Saw it on another site I frequent. After using it I noticed my plants seemed to have more vigor than before when I'd sprout them through other methods.
Do I have to put the seed in the soil pointy side facing down?
- Thread starter Phillybonker
- Start date
Gotta love 3d printersI like to germinate in my vertical germinator. When I plant the sprout in dirt I've found the best method is to take a butter knife and stick it in the soil to the depth the tap root has plus a little more. I move the knife sideways each way a little to have enough room to slip the tap root in and once it's in I push the dirt back together like a dirt envelope.
Vertical Germinator
@NickHardy does something similar but his is a plastic baggie clamped to a cardboard box.I like to germinate in my vertical germinator. When I plant the sprout in dirt I've found the best method is to take a butter knife and stick it in the soil to the depth the tap root has plus a little more. I move the knife sideways each way a little to have enough room to slip the tap root in and once it's in I push the dirt back together like a dirt envelope.
Vertical Germinator
Gotta love 3d printers
Yes Sir!!!
@NickHardy does something similar but his is a plastic baggie clamped to a cardboard box.
I use to do something similar but with CD cases. Once I saw this was a better version of that I went for it!!
I do something similar when planting my cuttings once they have grown a decent root system. Instead of pushing the soil back I will gently water right near the plant and the water gently lets the soil flow into the hole and cover the roots without any excessive pressure from my fingers which might break off some of the very young roots.
I believe it was @The70’s that I saw first with this idea, he uses CD cases I think.. wild stuff.
You and I have been over how I germinate and now I feel obligated to drop this for anyone willing to change for the better
I have successfully germinated every seed I’ve ever attempted. I haven’t had PM, bud rot, etc. my plants are always happy, healthy, and produce high quality, high yield organically.
I’m actually going to be attempting a study of the bacteria on seeds and whether it’s better to allow seeds to drop naturally to the soil or to shake them out into a container. I’ll be initiating it this spring after I take the winter to plan it out properly
Smokey0418
Well-Known Member
Vertical ziplocks work well or naturally pointy side up.
Great Read!!I believe it was @The70’s that I saw first with this idea, he uses CD cases I think.. wild stuff.
You and I have been over how I germinate and now I feel obligated to drop this for anyone willing to change for the better
I have successfully germinated every seed I’ve ever attempted. I haven’t had PM, bud rot, etc. my plants are always happy, healthy, and produce high quality, high yield organically.
I’m actually going to be attempting a study of the bacteria on seeds and whether it’s better to allow seeds to drop naturally to the soil or to shake them out into a container. I’ll be initiating it this spring after I take the winter to plan it out properly
A few things that piqued my interest. The book says that it's actually better to reuse the soil the plant was grown in before as it would have a higher percentage of the bacteria that it likes. It also mentions the rebirth mechanism when flowers naturally die off and fall to the ground spreading the seed they have inside. It seems this would tie in to they're statements about the reuse of the soil. I also wonder if it would be good practice to take all the leaves and branches you removed the flowers from and recompost them into your used soil. It would take a while for the big branches to decompose so I would imagine just small, flexible branches that haven't wooded up yet would be desirable.
Did I miss something or get it wrong?
I don't use H2O2 for germinating so I'm good there but I liked the idea of burying the paper towel along with the sprout. I've been thinking that was the best way to go and was going to start doing it but the book confirmed my suspicions.
Thanks for the lesson Bro! Always more to learn!!
Sure. The older vegetation can be mixed into a compost pile. Or, mixed in with other vegetation and put into a vermicompost set-up. Set it up even half-way decently and the used soil could be improved and ready for re-use in a month or let it set for several months.
The thicker branches will become soft and spongy within a month to 3 months. Nothing wrong with them in the soil mix as far as I can tell. As they decompose and break down and become soft they are absorbing and holding water. Soil microbes are living, reproducing in the pieces of woody material. The very nutrients that the first plant used to build those sticks and stems is being prepared for the next plant that comes along.
I keep large plastic pots of decomposing wood chips mixed with compost behind the garage. When I see that the chips and pieces of woody plant material in my soil mixes has decomposed I will add some more from the storage pots.
Smoke covered the other stuff but this also piqued my interest as well. I’m currently devising a way to test the difference between seeds harvested straight from the plant and seeds that hit the ground before being carried away. Come spring time I should have a fairly rigorous process established to test this theory a bit. That is, if everything goes according to plan, which, it rarely does lol.
One of the things the book mentions is that each cultivar has a set of specific bacteria and fungi that it favors and will take up with and/or work synergistically with. That tells me that you should sequester that specific media to be used for that specific cultivar. Not that other cultivars wouldn't benefit but already having the specific rhizo makeup that the plant likes would essentially give the genetics a leg up not having to wait to grow in sufficient numbers the bacteria and fungi it favors for peak health. I would also assume that presenting the root system into a rhizosphere full of beneficial bacteria will also spur faster root development?
The other thing that intrigues me was about H202 and why that is not good practice. If the seed itself has bacteria around it that aids in beginning the process of bacteria colonization how could one extract and exploit that bacteria to their advantage? I'm assuming that because that bacteria resides on that particular seed that it is beneficial specifically to that seed?
BTW.. love your sig although I will say this.... while no human has ever worked hard enough to be worth a billion dollars. That’s just thievery, exploitation, and a whole lot of immorality is a statement I agree with, there are humans that have worked SMART enough to be worth a billion dollars!!
ThirdUncle
Well-Known Member
I do the same, on the side , straight into the medium(soil) , just don't plant them to deep , i use my small finger to push a hole in the soil, to the end of the finger nail ,(if that makes any sense ???) Good luck , take care & peace to all
Correct, cultivar specific soils is what they’re saying. There’s a few members around here, @Gee64 comes to mind, that have been growing the same strain in the same soils for years. He grows larger, higher quality plants, at a faster rate because they have harmonized with the soil and its life so well.
I see strain specific soils being something you’ll eventually be able to purchase. I’d actually recommend breeders look into it. You could sell your seeds and charge a boatload extra for the soil you bred and raised those seeds in.
I agree with this statement. Not only do I prep my soil months ahead of time, I also will fill my containers with soil and EWC a few days before I plan to transplant into them. This way all of the soil life is already established and ready for a plant.
This is actually spoken about in the book. They’re working on isolating these bacteria to sell now. Similar to how it was done with myco.
One of the main things they’ve found is that all of the cultivars like similar bacteria, it’s the ratios that change. Some prefer more of a certain type, some prefer less, etc. That’s why they recommend the strain specific soils so the medium already has those ratios and food webs setup that the strain prefers.
BTW.. love your sig although I will say this.... while no human has ever worked hard enough to be worth a billion dollars. That’s just thievery, exploitation, and a whole lot of immorality is a statement I agree with, there are humans that have worked SMART enough to be worth a billion dollars!!
lol I appreciate it.. Ive gotten a couple compliments on it so I imagine I’ve annoyed at least twice as many
The book I’ve referenced and that we’re talking about is called:
Teaming with Bacteria by Jeff Lowenfels. If you’re an organic gardener you’ve probably read the other Teaming with books, but I have to say, Bacteria was by far the most exciting, and easiest to digest book of the series
Thank you and @SmokingWings for increasing my knowledge base.Correct, cultivar specific soils is what they’re saying. There’s a few members around here, @Gee64 comes to mind, that have been growing the same strain in the same soils for years. He grows larger, higher quality plants, at a faster rate because they have harmonized with the soil and its life so well.
I see strain specific soils being something you’ll eventually be able to purchase. I’d actually recommend breeders look into it. You could sell your seeds and charge a boatload extra for the soil you bred and raised those seeds in.
I agree with this statement. Not only do I prep my soil months ahead of time, I also will fill my containers with soil and EWC a few days before I plan to transplant into them. This way all of the soil life is already established and ready for a plant.
This is actually spoken about in the book. They’re working on isolating these bacteria to sell now. Similar to how it was done with myco.
One of the main things they’ve found is that all of the cultivars like similar bacteria, it’s the ratios that change. Some prefer more of a certain type, some prefer less, etc. That’s why they recommend the strain specific soils so the medium already has those ratios and food webs setup that the strain prefers.
lol I appreciate it.. Ive gotten a couple compliments on it so I imagine I’ve annoyed at least twice as many
The book I’ve referenced and that we’re talking about is called:
Teaming with Bacteria by Jeff Lowenfels. If you’re an organic gardener you’ve probably read the other Teaming with books, but I have to say, Bacteria was by far the most exciting, and easiest to digest book of the series
I'm always up for a lively discussion on how to improve the growing experience!
