hey all

i had 10 mandarin seeds i was hoping to germinate (well, some of them anyway) it has been quite a while, so i checked on them. 7 have been taken over by fungus, i presume, and all burst with this sticky white goo 'gross' one has done nothing and two others looked to be starting to root.

i wasn't expecting 100% germination, but is it normal for 7 to rot out of 10? they are in a moist, but not wet, potting mix and are kept in the cupboard with the boiler where the temps are nice and warm. should i have done something differently (besides using other methods of germination) and are there any ways without using treatments and sprays to reduce this in the future? i have just bought flying dragon seeds and am hoping they dont go the same way!

thanks if anyone can help!

dan

I pre-treat the seeds before I germinate them. I dip them for 10 seconds in a laundry bleach solution (mix 1 part laundry bleach to 9 parts water). Then I rinse them off by dipping in hydrogen peroxide for about 15 seconds, then plant them into clean potting media.

Another is to coat the seeds with Captan powder before planting them.

laundry bleach solution? is that the kind of thing we have in the UK? i had heard hydrogen peroxide was a good solution to use to put oxygen back in the soil. maybe i should also try some more porous potting mix!

laundry bleach is normaly sodium hypochlorate bleach in the UK, if so its the good bleaches like domestos not the cheapo ones or the super power ones, but from memory its also milton sterilising solution for babys bottles, stronger with no perfumes or thickening so would be better

Captan http://www.merrifieldgardencenter.com/products.php?pid=8994&openparent=116

looks like good stuff! wonder if they'll send to the uk