Propagating Units

[ralphrmartin]

Fair point Bill, but I can hardly type a whole 1.5 hour talk into the forum and post all the pictures I use to illustrate it! I did actually give a brief summary of my propagator. Here's a picture without the lid on, with the seeds all sown and ready to go.

So, just to respond to Susanne's question above - yes, the bags are to keep the seedlings moist, but I prefer to spray every day so I can have the pleasure of watching the plants develop. One advantage of sealing the bags is that it keeps bacteria, fungi, etc out (as long as they are not in when you seal the bag!), but instead I add fungicide (Chinosol) to the water I use to spray the plants.

I also use a completely mineral compost for my seedlings, as this helps prevent microorganisms which live on decaying plant matter. I use a mix of sand, fine grit, and seed grade hortag, perlite and vermiculite.

One other point - the bag method seems to work well for cacti, but not for mesems, at least in my experience - the latter seem to need much less humid conditions as seedlings.

Anyway, Bill, if you or anyone else wants to ask some specific question, fire away.
[attachment 2276 DSCF1518.jpg]

[Bill]

Thank you Ralph.

I quite like your mineral mix idea, how long are the seedlings in it and do you have to feed, if so what?

[ralphrmartin]

I plant my seeds in March, usually. In early autumn, I ease off on the daily watering routine, and start to open the propagator a bit, to get the seedlings used to lower humidity

In latish autumn, when the temperatures in the greenhouse are cooler, I then pot the seedlings out. Ones for my own collection go straight into my normal (coir based for most cacti) compost, in individual pots, and get put on the bench with the rest of my collection. The spares get potted up into trays for growing on for swaps etc. I pot these straight into whatever compost the local DIY store sells cheapest - and they seem by and large to do just as well as using some fancy compost mix. (It seems people worry too much about what compost to use!)

As for watering, I add Chempack No 4 fertilser (low Nitrogen, with trace elements; Tomato fertiliser is similar) at about 1/2 strength to the water, as well as Chinosol. The seedlings get this every watering (the mineral compost basically has no food in it).

I keep watering the seedlings after they have been potted out, several times a week at first, reducing to weekly, then fortnightly throughout the first winter.

[Bill]

Thanks Ralph, thought as much re. the the feed.

[Hob]

[attachment 2287 DCP_0091.JPG]

I'm experimenting with this set-up which i built in the spare bedroom.
the lights are lower down now, the propagator on the left is unheated the 7 pot one on the right is heated........the seedlings in front are from last summer sowing. lights are on for 16 hours a day on a timer which also works the heated propagator. i'm finding that some of my seedlings are growing taller than i would like them to (i suspect it's too warm for them with the lights and the central heating on) i'm hoping that they will go back to a more "normal" shape when i can get them out from under the lights and into the conservatory for the summer.

[David_L]

Hi Hob

Putting a sheet of reflective mylar film (available from hydroponic and grow room suppliers on the web) over the whole affair would help reflect light back onto the seedlings where you need it. You would need to check with a thermometer that it wasn't causing the things in your propagator to get too hot though, as it traps heat too. Maybe turn off the radiator in that room?

[Hob]

thanks ......i think there is enough light for them..........i have a max/min thermometer in there temps vary from 18 to 27 deg C

my main problem with seedlings getting "leggy" is last summers rebutia mixed seedlings some of which are 1\8 inch dia and about 1\2 inch tall now ......... i just moved them out this morning to a windowsill facing south in another bedroom.

[David_L]

Yes Hob Rebutias have a tendency to get leggy in bags or in low light. But it's amazing how horrible little spindly seedlings can recover in better light. The only thing to be wary of then is letting them dry out or getting them scorched by direct sunlight. I have some Rebutia (Mediolobivia) ritteri seedlings that looked dreadul for lack of light but have now made nice tight well spined little plants in good light.

[iann]

Here's one half of my big propagator, door open for convenient access. Normally it is shut up.
[img]http://www.galleries.thegardenforums.or ... ights1.jpg[/img]

And here's my small one when it was first built, before any seeds went in. It can be closed in to keep the heat up, with a glass front when natural light is good, or a white board.
[img]http://www.galleries.thegardenforums.or ... s2_001.jpg[/img]

[Julie]

Ian, love the stacked mesemb at the back left of the second pic.