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  • From: Marlin L Burkholder <gleneco1 AT juno.com>
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: More bad luck starting plants
  • Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 23:33:24 -0400



My difficulties getting good transplants started continues. Today I
performed the arduous task of getting my puny 1 1/2 month old lettuce,
broccoli, and spinach plants out of the greenhouse and transplanted into
real soil in hopes of getting some to recover. It was thoroughly
disgusting and heartbreaking! I ended up throwing about 1/2 of them

away.

I changed potting soils and am still getting bad results. I have
questioned several greenhouse operators all of whom have been using
various versions of Sunshine Mix including the one that I have recently
blamed for my troubles. They seem to be doing fine. I can't see any
significant difference between equivalent versions of Sunshine and Pro
Mix and doubt that is the problem.

I now have another theory. Last week I remember someone mentioning that
the practice of sterilizing transplant flats in 10% clorox is a bad idea.
I thought I had saved the post but couldn't find it in my folder. I
started this practice last year and did it again this year to most of my
flats. I soaked them in large plastic mortar mixing tubs out doors and
left most of them in the soak for several days. Apparently I sterilized
them not only of anything pathogenic that might have been lurking on them
over winter but also of anything that I might try to grow in them in the
future. I didn't think this would be a problem because I had the
understanding that clorox breaks down within several hours when exposed
to dirt and sunlight. Following soaking, I left the flats outdoors to air
dry for several days before beginning to use them. The fact that two
flats of the first broccoli planted did not appear affected could be
explained by the fact that I had planted them before soaking the rest of
my flats. Not only did I soak the flats, but I also used the soaking
tubs later to hydrate my potting soil and as a working base to fill the
flats, leaving the excess in the tub for a day or two till I could get
back to filling more flats! This might explain why the last attempt at
seeding onions into homemade Styrofoam flats (not soaked) also bit the
dust. The first onion seeding (done in January) was not done into any
sort of cloroxed medium but succumbed to damping off which led to the
decision to soak the flats again this year. What makes this whole thing
so frustrating is the fact that I thought I was doing things right!

Now the big questions. What will it take to treat the flats so I can use
them again? Throwing them away is not really an option. They are the
durable molded kind from the Winstrip company which I had paid a good
price for and intended to use for about 10 years. Also in light of the
recent discussions about wetting agents in potting soils being of concern
to those wanting to be purely organic from the seed to the harvest bin, I
wonder why the issue of using chlorine compounds to sterilize greenhouse
equipment has never come up since I joined this group about a year ago.
Maybe it's in the archives. I frankly admit that I never gave this one
that much thought. So how about it you organic purists. What are you
using to sterilize your equipment?

Meanwhile I must get ready to transplant my main crop of tomatoes from
seedling tray (Styrofoam) into 48 cell inserts filled with freshly mixed
Pro Mix and placed into some dilapidated and dirty plastic trays which I
had laid back as not worth soaking and soon to be trashed. These tomatoes
should be safe. Half my peppers are planted into previously soaked
Winstrip flats and half are in inserted flats. I'm holding my breath.
If I have any smarts, I'd better get those out of the Winstrips and into
inserts ASAP. I'm holding off a little till the 25 lbs of worm castings
I ordered comes in. Thanks for listening. I hope someone has some
insights to share, and someone else might learn from some of my mistakes.

Marlin
from VA




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