Mihai's JBP six year contest thread

[Mihai]

@Bonsai Nut will you be so kind as to sticky me?
Thanks Nut!

 

[Mihai]

Seed source and timestamp

 

[theone420]

wow! shipping was more than double the seed price.

 

[Mihai]

)) exactly my reaction. Apparetly it takes great effort to pack and ship a 5 gram package

 

[my nellie]

It would have cost more if it was shipped from Spain

 

[Fonz]

All the seeds I ordered cost more in shipping than actual seed price. Greedy bastards.

 

[CasAH]

wow! shipping was more than double the seed price.

My shipping cost was a round trip from Tokyo to Chicago.



My niece flew them in for me from Japan for her sister’s wedding.

 

[Mihai]

My shipping cost was a round trip from Tokyo to Chicago.



My niece flew them in for me from Japan for her sister’s wedding.

=)) well you have me beat on the exotic factor.

 

[Mihai]

So... seeds from Semences du Puy have arrived. 5 grams' worth.

Soaked two batches tonight in tap water with a hint of H2O2 for flavour .
First batch, 50 seeds that are going to stratify in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Second batch, 12 seeds that are going into sand directly just for the fun of it.



I'll come back in 24 hours with the sink/float numbers.

 

[Mihai]

Well dearest friends it seems that Mihai wins the Darwin award... I've just sabotaged any kind of reliable data concerning the float test/seed viability.
I completely forgot when I soaked the seeds yesterday and added H2O2 that that it tends to release oxygen and form micro-bubbles. So basically almost all of the seeds are going to float )... and keep floating...
Well... you live and learn.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Sorry you will have to throw them away.... What is the ratio of h2o2 you used?

 

[Mihai]

@dirk hoorelbeke not enough to hurt the seeds. They will still absorb water but probably not sink. I can still use them. About two spoons of 3% H2O2 per liter of water (same as I use for peppers).

 

[theone420]

Try to swirl with your finger to remove the bubbles. I would think they would sink if the bubbles are removed for a moment. They should have absorbed the water even with bubbles

 

[Mihai]

@theone420 that's exactly what I did. So far a very poor sink rate... 60%. I'm going to leave them in until morging and stratify a part, sow the other.

 

[Mihai]

In other news, second seed pack from italy from ilmondoddisemi ebay seller is here. Already dunked and waiting. Ordered 20, got 26.

 

[Mihai]

So... update time. After a week of cold stratification I planted the lot tonight.
Bottom lair course pumice, followed by akadama, pumice, lava granulation 1-2 mm, and on the top fine sand.
From top to bottom: ten floaters from il modo dei semi, 15 sinkers from il mondo dei semi, 21 floaters from semences du puy, 38 sinkers from semences du puy, one seed lost in translation .

 

[Mihai]

Woohoo!
We have loftoff!
Two seedlings sprouted today, with 3 more on the way. Seems like the mondo dei semi sinkers win first prize in the germination speed category.

 

[Mihai]

Well, made another contraption today.
As I don't have one windowsill wide enough to accomodate my seedlings i'm forced to improvise and compensate the low light conditions in my flat.
One storage box, half a role of aluminium foil, two 125W CFL lightbulbs later we have this:

One ugly ass light box with about 12000 lumen. At least it has cats...
Hope it works

 

[R3x]

Are you growing them indoors? I'd guess a tree like pine would not be very comfortable indoors...

 

[Mihai]

Hey @R3x. Just the germination bit and until the temperature gets above freezing outside. Then on the terace they go. They'll be outdoor trees in about two months . Germinated them early because I was too hyped about the prospect. It's still winter where I live.