How can you tell what your seedlings are?

[kneissl]

Hey everyone!

Gardening newbie here, so please bear with me :o I planted some Boston Ivy seeds on 18 October (after 24 hour soak) in a tray. Since I have no access to sterile soil or a garden centre here in Kigali, I prepare my own mix with garden soil and manure. Needless to say, I always end up with all sorts of weeds and things sprouting all over the place. Now some unusual looking wee plants have popped up, they started out like little pink worms peaking just above the soil and then a leaf came up with a black open seed husk on top like a hat. One plant now has two leaves! It's very exciting for me! Here is a pic I took a few mins ago, very bad light but maybe someone can tell if it is Boston Ivy and whether the germination time is about right. You can see a "worm" behind the two seedlings as well.

(I hope the pic attachement works)

[digger]

The leaves are what are called cotyledons (seed leaves) if there are two of them it's dicotyledon, anyway that said we could hazard a guess at what they may be, but soon enough they should develop true leaves and once that happens we will be better able to have a crack at identifying them for you, however if i may say I do think your seedlings require some more water in the tray,they look a little dry at the moment.

[kneissl]

Hi digger!

Thanks for your response. I shall take another photo when more leaves grow. Actually, I'd just watered them when I took that pic ... ! I spritz my seed trays twice a day at the moment (the dry season just started) and try very hard never to let the soil go dry. I also worry about too much water as the temps drop by around 10C at night.

[Paul Narramore]

If you want sterile soil for sowing seeds, do you have access to a microwave oven? You could zap small quantities of garden soil in one of those and microwaving will kill the weed seeds (I guess).:)

[kneissl]

Hi Paul!

Thanks for your response. I do not own a microwave oven *lol* had one years ago and hardly found any use for it! Your suggestion does sound interesting though. So, I would just sieve some soil and place it in a container and nuke it on high ... for how long?

:o)

[digger]

i use a microwave oven to sterilise small amounts of compost, I fill a tub with about four litres of compost and zap it on full power (650 watt) for six or seven minutes, it comes out steaming hot, but it has to have some moisture in the compost before it goes in the oven, it works well, but be careful because the compost is too hot to handle for quite a while.

[sandeep]

Great post keep on posting i am just too much curious to know about the plants that were shown in the picture. Will wait for your updates about the plant.

[Simmo303]

Sow your seeds in straight lines (bit of sand will show up nicely) Then you'll know most of the strangers.