moist seedlings?

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RichR
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Location: Austin, TX / Zone 8b
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moist seedlings?

Post by RichR »

In your experience, do seedlings that are 1-2 months old have to be kept in moist soil all the time? I have had to take some of them out of their ziplocs because of excessive algae or mold. Since then (2-3 months ago) they have not shown much, if any growth, and I'm wondering if letting the soil go dry for several days on a number of occasions might have stopped them in their tracks. It's very difficult to monitor them constantly because of my schedule. I'm equally apprehensive about leaving water standing in their trays to make sure they don't go dry. It's kind of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation.

Regarding the baggie method--I heat-treat my wet soil in the microwave, and have tried using Physan 20 or hydrogen peroxide to treat the seeds before sealing in the bags. It seems no matter what precautions I take I still get algae/mold sometimes.

Thoughts?
keith
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Re: moist seedlings?

Post by keith »

The top layer can dry out just don't let the roots go dry or they will stop growing. But stop growing is better than rotting. They will start to grow again later. I dry my seedlings pots out after the first couple weeks , the top layer and often they stop growing for awhile.

They maybe growing roots and you just can't see that from above ? I lost half my epithelanthas sprouts just a few weeks ago by too much moisture trying for more germination. They are drying out now and not really growing but are turning green I like that.
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greenknight
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Re: moist seedlings?

Post by greenknight »

Agreed - their growth will be set back a bit, but they will recover.

Since you're having a hard time monitoring their moisture frequently, maybe you should set up a system with capillary matting. Google it, you'll find it's quite cheap.
Spence :mrgreen:
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RichR
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Re: moist seedlings?

Post by RichR »

Thanks for the replies. Capillary matting sou ds like a good idea, greenknight.
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Edwindwianto
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Location: Bangkok - Thailand

Re: moist seedlings?

Post by Edwindwianto »

greenknight wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 12:35 am capillary matting
Thanks for the info GK
It's nice to learn a new stuff

A youtube about capillary mat
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nfUk2ZjEMR8

EDWIN
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