I cover mine with saran wrap after planting. The only time that I had cork probs I peeled them off of the top. And the did fine.
Free Brugmansia Seed
Moretz I did get your seed and it was so thoughtful of you to send! I am sorry that I forgot to post back to you.
Edited to say that I did leave feed back for you last week! Thank you again for the trade!
Delisa
This message was edited Jun 19, 2007 8:44 PM
Delisa,
Thanks for the very generous package of beautiful seeds that I received today. They are now in soak and will be planted tomorrow.
I didn't have anything for your butterfly garden but will be mailing a special 'thank you' in tomorrow's mail.
Dave's Garden is a special place because of thoughtful enablers like you.
Louise M.
Delisa
I have 6 sprouted from one batch and 2 up and another on it's way from the other. One or two from the first batch will be ready to be moved to it's own little pot tomorrow or Sat.
Anne
Delisa,
I am new to brugs and potted up the seeds you sent me on 6/15. Today I noticed a sprout and was tickled pink! ( Finally!!!). Cant wait to see what it does.
Thanks for the instructions and thanks to AuntAnne also!
Joyce
I am glad you are having great results!
Ooops 2 more in other batch total of 4 so far.
jada joy and AuntAnn... how did you prepare your seeds.. what potting mix did you use... temps? I am having rotten luck with seeds this year... had 5 plumerias sprout in the spring and now I can't seem to start anything.
Any help would be appreciated. I still have my seeds.. havent started them yet so I would love to do what you did since you are having such good luck.
Tammie
Gary, xeriscape8321 is the hybridizer who gave me the advice that I used for the first set of Brug seeds that I grew. I'm not sure what help it would be for anything else. But he did say to put the potting soil in cheesecloth (or old panty hose) and soak in boiling water for a few minutes. Let it cool/drain then put in seeds and cover with plastic (well I think he said plastic bag, but you get the idea) Keep them out of direct sunlight (or they'll boil), and take out of the bag as they sprout. It's what I did and what I've done with the seeds from Delisa.
Is boiling the mix really messy? LOL Thank you for the information.
Tammie
uh, well, kinda but not as difficult as it sounds. I put my seeds in tubs, so it's just a matter of draining/cooling the sock o dirt then dumping it into the tub. I usually tip the tub to drain off excess first before planting. Then it's just a matter of rinsing out the pan.
I will give it a try.. now to find some socks I don't mind messing up... of course,,, I just finished throwing out all the old ones last week!
Tammie
He said it was to kill off any fungus that might be present in the soil. So it seems kind of a preventative kind of thing.
Yes it kills off fungus and also any stray organisims that may be lurking in the soil. Don't trust the fact that the bag of soil says "sterilized". So many of those bags have small holes in them, goodness knows what has crawled up in them. You may want to try another method that I just used and it seems to have worked well. That is to fill a large heavy microwaveable glass bowl with soil and heat that up in the microwave for a few minutes. Make sure that the soil gets hot enough to kill any organisms, and then make sure you cool it off all the way. I just did all this with a test batch of seeds using plain old miracle grow potting mix. I had excellent germination rates and saw no soil fungus develop. I will try this method again when i get to florida this fall, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the results so far.
Monika is the person who taught me about sterilizing the soil. It has proven to be an invaluable piece of advice. Since the seeds and the emerging seedlings have to be kept at high humidity levels it becomes a breeding ground for fungii spores that may be hidden in commercial soils. The fungii can attack your seeds weakening them and making them vulnerable to attacks by other organisms leading to rot and soon the ever annoying (and destructive) fungus gnats and their larvae.
A little heat to the soil can save you a lot of heartache.
This message was edited Jul 13, 2007 2:49 PM
LhasaLover
On 6/15 I soaked my seeds overnight in a glass of water. The ones that sunk to the bottom were the good ones and the ones I planted. I put them in a pot of dirt, barely covered and put on my patio and forgot about them until I noticed them sprouting this week. I probably would have gotten more sprouts if I had followed the boil in bag method. Since this is my first try with brugs, I'll probably be more careful in the future to get better results.
Joyce
I like the microwave idea.. sounds much easier and faster too. I have plenty of large microwave dishes I can use.. will give it a try. I have my very first brug bloom right now... Snow White... smells heavenly at night.. not a trace of scent in the daytime. The plant nearly died from a mite attack and one bloom fell off before opening. I love these plants!
Tammie
Here are a few of my seedlings that I started on fathers day with microwaved soil. Half of these were peeled, the other half were left intact. All were soaked the night before in water with 3% peroxide added.
Beautiful!
Proof that sterilizing gives great results!
Thanks for this info.
Joyce
Gary the seedlings look fabulous!
I use a soiless medium for my seed starting.
Gary, how long did you nuke the soil or were you going for a certain temperature?
Betty, It would depend on how much soil you are nuking. I had a big bowl and I think i did it for 5 minutes. Basically I was checking that the soil was hot, not just warm. This is not an exact science. You don't want to burn the components of the soil, but you need it hot enough to kill the live stuff. I guess, if your soil is moist you would want to see steam coming up from the soil.
Thanks Gary.