This is to share my notes and learning from germinating seeds. Form of contributing back to this community. It may already be a known knowledge to most of you, so do chip in if you’ve additional info.
First experiment on media
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Environment: Non direct morning sun + 2hrs of 2xT5 FL (2x14W)
Species: N. Mirabilis var Globosa (30 seeds)
Sowed: Jan 31 2011
Watering method: Water tray, covered with air holes.
Comparing: Coco peat vs Sphagnum moss
Feb 13 (Day13): First checked, alerted by Harris
4 of 15 in coco peat germinated. 2 of them has >2mm sprout.
1 of 15 in sphagnum moss just started to germinate.
Day 15:
6 of 15 in coco peat germinated.
1 of 15 in sphagnum moss
Day 17:
6 of 15 in coco peat germinated.
2 of 15 in sphagnum moss germinated.
Day 19:
6 of 15 in coco peat germinated.
5 of 15 in sphagnum moss germinated.
Day 21:
6 of 15 in coco peat germinated.
7 of 15 in sphagnum moss germinated.
Day 23:
6 of 15 in coco peat germinated.
7 of 15 in sphagnum moss germinated.
Stopped recording as I think no further germination will happen.
Conclusion:-
- I won’t make correlation btw no of germinated seed to media used. Sample size is small, and I think it relates more to the potency of seed itself + other factors. I’m happy that both give ~40-50% germination rate.
- One interesting observation: Coco peat seems to germinate seeds faster. In addition, coco peat seems to be lazyman's choice, i.e. no chopping of sm, which sometimes takes hours to do without proper tools.
- Somewhat confirm the theory of freshness of seed to speed of germination, comparing with N.Mirabilis seeds that I sow 2 days apart.
- In future I won’t make such disclaimer and presumed it’s understandable: The conclusion is drawn based on Vikings only, and to the environment I setup, weather of Penang, chi at my place etc.
Next steps:
- Watering method (Water tray, spray) vs media (SM, coco peat) vs covered. (Already on the way, inspired by the poll setup by bactrus)
- Increase sample size on successful methods. Different species. Hugely dependant on seeds that I can get my hand on, time and space.