baggy tips?
Re: baggy tips?
I suspect it's the high humidity. Never having used gravel only not sure how much moisture is right. For the 2 inch container I have been giving it maybe 3 sprays of a hand pump. Looks and feels wet when mixed up with the smallish gravel. All I can do is keep trying and to watch the moisture levels. Perhaps it requires less than I imagine.
Re: baggy tips?
Is the coarse gravel in your pic just top mulch? I'm using 1.5 to 2mm gravel. Anything larger and the seed would fall through, no? Some say seeds should be covered to twice depth but I don't see how that's even feasable with gravel.elieestephane wrote:Seedlings in a gravel mix should be very resistant to rot i usually leave my seedlings up to 6 months in the baggy with little to no rot knowing that i don't sterilize anything.
Re: baggy tips?
FWIW here is the container/substrate I'm using. It's about 2/3 full (too much?)
- ElieEstephane
- Posts: 2909
- Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
- Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: baggy tips?
No that's actually my growing mediun...just grit. I wash it down though to remove small and fine particlesnona wrote:Is the coarse gravel in your pic just top mulch? I'm using 1.5 to 2mm gravel. Anything larger and the seed would fall through, no? Some say seeds should be covered to twice depth but I don't see how that's even feasable with gravel.elieestephane wrote:Seedlings in a gravel mix should be very resistant to rot i usually leave my seedlings up to 6 months in the baggy with little to no rot knowing that i don't sterilize anything.
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: baggy tips?
And you manage to grow seedlings in pure sand? How well does work for you , species wise?
- ElieEstephane
- Posts: 2909
- Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
- Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: baggy tips?
Seedlings can grow in anything the first few months. You just add a few drops of liquid fertilizer. And when the seedlings are of suitable size you either leave them and start fertilizing or repot them into a richer soil. I found that seedlings grow best in coarser particles of around 3-4mm. With fine sand or other fine materials, the medium retains too much water and is more prone to algae formation.stefan m. wrote:And you manage to grow seedlings in pure sand? How well does work for you , species wise?
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: baggy tips?
How bad is algae/moss? I just put some hydrogen peroxide and it suppress it for a bit. Hasnt bothered me yet(except that one time it died out and my seedlings dried out afterward).
- ElieEstephane
- Posts: 2909
- Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
- Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: baggy tips?
Algae in my experiment with fine particles was very rampant. I had a layer almost 1mm thick of alage. Of course, i did not sterilze anything. But hydrogen peroxide is very effective algae control.stefan m. wrote:How bad is algae/moss? I just put some hydrogen peroxide and it suppress it for a bit. Hasnt bothered me yet(except that one time it died out and my seedlings dried out afterward).
With unsterilized coarse materials, i never had algae. And if some appears, you remove the particle algae appear on and then all.is good.
As per expert advice on this forum, it was suggested to use whatever medium you like and then add a 1cm layer of grit. I prefer to use an all grit medium for better development of the taproot looking for more nutrients. I believe a strong initial taproot will lead to much better roots later on.
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: baggy tips?
I added like 6mm of fine+not so fine sand. ( kinda had to be stingy at the time)
- ElieEstephane
- Posts: 2909
- Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
- Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: baggy tips?
Well with such large collections, one has to be stingy or things would get out of hand quickly.stefan m. wrote:I added like 6mm of fine+not so fine sand. ( kinda had to be stingy at the time)
Use window screen to sift out fine particles
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: baggy tips?
Well the top dressing worked out well for me. DIdnt have too much mold problems, some algae problems, but the peroxide spray took care of that problem pretty well. I also added extra sand to some of the dry++ plants like lophophora , ariocarpus, etc etc.
Re: baggy tips?
Good info to know. Thanks.elieestephane wrote: Seedlings can grow in anything the first few months. You just add a few drops of liquid fertilizer. And when the seedlings are of suitable size you either leave them and start fertilizing or repot them into a richer soil. I found that seedlings grow best in coarser particles of around 3-4mm.
Re: baggy tips?
Had written a response but lost it thanks to the auto logoff feature
To summarize I'm now adding a small amount of fine organic material (commercial cactus mix through a 1mm kitchen sieve) to my grit. The idea being it holds the moisture and keeps it well distributed. In a grit only medium it was hard to gauge moisture and invariably I'd end up with too much. Will report on how the new scheme works. (Using same small grit as pictured earlier as I had bought a lot of it!)
To summarize I'm now adding a small amount of fine organic material (commercial cactus mix through a 1mm kitchen sieve) to my grit. The idea being it holds the moisture and keeps it well distributed. In a grit only medium it was hard to gauge moisture and invariably I'd end up with too much. Will report on how the new scheme works. (Using same small grit as pictured earlier as I had bought a lot of it!)
Re: baggy tips?
Long time since I last posted here as I had nothing positive to report. I had little doubt my problems stemmed from excess humidity in the germination enclosure during the hot months. How to get around it had me stumped until now.
I'm presently using 50 ml round disposable food containers - one for each seed type. Each is filled to approx 8mm with a mix of composted bark (large bits removed), 2mm grit and water. This is flattened and seed placed on top. Over this I apply a thin layer of fine white sand until all parts of the compost mix is obscured. Each seed container (without lid) is then placed in a large (3.5L) plastic food container and covered. This then goes under the lights. Ambient temp is 30 'C or just under. Being summer one side of the light box is left open.
The sand mulch appears to be the critical component keeping moisture within the mix and out of the atmosphere. Oddly enough I used a sand covering when I first began growing from seed but later omitted it believing it to be cosmetic. It may explain the increasingly poor results I obtained in subsequent years! While it's early days yet the mass rotting of newly germinated seeds appears to have been arrested.
Update #1:
Things are progressing nicely. Seeds are germinating with no sign of rot despite very hot day and night temps. The only change I've made is to add a small amount of fine white sand to the mix. By filling in the gaps I hope to retain more moisture in the mix. The only variable left to be determined is how much condensed moisture to allow stand in the box.
I'm presently using 50 ml round disposable food containers - one for each seed type. Each is filled to approx 8mm with a mix of composted bark (large bits removed), 2mm grit and water. This is flattened and seed placed on top. Over this I apply a thin layer of fine white sand until all parts of the compost mix is obscured. Each seed container (without lid) is then placed in a large (3.5L) plastic food container and covered. This then goes under the lights. Ambient temp is 30 'C or just under. Being summer one side of the light box is left open.
The sand mulch appears to be the critical component keeping moisture within the mix and out of the atmosphere. Oddly enough I used a sand covering when I first began growing from seed but later omitted it believing it to be cosmetic. It may explain the increasingly poor results I obtained in subsequent years! While it's early days yet the mass rotting of newly germinated seeds appears to have been arrested.
Update #1:
Things are progressing nicely. Seeds are germinating with no sign of rot despite very hot day and night temps. The only change I've made is to add a small amount of fine white sand to the mix. By filling in the gaps I hope to retain more moisture in the mix. The only variable left to be determined is how much condensed moisture to allow stand in the box.