Raising seeds in a propogator

[tony_lb]

Hi
I'm new to the society, just joined, and know very little though I've gardened more generally for years. Interested more in cacti than succulents.

I would like, where possible, to raise plants from seed. I plan to sow in some small 4cm pots I have (baggie method). My main question is this. I have a small heated propogator and was wondering whether I should put these small pots in this (they will be indoors) or whether it would keep them too warm. Any advice would be gratefully received. (So would any other hints about seed raising).

Tony
(Wirral and Cheshire)

[Julie]

Hi Tony and welcome!

I've never used a propagator, but... one essential thing when growing seeds, is to take photos and post them here.

Good luck.

[iann]

How heated is the propagator? Very unlikely to be too warm. Most seeds and seedlings seem quite happy up to 30C and often warmer. There are possibly some that won't germinate that warm but I wouldn't swear to it. One issue can be that plants kept very warm can etiolate without sufficient light. Try to drop the temperature at night by 10C - 15C, at least once germination is mostly over.

My propagator is heated only by the lights in it, so the temperatures are a bit hit and miss, but I aim for 25C-30C as a maximum by day, and down to around 15C at night.

[Hob]

i'm using both heated and unheated........results seem to be fairly similar.

however as ian has said, at this time of year you do need artifial lighting, my heated propergator and lights both turn on and off on a timer giving 14 hours of light and heat each day.

[tony_lb]

Julie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Tony and welcome!
>
> I've never used a propagator, but... one essential
> thing when growing seeds, is to take photos and
> post them here.
>
> Good luck.


The germinated seedlings (if any) or the tray with pots waiting to germinate?

Tony

[tony_lb]

iann Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How heated is the propagator? Very unlikely to be
> too warm. Most seeds and seedlings seem quite
> happy up to 30C and often warmer. There are
> possibly some that won't germinate that warm but I
> wouldn't swear to it. One issue can be that
> plants kept very warm can etiolate without
> sufficient light. Try to drop the temperature at
> night by 10C - 15C, at least once germination is
> mostly over.
>
> My propagator is heated only by the lights in it,
> so the temperatures are a bit hit and miss, but I
> aim for 25C-30C as a maximum by day, and down to
> around 15C at night.


Just an old heated propogator, standard seedtray size (40cm ish). I suspect it is 12W. No lights on it though. During the day it sits on a desk in the light, in the evening the room is lighted. I do have a 15W fluorescent desk lamp available - should I keep that on it at night?

Tony

[Guest]

I have found that 12 hous light and 12 total darkness gives fantastic germination. Whilst I have done nothing scientific so light time may not be the issue, I tried 18 hours light and 6 dark and germiation was a disaster on Copiapoa, Eriosysce and all Ariocarpus and similar Mexican types.
I heat to around 80f in the light period and let it drop to around 50f in the dark period and this also seems to help germination.

As I said this is not a scientific sample just what I have found over the years.

[tony_lb]

Bob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have found that 12 hous light and 12 total
> darkness gives fantastic germination. Whilst I
> have done nothing scientific so light time may not
> be the issue, I tried 18 hours light and 6 dark
> and germiation was a disaster on Copiapoa,
> Eriosysce and all Ariocarpus and similar Mexican
> types.
> I heat to around 80f in the light period and let
> it drop to around 50f in the dark period and this
> also seems to help germination.
>
> As I said this is not a scientific sample just
> what I have found over the years.
I might try that, thanks. Mind you, what I would have to do would be to turn the propagator on during the day and off in the late evening, perhaps with a normal fluorescent lamp close by afetr dark, unless I can find a plant specific one going cheap.

I've got six or seven seed packs at the moment, rather a mixed bag. I'll try it and report back.

Tony

[iann]

You don't need any special plant lights for starting cacti, any regular fluorescent will work. You'll have to try quite hard to provide sufficient light. One 15W fluorescent is probably less than ideal for a propagator, especially if it is just a desk lamp outside the propagator since much of the light will be lighting your room and not the plants.

I've started seeds under anything from 24 hours continuous light to 10 hours light, 14 hours dark, doesn't seem to make a huge difference. For growing on beyond a few weeks, a fairly long period of light with some darkness seems best. I use 16-18 hours of light for seedlings. If you have any way to measure it, I start out at around 1,000 foot-candles for cacti, more for mesembs, and increase it a month or so after germination. The more vigorous species come into the sun after 3-4 months.

I use an timer to switch the lights, you can do the same with the heating.

[Roy]

In the past I have played with a lot propagators here's one that is similar to your set up. It was a commercial, unregulated propagator with an unknown heating element. All I did was put a thermostat on it and a twin fluorescent light with a time switch. This gave it 12 hours light. An important point is it also gets just a little bit of natural light.
Before I put a 'stat' on it the temperature used to soar to over 100f when the lights were on which was too hot for a lot of things.
In practical terms the light needs to be as close to the pots as possible without overheating. Remember light falls off to the square of the distance so if you fix the light twice the distance away you will only get a quarter of the power not half. You can easily compare the intensity to daylight simply by taking a reading with your camera.
If you choose to wait a little until the weather gets warmer of course all this expense is unnecessary just sow your seed like any other in the greenhouse.
From time to time very good growers publish seed raising advice, sometimes very good advice but I must say I have never come across anybody yet that can achieve 100% success every time, though some may tell you they do.:-))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
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