Well it was time to take a coffee break (coffee direct from Cuba) and share a little bit of how my transplanting is going.
Yesterday I started into potting up (IE; bigger pots) last years left overs which are still in pots. I am trying something new and it may be a good thing as the prediction for rainfall is not good. So I will either move the pots between my present rows and be able to water everything at once or I will haul these to where the water is. New pots are 3 gal so it takes a little more potting soil but that's ok! I use Sunshine Mix #4 as it seems to have good water retention but also will drain and not build up mineral deposits or loose the air holding capacity. All these are important in potted materials.
In the basement I am potting up the seedlings started in peat pellets. They are in so many different stages but all started at the same time. Today I am working on seedlings from my Kitoy River (Siberia) project. There are huge differences in the seed vitality/vigor as evidenced by the size of one of the plants compared to the rest. Germination has not been the best but there are a number of factors to consider, damage at extraction, earliness of harvest, and dormancy could all be factors. I did try to select good seed but they are small and you can miss details quite easily. Here are some pictures.
Everything looks quite healthy and even the ones I have moved out to the greenhouse are recovering from the shock!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Transplanting has begun
Tonight I thought I would begin the process of transplanting my new seedlings. I start them in peat pellets and once they are growing well I like to transplant them into 3.5 inch black pots (I am buying by the case now if I need them) and into Sunshine #4 soiless mix. Here are some pictures. The toothpicks mark the first 50 % to germinate. I am trying to track this but don't know if it is significant or not.
This last picture is of a plant from seed from the Irkutsk/Kitoy River area of Siberia. The seed did not germinate very well but the plants which did come are quite healthy looking.
More to do in the next week as there are about 175 plants from germinated seed. Not as good as I would have expected but some populations just did not do well.
This last picture is of a plant from seed from the Irkutsk/Kitoy River area of Siberia. The seed did not germinate very well but the plants which did come are quite healthy looking.
More to do in the next week as there are about 175 plants from germinated seed. Not as good as I would have expected but some populations just did not do well.
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