I am sold!!!

Thanks for the great links and information Gretchen and kell, you both have loads of knowledge I am always willing to soak up like a sponge lol :) I'm not jokin' either!!

Hey Gretchen, what size???? I am going to order them as soon as I am sure of the size I should get. I like this deal....Grodan 1X1X1.5 Rockwool Cubes - Sheet of 200 $8.95, what do you think???? Any help would be great at this point. :)

Julie

Julie: I used both that size and the next size up. Considering that I transplant into a 4" pot of soil as soon as they are upright with their two cotyledons (seed leaves), its of no value to me to use the larger cubes. The 1 X 1 X 1.5" worked perfectly. And, you can obviously fit more into a container, which is a plus too. Happy seed sowing!!!

Gretchen

Thank you Gretchen, I already placed the order and thanks to you for the links. I went ahead and order the soaking solution too. Now I just hope to get some seeds soon to put some in it :)

Kell...I have my bags ready to go ! I can't wait either...today I'm potting up my brugs into their permanent homes...while it's cool outside.

Lotsa love
Julie/Brugaddict

Kaufmann Thanks, I had read earlier that kell uses plain water so thought I would try that first,

KELL did I read somewhere that there were plans for a greenhouse?
I would love to have a small one I can put in my computer room, I don't want one outside.

This stuff is gonna last a long time!

Speaking of greenhouses, what do you guys use for heat?? Mine is 15 x 15, I think. Gas or electricity?? I'm more comfortable with electric, except for the water. I really didn't want to fire up my greenhouse, but it looks like there is no way to keep all I want to, without it. What kinda 'shelving' do you use inside???

Is it easier to grow the brugs from cuttings or seeds? Or do you start the seeds that are crossed with a different brug, just to see what you get? I very new to the Brugs, this is my 1st successful year in getting blooms.
Jan

Hi Jan -- welcome to the Brug forum! To grow varieties that are already named, start with a cutting. All the seeds are hybrids, and as you say, see what you get :) Its so much fun! Which brugs do you have? Gretchen

Sherry: Check out the Greenhouse Forum. You will have a better opportunity to obtain a timely answer there. I have a portable hoop style house that I heat with a thermostatically controlled electric oil filled radiator. Works great for me :)

Edited to add: If I ever am fortunate enough to have a permanent GH, it will be heated with a gas furnace.
and...I start my seeds inside under lights in the winter.

This message was edited Sep 4, 2004 8:40 PM

Thanks, Gretchen!!!!!! I don't even know what a 'thermostatically controlled electric oil filled radiator' is, so I have LOTS to learn before our first frost, which, likely will not happen for a couple of mos, but who knows. I really don't want to do the GH thing, but I cannot figure out any other option. Hey, others in zone 8a, how do you winterize??

I just bring what I can into the house and try to protect the others with leaves and pine straw or old feed bags. This isn't a good system. Now that I have these brugs (first year) I don't know what I will do unless I take cuttings. Looks like I need some kind of little greenhouse too. I need to check this out too. Guess we're in the same boat. But if these army worms don't leave my plants alone I won't have any to worry with. Jenny

Sherry, last year I used the electric oil-filled radiator as mentioned above. It worked great until we had an ice storm and I was without electricity for 4 days. I had to (with the help of my daughter and grand daughters) drag everything in the house and go stay with her. Talk about a mess. The temp in my house went down to 40 before it was all over, but I didn't loose anything (but my patience).

Sherry: I don't do anything special other than bring my tropical potted plants into the GH. I don't add extra mulch or anything like that. After the first freeze I will partially cut back the dead foliage, but do all my pruning in mid - February just before new growth begins to emerge. Here is the type of heater I have. I didn't pay that much for mine though -- got it at Wal-Mart.

http://www.heatershop.com/indoor_oil_filled_radiator_hm25e.html

Linda: I remember that happening to you -- ugh! That is my biggest fear with relying on electric heat...

as you may have seen befor I am a newbie to Daves, and to Brugs so I knew nothing about them, got some seeds from "our gal kell" and just planted them in dirt, under "grow light' and I have seedlings and I am ADDICTED. I have also ordered RW for my next seeds.

Congrats. They look nice and healthy. You will be in bloom heaven next summer.

didn't know how to put pics all on same page

more

thanks brugie, I hope so, I posted to you on another site, do you have your Brugs planted outside?

Looking just great! Glad to see them do so well. You have the brug touch already, Kareoke!

Gretchen, is your hoophouse wet? Mine is so wet I am afraid to use a heater. But yours sure looks good. I need one not for warmth but to dry it out. My plants tend to rot in there.

Thanks, re the electric oil-filled heater & radiator - is the heater and radiator the same thing and what kinda oil is used and where can it be purchased??? My GH is 15 x 15 Rion (green plastic stuff, with plastic instead of glass) and I wonder if the 99 buck oil-filled heater would be enough heat. My GH is sitting on an uncovered section of my deck and I'm thinking that maybe being on the wood, instead of the ground, it might not get as cold.
The GH should get lots of sun in the winter. It's a hand-me-down from my son and the 6 foot iguana it was purchased for, escaped before it got cold, so we know zero about what it will do in the winter. Do any of you have a GH such as mine?? I'm going to scoot over to the GH forum and see what they have to say - thanks for telling me about it!!!

Yes, mine are outside, but I've got to get in gear and get cuttings taken for winter. I don't keep many full sized plants. Just not enough room.

Gretchen, Do you have a web-link to your hoop house. It seems like I saw one somewhere, but cannot locate it now.
How about you Kell. I would like to see the size and what yours looks like! Thanks, Margie

Brugie, I will keep mine in the house for this winter, then put them outside next year, (hopefully I won't kill them) I am so excited about getting seedlings although I have three pots that have not done anything yet although I think I see one breaking ground.

Congrats on your babies, Kareoke! I'm curious -- what is the cross of the seedlings in the first photo? They are very different looking :0

Sherry -- the heater is all electric. You just plug it in to an outlet. It is filled with oil in a sealed compartment that heats up and radiates the heat... I hope I explained that so you can understand what I'm trying to say. And, being on your deck will be colder than being directly on the ground. The ground holds heat and insulates to some degree. The deck allows air movement below. That with no insulation will be considerably colder than placing it on the ground. If you have a place for it, I would put it on the ground. There are some threads in the GH forum regarding the Rion GH. I considered buying one until I found out that they can melt in extreme heat, and aren't warranted against that kind of damage. In your climate, I would imagine it'll be perfect!

Kell -- I don't have to water as much as I would've thought, but I didn't have a problem with it being too wet. In fact, I regularly misted with the hose when babies were growing. The difference may be the vents on mine. Weather permitting, or as the case usually is here, weather REQUIRING, I opened all the vents during the day, then closed them and heated with the radiator or ceramic heater at night, which is a dry heat. There is always a breeze here during the day, so I guess that's why it was pretty easy to manage. The worst thing is that you can't leave for even a weekend, because it gets hot during the day and cold at night -- someone has to manually open and close those vents.... I want a real greenhouse!!!

Margie -- here is the link to my thread in the GH forum.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/407165/

Brugie, these are Angel Trumpet, they have very thick stems already, I purchased the seeds from nursery on the Net.

Bump

Bumping due to new interest in rockwool again.

(;>)

Shoot, Kell, I had no idea that Jan04 was was the date of your entry to rockwool. Thing is, I love it. I have a new order (rockwool) supposed to be here this week, today is Thurs, tap, tap, tap. Whatever, I will be peeling my seeds, all the way this time, as you do, and, as you do, I'll plant them in rockwool and put them in a hefty bag and blow up the sack , I hesitate to say more, but hope I'll hit a homer!!!!!!!

Hi everyone,
just found this thread and spent the last hour and a half reading and trying to absorb all the info.on rockwool.

I don't have any Brug seeds but would like to know what else germinates/grows fast in that rockwool ? ( HAVE to get some now :-)....have lots of Datura,MG,DL seeds.

Is anyone still as enthusiastic about rockwool as 1 year ago ? and HOW did everyones Brugs do ?
Brigitte

It will work well for most big seeds, I'm sure. However, I will say my banana seeds aren't doing well at all. Canna seeds do exceptionally well in RW. I've not tried DL seeds.

Brigitte, you have mail.

Brigette, I understand marijuana germinates quickly, which is why rockwool was 'invented'. This I learned from the Prosecuting Attorney, our friend and neighbor, who got a kick outta my seeds growing in rockwool!

Well...you have created a convert here... I tried Rockwool for my hoyas and it was awful...so will try with seeds....thanks.

I must confess...I have been using the RW, first soaking it with the pre-soak that I ordered with it. My seed percentage is lower than 50% I would say. Some seem to never bloom and some get moldy. That was with unpeeled brug seeds.
Now I am going to try it with peeled seeds and see if my sprouting odds gets better.
I do the plastic bag, blown into and under lights & sometimes even bottom heat!

I'd say my first seed germination was in the middle, toward the high side. However, I kept the seeds FOREVER, before I planted them, not knowing that the fresher the seed, the better (I was told but didn't 'here' it, in rockwool, in the pre-soak, didn't peel them, didn't soak them long enough, yada, yada. My first error, this planting, was that I put them in the frig for 'some time', can't remember how long. This time, I soaked them long enough, forgot I even had the pre-soak until Margie mentioned it in the post above, and put them in, for lack of a better word, 'shredded' rockwool, because the carpenters tossed it away. I had planted 3/4ths of the seeds, when I checked a seed and the cork popped right off, I guess that's why it's called cork. I left some cork on most of the seeds because I thought they might need it, they were white-ish or light green and I just didn't know what to do, and wouldn't you know, with two choices, I made the wrong one; however, the only problem with the half peeling of the seeds is that some pop up with corks for hats. Well they do that when they aren't peeled too and I've become pretty good at removing their 'hats' and I have only broken one's little neck, but it is gonna make it. I planted on Dec 26 and the seeds started sprouting almost immediately, but I thought they had mold, but it turned out to be trunks which started their climbs upward on Jan 3. The half peeled seeds were the first to sprout, some are about 2 inches, some are fatter and shorter, and lots have not sprouted, all un-peeled. Currently, I'm trying to figure out if i should start planting, which is bound to be unsettling for the seeds not sprouted, and might kill them. When I do plant, I'll use paper cups, then transfer any number to my tomato grow boxes, which is what I did last year, in the same soil as the tomatoes were in, and it's the most successful thing I've done, on my on, with the brugs.
This time I have all new soil, etc, for the tomato boxes, but I had zero problems with the ones planted in the used soil. Of course these tomato boxes were 'invented' for or by the marijuana growers, who have made more strides in growing than the US Department of Agriculture, so I'm told, and, of course, I suppose that means in recent years, going back to when pot became popular. This I was told by my daddy's MD specialist who prescribed medicinal marijuana. My daddy thought he was going to get to smoke it (he was almost 89) and was disappointed to find that it came in pill form....I forgot to post this my last break - I'm bringing in a little Tuscany into my barn and I've been painting a wall, a faux cornice shelf and a mirror that looks like a window. Even if I did it, it's pretty cute...

I'm still using it and still happy with it. I am also still using soil, because I ran out of rock wool. I prefer the rock wool, hands down!

I planted about 50 seeds today in RW...about 10 from Brugie, 10 of FP X Lexy from Paul and about 30 from kell...They were all peeled except for the ones from Paul, which were pretty small and very fresh. I will let you know how they do. I especially want to see if my percentages improve.
Please, no one ask me what I am going to do with them if they all take!!! :-P
I haven't quite figured that one out yet!!!

Here Karrie, all you ever want to know about how everyone does it and who likes it and who doesn't and why. LOL

*bump*

All the if's and's or but's about brug seeds and RockWool ;-b