"baggie" seed gowing.

[Bill G]

I'd like to try the "baggie" method of seed growing this year. I know the method has been around for some time but I have never tried it before. Can anyone give me a reference which deals with the "baggie" method in detail please - preferably in an American or British cactus journal.
Bill G

[DaveW]

Why not online references too Bill?

Basically you just sow in small (2 inch?) pots as normal and then put them into a plastic bag which acts like a Wardian Case and recycles the water and provides a humid atmosphere. You can use ordinary plastic bags and say twist the top and close with a rubber band, or preferably use those "zip top" resealable plastic bags.

If you sow in seed trays you can use the same basic method by just placing the whole seed tray into a large plastic bag. In that case make some provision to keep the bag off the surface of the tray (wire hoops?).

A version of the baggie method also used to be called "The Clothes Line Method" since some people, to gain extra room in the greenhouse, used to string a "washing line" type string across the greenhouse and hang the sealed bags to it with aligator type clothes pegs to save room.

There are two basic methods in use. One is sowing conventionally in pots, and the other is sowing on filter paper or damp paper towls (even white unmedicated toilet roll if you are too mean to buy paper towels like me!) and then planting out those that germinate.

You don't have to use the fancy chemical fungicides mentioned in the links, since I have done it in the past with just sterilised soil:-

http://www.cactusplaza.nl/growing.html

http://lophophora.blogspot.com/2000/01/ ... -seed.html

http://www.kadasgarden.com/sowingcactiseed.html

http://www.robsplants.com/seed/baggy.php

DaveW

[IanW]

I agree, sterilised soil is all you really need for the most part however I would like to add one thing to that- where you actually put your pots into the bags seems it can make a big difference too.

After I microwave the soil I usually just pot them up in the utility room which is kept quite clean and not attached directly to the outside, whenever I've done the baggy method, microwaving, planting seeds, popping in bags in here I've never had a problem.

Last year I sat in the greenhouse and did some and whilst I had my microwave soil in an old maltesers tub which I kept sealed and only opened up to take soil out for each pot I did I found that some of the pots I did outside ended up having algae growing in and two even had mushroom-like fungi of some sort! I can only imagine the greenhouse had a lot more random spores floating around in it than the utility room and so next year I'll stick to potting inside. Whilst the mushroom like fungi was harmless and the algae has yet to cause any casualties I am finding the moss/algae or whatever it is a little hard to keep back in a couple of pots at the moment, I tried putting gravel over it but it simply grew through it. The seedlings are still healthy but I think I'm going to have to try and manually rip the moss/algae out as it's growing thicker and thicker.

So again, keeping your bags and soil sterile is one thing, but it's also important to keep exposure to the open air at a minimum and to have any exposure occur in as clean an environment as possible if you want to really minimise other external bodies getting into your baggies!

[Bill G]

Thanks Dave and Ian - your replies (and the links) tell me all I need to know. Seems like I need a microwave oven for Christmas. I used one a number of years ago to heat up some sardines - they exploded (the silver skin I was later told) and I swore never to use microwave ovens again! Ah well, cactus soil doesn't explode ------- does it?
Bill G

[Benjy]

Hi Bill,

Microwaving soil stinks though,
I remember the first ever time i did it in my kitchen, my mrs returned home from shopping and blew a fuse.

each year im now microwaving in the garage

Benjy

[sandi]

Also here:
baggy metod

[iann]

Another variation:
[attachment 15352 jar1.jpg]

[Stuart Estell]

Benjy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Bill,
>
> Microwaving soil stinks though,
> I remember the first ever time i did it in my
> kitchen, my mrs returned home from shopping and
> blew a fuse.

It's particularly pungent if you use cat litter in your mix

[DaveW]

It used to stink pre-microwave days in the early 1960's when some people used to sterilise their soil in the oven, and it took longer!

DaveW

[Phil_SK]

I quite like the smell but that could be because my mix is based on composted waste (= peatfree compost) which smells fantastic to begin with.