nicotiana seedlings

[sholto]

100 or so n. rustica seeds scattered on a tray of seeding mix all came up in a few days. in the two weeks since almost two thirds have wilted and died. the survivors have maybe doubled in size, but are still tiny and have only two leaves. the soil has been kept quite damp and the tray has been indoors with indirect natural light.

is the die off just natural selection, is it a fungal attack, or are they light-starved? i'm worried because at this rate of attrition all 100 will be gone in another week. I'd appreciate anyone sharing their own experiences- are n.tabacum seeds any more robust?

[Guest Pigdog]

Tobacco is one of the easier of the plant to grow I've found, last year I scattered prolly bout same amount of N.Tobaccum seeds over a pot and it was liek a ground cover withina few weeks. I actually had TOO MANY seedlings to know what to do with so just picked the healthiest ones and chucked the rest.

What kind of soil are you using?

I recently planted some N.Rusticas and a few of them died off too. That was in normal dirt I got from the garden, and it probably had some kind of fungas's/bugs ib it.

I would recommend STRONGLY taht you go buy some perlite and use that for seedlings. It's magic. Very airy, clean, sterile, no bugs, and lets the roots krank without getting bogged or rotten.

Failing that, Yates Seed raising mix is good. but you still get some bugs migrating to that.

--Pigdog

[sholto]

i'm using seed raising mix combined with perlite- you're right, it is great stuff.

i'd have thought plain perlite might be too coarse for some seedlings

[Guest Pigdog]

I guess for some seedlings, but that last crop of N.Tobacum seedlings I grew was in 100% perlite, and though some of the seeds might've fallen just under the surface, once they start germinating they're fine

Once they get a little root to anchor them down they crank. and perlite allows SO much air to get to the roots it's magic

BUT, I would strongly suggest one of them "watering-Well" type pots with the resoviour(?sp?) in the bottom, cos perlite dries out fast. and don't put it out in the wind or the top will dry out too fast too, just keep it inside and moist till they start to grow

--Pigdog

[Torsten]

I used to love perlite, but then I realised where it was coming from and how much damage the mining is doing (they are trying to mine it in the beautiful forest in our area).

I know that sandmines can be just as bad, but this is at least not always the case. In any case, I now use coarse sharp sand for all my germinations with excellent success.

Just take some large grain garden sand (not beach sand!!) and stick it in a large kitchen sieve . Then wash with heaps of running water. The silt and small grains will wahs out and can be used in potting mixes. The large grains stay in the sieve and this is called 'coarse sharp sand'. It has perfect drainage and doesn't clump. I am now also using it for my special cacti with great success.

[This message has been edited by Torsten (edited 11 November 2000).]