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kimsgarden_gw

need help with germination of yvonnes salvia

kimsgarden
16 years ago

Hi, I sowed yvonnes salvia inside in an APS system around feb 14 and so far no germination. About a week ago i put them on a heat mat and still nothing. Ive misted them and continue to keep checking but so far nothing. Any suggestions??

Comments (5)

  • rich_dufresne
    16 years ago

    I don't know what an APS system is, so I can only offer general advice.

    Did you sow the seed on the surface of your tray? Have you maintained a 70 to 60 degree temperature? Salvias usually take 5 to 10 days for the early birds to start germinating, and it will take 1-2 weeks more for the rest of the batch to catch up.

    If you have any seed left, put it under a magnifying glass and look for whitish mold.

  • kimsgarden
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    APs is a seed starting setup from gardners supply, same as any other with the added bonus of a capillary mat-I sowed them on the surface-they are in my basement-temps around 65. Should I take it off the heat mat?????Thanks in advance for any advice.

  • rich_dufresne
    16 years ago

    You will need heat in any case. Are you using some kind of tray or baby flat, with about 1.5 inch of media, like vermiculite or perlite for the roots to go into, or are you using an ink-blotter type of surface and planning on lifting the seedlings when the tap root gets about 1 inch long and setting it in the growing medium?

    The latter technique is used in labs to measure the germination rate of seed batches and to start precious seed of hand-pollinated or rare seed. It is usually done on special seed germination test paper that maintains the required dampness with capillary action. Heating this kind of setup requires care, because there is no media to act as both a heat buffer and storage. It is easy to cook the seed since it will be close to the heat source.

    I hope I have not confused you. I am not familiar at all with these seed starter setups. Is there a brand and model name I can look up on the Internet?

  • kimsgarden
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    http://www.gardeners.com/APS+40/APS_Cat,32-572,default,cp.html
    I think that should take you to the link of what Im using. It is from gardeners.com (gardeners supply) Its the tray type youre talking about. The system is called aps 40 made by them. Never had a problem germinating too much of anything, but this is really giving me problems.Appreciate your help. I took the top tray off of the capillary mat and put them on the heat mat.Read somehwere here, may have been one of your posts on misting and thats what Ive been doing.Hope that helps explain and thank you for your help. Kim

  • rich_dufresne
    16 years ago

    Well, it has the needed distance from the heat source, and it is supposed to supply the correct amount of moisture, so I might check out the seed for mold.

    It should be uniform. Some people might mistake the seed base (gynobase) for seed, since it is about the same size, color, and hardness. However, it is highly irregular in shape.

    Salvia seeds vary from smooth black to mini-pock marked (tuberculate) matte dark brown with an elliptical shape segueing towards a slightly teardrop shape.