[permaculture] Seedballs
Lunaflora21 at aol.com
Lunaflora21 at aol.com
Sun Jun 17 13:51:46 EDT 2007
Hi there. Seedballs, in my experience work better when used on a large
expanse of area, otherwise they seem to not be worth it, as broadcasting straight
seed seems to have a higher germination and overall success rate for smaller
areas (plus, straight seed broadcasting is less input in all aspects). Size
of seedball could also determine success rate, and may be something you want
to experiment with. With larger seedballs we had somewhat successful
germination rates of a few native species (which made for increased biodiversity
within the seedballs' area, while smaller seedballs had somewhat higher
germination rates, and made for more evenly dispersed biodiversity throughout the
whole area that we seedballed. We were also doing seedbombing as guerilla
restoration of vacant lots in our town, so the smaller seedballs made for less
attention drawn to our activities, but you're probably not concerned with the
attention aspect. Also, the type of clay used may effect the germination
rates. I would recommend not using the gray potter's clay, but instead using red
powdered clay (more nutrients and easier to mix), then mixing in dry compost
and your seeds at the same time, and then wetting the mixture and balling it
up. Well, hope this helps...let us know how your project turns out!! Would
love to hear about your success rates! Good luck to you.
Katie
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