[CH] seed starting

Byron Bromley (Byron.Bromley@gsd-co.com)
Sat, 19 Dec 1998 15:38:15 -0500 

CH

want to put in my .oo2 cents in on seed starting

Weak tea, Make 1 cup of tea, use 1st cup and dilute in 2 gals
reuse tea bag and make a qt.


SEED STARTING
  Night Before planting, Place seeds in a paper towel, soak with weak tea,
  set seeds in refrigator overnight.
  Seed Starter: mix 2 tbsp Epsom salts per qt seed starter mix
                or Add 1 tbsp epsom salts in gal of weak tea
                or 2/3 tsp per qt 
  Mist surface of pots with; 8 oz weak tea, 2 drops dish soap, 2 drops
ammonia
  and 1 drop whiskey. Repeat for until plant emerges.
  Or soak Jiffy 7's or Jiffy 9's in tea solution
  Peter's Seed Starting medium work best
  I DO NOT USE: FERTILE CUBES
              HOFFMAN STARTING MEDIUM -- TAKES 2 DAYS TO GET IT WET
              Starting media that say's No-damp on label
              take 2 days for inital getting wet and takes hours to
              water 
              PETERS BRAND POTTING SOIL TOO COARSE
              Green thumb potting soil
              Peat pots - Don't rot down as advertized
              Jiffy 7's, Subject to damp off and if plants get ahead
              when tearing off netting lost tap roots.
              Sunshine Potting soil, very loose.

Seed Starting Media
     Use Peters seed starting soil, in 2x2 pots or in seed speeding tray
     If done as per above, just as soon as plants emerge from soil
     transplant to larger pots. 
 **99 Going to use Jiffy 9's so that there is no root trauma. but
     get into larger pots as soon as the plants sprouts
     With Jiffy 9's use tea, epsom salts add 2 drops Ammonia,
     2 drops dish soap, 2 drops mouthwash and 1 drop whiskey
     per 8 oz. 
     WHY? The tannic acid in tea breaks down seed coat
          Soap helps make water wetter and kills any bugs trying to
          get into soil
          Mouthwash kills a lot of bad bacteria
          Whiskey, the complex sugars contain all minor
          chemicals needed to get seedling going.
          Ammonia combines with the nitrogen in the air to
          give the plant ammonium nitrate the plant needs
          Epsom salts, adds magnisium sulfate, which helps
          promote better root growth.

Place seeds on a heat mat, or on top of refrigerator, all the way in
back, for extra heat for germination. Check daily for watering needs.
As soon as seedlings sprout place in southern exposeure window or
under grow lights.

Under florescent tubes use 14 to 16 hours a day. Remember plants
need 8 hours sleep too.

Watering/feeding wait until the surface of your pots dry out just
a little before watering again. This helps reduce the possiblility
of Damp-off fungus.

Another thing that helps reduce damp-off is to aim a small used computer
fan at your plants from 3 or 4 ft away. The air movement has done more for
me than anything else I have tried.

Pots: use Black & White newspaper ( Colored paper does not rot down
      in 1 growing season ). Make 3 1/2 in pots using pickle jar as form
      4 in pots use 1 lb coffe can as form.
Transplant everthing except peppers and tomatoes in 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 pots
    Peppers and tomatoes transplant into 4x6 in pots.

After repotting, place newspaper pots in a drip tray, then drip tray
onto waterproof tray. This allows the excess water to drip into tray
and evaporate.

Start and aim a small computer fan from 3 to 4 ft away at your seedlings
The air movement will reduce or maybe (For me it did) stop damp-off

SEEDLING FEEDING
  DO NOT FEED until 1st true leaves are formed.
  Use 5% Fish Emulsion* from seedling leaves to 2nd true leaf.
      *3 drops Liquid fish, 2 drops dish soap, 1 drop whiskey
       (every other time use water in between)
     OR 2 drops ammonia, 8 drops dish soap, 8 drops mouthwash 
        and 4 drops whiskey per qt. of water. Use to water everytime.

WASH USED STARTER POTS IN A WEAK CHLORINE SOLUTION BEFORE USING
     Must have a 1 min soak minimun
     Allow to thoroughly dry or dry over night.

GERMINATION TEST, place a few seeds between some moist paper towels
   set seed on top of refer, in back ( a little warmth up there).
   check at end of germination time for sprouting

Pre-Sprouting
  Start seeds in weak tea, in refer overnight, leave seeds in paper towel
  Place in warm area. Keep moist with tea, After about 5 days start
  watching for roots to start to form. As soon as roots start to form
  place in seed starting media, If the root has penatrated the towel
  cut the towel out around the root. Plant seed and towel
  The towel will rot in the soil

Now before anyone thinks I am crazy, consider this:
Green Bells and tomatoes 5 to 7 days for plant emergence*
Habaneros  8-10 days
Chitilpins 10 - 12 days  instead of 3 to 5 weeks
All but Chitilpins ave. 98% germination, Chitlipins about 90%
I also get less than 2% of the plants that can not shed the seed coat.
* I call plant emergence when the plants first breaks thru the soil

I aslo have to start my seeds 2 weeks later, otherwise they get to
bug for my growing area.

Here's a mistake I made. I tried anti-bacterial dish soap. This stuff
evedently also kills the good bacteria in the soil. I killed a few plants
this way.