Seed Propagation

In 2012, seed propagation was an experiment in failure. Major problems:

Attempted to propagate too many things
Attempted to propagate difficult things
Used tiny cells to start, waited too long to transplant many, killed several during transplantation/pruning.
Using an air duct as a reflector hood was only effective at helping to keep them warm. We really need a sheet of mylar or something instead, or nothing.

Things that did work:

The seed starting mixture and fertilization regime seemed adequate.
Water procedure (fill tray and allow starting mixture to suck it up) worked well.
Plastic wrap was indeed adequate for germination. Use less water this time around however.

Possible solutions:

Germinate fewer things (probably herbs, a few weird peppers)
Have the garden ready early enough to plant things like the melons directly in the beds
Use the medium peat/cardboard pots to start a single seed, and instead of thinning later accept that a few will not survive hardening off.

Process

Staring mixture: 1 part vermiculite, 1 part perlite, 1 part spaghum peat moss
- 3 Tbsp lime (antifungal properties?) when 1 part = 1 gallon
Fill peat trays 1/2-3/4 full with mixture
Put one seed per pot to minimize effort at transplantation time
Cover to the recommended planting depth
Fill drainage tray with 3 quarts water (overfilled the first with a gallon, underfilled the second with two quarts, three seems to be enough to keep everything properly moist)
Insert and mark seedling trays with business cards (variety + planting date + # of seeds/cell + expected germination date)
Wrap the whole thing up in plastic wrap and wait

7 drainage trays capable of holding 5x10 cell paper/peat starter cell pots (I'm going for easy transplantation here) (GT_n = Germination Tray N, ST_n = Seedling Tray N)
Storage rack for seedlings and germination trays

For 2013, it's probably too late now.

Marigolds, yarrow, potatoes?

EvergreenGarden/SeedPropagation (last edited 2013-04-13 07:42:31 by ClintonEbadi)