Leaf mold tea as a substitute for Gibberellic Acid?

Is it possible to use lafmold tea as any kind of substitute for gibberenic acid? I am asking because of something I read on the Gardens North website. ..that a certian plant germinates better in woodland soil because of the GA-7 it has.

Suzy

I would think the concentration of GA (if any) that you get from the leaf mold tea would be much lower than what you would get from buying the straight GA. Also, I think you'd have to make sure the leaves came from an actual woodland (vs your backyard)--from what I remember when I was reading up on GA, it is isolated from a particular fungus, and if this fungus likes to grow in woodlands it may not exist in your backyard. It may also grow better in certain places or certain types of woodlands, so not all woodlands may have it. I also would hesitate to use leaf mold tea on seeds/seedlings--even if the tea has this desirable fungus in it, it probably has all sorts of other fungus and nasty things which could significantly increase the risk of having damping off problems with the seedlings. So my thought would be if GA is needed (or helpful) for the particular seeds you're trying to germinate, I'd recommend you go ahead and buy it rather than trying to create your own.

Susy, I've done the GA3 soak on difficult seeds. and have been happy with the results. I wouldn't use it on seeds that germinate easily. I refer to the book Making More Plants by Ken Druse. it usually lists which seeds benefit from the GA3 , Jim

ecrane3, I agree wholeheartedly with you. using leaf mold with all the fungus, bacteria, is just asking for failure. I always sterilize the media, containers, etc. before I germinate my seed. Jim

Instead of leaf mold tea, try using liquid kelp solution instead of just plain water when you start your seeds. It has a small amount of GA3 naturally. I use it for instance when starting seeds with the baggie method, wetting the paper towels with water with liquid kelp instead of just plain water. Really helps and no problems with fungus unless the seed is dead.

paracelsus, I'll have to try that. how long do you let the seed develope before putting them in medium? Jim

Usually once the radicle comes out of the seed's shell I put them in soil. This past year I quit fiddling with trying to get the sprouted seeds off the wet paper towels and just tore the paper towels in bits and pressed them against the soil gently. This worked fine--the seeds grew right through the paper towels. This makes it much easier to move the seeds from the baggie stage to the cellpack or pot stage, esp. if you're a klutz like me.

Talking about this makes me want to start some seeds.

paracelsus, is the liquid kelp a concentrate that you delute? Jim

Yep. I get it from Peaceful Valley online because I use a lot of it. Eco-Crop brand, I think it is. It works well as a foliar fertilizer also. I have been using the kelp to start seeds for years now.