victoria: fertilising seedlings

[David]

victoria
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fertilizing seedlings
« Thread Started on Feb 7, 2008, 5:19am »
Hello all;

Just wondering how old Nep seedlings should be before you start fertilizing them.

Thanks;
Victoria
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Re: fertilizing seedlings
« Reply #1 on Feb 7, 2008, 1:29pm »
Victoria, there is a little bit of info on fertilising seedlings in the N. truncata topic. Might be worth checking out. Cheers.
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Re: fertilizing seedlings
« Reply #2 on Feb 7, 2008, 1:59pm »
Hi Victoria,

I fertilise them when the first carnivorous leaf appears. I had huge losses due to fungus (damping off, I think) so I now use a fungicide together with the nutrients.
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Re: fertilizing seedlings
« Reply #3 on Feb 7, 2008, 2:09pm »
I fertilized before they even germinate.
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Re: fertilizing seedlings
« Reply #4 on Feb 7, 2008, 2:29pm »

Quote:I fertilized before they even germinate.

Have you experimented with germination success and strike rate with fertilised as seed against those without fertiliser.

I would have thought that fertilising when they are seeds would serve little purpose. The reason behind this is that unless it is a fertiliser that is available as a soil based nutrient the plant would not absorb it. Further to this I would have thought that if the basis was to improve the soil then this goes against the natural environment that Neps come from.

Isn't it good that these forums exist to expand our growing principles.
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Re: fertilizing seedlings
« Reply #5 on Feb 7, 2008, 2:37pm »

Quote:
Have you experimented with germination success and strike rate with fertilised as seed against those without fertiliser.
No, not really. I always fertilize pretty much. There was a time when I didn't, but that was way back there. I use Schultz orchid at full strength once every 2 weeks. I usually get germination in 2-6 weeks and if the seed is fresh, it's on the order of about 92%+ (I count when I don't have very much seed). I fertilize by just spraying down the soil. Conversely, though I'm sure this was just old seed or bad technique, but back in the day when I didn't fertilize the seedlings, germination was really slow and I'd get very little if any. Honestly, I don't think the fertilizer benefits the seeds themselves directly at all when done this early. What it does do, is cause a bunch of algae and associated microorganisms to grow on the soil surface, which I hypothesize in turn break down the seed coat. I'm almost 100% positive that that, combined with the fact that I give seeds a little over 12k lumens is the reason why I get such quick germination while some are waiting 6+ months (even with seed from the same batch).
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Re: fertilizing seedlings
« Reply #6 on Feb 7, 2008, 2:48pm »
Fretilizing support growth of fungus, so i dont use it till the seedlings reach about 1cm. For fertilizing use weak solution of any fertilizer which contain micro and macro nutrients.Dont expect any results in first month. Some plants ( mostly slow growing ) will have bigger leaves after 3 months of fertilizing !!!

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Re: fertilizing seedlings
« Reply #7 on Feb 8, 2008, 8:34am »
I think the to fert or not to fert early depends on how and where they are grown. My plants are exposed to the elements and see little fungus-algae problems. I believe that hard growing makes harder plants. Seedlings toughen up rapidly when exposed to the elements and are fertilized.
Fungus problems seem to occur for those who have a more humid CLOSED chamber. Wild blown seeds that lands in pots that are fertilized seem to do well when their host plant gets that nutrient feed.

M
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Re: fertilizing seedlings
« Reply #8 on Feb 8, 2008, 9:21am »
I think that depends on air circulation as well. I have a humidifier in my chamber which is almost totally closed off (except a little crack for the door) but I have a 10" or so fan in the chamber running constantly. So far, I haven't seen any fungus or mold. Though, when I had my old chamber (no fan) mold started growing on the sides of it.
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