Diatomaceous Earth as a seed starting medium

[zeroma]

Finally got some seeds planted yesterday. The first 100 of the 200 total I plan to sow. The two flats planted at on heating mats as we speak. Nothing 'hatched' yet. (They are in egg crates, hatched...ha ha ha oh just forget it.)

I had 2002 seed of Sakharnyi Zheltyl which I did the quick weak bleach solution rinse on, then a dip in weak Mirical Grow to see if there were any floated. Yeah, all 10 seeds sunk. I did the same with the 2004 Sungold seeds. The rest, I put into the MG water just to check for floater. Hope none of them had spores etc because I used the same MG bath for all of them without the bleach wash. I thought about that as I was doing the process and told myself, no, it will be ok....so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I didn't cross contaiminate them.

Here is my experience with using DE for the first time ever.

My holes in the egg crates were too small or there weren't enough. I made them realy small with a fat yarn needle so the DE wouldn't fall out. So much for using that again. I also added a piece of cotton yarn through each cup, to help wick up the water. It is threaded through the cups so there is equal length top and bottom. The roots will no dought tangle with it, but it is all organic, so it will just decompose as the roots grow. May even help the plant get a good start???? Glad I added the yarn as it helped the problem with the holes being too small. I did punch many more holes in the egg crates as I was waiting for the water to wick up. I used distilled water in the bottom tray.

HOW LONG DOSE IT TAKE TO WET THE DE for you guys AND HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU ADD TO THE BOTTOM TRAYS? I was trying to take measurements in cups of water added and how long it took for the water to absorb, so I could then judge how long to leave the water in the tray when I do the watering. Mine took way over an hour, then I ended up over pot watering anyway on a few of them?

There are several places where the water didn't wick up at all, where the egg crate and the flat part of the under tray meet. For those 3 or 4 egg cups, I hand watered from above. I'm thinking I'll need to put a lot more water in each bottom tray when I need to water next time. Then repeat the hand watering on the few cups that don't wick.?????

I have a map that I made, with 50 squares 5 X 10 with 50 lines for the names of the variety of each seed. I've used different colors of egg crates to know which egg crate is which within each tray. The trays are maked with 1, 2, 3, etc...the pages of the maps are titled Tray 1, etc... So far so good with the labeling. When I transplant, I'll use a similar mapping system, with some sort of tag in each 4" pot. I like the idea of using an old blind.

Hope they grow really good, especially the older seeds.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by jamserg

I pulled them out (transplanting to bigger pots) and the root difference was even bigger. In DE roots were maybe 4-5 times smaller. I might try and plant seeds in more coarse DE and see if it's going to make a difference.

If you didn't feed them then I can see why the difference. DE is inorganic and inert, no NPK there, so you can bet they were starved. I would follow Bill's advise and start with a very light dose early, just to charge the DE with some nutrients. Bill's using MG, I've been using organics. Last year I waited till first leaves started to appear before I fertilized, this year I started earlier with the onions to get the biology going and that worked well, I'm will be doing the same with the peppers and eggplant I seeded the other day.

What variety of pepper are they?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by zeroma

Here is my experience with using DE for the first time ever.

My holes in the egg crates were too small or there weren't enough. I made them realy small with a fat yarn needle so the DE wouldn't fall out. So much for using that again. I also added a piece of cotton yarn through each cup, to help wick up the water. It is threaded through the cups so there is equal length top and bottom. The roots will no dought tangle with it, but it is all organic, so it will just decompose as the roots grow. May even help the plant get a good start???? Glad I added the yarn as it helped the problem with the holes being too small. I did punch many more holes in the egg crates as I was waiting for the water to wick up. I used distilled water in the bottom tray.

HOW LONG DOSE IT TAKE TO WET THE DE for you guys AND HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU ADD TO THE BOTTOM TRAYS? I was trying to take measurements in cups of water added and how long it took for the water to absorb, so I could then judge how long to leave the water in the tray when I do the watering. Mine took way over an hour, then I ended up over pot watering anyway on a few of them?

There are several places where the water didn't wick up at all, where the egg crate and the flat part of the under tray meet. For those 3 or 4 egg cups, I hand watered from above. I'm thinking I'll need to put a lot more water in each bottom tray when I need to water next time. Then repeat the hand watering on the few cups that don't wick.?????

I have a map that I made, with 50 squares 5 X 10 with 50 lines for the names of the variety of each seed. I've used different colors of egg crates to know which egg crate is which within each tray. The trays are maked with 1, 2, 3, etc...the pages of the maps are titled Tray 1, etc... So far so good with the labeling. When I transplant, I'll use a similar mapping system, with some sort of tag in each 4" pot. I like the idea of using an old blind.

Hope they grow really good, especially the older seeds.

It usually takes less than a minute to water the egg cartons from the bottom. If I have a cell that doesn't wet in that length of time I lift it up and put more holes in it with a round toothpick or the tip of my pocket knife. Sometimes the DE will actually block the hole and slow the absorption of water and just poking the holes a bit will get it going.

You obviously are using holes too small and too few of them. It doesn't matter if you lose a little of the really fine DE but it does matter if you can't water them fast. I found something that is even faster than a drill to put holes in the egg cartons. I bought some small wooden skewers for bracing up some of my grafted plants that were about 10 inches long and sharp on both ends. I just stack a few cartons on top of each other and using the skewer poke 4 or 5 holes in each cell going through all the stacked cartons at once. You have to make sure to have the cell you are poking the holes in is over the edge of the table so you don't dull your skewer too fast. When the skewer gets too dull I use the other end then get out a new one. The skewers are a bit larger in diameter than a toothpick and seem to make holes that are the perfect balance between letting in water fast enough and not letting out too much DE.

Are you taping the closure holes on the egg carton tops that you are using for trays? It helps if you can find a couple of Jumbo egg carton tops for the watering trays so they will sink down into them better as they take on water. Try putting the duck tape on the cell flap and write on that. You can label each pair of cells and will save you confusion. It is a little bit of trouble but well worth the effort. Below is a picture of a couple of egg carton bottoms with seedlings planted in DE with the duck tape labeled.

[zeroma]

b54red,

Thanks, I did add more holes and most soak up the water fine. For the next batch of seeds I sow I'll use the wooden skewers or my small knitting needle about the same size. I actually had to finsh knitting a pair of socks one time with one of my kitchen skewers!

When I was preparing the egg cartons, I cut the tops off and tossed them because the cup part didn't fit down into the tops on the ones I had. But your way looks really organized.

It's been 2 full days so far and nothing is hatching. I'm on "seedling watch". Most of the seeds I started are older, so they may take more time.

[Delerium]

Transplanted some Tomato Seedlings in to DE today. I started them in DE and let them germinate outside. Very good germination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx1ZmKF-bQA

[RayR]

Great video Delerium, looking forward to your updates.
I see you also use one of my favorite hi-tech seedling tools, popsicle sticks
Another favorite multipurpose tool of mine for seeding and more is a chopstick.

[Delerium]

Thank you Ray. I hope you don't mind I listed you, Lavent & Bill credit and linked this discussion thread in my video profile so others can learn from all the informative posts / photo's here.

[clkeiper]

Well, I am reporting on cuttings in DE. I used some bacopa that I had growing (since it was the only thing big enough to try this with), I started on 3/15 with a few cuttings in DE, rooting hormone pwdr and bottom heat...Today they are rooted. That is one week from cutting to rooted. I don't think i have ever had anything root that fast in another medium. I am delighted to see this. I think I will do all my cuttings this way.

[Delerium]

Here is a video i just posted on Rooting suckers in DE.

Worked out perfectly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikAbt60IE9Y

[BruceinGa]

Great video!

[kevn357]

My seedlings are doing great but look hungry now. Any advice for feeding them with organics? Not a big fan of MG. Thanks.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by kevn357

My seedlings are doing great but look hungry now. Any advice for feeding them with organics? Not a big fan of MG. Thanks.

Any liquid organic will work fine. Fish hydrolysate worked well for me last year. Go 1/4 to 1/2 strength normal dosage to start. It's pretty fast acting as it has readily available NPK. Fish Emulsion will work fine too. Liquid Seaweed is a plus too for the microntrients.

I'm trying the General Organics line of nutrients/supplements by General Hydroponics this year, it has worked very well with my onion seedlings (now plants ready to go in the ground if it ever warms up here). Their GOBOX is a pretty nice starter kit with the whole line in smaller bottles, you should be able to get it at any hydroponics store for around $35.00

[RayR]

Pre-Spouting seeds.
Put a thin layer of DE in a container and wet. Place seeds on top and cover.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by RayR

The Tomato plants were starting to look unhappy in those small cells, so a few days ago I started potting them up. As you can see from the pictures, the roots of the tomato seedlings grown in the DE were long, thicker and fibrous. It was a lot easier to separate the seedlings in the DE than in the Jiffy Mix. It took a lot of massaging of the Jiffy Mix roots to minimize damage so I could get a fair comparison.
I think next time I do this, bigger cells would work better. I didn't expect the roots of the plants in the DE to get this huge. Anyway they are all looking much happier now that they are separated and potted up with lots of room to stretch.

I like using small cells for seed starting. I use egg cartons because it is so easy to water them; but it doesn't allow enough room to leave the seedlings in them too long. I find myself potting up sooner when using the DE for seed starting. The difference in the root growth is amazing isn't it?

One real problem I have found with the DE happens when it develops algae on top. When this happens you may mistakenly think the DE is still moist when it is not. I lost a lot of pepper leaves due to the DE drying out too much because the algae made it look wetter than it was.

I still have some onion seedlings that were left over when I planted them in the garden. They are still alive in the DE despite getting almost no care except a little water way too infrequently. They have been sitting outside in a small clay pot for many weeks now. I decided to let them grow and see if they will make little bulb sets for next year. I think I better give them a little fertilizer though. I would really like to see how big the roots are on them now. When I transplanted the rest into the garden nearly 2 months ago the root systems were huge.

Since I hate to just throw the DE from my seeding containers away when I pot up it ends up getting dumped into my potting soil. It makes the potting soil finer and a bit fluffier. I would guess my potting mix is now nearly one third DE. I'll see how it works and may even use it on a few container plants and check it out.

Bill

[zeroma]

Originally Posted by RayR

Pre-Spouting seeds.
Put a thin layer of DE in a container and wet. Place seeds on top and cover.

Have you done this with veggies, like tomato seeds? Looks good. I'm going to put some of my huge amt of marigolds in a DE pot just like that.