Seed sowing and more

[Lawrence]

Please forgive me if I am stating what most of you already know!
I have recently joined a very lively Facebook group  " alpine plants and rock gardens" and would highly recommend.
There is currently a fascinating and lively discussion on seed sowing, especially from Geir Moen in Norway and an interesting article refers to sowing in pure vermiculite : www.seedsite.eu/articles/sowing
Some great pictures on the Facebook page so well worth a look anyway
Lawrence

[fixpix]

Hello Lawrence
I heard and learned about this vermiculite method but it just never worked fine for me.
Maybe I am not too scientific in my approach but i just remember i promised never to use plain vermiculite.
This was a few years back so all I remember is ... first, you get messy in the sense that you need to make it wet, then use it. And it just stuck to containers, my hands, everything.
I didn't like that part.
And then, I think my vermiculite was a bit too wet. With the looks of it, you can't really tell it's moist or dry and so on.
And the seedlings transplanting at early stage, this was another mess... bottomline is I now use it in mixture, or not at all.
I am sure others have better luck then me

[Maggi Young]

The seedsite.eu is the site of Jonna Sudenius, who is a forumist and SRGC member  as is Geir Moen , of course!

It sounds a s if there is a good gang of folks in that Facebook group.  I'm not a member myself so I know nothing of it - and that, for me, shows the benefit of our forum - it is open to anyone to join -as are the facebook groups, of course - but ANYONE can read the forum and benefit from the information here.
The SRGC takes its obligation to share information as widely as possible very seriously 

[Gene Mirro]

The Lopezia are much too elongated.  Usually that is because of insufficient light.  Sometimes temperature is too high.  When this happens, it is very hard to keep them alive.  I like to germinate seeds under fluorescent lights, so they don't get a chance to elongate.

[Hoy]

The vermiculite method isn't a new one. When I was a student in the '70s we used pure vermiculite to germinate seeds but we had to work very cleanly. Therefore we disinfected the seeds in chlorine. Soil contain beneficial microorganisms that keep pathogens at bay.

[Jonna]

Gene Mirro, you are right about the Lopezia seeds. They were sowed indoors and got too leggy due to high temperatures and not enough light. The picture was from when I started with using vermiculite. Have to adjust the article.  Will do that as soon as my health will allow me.
Now I know that I have to keep the seeds on a cool and not sunny place. But anyway, it had nothing to do with sowing in vermiculite.
Now I know how to handle seeds that germinated in the vermiculate , I can keep them in the vermiculite for at least 2 weeks up to several months after germination, until  I have  time to transplant them.

Fixpix, maybe your vermiculite was too wet. My experience is that it is much easier to transplant seedlings from the vermiculite than from other growing mediums. Roots are not so easily damaged. And I didn't approach it in a scientific way, I'm just an amateur who is very happy to find out that vermiculite is working perfect for me.
And yes, it sticks to your fingers, but I never touch it when sowing the seeds. And yes, if the vermiculite drops on the floor or on a surface, it sticks. But after drying it's very easy to remove.   I can do the sowing in my kitchen instead of in the stable or another place. Soil does give a lot more mess.  And don't forget: sowing in vermiculite is cheap and not so time consuming. You never have to water the containers until you are going to transplant the seedlings.


Hoy I never disinfect the seeds, that's really not necessary.  In the '70s vermiculite was not pure and it often contained asbestos. Now it's really reliable.
The last few years I sowed about 1600 -1800 containers. I only had liverwort in 1 and moss in about 10.