp to extend the day length.

seedlings 12 23 19.jpg (146.42 KiB) Viewed 1464 times

BTW, ordered seeds online from Mesa Garden and it they arrive today as the post office claims it will have been less than a week from order to arrival.

[Sarraceniacrazy]

Good luck with them Tim! Sure you won't need it though.

[RichR]

Tim, since you're not using baggies, how are you keeping the soil moist? Do you spray them every day? And since they're not in a closed environment I imagine you didn't heat-sterilize the soil or use any fungicides?

[Aiko]

And since they're not in a closed environment I imagine you didn't heat-sterilize the soil or use any fungicides?

There could be a lid on top of the box. That is how I sow. The sides of the box look moist, so I guess the pots are also (somewhat) moist.

[TimN]

Yes, there is a lid on the box which keeps the moisture in. There is also capillary cloth in the bottom of the box to make sure all the pots get water, so in essence, I'm bottom watering.

The potting mix is mostly mineralic; TurfaceMVP, small pumice, small grit and a handful of coir in 5 cups of mix.

I did heat sterilize the soil and sprayed sulfur on the capillary cloth before putting them pots in and over the top of the finished pots. So far, so good. We will see how this works. Other than the slight smell, I don't notice any issues with the sulfur.

I've currently got 58 pots of seeds and have germination in about 20 of them. They were all planted between 12/21 and 12/27. I'll post a picture soon.

I think the trick is going to be maintaining the correct moisture level.

I've been using drinking water from the store which is pretty neutral compared to the tap water the outdoor plants get.

Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know about.

[TimN]

I took a picture on 1/6 shown below. I think I've gotten at least some germination from 54 of 58 pots.

So far, so good.

Seedlings 01 06 20.jpg (112.08 KiB) Viewed 1113 times

The stick thermometer is to calibrate the heat mat. It was too hot in the beginning.

I have lids on these when I'm not taking pictures. They are on an east-facing window sill with a 600W LED grow light.