Great photo, Nev.

I have seen ants having a picnic in my Neos as well, and now I have a gazillion seeds. I did try some deliberate cross pollinating, but it seems the ants were more successful than I.

More seeds than I could ever make use of myself, and I know you are keen, Nev... so let me know if you would like some.

Hi bromcrazy,

Thanks for the kind offer of seed, but I had better pass as I am still trying to catch up with potting what I already have.

Seedlings waiting to be potted up.

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All the best, Nev.

Now THAT was like trying to give ice to the Eskimos!

I'm now convinced you don't need them, Nev. Some of your babies have very nice colour. Have fun potting. :)

HOOLY DOOLY Nev you sure do have your hands full.
Wishing I lived near by so you could show me a thing or two and we would have them potted up in no time.....lol

Hi Nev, interesting - sure looks like you've got a bit of potting in front of you. Are the smaller seedlings (right side distant) in trays of some sort? Or are those green panels raised bench edges? Cheers, Paul

Nev,

That is a very neat looking potting arrangement, I think the masses are calling out for an update.

Thanks,

Rick

Hi Paul,
All of my small seedlings from 2" tubes to 3" pots are in cut down polystyrene brocholi boxes.

I have drainage holes cut in the bottom of these as well as a 45mm bed of coco-peat on which the pots sit.

The seedlings seem to like the environment this creates and until I come up with something better, this is the way I will go.

I got sick of small plants getting knocked over by birds and a visiting cat and this seems to overcome the problem.

The ones at the back are on a bench and the ones in the front are on a lower temporary bench. Pretty well everything is made from recycled materials and is constantly changing as my collection of seedlings grow.

If you're ever down this way, send me an email first and you can drop in to see for yourself.

This goes for anyone else also, as all Brom. friends are always welcome.

All the best, Nev.

Hi Nev, thanks for the info. I'm just starting to play around with seedlings and that broccoli box method is something I think I'll give a go. Come to think of it, I'll do it tomorrow - I have some playing-around seedlings of V. heiroglyphica just waiting to try!

Also thanks for the invite to visit - I'd love to see your setup. Same extends to you. Cheers, Paul

Nev,

The polystyrene broccoli boxes look very neat painted green, I have been using seedling trays but I am about to run out.

I'll give the broccoli boxes a go, I like your set up - some very good ideas to copy.

Thanks,

Rick

have been using broccoli boxes for years also, same deal helps keep everything neat. try glueing the lids on, then cut the box in half length ways with a hand saw, now you have two trays,the lid now being the bottom of one of the trays,less waste.

Hi Paul - sorry I didn't get back to you. I find that Hieroglyphica sedlings really like the polystyrene boxes and grow realy well for me.

Initially I thought I grew too many, but they seem very popular and I have no trouble selling them and besides, the money I get pays for pots, bark etc.

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All the best, Nev.

Nev, thanks for getting back. Those heiro seedlings sure look like they are flourishing - I am inspired. Wish I had more to plant out. I think I have finally learnt the hard way that using a watering can on recently germinated seedlings is not a good idea. Most of them end up under the medium. Should have learnt the lesson a year or so ago with the heiro's, but now I've recently repeated it with a nice batch of germinated Nova's. Not very pleased with myself. My new year's resolution is to ALWAYS go and get the misting bottle, even when in a raging hurry. Hopefully my next lot will end up like the ones in your pics. Cheers, Paul

Hi Paul - Just a suggestion re. watering baby seedlings.

I find that when seedlings are at that stage where they are too big to easily water them with a spray bottle yet too small to cop it from a watering can or hose, I use a home made "mini-watering can" made from a 1 Ltr. plastic milk bottle with flexible sides like the one below.

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I simply drill some fine holes in the lid using a a very fine jeweller's drill bit (about 1mm I think). Don't drill too many holes or the volume of water will be too great and you will still wash out the babies. If you look closely at the pic below you can just see the number of holes needed.

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Fill the bottle with water or fertilizer and away you go. You can regulate the force of the water from the lid by the pressure you apply to the body of the bottle.

I've been using them for a couple of years now and they work fine, cost nothing and are easy to replace when the bottle gets wrecked.

All the best, Nev

I guess you can't keep vriesea seedlings in a bag. They need air circulation right?

Hi bromadams,

I don't grow my seedling Vrieseas in a bag but I do grow them initially in plastic take-away-food containers fitted with a lid. Although the lid is not air tight, it would stop any air movement around the seedlings. I find they grow OK for me using this method, but they are slow compared to Neoregelias, Aechmeas and others.

All the best,Nev.

I use food containers that fit in gallon zip lock bags. I prefer to use the bag until they get big enough to take misting from my hose. This is usually 2-3 months and so for those 2-3 months I don't have to do much of anything for them, which is very nice. I'd like to try Vrieseas but I haven't been able to get any fresh seeds. If they can live in the bag, maybe it would take 6-9 months before I can take them out, I have no idea.

Nev,

I am growing some six month old Hieroglyphica seedlings, they are about 15-20mm tall with 8 or so leaves each.

I read somewhere that I could move them on once they get to 10mm tall with 4 leaves, do you have any tips/advice?

Thanks,

Rick

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Hi Rick,
I've potted mine on when they were only about 10mm tall with no problems, so you shouldn't have any problems with your weather up there. Be careful you don't pot them too deep though as this is where you can get problems with damping off.

I keep the base of all my babies level with or only just below the top of the mix and up till now, no problems with damping off.

The downside of this is that they are sometimes a bit unstable, but this can be overcome with tooth-picks used as tiny stakes until they are established.(It doesn't look good, but it works for me)

It would take me 12-18 months to get them to that size down here, so maybe I'll send you up my seed to grow.

All the best, Nev.

Nev,

Thanks for the advice, I've been misting with Power Feeder once a week which may have pushed them along a bit.

Rick