Feeding young plants?

[OldHondaNut]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

When I was using MG Seed Starting soil, I would dump it into an old plastic bowl in the sink and mix in water by hand, a splash at a time. Sort of like kneading dough. I would add enough water that I could squeeze a handful of the MG and have it form a ball, but one that would crumble when pressed on. If it got too wet, I'd just add more from the bag. It really resists absorbing water when it's dry, but once it was completely moistened this way, it always seemed to wick it up more readily when bottom watering.

I just put water into the bag even if it was not all going to be used. Over the course of a day I press in the sides of the bag or reach into it and knead.

[nnjjohn]

I did pretty good with the 72 cell seeding kit.. almost 100% except for one seed cells that might still germinate.. they were different sample seeds.. i plan on transplanting the seedlings in the cells that I have three seeded.. these are great tasting burpee super beef steaks hybrid seeds i bought two seasons ago.. still have seeds from that 99 cent pack for next season too. All now over two dozen seedlings to eventually transplant in small cups and potting soil. I have a question,, this stuff that came with the starter kit is a rooting compound called "CLONEX" .. anybody try this stuff? it is is a gel to be mixed with water in a bowl and has essential root enhancing hormones ,, suppose to dip the roots before transplanting.. I also have a small bottle of mg liquid plant food,, suppose to use a few drops in water bottle and i might try this once the seedlings establish true leaves.

[b54red]

I decided to leave most of my seedlings in the egg cartons until I do my grafting. Since they have so little medium to survive on I have been giving them a mild dose of Apples and Oranges Fertilizer from Urban Farms at least once a week. All that is in the egg cartons is Ultrasorb and I am using Optisorb to pot up the grafts. I have never used it before but it seems to be giving me better success with the grafts in the healing chambers with less damping off type issues. Below are a few pictures of my seedlings.

I know it looks like a lot of seedlings but since I am grafting almost all of the plants that will go into the garden I err on the side of having plenty of seedlings to work with since it makes it much easier to match rootstock and scion stem sizes when grafting. So far most of my grafts have been done with 2mm silicon clips but now that the plants are getting larger I will have to use some of the larger ones.

[JamesL]

Bill,
Lookin' Great!

[nnjjohn]

Nice pictures, I do not understand grafting at all, is it about making hybrids of your own mixing genes ? what purpose does grafting serve?.. I read somewhere you like using the ultra/optisorb stuff, i suppose you do this because it is less prone to carry plant diseases and fungus?.. i used mg seed starting potting soil for my seed starter trays cells 8 qt bag was just over 4 dollars (enough to fill all my small seed kits.. the local dollar store has quality Canadian mix potting soil 8qt.bags for 1 .00 .. i will pot more than enough of about six or seven varieties and few extra backups for my tomato garden beds.. and give the rest away to my family and friends after I see them growing good sometime in May. Going to start my spices and cucs /squash seeds in April.. seeded a few assorted bell pepper today.. crazy weather,, sub freezing outside all day and Saturday high 65f here's hoping we have a good grow season.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by nnjjohn

Nice pictures, I do not understand grafting at all, is it about making hybrids of your own mixing genes ? what purpose does grafting serve?.. I read somewhere you like using the ultra/optisorb stuff, i suppose you do this because it is less prone to carry plant diseases and fungus?.. i used mg seed starting potting soil for my seed starter trays cells 8 qt bag was just over 4 dollars (enough to fill all my small seed kits.. the local dollar store has quality Canadian mix potting soil 8qt.bags for 1 .00 .. i will pot more than enough of about six or seven varieties and few extra backups for my tomato garden beds.. and give the rest away to my family and friends after I see them growing good sometime in May. Going to start my spices and cucs /squash seeds in April.. seeded a few assorted bell pepper today.. crazy weather,, sub freezing outside all day and Saturday high 65f here's hoping we have a good grow season.

I have terrible problems with fusarium wilt and some nematode problems. I do the grafting so I can grow heirlooms without losing most of them before they make a decent crop. I take a hybrid that is resistant to all three races of fusarium and graft whatever heirloom I want onto it. The hybrid rootstock provides some protection against the fusarium which is rife in my garden and most heirlooms have little to no resistance. I just started doing it last year and it was amazingly helpful so I am doing it again this year.

I use the UltraSorb from Auto Zone because after reading Ray's post on it I thought why not. I have had major problems with damping off for years. The UltraSorb almost eliminated any damping off problems with a side benefit of phenomenal germination. I find it much easier to work with than any seed starting mix I have ever used and I have used a lot of them. A 15 lb bag only costs about 7 dollars so it is cheaper than most of them also. When I pot plants up I use potting soil; but this year I am trying Optisorb on my tomato grafts and it has helped with the damping off that can occur in the healing chambers. It is much easier to maintain the proper moisture level for successful grafting if my first batch of grafts is any indication.

Bill

[nnjjohn]

thanks for explaining why you graft.. i actually researched it online after i asked you.. thank goodness i have had good luck here in new jersey without grafting.. but not sure if my heirlooms are bug/disease resistant.. i do have a couple dozen hybrid ( high disease resistant) super beefsteak burpee from last years seed pack.. and really enjoyed them over anything i grew previous seasons ,I thought even better tasting slicer than Rutgers and Ramapo i grew. I think a good root system is important.. I'm going to dip my roots when transplanting using this clonex stuff. I will try that ultrasorb stuff someday but bought two 8 lb bags og mg seed starter.. i mixed it good with water and it seems to be working fine.