With two species of the pine I am planning on growing ready to be sprouted I prepare my growing mediums to start them off. Many of the other species still need months in the fridge before they are ready. And the warm stratification seeds need another week or two before they go in the fridge. But two are indeed ready to be planted.
If they take, they will need a bigger pot to grow in, but for now these blocks will be fine. I am also planting some in dirt as well, but curious how well these rockwool starter plugs work. I have used them to great success with cuttings, but never tried them with seeds.
Worst comes to worst if they do not take I will just start my left over seeds and grow them in dirt. But these blocks are great as I can put them in the ground or pot when ready and no need to disturb the roots of the plant.
The two species of pine I will be planting are Pinus Pinea also known as a Mediterranean stone pine, umbrella pine or parasol pine. The other is Pinus Eldarica also known as Mondell Pine, Afgan Pine or Desert Pine.
First I must separate the sphagnum peat moss from the seeds, this takes awhile as I must find all 20 seeds in the dirt. I switched from paper towels to this medium half way through stratification. It helped a lot with dealing with mold.
Upon separating the seeds, I put them in a corner and count them.. missing one.. well damn I cannot find it. Its okay.
I do the same for the other seeds, even harder they are small things.
Since the rockwool blocks are more alkaline based on the material they are made of. I need to lower the PH, so I squeeze 5 limes in a gallon of water. Then I will soak the blocks in there before placing seeds inside.
I place most of one kind of seed in the blocks and the other in the dirt. But two will be a "control" so to say, I placed them in rockwool blocks too.
I hope it works well for seeds too. I cut them up and place them in the bucket.
Soaking them for around 20 minutes I take them out.
While the rockwool was soaking I put the other seeds in their dirt mediums.
Half of them are covered in the myco poweder.
We can see all the blocks lined up, I tried squeezing the water out of the one of the far right. Well I crushed it.. So the rest I just left soaked.
Ignore the cucamelon, that is a old label.
After getting the seeds for the plugs covered in myco powder I place them in the blocks. Separating the two so I know how each will do.
I used a sharpie pen and made little holes in each and placed the seed inside. Then scrunched up around the sides to seal on the hole.
So now I wait, and make sure each of the mediums have enough moisture.. But not too much. The blocks seem to be drying out on their own so that is good. I will only add water when they completely dry up. And the same for the dirt cells. Only giving them water once a week or so.
Hoping in a week or two I see them sprout.
Previous posts about this project:
https://peakd.com/hive-140635/@solominer/planning-on-growing-nut-producing-pine-trees
https://peakd.com/hive-140635/@solominer/starting-the-germination-process-on-my-pine-seeds
!WEED
hah thanks for the tokens.
I have never used rockwool, it looks like it is a good way to start seeds. I hope your seeds in the soil will be ok with once a week watering. It seems that being that small of pots they will dry out fast but I have never grown pine trees so maybe they like it dry. Good luck with them.
Yeah the rockwool is great.. I have used it just not for seeds.
True, if I see them dry out I will add a little more water.. Just dont want to over do it.
thanks
The one missing seed.😅😅
haha yeah who knows what happened to it.. not gonna worry about it.
Hahaha, yeah.. you can have more seeds from the pines when it grows well.😊
You going to go the Christmas tree farm route or are you just doing these for your own use?
For my own use.. long term I hope they bear nuts.
That is cool!
Are these the types of pine trees from which you can harvest pine nuts?
I never knew that rockwool could be used in gardening too - that's interesting! Got me curious. Does it stay with the sprout until it grows into a tree?
Yes, exactly. Every species I am growing in this project has edible and tasty nuts.. I think every pine tree actually has edible nuts.. but some are so small and taste bad. But from what I have read the ones I picked are pretty good in size and taste.
It is a cool material. Yes, the roots will grow out of the cube and you just plant the cube along with the rooted plant. Eventually the rockwool will break down.
I haven't really eaten pine nuts before, but I remember reading somewhere that they are one of the more expensive varieties because they are difficult to harvest and process (though I can't recall the details clearly).
Wow! First time I see that block method planting.... hope next week you see some sprouts there 😀
Yeah its pretty cool stuff.. try it out sometime.
Thanks me too.
The method of pre-planting in rockwool has been tried and tested millions of times and has always been found to be a good one. The only difference in opinion is when it comes to repotting (transplanting). Do I leave the young plants in the rockwool or do I try to carefully remove the 'coating' and run the risk of damaging the roots?
The pine tree is a permanent feature of our Mediterranean landscape. They do, however, have the side effect of burning like tinder at the slightest spark of light. This is especially the case when olive trees are planted next to them. Unfortunately, this 'spectacle of fire' is a part of our daily life, year after year.
I have always left the rockwool intact and plant the whole thing. Worked very well for cuttings in the past.
Ah yeah I live in a pretty wet environment, so wild fires are not common around here. Hopefully it never happens, but I used to live where I could see the smoke and sometimes ash every year.. really sucked.
I will have to try these blocks, putting in soil, disturbs the root when replanting.
Oh damn, well if they do not work out for me I will just plant the remaining seeds in dirt..
they do well for cuttings though.
To be honest, I don't know this parasol pine. =)
Yeah a lot of these are new to me too.
Nice to see you bring these interesting things. I don't remember if I had ever seen this.
Ah thanks.. well glad to share my growing experiences.
:)
The rock wool is very interesting, thanks for showing it.
The stone pine is a very special species. Bedroom furniture made from its wood is said to ensure a good night's sleep. I myself have already filled pillows with the shavings, an inexpensive option.
Good luck with the cultivation and kind regards.
Ah glad to show it off.. it has been quite useful to me over the years.
Oh nice, they do not seem to be widespread in the United States. So it will be a new tree to me. Interesting, I had no idea...
thank you.
!PIZZA