Ok, you all know this is my first venture into raising rose seeds. At what time is the most benefical time for that seedling to be transfered, is it at the first true leaf stage. I will place photos of mine now, when I go through (flickr)
Whatever time you do it, they are most likely to succeed if done just before a rain. That continual shower of “cleaner” water with cooler temps and higher humidity help prevent losing any of the transplants. I try whenever possible to transplant what I need moved just before a rain.
Thanks Kim, these are all in our “cubbyhouse” I showed you prior. When would you feed ?
I wait until I see any signs of new growth before giving anything other than water. Same goes for propagations. Then, I’ll feed quarter strength Miracle Grow or Vigoro or whatever else is all purpose and cost effective. New seedlings and newly rooted cuttings are “infants”. You don’t feed your newborn or even toddler adult food in adult portions. Giving them weaker solutions of all purpose types, perhaps a bit more frequently than full strength has worked quite well for me.
Great no-nonsense advice there!
Thanks George. I figure if I work with what’s happening weather-wise, it makes it easier and more successful, without any extra effort and keeps it simple, cheap and fun.
It’s a judgement call David. Normally the seedlings are 2 1/2-3" tall and have multible true leaves, the bigger the better up to a point because the roots get too entangled and are subject to a lot of breakage. I always water in the seedlings even when it’s raining.
The feeding is another thing but after they start growing good and a weeks worth of rain comes is when I give it to them. Neil
Here is Radler’s method according to an article I read.
“Radler still starts his seedlings in his basement under racks of fluorescent lights. They are planted in 18 ounce Solo cups that have drainage holes cut into the bottom rim. About an inch and a half of perlite is placed in the bottom of the cup, topped with a commercial potting soil blend. The cups are placed in trays of water to wick up moisture as needed. The seedlings are covered indi¬vidually with plastic shot glasses until they have several leaves.”
If I waited until it rained to transplant seedlings, sometimes I would have to wait 1-3 months. That said, I do save buckets of rain water and find that the seedlings do thrive on being watered their first 2-3 months with rain water. Chlorine, Florine, and all the stuff in the water that we try to filter out does not do the seedlings any favors. I transplant seedlings directly from the baggies they germinate in whenever their roots are over 1/4 -1/2 " long directly into coffee cups with drainage holes, and water immediately, keep out of sun for the first day, and then place in full sun if we have it, and lose almost 0% from transplant issues.
Dave, Dave you never listen to me LOL. I start transplanting seedlings out into individual 2" tubes from the cotyledon stage. The tube is half filled, then a pinch of osmocote, followed by a layer of mix. Watering in is normal tapwater with fertilizing occurring one week later with 1/2 strength )Aquasol, Thrive), this is done for a period of 12 wks. There is no threat of fertiler salts building up in the soil mix, as all my seedlings are grown out door in full sunshine and most times watered every day, therefore leaching these salts out.
[attachment 626 2011seedlings.jpg] This photograph was taken on the 20th July 2011, the little twigs sticking up are marking species crosses.
[attachment 627 seedlings31aug2011.jpg] Six weeks later they look a lot different and have flower buds forming. I found getting them out of the inert seed mixes and into gutsy growing media, with continual measured feeding plan can be beneficial. But there is a warning though Do not get greedy and push them to much with stronger fertilizers in the hope of growing them faster, or you will be looking at brown seedlings. As you can see in the photographs this is our winter sunlight on a clear day, seedlings are only bought in under cover if there is a frost warning.
Beautiful Warren! Such potential and such beautiful foliage! On my hill, even at this time of year, two inch cylinders can fry in an afternoon and we’re still more than twenty degrees cooler than it is GOING to be! For anything to make it between waterings, they have to be gallon size by now, or still in the seed tables. I use an 8" deep layer of potting soil to germinate them in or none would ever come up. It gets VERY arid, even on days which feel more humid. I’ll sweat like a field hand, but the soil dries out quickly.
Thank you everyone, it’s my first babies so I did not want to muck it up. Ok Warren I am listening, listening.
These are past the transplant shock so will see what they look like in six weeks.
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Nice looking healthy seedlings Neil, anything special amongst them.
Just the bankers David, I expect to pot up 500-700 of those. A lot of the others are going to be culled right out of the seed trays, single root or small root get tossed.
Neil
Neil they are looking good, once the weather warms up bright sunshine will harden them up. Single root ? If I have seedlings with a long single root I keep it, rootsystems like that are beneficial for drought tolerance as its a traite displaying an adventerous root system. Those with small under developed root systems can be easily found by the corresponding weak vegetative growth and PM , caused from a poor root system, those I flick very quickly.
I keep those with a root ball and a long single root. I’m even thinking at some time in the future just to select the thick stocked ones right out of the seed trays.
Neil
I usually do what Neil does, 2 1/2 to 3 inches and at least two sets of true leaves, before I move them up. I found anything small than that was too fragile and difficult to work with. I do mine in the basement so I don’t usually fertilize them until they go outside and then at half strength the first season. When I put them in the cups I usually set them deeper in the soil. I found they seemed to get stronger stems quicker that way. Does anyone else find that helps?
Seil sometimes I transplant when the seedling has only the cotyledon leaves, true they are fragile, but if done with care is achievable. You must be careful of over watering as damping off will claim a lot of your seedlings. i normally let them settle in for a few weeks then apply half stength fertilizer weekly ( because of the higher temps watering is done every 2nd day which flushes the nutrient out of the media.)
When I plant out in the grow out beds, I transplant seedlings so soil the level is above where the cotyledon leaves were once attached. I find this makes a stronger plant and stops rocking in the wind.
I almost always try to transplant from the plastic baggie that they germinate in when the cotyledon leaves are barely open, and sometimes before. The first batch or two of the season always get a couple of them broken, just until I adjust my sensitivity, and then I try to keep them all transplanted at this stage because if they get any ‘older’ they become a tangled mess and very easily broken. Hate to have to get that sensitive! It is like untangling a fishing line sometimes. This winter I had over 400 seedlings to transplant one week (that is from the calcium nitrate) and was very busy with several other things, and got the chance to untangle a few.
They go straight into the coffee cups, or other small pot that they will stay in until I know if I want to keep it for further observation, or discard it. I usually do have to water it in well,and it is planted somewhat deeply if it does have a longer stem, but with using the Pro Mix type potting soil, I have never had any problems with damping off. I think that planting the stem more deeply with the first transplanting pretty much prevents a weak stem/root point. However, this might be a weak point when grown under artificial lighting, and then it really makes sense to plant it somewhat deeper if your soil drains well, since they root so readily. Just like tomatoes.