My Moso from seed log - Firemandril

[Firemandril]

I have the seeds, the planters, and interesting instructions from seed seller which i will post in entirety.
Field Prefered:
Flat, loose, fertile, good-irrigation and drainage. Light acidic soil is better.
Seed Bed
Wide 120cm, high 15-20cm
Seed Pretreatment and sowing notes
1. Wash the seeds with clean water
2. Soak the seeds with 50ppm potassium permanganate for 5 minutes (used in aquariums to kill bactieria and parasites)
OR Soak the seeds with 2% snow bluestone (chalcanthite) for 5 minutes (a blue water soluable poisonous mineral)
Or soak the seeds with 10% SALT (Sodium Chloride) for 10 minutes
So what i gather from researching these items is they are a dissinfectant step to kill off any parasites or bugs
3. Soak the seeds with 102-104 Degree water for 24-32 hours (Do Not Cook or Overheat) {this is a vague step, do i keep seeds in a pot on the stove or is just the initial temp have to be that way?}
4. Sow seeds with row spacing of 20-25cm
5. Put 8-10 seeds in each hole
6. Cover seeds with ash soil, and cover top with straw on top
7. Water the seed hole and straw, to keep seed bed moist
8. Note, mice like to eat the bamboo seeds. Just keep them away
9. Remove the straw when seedlings grow out of earth after around 25 days

Seedling Management
1. Keep soil loose, get rid of weeds, and keep moist
2. In high temperature area, it is necessary to set seeding booth with a light transparency around 40-50%
3. When seedlings are 20-days old, use UREA as top application
4. Spray 2-3% compound fertilizer every 20 days
5. Spray Bordeaux mixture every 15 days
6. When seedling is 1-2 months old, tillering stage is coming. When tillering saplings end their growth, it is better to cut tip to avoid apical dominance.

Growth speed
1-year-old seedling can grow high up to 20-50cm; the maximum can be above 100cm

these are the instructions that the seller was given, it sounds like from the grammer (sorry i corrrected most out of habit) is asian I will have to look up some of the stuff though to figure out what it is.

[Hans]

I have the seeds, the planters, and interesting instructions from seed seller which i will post in entirety.
Field Prefered:
Flat, loose, fertile, good-irrigation and drainage. Light acidic soil is better.
Seed Bed
Wide 120cm, high 15-20cm
Seed Pretreatment and sowing notes
1. Wash the seeds with clean water
2. Soak the seeds with 50ppm potassium permanganate for 5 minutes (used in aquariums to kill bactieria and parasites)
OR Soak the seeds with 2% snow bluestone (chalcanthite) for 5 minutes (a blue water soluable poisonous mineral)
Or soak the seeds with 10% SALT (Sodium Chloride) for 10 minutes
So what i gather from researching these items is they are a dissinfectant step to kill off any parasites or bugs
3. Soak the seeds with 102-104 Degree water for 24-32 hours (Do Not Cook or Overheat) {this is a vague step, do i keep seeds in a pot on the stove or is just the initial temp have to be that way?}
4. Sow seeds with row spacing of 20-25cm
5. Put 8-10 seeds in each hole
6. Cover seeds with ash soil, and cover top with straw on top
7. Water the seed hole and straw, to keep seed bed moist
8. Note, mice like to eat the bamboo seeds. Just keep them away
9. Remove the straw when seedlings grow out of earth after around 25 days

Seedling Management
1. Keep soil loose, get rid of weeds, and keep moist
2. In high temperature area, it is necessary to set seeling booth with a light transparency around 40-50%
3. When seedlings are 20-days old, use UREA as top application
4. Spray 2-3% compound fertilizer every 20 days
5. Spray Bordeaux mixture every 15 days
6. When seedling is 1-2 months old, tillering stage is coming. When tillering saplings end their growth, it is better to cut tip to aviod apical dominance.

Growth speed
1-year-old seedling can grow high up to 20-50cm; the maximum can be above 100cm

these are the instructions that the seller was given, it sounds like from the grammer (sorry i corrrected most out of habit) is asian I will have to look up some of the stuff though to figure out what it is.






Nice germination instruction.
I tried to grow bamboo seeds from www.pflanzen-exoten.de
and get germination rate about 80 %.

What germination rate have other people?

Regards

[Firemandril]

Research info: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC0636.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7481.html

Seed preperation plans
To soak the seeds in 102-104 degree water i will attempt to use a small pot and an aquarium heater for 24 hours not sure i will get the temp to 102 maybe 100 or so.

Seed pootting plans
I will use 3.5in by 4in pots
I intend to use three variations:
one will be potting soil to 3 inches deep and 1 inch top silica sand;
second will be 1in silica in bottom, 2 in topsoil, 1in silica;
third all topsoil

[Firemandril]

Trying to keep water at 102-104
Well a crockpot's warm setting reaches 140 if left unnattended, I had a thermometer in it tracking the temp but other responsibilities called me away and i forgot to shut off the crock pot, upon coming home 2 hours later the temp was 140, water was not boiling, but not sure that i did not cook the seeds, i am tempted to just cold soak another batch and do half of each tray with those so its not a possible total loss. I used epson salts to clean them, could not find potasium promanganate(sp) even though its said to be a common aquarium care item. I will let the seed soak in the cooling off water, i figure taking them straight out would do more harm from possible shock. I did notice though that the seeds have started floating bulb portion down and started to slowly slowly sink to the bottom and stand there. I have photos and will show my seed tray set ups as soon as i figure out the download format.

[Firemandril]

Alright After my boo tea feascal, i actually think they might still sprout, they were firm and turned much greener. Things i notice the seeds as you can see in some of the pictures sank or started hanging large end down. They did this both in the too hot set and in the just water soak set though the latter took almost 8 hours to start and the over heated ones did it in a few hours.
I took precaustions or set up scientific methods for the plantigs i split the trays of 18 into two groups of 9. 9 are cooked(which i call teh 140 batch) and 9 are just soaked and thus labeled. I used three soil configurations and i would suggest against watering(misting is a good idea read that here somewhere too) the ones with sand as the top layer, silica sand just sucks down into the soil if you pour water on it hence why i say put a cup of water into the bag. I planted 3 seeds per pot and all are at least 1/2 to 3/4 inches buried, i planted the seeds just like they floated with bulbous end down and needle point up.
The blue bags you see covering the trays are ziploc big bags, there are no moisture domes that fit the 18cnt trays so the XXL in the big bag works great(and are totally reusable), i put a cup of water in and then sealed it and it was about 89 degrees here today so they steamed up nicely and the pots all absorbed the water. I planted 6 trays since that is all my little green house will hold.

[Firemandril]

Had a few dozen seeds left over from the first 6 trays so i planted two more one is the "140 batch" and the other is the regular soak. I ran out of potting soil so 10 of the regular soak batch will be all sand, and i will have to get my fertilalizer sooner than i thought. The last two trays planted today have 5-6 seeds per pot since i did not want to waste what was left. So thats 144 seeded pots planted. I got the small green house up and loaded with the trays as well. And what everyone always wants to know the cost of it all. If i could not find the reciept i went from memory on the price and just rounded up to the next dollar. If i get even 20 plants to grow i should be able to make it back (big dreams eh =)
Cost so far
$52.79 1500 Moso seeds (shipping included)
$60.49 Portable Green house
$46.00 Pots and carry trays
$25.00 16" Paving stones (set green house on)
$6.00 Miracle grow moister control 1cuf
$3.00 Childs silica play sand 50lbs

$193.28 grand total to this point

So barring any acidents, tornados or wind storms the Tornado missed us in June by half a block will be posting again in 16 days to report on any sprouts. So around Labor day, I will report on sprouts or nots.

[R e x]

Wow firemandril! It looks like you got a much bigger project going on here than I do! Almost $200 compared to my measly $16(seeds) + $8(Miracle•Gro Potting Soil) + $3(Deli Roast Beef with Container) = $27 :(. You have some interesting germination methods. Will you let me know which way works out best for you after the sprouts pop out? I'm really wondering about the boiling water method lol xD. In regards to your question...hrm, I heard that you shouldn't fertilize young bamboo seedlings for a while. I'm not 100% sure on that though. But yeah, I've heard that grass fertilizer really helps them ^o^~

EDIT:
I forgot to mention that that weird thing about some seeds floating and some sinking happened to me as well. Maybe its a clue to hinting at how viable the seeds are :-P! Lets be Moso Bamboo growing partners. We can keep each other going strong! My first sprout emerged exactly on the 14th day after planting. That means that yours might come up in about 2 weeks - I'm so excited! I can't wait to see pictures of your sprouts.

[Firemandril]

Well i think the not fertilizing is true but i have 10 pots that are straight silica sand and there is no food value in that so unless i fertalize those pots the seedlings woudl starve very quickly, thinking i might use fish emulsion and mist them daily with that.

[R e x]

Eww! What's fish emulsion :3? Hehe.

[Firemandril]

For all the gory details of what fish emulsion is :rolleyes: read this links eplanation. But for the purpose of putting enough protiens and minerals into the pots with just sand from what i have read here it should work great if i make a water soluable and spray it on them every few days (PLEASE ANYONE ELSE CHIME IN so if this is not a good idea i can stop before i kill my MoBoo) Also if i am not mistaken this almost all natural fertilizer is the same as the Urea listed with out the bye products. And a side note, if you have ever gone catfishing and used the "stink" bait that is exactly what it smells like i would not doubt they are the same exact thing except the fishing bait version cost 10 times more :)


http://www.rainyside.com/resources/fishfert.html

[Firemandril]

Opened the hothouse and opened all the moisture bags to let in fresh air the temp in the hot house remains atabout 89-95 degrees day and night. I also sprayed the trays with the fish emulsion, a light misting to moisten all the seeds and a little heavier spray on the just sand based seeds. I did not really look for sprouts as the seeds have only beenin the soil for 4 days.

[GNiessen]

Where dis you get the trays/pots? I have checked all the local garden centers and they say they are only sold seasonally. So I will probably have to get them from an online source.

[bambookid524]

I have one just like it and you can find them at most home depots all year round. In fact I saw one there yesterday at the one near me.

[Firemandril]

102-104 I am wondering if since all the other measurements are in Metric if the temp is in metric too, if so it would mean that 102-104 is actually 215 to 219 degrees farenhiet (but water boils at 212 degress sothis does not seem right either) Any way i removed all but two of the flats from their bags and left in hot house this morning. I have no visible sprouts as of yet. =(

[R e x]

Hey, don't worry. They'll start coming soon! How long has it been anyway...like only about 10 days, right?

[Firemandril]

I have misted trays daily, the hot house stays at 85-90 degrees all the time. I will take a pic or two today but as of yesterday there was no visible growth still. I will be gone from Friday to Tues this week it would be great if the sprouted before then so i could photo them but will not begrudge then their growth :)

[Dean W.]

Firemandril,

I should have read this post first before I responded to the other.:rolleyes:

You really invested some money on those seeds.:cool:

I've heard of people having luck with Bambusa seeds using cheap kitty litter. Just plain old clay litter. And they used grow lights indoors.

Dean

[R e x]

Firemandril, is tommorrow day 14?

[Firemandril]

23 days now and not even a hint of growth, i think the seeds were no good, if it were just the 140 batch that did not grow then i could understand, but since did a regular soak too and have not gotten a single green sprout. Yet another project with out results...

[R e x]

Hrmmm...How deep did you sow/cover the seeds firemandril?

[ocimum_nate]

I have grown a number of seedlings and had good luck getting them to grow I generally had most of my batches come up with about 25% germination or so.
This is a picture of some of the seedlings I started these about 2 years ago.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/Nateabbott/NATEAB-R3-18.jpg
Germination usually took about 2 weeks. I have found that starting them in a potting soil with sand mixed in and placing them on bottom heat helps them to germinate. So far I have had sucess with 2 other species of bamboo seeds using the same method.

[GNiessen]

I also bought Moso seeds on eBay and have had poor results. Of the hundred or so seeds, I have maybe 4 sproutings. And one of them has already died. Though that last may be my harsh handling of the container.

[Firemandril]

i planted them 1/4 to 1/2 inch below the top layer of soil or dirt. So i will try some in my house, just in a pot on the window ledge =) I will not quit :P

[R e x]

I think you may have planted them a little too deep. This is usually the reason why seeds don't germinate.

Meh, I guess it's hard to say. My experience with Moso seeds from eBay have been okay so far. Out of the 10 seeds I tried to germinate, I achieved 3 sprouts. Out of the 10 seeds I gave my friend to germinate (she's a newbie when it comes to these things) 2 seeds sprouted. I don't know how you got only 4 sprouts out of 100 but I'm sorry that happened to ya :(.