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JRinPA · June 19, 2018

I seeded another flat of okra this week; when the peas are done, these are going in their place. There was more than one major variable since the last time and no control group but the results are clearly much better when it comes to clean release of the cotyledons. There were two major changes. Deeper seeds, and they went outside immediately after sprouting, rather than to table with grow light/fan in the basement. This past week was full sun, humid, and 85-90+ with no rain until last night.

This time I planted 3/4" down into the moist soil block, instead of a shallow 1/4" with extra mix sifted on top. Okra seed is round, so I pushed them down with a brass tube just slightly smaller than the seed diameter. They were triple seeded, put on heat mat at 95F, and had a dome on. After 3 days, 50% of blocks had a visible sprout. I moved them outdoors, removed dome, and covered with an aged scrap of agribon.

A month back when I seeded shallowly, then grew under light and fan, maybe 25% shed the seed coat themselves. Those helmets dried out and were really hard. This time, maybe 75% emerged with the seed coat already shed or very loose. The tray was in the yard last night covered with its agribon cover during the steady/heavy rain, and the remaining stubborn ones had their seed coats dissolved/rubbed off when I checked them this morning. I was able to easily remove any remnants.

June 19, 2018	#35
JRinPA Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: SE PA Posts: 963	I seeded another flat of okra this week; when the peas are done, these are going in their place. There was more than one major variable since the last time and no control group but the results are clearly much better when it comes to clean release of the cotyledons. There were two major changes. Deeper seeds, and they went outside immediately after sprouting, rather than to table with grow light/fan in the basement. This past week was full sun, humid, and 85-90+ with no rain until last night. This time I planted 3/4" down into the moist soil block, instead of a shallow 1/4" with extra mix sifted on top. Okra seed is round, so I pushed them down with a brass tube just slightly smaller than the seed diameter. They were triple seeded, put on heat mat at 95F, and had a dome on. After 3 days, 50% of blocks had a visible sprout. I moved them outdoors, removed dome, and covered with an aged scrap of agribon. A month back when I seeded shallowly, then grew under light and fan, maybe 25% shed the seed coat themselves. Those helmets dried out and were really hard. This time, maybe 75% emerged with the seed coat already shed or very loose. The tray was in the yard last night covered with its agribon cover during the steady/heavy rain, and the remaining stubborn ones had their seed coats dissolved/rubbed off when I checked them this morning. I was able to easily remove any remnants.