育苗大作戰Seedlings, I love you.

November 24, 2011 Nursery

After a long preparation, I started my "mass nursery production".

育苗大作戰，全力衝刺。

 To prevent snails, I put my first big seeding tray on my balcony. Besides, it's not so windy here. In this tray, lettuce, beans, celery, and chrysanthemum seeds were planted. 26 seeds for each vegetable.

第一砲，萵苣、豆子、芹菜和茼蒿。為了防止後院的非洲大蝸牛，決定移師到二樓陽台。

November 26, 2011 Nursery

I got a big success with my lettuce seedlings.  

 This was my first tray with compost soil from the bamboo forest. 15 seeds were planted and 14 seedlings grew weakly. 6 seedlings grew up in 2 days and then 14 seedlings grew up in 5 days.
第一盤用竹林腐植土好像還不賴，播種十五顆，五天內十四顆發芽。

 According to The Plant Propagator's Bible (Miranda Smith, 2009, Reader's Digest), relative humidity affects seedlings as soon as they germinate and push their first shoots and seed leaves into the surrounding air. To keep the relative humidity level, I placed the tray in a transplant plastic container, which was used to pack grapes.
看書後發現相對濕度對發芽也很重要，趕快把育苗盤放入葡萄的包裝盒。

 No wonder, my seedlings couldn't stand straight. It was too dry for them.

難怪一直噴水，苗還是軟趴趴的。

 However, high humidity level may cause some fungal spores germination. I got to pay close attention to the humidity level. I have to say seedling inside requires more efforts. After this try, I would definitely try seedling directly on my vegetable garden.
但是書上還說溼度太高會引發致病的真菌孢子發芽。人工的環境就是比較麻煩，無法向自然環境裡自然達到平衡。

This was my second tray, in which all 12 seeds germinated in two days. Apparently, compost soil mix bought from the hardware store was a better choice for perennials, like lettuce. I guess the softness of the mix mattered.
第二盤用靚土就更成功了，十二顆種子在兩天之內全發芽。是不是土比較鬆的關係?

According to the information on an organic farming website, the temperature should be controlled within 15 ~ 20 C to ensure maximum germination rate. Plastic film may need to remove in the warm winter this year.

 原來萵苣的發芽適溫是15~20度。看來晴天時得把保鮮膜移開，免得溫度過高。
有機農業全球資訊網:http://info.organic.org.tw/supergood/front/bin/ptdetail.phtml?Part=13&PreView=1

The broken toy from my niece brought me an idea. Why not use it as a frame? As a result, I hang a big plastic bag on the toy to cover my big seedling tray. Two sides of the bag were fastened by my father's shoe boxes. This is my mini greenhouse.
看到巫老大玩壞掉的玩具架，突然靈光一現。加上市場撿的大塑膠袋就成了迷你溫室。