Friday, March 8, 2013

Growing stronger roots for seedlings?!

I just came across a video showing a very interesting method to pot up seedlings. Instead of teasing out the roots to pull apart the plants, this gardener cuts the seedlings at the base of the plant just above the soil. He then throws the seedlings into some water and then puts the seedlings into individual pots. I understand with tomatoes the stem will form roots, but he proceeded to do this with pepper and eggplant seedlings. Apparently, this methods forces the plant to produce strong root system. So interesting. It is in subtitled in Japanese but the visual is clear enough. Link --> Skip to minute 2.

A quick update on my almost 2 week old chia seedlings. They are looking a little spindly but still a bright healthy green. Not sure if the growing season here is long enough for these plants to produce seeds. We shall see!

6 comments:

  1. That's interesting. He must be using straight vermiculite as a growing medium, as easily as those little stems slip into it. I usually plant two seeds per cell, then use scissors to cut off one if they both grow. It would be worth a try to use the ones I cut off! Peppers, tomatoes and eggplant are all from the same family, so I can see they would all root the same. I always bury part of their stem when I pot up to a larger container.

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    1. Isn't it strange? I gasped when I saw him cut all the seedlings off! I also try to plant tomatoes as deep as possible, but I don't with peppers. I also cut extra seedlings if more than one germinate (for tomatoes and peppers).

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  2. That seems so cool! but I will put honey on the seedlings or willow water to make sure and have older seedlings

    Toshiko, can please give me a list with as much as humanly possible ingredients for my my Japanese pantry, I am already have in stock Nori sheets and Mirin.

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    1. It depends on what you are going to be making. But if you have soy sauce, mirin and sake - you can pretty much flavor anything to be japanese. I'd also have miso, dried shiitake mushroom and/or bonito flakes (katsuobushi). I usually use dashi (sort of like the Japanese bouillon) instead of shiitake or bonito flakes.

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  3. I thought it was mint at first. Interesting I too like to have a go growing chia.

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    1. I bet they would do well in your garden. You should definitely try it.

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