Diatomaceous Earth as a seed starting medium - Page 12

b54red · October 13, 2012

Rockporter, I have had lots of problems with spinach in the past. It is very difficult to get a good stand for planting out and even more difficult when seeding them directly in the garden. I always buy two or three different varieties since one will always seem to germinate better one year than the others. It is also the seed that I get the lowest germination on of any other plant until very recently when I started using the Ultrasorb this fall.

The Ultrasorb has given me the best germination I have ever had with spinach seed. One thing that you have to do is start the seed indoors where it is as cool as possible. It seems that spinach seed sprout much better in cool conditions. I still have not set mine outside to harden off because it is still too warm. I like to wait til the days stay in the lower 70s most of the time before letting them outside.

October 13, 2012

After reading about Ultrasorb I just bought some. I plan to use it next year to sow tomato seeds and other seeds. Should I rinse it first?

Rockporter · October 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

One thing that you have to do is start the seed indoors where it is as cool as possible. It seems that spinach seed sprout much better in cool conditions.

I did start the seed outside and it has been a bit warm so I will try it indoors too. Thanks for the tip.

b54red · October 14, 2012

I just started my onion seeds for this year in Ultrasorb. My hope is they will germinate and grow well in it. I usually put out my young onion seedlings in January and February depending on their growth and the weather. One of the biggest problems is separating the plants because of the solid mass formed by the roots in the pots. I am hoping the Ultrasorb will allow for easier separation if I allow it to dry out a bit before trying to get the seedlings ready to plant. I think it will fall away from the roots much easier and allow me to keep the roots intact more than I can with potting soil.

I discovered that lettuce will germinate good even when the seed are covered with a thin sprinkling of Ultrasorb. I always had to allow lettuce to remain on top of the seed starting mediums to get good germination before this.

Another thing that I have found with the Ultrasorb is that any pot or starting flat that has holes in the bottom of a size bigger than the Ultrasorb particles will allow it to flow out of them. I have had to use more holes but much smaller ones. With some of the clay pots I have used I have found that it is a very good idea to put a layer of bark and then a bit of potting soil in the bottom before adding the Ultrasorb or it will just pour out the bottom when it is dry and when it is set in water to bottom water.

Ultrasorb doesn't water good from the top because the water will just dig a hole in it when it is poured in unless a gentle sprinkler is used. This can be a real mess when the seedlings are small so be prepared to bottom water everything you plant in using Ultrasorb.
The big plus is how fast bottom watering is with this stuff. It usually only takes a few seconds for complete watering of shallow containers when bottom watering and deep containers only take a few minutes.

RayR · October 14, 2012

All good observations B54red.

If your results with Onion seedlings is as good as mine were this season, you are going to be amazed. Separating the roots will be a breeze.

I didn't cover my lettuce seedlings at all. Their little roots drilled right into the DE just as if it were soil. I just had to make sure the seed stays moist by misting them daily or cover them until they germinated. Lettuce seed needs light to germinate, so covering with a light sprinkle of DE is fine too.

Levent · October 14, 2012

I just started a new experiment.I'had sown 3 Red Robin seeds in 300 cc plastic cups without holes containing diatomite 10 days ago.All sprouted under humidity dome in windowsill.Today I brought one into my grow box.I'll grow it under lights.Other two seedlings will be grown in windowsill.I'll transfer the seedlings to 1 lt subirrigation pots whenever they have 3-4. leaf sets.

b54red · October 14, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayR

All good observations B54red.

If your results with Onion seedlings is as good as mine were this season, you are going to be amazed. Separating the roots will be a breeze.

I didn't cover my lettuce seedlings at all. Their little roots drilled right into the DE just as if it were soil. I just had to make sure the seed stays moist by misting them daily or cover them until they germinated. Lettuce seed needs light to germinate, so covering with a light sprinkle of DE is fine too.

The reason I wanted to try covering them was to get a more even germination and not have to keep misting them. I wasn't sure the DE would allow enough light to get good germination but I wanted to try it and see. The results were much better by covering them because all of the seed germinated much closer to the same time than when they are left on top of the growing medium and the germination rate seemed just as high.

b54red · October 16, 2012

The first batch of onion seed that I started on Friday are already popping up, 2 pots of Bermudas and one of mixed reds. Amazing! Onions germinating in 3 days is not something I was expecting. The ones I planted on Saturday and Sunday will be closely watched to see if they also germinate as fast. The seed I started on Saturday and Sunday were all 4 to 5 years old so the results may not be nearly as good.

Baizanator · October 16, 2012

An update on my little project so far. Again, there are five determinate varieties being used. All seed was treated seed to make things a bit for reliable and even across the board.

The mixes being used are:

1. Peat-Based: Johnny's 512 Mix
2. Ultrasorb
3. Coco Noir - Hydrofarm JSCCM25 Organic CoCo Mix

The cultivars being used are:

1. First Prize VFFNT Hybrid
2. Florida 91 VFF Hybrid
3. Halley 3155 VFF Hybrid
4. Mountain Gold VFF
5. Mountain Spring VFF Hybrid

As you can see in the photo, there is one flat for each cultivar. In that flat there are ten of each variety in each medium. There was only one seed planted per slot to accurately calculate the germination rate.

So... without further ado...

Here is two shots of the plants. I've moved them to the center bench to take advantage of the sunlight. What you do not see is the small fan that circulates air around them. I removed it to take the photos.

First Prize VFFNT Hybrid

1A

1B

1C

Florida 91 VFF Hybrid

2A

2B

2C

Halley 3155 VFF Hybrid

3A

3B

3C

Mountain Gold VFF

4A

4B

4C

Mountain Spring VFF Hybrid

5A

5B

5C

Some of the seed coatings hadn't fallen away so those were removed today after taking the photos. I will be fertilizing with the Park's 20-20-20 fertilizer at the rate of 1/4 tsp per gallon in the next few days. Fruits have only been watered with distilled water and will be pulled and weighed in six weeks.

greentiger87 · October 17, 2012

Labeled variables in triplicate make me feel warm inside

Levent · October 23, 2012

Red Robin under lights
First set of regular leaves appeared.Today I weakly fertilized seedling for the first time.

Baja_Traveler · October 24, 2012

My full tray of Broccolli came up great in the Ultrasorb - yesterday they were about 2" tall, so I decided to take advantage of our drizzly weather and plant them out in the raised beds. This morning when I went out to check on them and all but 5 were gone! I don't know what it was that ate them, but they just declaired war!!
Guess I'll start again, and this time transfer them to 2" coco pots first so they are big enough when they get planted out...

b54red · October 24, 2012

It could be a number of things from rats, mice, and squirrels to rabbits. They all love young broccoli and cauliflower plants and will also eat the center new growth on cabbage and rutabagas. I fight squirrels over everything in my garden and sometimes have a problem with rats or mice from a neighbors outbuilding. Trapping seems to only work once or twice before they get wise to them. Once the rodents find your garden and start munching on it the only way to cure it is to get rid of them one way or another.

Redbaron · October 24, 2012

Agreed. It is Mice! or some other rodent. I had my own war with them earlier. They devastated my fall Broccoli! We live next to a Military base and they head for my garden every fall in huge numbers. This fall I had 8 species of rodents in my garden! Squirrels, rabbits, pocket gophers, 2 types of rats, 3 types of mice!

As far as I can tell the rabbits and squirrels left, I killed the rats (with the help of my very eager dogs), the pocket gophers went in hiding and I am still managing to trap a mouse every few days.

Baja_Traveler · October 24, 2012

Thanks for the tips! It's gotta be rats - the next door neighbor has been having a huge rat problem, and I've trapped a few, but they are wise to the traps now and I havent seen any on a month or so. I may have to stake out the yard all night with the air rifle this weekend and take care of business...

October 24, 2012	#179
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	Agreed. It is Mice! or some other rodent. I had my own war with them earlier. They devastated my fall Broccoli! We live next to a Military base and they head for my garden every fall in huge numbers. This fall I had 8 species of rodents in my garden! Squirrels, rabbits, pocket gophers, 2 types of rats, 3 types of mice! As far as I can tell the rabbits and squirrels left, I killed the rats (with the help of my very eager dogs), the pocket gophers went in hiding and I am still managing to trap a mouse every few days. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

October 13, 2012	#166
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Rockporter, I have had lots of problems with spinach in the past. It is very difficult to get a good stand for planting out and even more difficult when seeding them directly in the garden. I always buy two or three different varieties since one will always seem to germinate better one year than the others. It is also the seed that I get the lowest germination on of any other plant until very recently when I started using the Ultrasorb this fall. The Ultrasorb has given me the best germination I have ever had with spinach seed. One thing that you have to do is start the seed indoors where it is as cool as possible. It seems that spinach seed sprout much better in cool conditions. I still have not set mine outside to harden off because it is still too warm. I like to wait til the days stay in the lower 70s most of the time before letting them outside.

October 13, 2012	#167
JoParrott Guest Posts: n/a	After reading about Ultrasorb I just bought some. I plan to use it next year to sow tomato seeds and other seeds. Should I rinse it first?

October 14, 2012	#169
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I just started my onion seeds for this year in Ultrasorb. My hope is they will germinate and grow well in it. I usually put out my young onion seedlings in January and February depending on their growth and the weather. One of the biggest problems is separating the plants because of the solid mass formed by the roots in the pots. I am hoping the Ultrasorb will allow for easier separation if I allow it to dry out a bit before trying to get the seedlings ready to plant. I think it will fall away from the roots much easier and allow me to keep the roots intact more than I can with potting soil. I discovered that lettuce will germinate good even when the seed are covered with a thin sprinkling of Ultrasorb. I always had to allow lettuce to remain on top of the seed starting mediums to get good germination before this. Another thing that I have found with the Ultrasorb is that any pot or starting flat that has holes in the bottom of a size bigger than the Ultrasorb particles will allow it to flow out of them. I have had to use more holes but much smaller ones. With some of the clay pots I have used I have found that it is a very good idea to put a layer of bark and then a bit of potting soil in the bottom before adding the Ultrasorb or it will just pour out the bottom when it is dry and when it is set in water to bottom water. Ultrasorb doesn't water good from the top because the water will just dig a hole in it when it is poured in unless a gentle sprinkler is used. This can be a real mess when the seedlings are small so be prepared to bottom water everything you plant in using Ultrasorb. The big plus is how fast bottom watering is with this stuff. It usually only takes a few seconds for complete watering of shallow containers when bottom watering and deep containers only take a few minutes.

October 14, 2012	#170
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	All good observations B54red. If your results with Onion seedlings is as good as mine were this season, you are going to be amazed. Separating the roots will be a breeze. I didn't cover my lettuce seedlings at all. Their little roots drilled right into the DE just as if it were soil. I just had to make sure the seed stays moist by misting them daily or cover them until they germinated. Lettuce seed needs light to germinate, so covering with a light sprinkle of DE is fine too.

October 16, 2012	#173
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	The first batch of onion seed that I started on Friday are already popping up, 2 pots of Bermudas and one of mixed reds. Amazing! Onions germinating in 3 days is not something I was expecting. The ones I planted on Saturday and Sunday will be closely watched to see if they also germinate as fast. The seed I started on Saturday and Sunday were all 4 to 5 years old so the results may not be nearly as good.

October 16, 2012	#174
Baizanator Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Hamilton, Texas Posts: 382	An update on my little project so far. Again, there are five determinate varieties being used. All seed was treated seed to make things a bit for reliable and even across the board. The mixes being used are: 1. Peat-Based: Johnny's 512 Mix 2. Ultrasorb 3. Coco Noir - Hydrofarm JSCCM25 Organic CoCo Mix The cultivars being used are: 1. First Prize VFFNT Hybrid 2. Florida 91 VFF Hybrid 3. Halley 3155 VFF Hybrid 4. Mountain Gold VFF 5. Mountain Spring VFF Hybrid As you can see in the photo, there is one flat for each cultivar. In that flat there are ten of each variety in each medium. There was only one seed planted per slot to accurately calculate the germination rate. So... without further ado... Here is two shots of the plants. I've moved them to the center bench to take advantage of the sunlight. What you do not see is the small fan that circulates air around them. I removed it to take the photos. First Prize VFFNT Hybrid 1A 1B 1C Florida 91 VFF Hybrid 2A 2B 2C Halley 3155 VFF Hybrid 3A 3B 3C Mountain Gold VFF 4A 4B 4C Mountain Spring VFF Hybrid 5A 5B 5C Some of the seed coatings hadn't fallen away so those were removed today after taking the photos. I will be fertilizing with the Park's 20-20-20 fertilizer at the rate of 1/4 tsp per gallon in the next few days. Fruits have only been watered with distilled water and will be pulled and weighed in six weeks.

October 17, 2012	#175
greentiger87 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Houston, TX - 9a Posts: 211	Labeled variables in triplicate make me feel warm inside

October 24, 2012	#177
Baja_Traveler Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: San Diego, Ca Zone 10b Posts: 26	My full tray of Broccolli came up great in the Ultrasorb - yesterday they were about 2" tall, so I decided to take advantage of our drizzly weather and plant them out in the raised beds. This morning when I went out to check on them and all but 5 were gone! I don't know what it was that ate them, but they just declaired war!! Guess I'll start again, and this time transfer them to 2" coco pots first so they are big enough when they get planted out...

October 24, 2012	#178
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	It could be a number of things from rats, mice, and squirrels to rabbits. They all love young broccoli and cauliflower plants and will also eat the center new growth on cabbage and rutabagas. I fight squirrels over everything in my garden and sometimes have a problem with rats or mice from a neighbors outbuilding. Trapping seems to only work once or twice before they get wise to them. Once the rodents find your garden and start munching on it the only way to cure it is to get rid of them one way or another.

October 24, 2012	#180
Baja_Traveler Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: San Diego, Ca Zone 10b Posts: 26	Thanks for the tips! It's gotta be rats - the next door neighbor has been having a huge rat problem, and I've trapped a few, but they are wise to the traps now and I havent seen any on a month or so. I may have to stake out the yard all night with the air rifle this weekend and take care of business...