These were planted on Valentine's Day. Hopefully my good omen for PINK!
Rockwool: What's not to love?
I am going to have to try it because I am having no luck with the peat pots.
Oooooh, they are so cute Gretchen!!! Are they your seeds?? If so, how long had they been harvested before you planted them? I think I'm beginning to see a trend - that fresh seeds germinate more quickly and produce more seedlings, ya think??
I agree Gretchen, Rodkwool rules. LOL. They are so adorable!! I hope they are all girlie girls, no Tom boys!!!!!
They look great Gretchen. I did not have good luck with rockwool last year. I still have some, maybe I should try it again. I use the jiffy pellets ... have had real good luck with them so far.
Spelling edit!
This message was edited Mar 1, 2005 8:12 AM
Looking good, Gretchen. I didn't have good luck with the rockwool either. I'm trying it again this year.
Nice job, Gretchen - what are the push pins for?
I bet thats to show identification of whats on what row...I can't wait to see what she says....she is so smart!
She is smart, isn't she, BrugAddict, and neat and and super nice and wow, does she ever have a green thumb!!
ditto what you said Sherry, totally a sweet lady! Gretch, hurry up and tell us your secret to the push pins! lolol
Seedlings look great. I think I recall that Gretchen said she uses the push pins for labeling. Sometimes I have good luck with Rockwool and sometimes I don't. Maybe it was the time of the year that I used it, although in cooler weather I keep it inside and under lights. It seems to be ideal in some ways but I have had seeds that rotted in it, just as I have lost some in sterilized soil. I know Kell has had excellent results consistently with Rockwool and I wish it worked the same way for me.
Nanny, I have had the same thing happen to me also with the rotting of seeds in RW. But it's a hit or miss thing I think. Some seeds are good and other aren't. But for the most part, I use the peat pellets and it works for me and the budget I live on. It's what works best for me anyhow IMHO.
Gretch, great idea!!!
I had very poor luck with rockwool and don't think I will try it again.
I tried half my seeds in rockwool and half in those compressed peat thingies. No more rockwool for me.I'm just sorry that some of the seeds I planted in the rockwool can't be replaced and I should not have used really good seeds. We live and learn. I guess that I can be happy that I have several in peat things.
Gee, interesting isn't it. I just love rockwool so much. I have never had a problem, not even once. I get such great results. It was a life saver for me. I wonder if we are doing things differently to get such different results.
But I know Monika gets great results using soil. So I say use what works the best for you!! No right or wrong! LOL
Sorry everyone! Tuesday's are always busy for me...my church has an awesome women's program on Tuesday morning. There is Praise and Worship, Prayer, and a wonderful teaching. Wish y'all could be there with me. Its so refreshing! Then I spent the afternoon pruning. Still have a long way to go before I'm finished with that!
The push pins are to identify the crosses. Julie gets the prize. I cut the rockwool to the exact size of the number of seeds I have for each cross, and then use the push pin with a number on it to identify the cross. Works better than anything else I've tried.
I have used various mediums to start brug seeds, and I just LOVE rockwool. Its clean, neat, so easy to transplant the babies, and no critters, i.e. fungus gnats.
And yes, I believe the fresher the seeds, the higher the rate of germination, but these are not mine. I'm growing them for a hybridizer. Tomorrow, they'll all be potted up into 4" with soil.
Thank you all for your comments!
Gretchen
I'm so happy for you Gretchen! I'm keepin' my fingers crossed that you grow some awesome lookin' PINKS!
Oh Gretchen, Cool!!! lol I got it right lol....What a neat ida, I will have to try this...it's a great idea and very creative. I wished I lived around where you live Gretch or I would love to attend your Tues. Women's Prayer Group Program at your church. I understand why you're so refreshed now and all the time! I Love to sing praise and worship songs and I have lots to pray about and blessings to count and be thankful for. God is so good!
Love
Julie
Thanks Shirley!
Julie -- don't we all??? You would love it! I believe that no matter how bad we might think we have it, there is someone out there, somewhere that has it worse than we do. And we have to thank God for the bad times as well as the good, because those bad times are a season for a reason, and he brings us through, and makes us stronger as a result. The other night in church, our Pastor said that we need to remind ourselves that we are "Blessed and Favored by the Lord", and its so true. If we live by God's rules, he doesn't forsake us. Another cool thing that we have is a monthly brunch that is open to anyone who wishes to attend. And there are usually between 300 - 400 women who do. It always has a unique theme that we spend all day (the day before) decorating for, then sell the decorations for our wholesale cost. About 80 women cook each month, with recipes being mailed to them a week in advance for either the main course (a casserole type dish), a salad or a dessert. The food is delicious, and the fellowship is awesome. Its followed by Praise, Worship and a teaching in the main sanctuary. If you're ever this way, let me know -- I'd love for you to be my guest!!!
Hugs,
Gretchen
I would certainly love that, it sounds wonderful! Gretchen, thank you, you are such an inspiration in everything you do, and the Lord does shine through you! I can actually feel it through your words. Where are you? lol
Julie -- that' so sweet of you to say! He also shines through you -- I see it in what you post! God shines through all his children who believe in him! I live in the Texas Hill Country, about 20 miles north of San Antonio. My church is in San Antonio -- Eagle's Nest Christian Fellowship.
Wonder why I can't post a picture...
You did Gretchen. Looks very good, you sure have that 'ole "green thumb"!
Wish I did....
Thanks, Gloria! I came by it honestly...both Grandmothers loved to garden, and my Mother is an awesome gardener! Now I just hope I can keep all these babies going!!!
Edited to add...now if I could just get rid of the remaining slugs that are having Thanksgiving dinner on my brug leaves!
This message was edited Mar 2, 2005 10:50 AM
Gretchen, you are so lucky to have such a connection to your church. It sounds wonderful. A great place to celebrate God. Your babies are adorable and your GH is looking so good.
Gretchen, your last seedling photo looks like the rockwool is pretty wet. Do you add water to keep it that way and how much sun do the seedlings get before they sprout??? I LOVE rockwool too and one of the man reasons is because the tap root generally grows straight down and they are much easier to separate than they are in soil, when they get more tangled up...
Thank you Kell! I am truly blessed to be a part of my church. And thank you for your kind comment about the photos -- I can definitely state that I'm up to my eyeballs in brugs! Lots of PINK brugs, I hope :)
Sherry -- I give the rockwool a good soaking in the sink -- I did not use the pre-soak on these, and they are the best looking, most consistent batch to date... go figure! Anyway, I cut the strips to have the exact number of cubes I need for each cross, give it a long enough soak to become saturated and then place the strip in the aluminum baking pan. I don't wring out the excess, and if fact you will sometimes see a wee bit of water in the bottom of the pan. Then I put one seed in each little hole, mark the strip with my numbered push pins (so I know what the cross is), repeat this for each cross, then put the domed lid securely in place. Its airtight enough that I have never had to add more water. Then I place the entire domed container under the fluorescent grow tubes. The dome is within a fraction of an inch touching the tube. They won't see the sun until they're a little bigger and moved to the GH. I hope this is helpful information :)
Yes, it is helpful Gretchen! I seem to learn something new from each of you and I love reading exactly how you all start your seeds and some growers change their procedure, from time to time, and I love the updates too. While it's been cloudy here for it seems like forever, I'm afraid one of the few days we had with sun might have cooked some of my seeds, that were otherwise doing great in the window. The first day it dries up a little, I'm moving at least some of my seeds that have not sprouted into my GH, which gets little, if any 'burning' sun...I also believe that some of the seeds may have been too old to sprout, the only reason I can figure why all of one cross didn't sprout. Further evidenced by the fact that I received the identical cross from two people and almost every one from one person came up quickly and all sprouted. From the other person, not a single seed has sprouted and it's been several weeks...
Sherry, I have an entire batch that didn't sprout, and it may be that the particular cross takes longer to germinate. I don't give up on them until they are obviously, visibly not viable. I hope your little babies are okay. They may come back. I've even had babies with no cotyledons survive to adulthood. How, I don't know, because their food supply is in those two little leaves... Please keep us posted!
Yep, Gretchen, I'm going to hang in there with them, it's too early to give up. Are yours, that didn't sprout, your own seeds, and if so how fresh were they? If not, do you know how fresh the ones sent to you were??
Sherry -- they were given to me to grow by a hybridizer. The seeds were harvested last April, so they weren't fresh, and they were peeled when I received them. I would imagine they intended to grow them, and probably ran out of room or time... Anyway, they may no longer be viable, but they aren't rotten, so I'm going to keep them under the lights.
The one's that I have sown right out of the pod usually germinate right away under the lights.
That is sooooooo helpful Gretchen and exactly what I thought, thanks!!! It's the same with me. I've never received any that were peeled, how interesting, I hope they sprout for you!!!
Everything Gretchen touchs grows. She definitely has a green thumb. The only brug seeds that I've tried to grow so far, I used rockwool. I had very poor germination, and the ones that did germinate rotted. I don't think I'll try it again. I don't have grow lights though. I soaked the seeds and then placed them in the soaked and drained rockwool. I then covered the trays with Press and Seal and placed them under my kitchen undercabinet fluourescent lights up close to the lights. Since I had no luck with that method, I'm just waiting until it gets a little warmer outside and I'm going to try them this year in peat pots in a domed tray. Wish me luck.
Sylvia -- here's hoping the brug fairy sprinkles those seeds with lots of grow dust!
Ok, I'm sold! I will try rockwool next year. That is, unless I have something else left that might do well with it? Maybe Cannas? They look great Gretchen!
Gretchen, I'm going to put those fairies in my garden. LOL
Karrie -- I think Brugie grew canna seeds in them last year...Thank you! I have started hundreds with this method. It certainly works well for me!
Okay, Sylvia! May you be be blessed with wonderful, PINK blooms!!!
Gretchen is right. I did try canna's in the RW and almost every seed germinated and grew well. I have some canna seed in RW right now. Something else that it is wonderful for is starting cuttings of coleus. Really works great. I never lost a cutting.