North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Martha Davis <martha_davis@earthlink.net>]

My guess about the die off is that it's too much warmth and humidity.  Here
in dry New Mexico Russian olive does act invasive and volunteer seedlings
are common. Something that I did when I lived in a more humid area and was
trying to start dry land plants from seed was to use a layer of coarse sand
on top of the potting mix and that was very helpful.

Martha Davis Zone 5/6 New Mexico