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!
2 comments:
Interesting blog! Just curious where you get your blue honeysuckle seed from? I'm sure you've mentioned it previously, but I have not yet had a chance to read back that far....
Thanks for dropping in. I have contacts in the garden world who are generous enough to collect seeds for me. Some has been unsolicited but the people know I am working with seedlings and send some from named varieties, Others I have contacted via the internet and asked specifically for a small seed lot if it works for them.It is an interesting way to grow them but when you need at least 5 years to get a good fruit load, you can end up with a lot of plants which are just mediocre but still take space.You can collect seeds from the varieties now being sold and give it a try. Because I am trying to do some serious selecting I do not share seed at this point.
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