Germination moist and mold

[andrebazhen]

Hi all, I am trying to germinate W. robusta (also some L. Peltata and date seeds) on my windowsill.  A month ago some white mold (photo1) killed all my seedlings - sure I overwatered them. Copper fungicide, H2O2 - no result. Now I've got  50 seeds in two differents types of soil with different soaking time and with H202 soaking.  Less than a week - 90% spouted and looking fine (photo2).
I've got two questions:

1) I use separate open bag for each seed (photos3-4) and got drainage at the bottom to prevent overwatering and underwatering: using a straw, I pour water straight to the bottom and bottom heat mat slowly raises the moisture to the top. Is it a good solution? Ain't it stupid?

2) I'm afraid that this mold will return when the seedlings come to the surface. Any advice? Some old  batch seeds in separate cans are infected too (while been overwatering too), but tangerine seedligs look fine
 

[Fusca]

5 hours ago, andrebazhen said:

Hi all, I am trying to germinate W. robusta (also some L. Peltata and date seeds) on my windowsill.  A month ago some white mold (photo1) killed all my seedlings - sure I overwatered them. Copper fungicide, H2O2 - no result. Now I've got  50 seeds in two differents types of soil with different soaking time and with H202 soaking.  Less than a week - 90% spouted and looking fine (photo2).
I've got two questions:

1) I use separate open bag for each seed (photos3-4) and got drainage at the bottom to prevent overwatering and underwatering: using a straw, I pour water straight to the bottom and bottom heat mat slowly raises the moisture to the top. Is it a good solution? Ain't it stupid?

2) I'm afraid that this mold will return when the seedlings come to the surface. Any advice? Some old  batch seeds in separate cans are infected too (while been overwatering too), but tangerine seedligs look fine

I think you can achieve better results by simply sealing the baggies to keep the moisture inside and not adding additional water.  The soil inside the baggie should be moist but not wet.  Seeds don't need light to germinate so there's no need to have them by the window unless you don't have a better place for them.  Once the first green spear pokes through the soil you can transfer the seedling out of the baggie like you have done with the citrus seedlings.  I assume that the containers that you are using don't have holes at the bottom for drainage and that's why you are using the straw?  I've not seen this done before successfully - I would try to find some plastic cups and poke holes in the bottom instead.  Licuala peltata seedlings would be more forgiving of humid conditions than either Washingtonia robusta or Phoenix dactylifera seedlings so I would try to get those species out of the baggie as soon as they germinate.  Both are very easy to germinate without too much help!  Good luck with them!   

[Than]

Everyone here swears by the baggie method but I never had good results with it. I tried different media, sometimes on heatmats, sometimes without, in the winter and in the summer...nothing. I had better results with small pots (plastic cups really) which I water every time the top layer is dry. My best medium is coco coir + grit.

I find this straw method smart tbh. I am curious to see how it goes.

After the first incidence with mould, I guess you sterilized the medium you used the second time, right? Also the utensils?

Edited June 18, 2023 by ego

[andrebazhen]

Yeah, new soil, sterilized utensils. It worked out pretty well. Most of the seeds survived, now I have already transplanted them into cups. Seedlings are now 2-6 inches long (5-15 cm)