Re: seedlings etc
- To: hosta-open@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: seedlings etc
- From: G* O*
- Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 07:10:00 -0500
Helen,
I'm not sure where your white worms came from..But my best guess is that
eggs were present in the Promix and even your boiling water/nuke treatment
didn't get them.
But, Promix is NOT sterile! I use it at work as well as at home, and I have
learned the hard way that there's all kinds of critters in the stuff. I no
longer use it for sterile culture, because even if it's pasteurized
(flowing steam for 10 minutes on each of three successive days) the texture
is pretty much destroyed by this treatment.
If it's damping off you are concerned about, you might try sterilizing sand
and putting a thin layer of it on the surface of the Promix after sowing
the seed; that's what I use for my hibiscus seed, which can take months to
germinate. Doesn't eliminate the problem entirely, but helps. Or buy a seed
starting mix that is labelled "sterile."
Gerry
At 10:45 AM 2/11/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Here's the story...
>
>Start with one clean never been used container with tight fitting clear
>dome. Add Promix for seedlings, (supposed to be sterile). Pour boiling
>water over, then nuke in the microwave for 2 mins for good measure.
>Allow to cool, sprinkle with h. chirifu seed, close lid.
>
>The lid was opened once momentarily to add a little extra water after a
>couple of weeks. I now have delightful (translation - yuck!) thin white
>worms in the mix, that I believe are fungus gnat larva. Are these
>fungus gnat larva???? Can anyone hazard a guess as to how these manage
>to appear in a closed sterile environment? Is it possible these things
>were in the seed? Or the bit of water I added later?
>
>Thanks
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