African Violets and Gesneriads: Blooms, buds, & seedlings, 1 by RainGazer

RainGazer wrote:
Hi Maureen!

You're so sweet! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures!

Here's the link to Keyring's page about sowing seeds. http://www.flickr.com/groups/gesneriads/discuss/22059/
It's in the sticky for Other Gesneriads, maybe a quarter of the way down, under the Propagation heading. There are several other links there, but Keyring is the one who told me how to start seeds, and her method definitely works.

Take Keyring's advice before you take mine, but here's how I sow seeds.

1 part Miracle-Gro potting mix
1 part perlite
1 part vermiculite

(peat, like Key suggests, is probably better, but I don't have any, so I use the MG potting mix) Mix those three well in a microwave safe bowl, put in enough water to thoroughly moisten everything, cover loosely, and put in the microwave for 9 minutes on high. (Some people don't recommend microwaving the mix. I do, and it works for me, but do some research about it and decide whether you'd like to do that or not.)

Once the mix is completely cooled you can put it in your pots. I'll use pretty much anything with a clear lid for a pot! LOL My parents like to get barbecue take-out. The restaurant uses these really neat black plastic bowls with clear snap-on lids. My mom saves them all for me. I use a cheap soldering iron to burn holes in the bottom for drainage. (Careful, it's very hot and stinks something awful. My kids fuss at me! LOL)

I thoroughly wet the soil with dechlorinated water, no fertilizer. (I use the chlorine/chloramine remover for aquarium water in the water for my plants. I don't know if there's a reason not to use it, but my plants seem to do better when I use it than when I don't.)

Then just sprinkle the seeds on top of the potting mix - don't cover them with mix or press them down. Carefully snap the lid on so as not to jostle the seeds and mix and put it under the lights. The lid keeps it plenty moist for quite a while, but when I have to water, I set the pot in a bowl of warm dechlorinated water and just let it soak up as much as it wants. That way I don't wash the seeds down into the mix where they won't germinate.

When I don't knock the pots over, I have pretty good success with this method. Good luck with sowing your seeds! I'll help you all I can, so just give me a yell if you need anything. :o)

Here's a picture of those barbecue bowls with the lids on. They are what are housing my Sinningia pusilla babies and the Gesneriad Society seedlings. The Strep seedlings above are also in one of them, but once they got so tall, of course I had to remove the lid. Do that slowly, though. When your seedlings are up and big enough that you need to remove the lid, don't just take the lid off all at once. Loosen the lid and just barely slide it to the side for a few days, then slide it a little more for a few days, and so on, so you don't shock them. And be sure to keep them plenty moist while you do that. They're used to living in 100% humidity and won't handle it well if you cut that in half or more all at once.