Building a Fish Tank Incubator

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Here's a breakdown on how I assembled my incubator...

I evicted the previous tenants of the aquarium...  lots of tropicals caught right off the inlet...  removed all the coral and substrate from the tank and bleached everything out real good and then rinsed the tank a couple times with freshwater...

I had Gustavo cut up the old pieces of PVC I was trying germinate talipot palms in (only got 25% germination rate from those... )  They will make a good support system for the heat mats...

All of those go in the base of the aquarium...

Then the heat mats...

some deep pots will be perfect for germinating some rare palms...  I hate cutting up tall pots but that's what I have to work with!

[www.dadluvsu.com]

I tried to use a 80gph pump for the timed watering…  That was useless… ended up using a 2500gph water pump and some fittings from the hardware store…  Took some black funny pipe and poked a ton of holes in it with a safety pin…  Experimented with micro sprinklers, misters and bubblers, this worked best

Made up some good (I hope!) seedling medium for these community pots…  

Added some seeds that have been hydrating at room temperature for the past 2 days…

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Sprinklers work!

My house is kept cool and dry at 70ºF…  Check out that humidty in the incubator at 94ºF!!!  Heat mats work awesome… Now all I have to do is the hard part… wait patiently!   :cool:

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Anybody see any blatently stupid flaws in my plans?  ???      This is just a good stab (we shall see) at a homeade incubator!  :cool:

[paulgila]

that pic of the sprinkler working is so cool with the blue color

[mike453]

William,

be carefull not to keep the Pseudophoenix ekmanii too wet. I just germinated a batch from RPS, they germinated well, 90%, but they were all mush within a week. Keep us informed of your success!

                        Best of luck,

                                      Mike

[PALM MOD]

It's obvious you fit in rather well with this group.  

[John Case]

Fabulous engineering with attention to planning!

I hope the humidity is correct for all of your seed......maybe you can build another one for other culture requirements.

Do you know what your light requirements will be upon sprouting?

Great work!

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Paul,

Yeah it is cool, LOL!   :cool:

Dean,

I thought I might...  I got all excited today driving down A1A when I saw a fine lookin P. vinifera infructescense and make my chick ala mode turn around (she is still rolling her eyes at me)

Mike,

Tell me about your medium and watering habits with your P. ekmanii...  I am eager to hear about your experiences!

Bepah,

I was just wondering about that today...  The hood is already set up to handle 4 - VHO tubes...  I have them set up for a blue spectrum to accenuate a reef tank...  I'm gonna do some hunting and see if there are some lights that would be suitable for plants!

[mike453]

Hello William,

I received the P ekmanii seeds from RPS 4 weeks ago today. I was a little concerned about viability, since these seeds have been for sale on their website for quite some time. I soaked them in 90 F water for 72 hours, next time I will try 24 hours. At 72 hours in the water, maybe 10% of the seeds were already germinating. I mixed 60% vermiculite and 40% perlite. I added 25% water by volume and let soak in for a few hours. Then I squeezed out all the water I could by hand, and sterilized in the microwave. After cooling I added the seeds on top of the mix in 2 quart snap-lock containers and lightly covered with the mix, tops of seeds still showing. Then they were placed in an incubator and kept at 90F. After a week to ten days, I checked a few seeds ( I cannot stop myself from doing this, no matter how hard I try) Most of the seeds had germinated, but the radicle was turned to goop (gooey slimey yuck) The 5 other types of seeds I received in the same shipment did not do this, but got the exact same treatment. I am only assuming from the look of the seeds that too much moisture was the problem. Needless to say more P ekmanii seeds have been ordered, as I am not ready to give up yet. Good luck with the Thrinax ekmaniia too, I have had these seeds in about 2 weeks, no germinations yet.

  Does anyone have any succesfull germination methods  for P ekmanii? If so please let us know

                   Best regards, Mike

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Mike,

The only other though I had would be to add a fan to the incubator setup...  I found a company that builds small waterproof fans...  

http://www.adda.com.tw/products/New/newproducts.htm

Looked like, with a small transformer from Radio Shack, I could wire in a fan to help with circulation...  hopefully adding a bit of a drying element to my conditions...  I know that the islands in the Carribbean usually have some sort of windy condition...  

Maybe I'm just getting waaay too overboard and overthinking things a bit much!?!    What's new?!

BTW, what other species did you germinate?

[John Case]

(PiousPalms @ Feb. 24 2007,16:05)

QUOTE

Mike,

The only other though I had would be to add a fan to the incubator setup...  I found a company that builds small waterproof fans...  

http://www.adda.com.tw/products/New/newproducts.htm

Looked like, with a small transformer from Radio Shack, I could wire in a fan to help with circulation...  hopefully adding a bit of a drying element to my conditions...  I know that the islands in the Carribbean usually have some sort of windy condition...  

Maybe I'm just getting waaay too overboard and overthinking things a bit much!?!    What's new?!

BTW, what other species did you germinate?

After my first reply, I want to add to the thinking.....it is probable that you will develop mold/fungus in the environment if there is no 'breeze'.....

Somehow a fan to generate that breeze needs to be engineered......

Keep us up to date on the project....I may want to copy it for winter around here.....

[mike453]

(PiousPalms @ Feb. 24 2007,19:05)

QUOTE

BTW, what other species did you germinate?

William,

If you mean what did I start at the same time as the P ekmanii,

Chambeyronia macrocarpa

Calyptrocalyx polyphyllus

Alloshmidia glabrata

Euterpe olracea

Dypsis sp (pink crownshaft)

All are germinating except the Dypsis

          Mike

[MattyB]

Wow William, nice setup!  That's very creative.  Here's some of my thoughts, keep in mind that I'm not an expert.

Why reuse the water?  Won't it get stagnant?  I'd plumb it to water fresh and drain old.  You've got so much humitidy going on there that you'll only probably need to water once every few weeks.

Very small to moderate amount of moisture is needed to germinate.  Too much leads to rot like Mike found out.  If you wet your medium and squeeze out all the moisture you can,  I've found that you've already gone way too wet and that'll lead to problems.  

Looks awesome.  I'm sure you'll have lots of sprouting stuff soon.  Good luck.

[JD in the OC]

William,

Here's what I've found....

No need for an interior fan.  Just open up the top every couple of days to allow a rush of fresh air to enter.  As long as you don't forget to do this, the seeds should have good fresh air and shouldn't dampen off on you.

Also think about hooking up a simple plant light (you can buy them at Walmart, they're blue) once the seedlings begin popping.  Then you may not need the heat mat and they should grow a little faster.  Just a thought.

JD

[Kris]

Hey William  

I have never seen anything like that,fentastic engenering &

have your borrowed those neon blue lights from Doug(Fast & Furious Movie)  

bravo_very beautiful arrangement and neat layout,with lots

& lots of techno stuff seen around.

but my suggestion for the medium will be spumgyum moss_

popularly sold in U.S.A as Damp-Off medium.

since you have spent a fortune in erecting this germination

factory.but the medium looks bit strange.. ???

Here in S.India i do not need temperature controlled box or

rooms.all i have to do is search for a unused room that is

dark and just close the windows & doors and place a

thermo guage to check the temperature.by opening or

closing few windows alters the temperature.so no

electric bills for seeds germination..

i will soon show you my room !  

thanks & Love,

Kris

[www.dadluvsu.com]

OK, So I broke down and purchased a thermometer with a humidity scale on it...  I'm maintaining about 92F and 75.5% humidity...  I think I'm in agreement with you on this one Matt...  Probably am not gonna have to water these babies for a while...  The medium seems to be working well...  I tried to dampen a kleenex by wrapping my finger in the tissue and pushing it into the soil about one inch...  The tissue came up with almost no water on it...  But at 75% humidty there is obviously moisture there...  I picked some of the medium up and touched it to my face to check for moisture...   I could feel moisture with touch...  But it's not damp, like normal soil...  I pulled out on of the P. vinifera seeds...  there was moisture on the outside of the seed...  I'm thinking if there is enough water I may have a winning combination! Moisture, but not wet...

Matt,

I would love to plumb this thing...  would have made taking care of reef fish much easier... no water nearby...  no plumbers... no way, no how.     I'm used to water changes by hand...  theres only about 12 gallons here to siphon out...  I'm wondering if it will even get too nasty??   Theres a ton of calcium carbonate in the water...  but (not a big butt like Oprah winfrey) I'm sure if little plant killing evil can be grown here, I can do it!    Keeping fingers crossed and will update here...

JD,

I'm with ya...  the fan seems like overkill after checking out the humdity in here...  I'm just pop the top, inhale the used plant air, and breathe in some CO2 for them!  I'm looking at a light tube called the vita-lite...  It is a full spectrum flourescent...  That way all i have to do is purchase the bulb...  fixture and ballasts are already in place from the aquarium...  Lets see if they germinate first!!!  :laugh:

Kris,

Can't wait to see you post pictures of that germination room!  I'm sure you have all kinds of goodies in there!  As for the neon...  They can keep that stuff in the movies!  

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Just a progress update...  I was digging around in the medium last night checkin for any problems, rot, fungi, anything that may have been out of the ordinary came across this P. vinifera!  That's pretty fast germination I think!   :cool:

[palmsrgreat]

Looks good and a very nice picture too.

[Kris]

Dear William  

that still looks preety encouraging ! and my heart felt congargulations to you_my buddy.

and iam curious to know what seed will have be ?

Here is my germination room with normal lighting...

[Kris]

this room has no watering need or heating pad,this is

my libarary where i stock all the reading materials_

now it is a dark room with just a blue neon glowing

to ward off noughty neighbour kids..

the still appears normal due to flash on mode..

[Kris]

one more still_

[Kamipalms]

I've posted this a few times before but when it comes to full-on , elaborate set ups ...

Heat mat below with germinating boxes

Inside-post germination

inside is lined with 4 inches of river sand with heating cables wound through the sand.

Air conditioning to keep temps from getting too high-

last one- humidity control;

[Kris]

I must say that William & Kamipalms are similar type  

these guys will not hesitate to turn the mountains upside

down for the sake of palm seed germination_here i ment

these guys do not fear spending their fortune for the sake

of palms_Bravo !

if there is an award for the best beloved desiple of palms

you guys both will have to share that award_Jesus Christ

this is what i call a Big Operation(Money No Bar)..

Thanks Man !

Love,

Kris  

[Kamipalms]

(PiousPalms @ Feb. 25 2007,01:55)

QUOTE

Anybody see any blatently stupid flaws in my plans?  ???      This is just a good stab (we shall see) at a homeade incubator!  :cool:

As Matty has already pointed out-

· Posted on Feb. 25 2007,14:06

Why reuse the water?  Won't it get stagnant?  I'd plumb it to water fresh and drain old.  You've got so much humitidy going on there that you'll only probably need to water once every few weeks.

Very small to moderate amount of moisture is needed to germinate.  Too much leads to rot like Mike found out.  If you wet your medium and squeeze out all the moisture you can,  I've found that you've already gone way too wet and that'll lead to problems.  

I'd agree with the re use of your water but heres a thought....

Seeing as you have used a fish tank why not keep with the theme and use an aquarium filtration system to keep your water clean ???

Something like this-

You could hook it between your pump ant irrigation system.

Kami

[Kamipalms]

Heres a couple of growth comparison pics-

1st- taken January 25

and the same shot today, March 11

[Trópico]

Bump!

This is fantastic palm engineering guys! I also discovered the importance of humidity control. I have been monitoring the unfolding of a leaf on a Ph. borsigianum and all winter it barely moved. Then I covered the plant with a ziplock bag. The next day the leaf unfolded 100 times faster! The other two Ph. borsigianum I'm giving life support... I'll write about them if I succeed...

Keep up the good work.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Woah Jason!  Hadn't checked this thread in a while!  Very cool setup!  I'm assuming you have lighting involved in this...  What are you using?

I have started to see some germination going on in the Aquarium...  Have a look if you get a minute!

http://palmtalk.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboar...t=ST;f=1;t=4335

[SubTropicRay]

True science gentlemen, true science.  I love it.

[Kamipalms]

G'day William,

I don't used any artifical lighting;

This is inside my workshop sitting under a couple of opaque/cream coloured polycarbonate sheets.

When I first started germinating seeds I used a UV light to help as they were in a small tin shed without any natural lighting. I came to find the seedlings were very week and when placed in natural light they became toast .

I see with your setup there seems to be a fair bit of natural lighting form near by windows so you probably won't get the same problems I had....Its all trial and error....

[Tyrone]

Jay,

I've said it once and I'll say it again.

WOW.

regards

Tyrone

[Gbarce]

THIS IS A COOL THREAD!!!

Pimp my Baggie Method!

Kudos to Matt and Jason -and it looks like a lot of fun to set up.

[Kris]

Bump !

[www.dadluvsu.com]

bumparoohaha!

[joe_OC]

Hi Bill,

Are you still using this incubator? How have been your results?

[paulgila]

yeah,why bump yer thread & not include an update?

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Update:

I have a new germ tank in the garage... but that's kinda hush hush

[paulgila]

ok i wont say a word about your NEW germination tank.

in the GARAGE.

at your HOUSE.

oops.

[CuriousPalm]

The germination tank isn't the secret, the secret is what he is germinating...

I'll take bribes...

[BS Man about Palms]

The germination tank isn't the secret, the secret is what he is germinating...

I'll take bribes...

Is it a bidding thing or direct pricing?