On Fri, 16 Mar 2018 10:12:32 +0000, Michael Bell wrote:

I'm a newbie, every year I try to do better, but I seem to be getting
worse.

I used to sterilise the seeds by putting them in bleach for 30 minutes
and then washing them really well. They germinated, and grew two
cotyledons + 1 "miniature" leaf, then died. Overtaken by infection in
the soil? I thought so.

So this year I also sterilised the soil by heating it in plastic bowls
for 5 minutes in a microwave. It smouldered. I let the soil cool
overnight and wetted it really well, and put my seeds on and sprinkled
vermiculite on them and they grew to the 2 cotyledon stage, and I
thought "aha, success" and then they died.

What am I doing wrong? I thought I was doing super-good by sterilisng
the soil by microwwave. Is this wrong?

The pots are 8 cms diameter, weighed about 150 gms with fresh soil, when
wetted, 250 gms, and hardly lost weight over the period. I kept them at
30 degrees for 16 hours and 20 overnight.

I once used to grow seeds without trouble! What am I doing wrong?

Michael

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First thing, have you tried growing them without sterilising them or the
soil?

Growing to the two cotyledon stage then dying suggests that they are
living on the energy stored in the seed but failing to gain nutrients from
the soil, either due to poor root formation or poor soil. Or both.

In real life the seeds will germinate without being sterilised and in soil
that hasn't been sterilised. This should be your baseline before trying
other ways.

Cheers



Dave R


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