Seedling germination and care thread!

[Evil Genius]

Hi Visceral, yes there are a whole lot bad LEDs on the market. Never buy standard LEDs. The new generation High Power LEDs are on a whole other level and are worth their money if you buy something with at least 300 watt. Anything below is borderline. I use some 90 Watts but just to provide a diffuse light source and I wouldnt recommend to buy such a weak lamp anymore. Every year, there new LEDs and the new generations will soon become the most important plant light source. Most of the time, a HPS is still more efficient but I dont use them because they get hot and cost more to have them running.

Spider web mold. Old seed can attract it because it rots away like wood. Also, when the seeds werent cleaned well enough. Thats a major problem with some Lophophora seed. Also with Tricho seed from Peru. They just handle so much seed that they dont take as much time as they should. You can use Chinosol or a different Antimycoticum/Antibiotics to treat the seeds right when you sow them.

Also, it can be caused by the seed. I use sowing soil/sand because it does not spoil easily.

And how do you grow them? Like, take away tech? Because theres a very big problem with it when you have albino seedlings that die shortly after germination. If you have dead seedlings in a container, you have to take off the lid asap or it will attract mold and infect the others. Takeaway tech with a closed lid only works if everything is optimal. These days, I only use it to start germination and take off the lid asap. And avoid sowing too many seeds per container because that can attract mold too. If you have mold in containers, take off the lid and let it die down. Then restart the germination process without the lid by watering on a daily basis. That reduces the risk of it coming back. And you can use antibiotics during the second cycle. But dont use copper or sulfur as it kills the seeds too. Seedlings are fine with sulfur but it somehow kills the seeds.

[Visceral420]

Hey EG. Thanx for the reply!

I do use the take away tek but the lids are off now, as I was getting the mold, but I have still been getting some spider web mold? But only on seeds from one place. So maybe they just weren't cleaned properly. I shall look into getting some chinosol or something similar to treat them with. Never seen Antimycoticum/Antibiotics for sale here in Aus, so i'm guessing i'll have to order it from somewhere, any recomendations?

My medium is 75% fine scoria, 5% vermiculite and 20% potting soil (sterilised)

Do you recommend removing the seedlings with the mold and dead seedlings?

I have sprayed once or twice with a weak copper oxychloride solution (after germination) but it didn't seem to stop the problem

The main reason I was looking into LEDs is because I wanted a lower running cost, 300W is higher than what I was looking at. So I think I will stick to CFLs for now.

[Evil Genius]

Some people use 1,5% hydrogen peroxide for desinfecting seeds and it should be available in a pharmacy. But please check the legal status beforehand because some countries limit the access to it because some sick fucks abuse it for bad purposes. But at that low concentration, I dont think you should have trouble. But yeah, it´s used in commercial cultivation a lot and it might be an option to get rid of the fungal infection. If all of that seed comes from the seller, chances are it´s too old or not well enough cleaned seed. Happens a lot, especially when dealing with wholesalers. If you get mold, always take off the lid and wait until the infection has died due to the lack of water. Also remove the seed corn where the fungus germinated from.

[bogfrog]

Yay im glad this thread got a bump as i can refer to my own advice as well as all the great info from other members in conducting my next seed sow. My memory is like a seive with somethings so im almost beginning again as a newbie

[Bert&Ernie]

I always think its better to bump an old thread if your questions and what not are relevant then starting a new thread!