Soil Germination Problems

You ever wonder why those seeds don’t germinate? Here are some things that might stop your seeds from germinating in soil!

Too Wet
Seeds need to be damp, not wet for germination. Excess water prevents oxygen getting to the seed. Poorly drained soils may also cause soil fungus diseases. The condition of wet soils may be improved by adding perlite. which will aerate your soil.

Too Dry
A certain amount of water is essential for germination, so maintaining a constant soil moisture during the germination period is vital, cover containers with glass or glad wrap to prevent you soil drying out.

Too Hot
High temperatures result in excessive soil desiccation and injury to seeds and seedlings.

Too Cold
Cold temperatures can kill seedlings and prevent germination. Cool temperatures can result in slow, uneven germination, and attack by soil diseases. You may want to start your seeds indoors, before out planting. Make sure planting dose not done too early, when it is still cold and there is a frost hazard.

Planting Too Deep
This will result in delayed emergence. seeds may not be able to grow enough to reach the surface on the limited food storage within the seed. Soil temperature is also lower with depth. Plant your seed 1/2 and inch to an inch down for best results.

Planting Seeds Too Shallow
If you plant your seeds to shallow the seeds can dry out.

Soil Too Firm
Making your soil mix to firm can prevent oxygen getting to your seeds also drainage is also affected.

Soil Too Loose
Soil which is too loose results in too much air surrounding the seed, and they will not absorb moisture and will most likely dry out.

Soil Fungus
Seeds may root or seedlings fall over. Over watering, poor drainage and lack of aeration will increase the likelihood of this occurring. Plant seeds in sterilised potting mix, and make sure you containers are clean.

Non-Viable seeds
If your seeds have not been stored correctly they can deteriorate. Look for dark brown seeds. Avoid and light colour or whitish seeds as they are not mature.

My favourite method to stores seeds is to place your seeds in a film canister, then fill it up to the top with rice, this will absorb any moisture, and either freeze them for long term storage or place in a dry, dark cool place for a shorter time period.

Author: hopefulgrower

Germination

The first space plant to flower and produce in the zero gravity of space is called Arabidopsis. It was grown on board the Soviet Union's Salyut-7 space station in 1982.

Germination happens when a baby plant is growing. The plant is between the cotyledons This is a seed. The seed is underground and is collecting nutrients.

When a seed starts to grow, we say it germinates. The cotyledons store food for the baby plant inside the seed. When the seed starts to germinate, the first thing to come out is the main root. The skin starts to split and the tiny shoot straightens, carrying the cotyledon(s) with it. The main root gets bigger. Side roots appear and so do leave. To grow, the seed's growing conditions usually have to be damp, warm, and dark, like springtime soil. A dry seed will stay dormant unless it soaks in some water. Then it will start to germinate

Source: Oracle Think Quest

Organic farming-advance sowing

Advance Sowing (also known as "no kill cropping") is an agricultural method developed by Bruce Maynard in 1996 in NSW, Australia that allows the production of annual crops from perennial grasslands. It consists in dry-sowing crops directly into existing pastures without using tillage, fertilizer or chemicals.

Advance Sowing has 5 major principles:

1. Sowing is done when the topsoil is dry.
2. Counter type sowing equipment must be used.
3. No Herbicides or pesticides are applied at any stage.
4. No Fertilizers are applied at any stage.
5. Grazing management must be good.

The rationale behind the method is to produce crops without simplifying the biodiversity. All other commonly used sowing methods of cropping rely on eliminating some or all of the plant and animals present to create an advantage for the growing crop. Advance Sowing relies on complementarity of plant/animal interactions to produce biomass that can be utilised directly for human consumption or fed to animals.

Source Wiki

Organic farming-companion plants

Companion planting is the planting of different crops in proximity (in gardening and agriculture), on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary to increasing crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of poly culture.

Companion planting is used by farmers and gardeners in both industrialized and developing countries for many reasons. Many of the modern principles of companion planting were present many centuries ago in cottage gardens in England and home gardens in Asia.

For farmers using an integrated pest management system, increased yield and/or reduction of pesticides is the goal. For gardeners, the combinations of plants also make for a more varied, attractive vegetable garden, as well as allowing more productive use of space

In China, the mosquito fern has been used for at least one thousand years, as a companion plant for rice crops. It hosts a special cyanobacteria that fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere, and also blocks out light from getting to any competing plants, aside from the rice, which is planted when tall enough to stick out of the water above the azolla layer.

Companion planting was practiced in various forms by Native Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans. One common system was the planting of corn and pole beans together. The cornstalk would serve as a trellis for the beans to climb while the beans would fix nitrogen for the corn. The inclusion of squash with these two plants completes the Three Sisters technique, pioneered by Native American peoples.

Companion planting was widely touted in the 1970s as part of the organic gardening movement. It was encouraged for pragmatic reasons, such as natural trellising, but mainly with the idea that different species of plant may thrive more when close together. It is also a technique frequently used in permaculture, together with mulching, poly culture, and changing of crops.

Organic farming-crop rotation

Effects of crop rotation & monoculture: On the left field, the "Norfolk" crop rotation sequence (potatoes, oats, peas, rye) is being applied; on the right field, rye has been grown for 45 years in a row. (Source: Swojec Experimental Farm, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences.)

Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons for various benefits such as to avoid the build-up of pathogens and pests that often occurs when one species is continuously cropped. A traditional element of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals and other crops. It is one component of poly culture. Crop rotation can also improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants.

Crop rotation avoids a decrease in soil fertility, as growing the same crop in the same place for many years in a row disproportionately depletes the soil of certain nutrients. With rotation, a crop that leaches the soil of one kind of nutrient is followed during the next growing season by a dissimilar crop that returns that nutrient to the soil or draws a different ratio of nutrients, for example, rice followed by cotton.

Organic farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control  to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm. Organic farming excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides (which include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms.
Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic farming organizations established in 1972. IFOAM defines the overarching goal of organic farming as:

"Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved.."

—International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements

Since 1990, the market for organic products has grown from nothing, reaching $55 billion in 2009 according to Organic Monitor (www.organicmonitor.com). This demand has driven a similar increase in organically managed farmland. Approximately 37,000,000 hectares (91,000,000 acres) worldwide are now farmed organically, representing approximately 0.9 percent of total world farmland (2009) (see Willer/Kilcher 2011).

Pollination (part 4)

Flower shape and nectar provision

Flower pollination is also aided by the very shape of the flower, and the way in which insects come into contact with its sexual parts (the carpels and stamen). For example, even within the bee families, the shapes, sizes and weights of the bees vary, as do the tongue lengths.

Whilst honey bees have quite short tongues for sucking up nectar, some of the bumblebees have long tongues, meaning they may target deep, tubular shaped flowers. For example, with their furry, roundish bodies, they are ideal pollinators for foxgloves, their coats being efficient catchers of pollen as they make their way up inside the flowers.

Flowers have different nectar re-fill rates - yes, once the nectar is taken by one insect, the flower may replenish the nectar ready for the next passing insect. This helps to ensure that a plant can be visited more than once, increasing its chances of pollination.

 However, insects may cheat the plant!

In cases where short tongued bumblebees cannot get at nectar stores in the base of flowers, they may bite a hole, and access the nectar in that way. This is called ‘nectar robbing’. The hole may then be visited by other insects also keen to take the nectar, as the nectar supply is replenished. This is called ‘secondary robbing’.

Opinions vary, but some state that flower pollination is not necessarily hindered, because the flower may still be targeted by other bees that are engaged in gathering pollen, rather than nectar.

On the other hand, flowers may cheat insects too!

The Bee Orchid (Ophyrys apifera) is believed to have evolved to emulate the appearance of the female bee of the species required to pollinate it. The male bee lands on the female with the intention to mate. In his attempt, the orchid is pollinated. The bee, however, is disappointed!

Orchid pollination is not only carried out by bees. Certain beetles such as the beetle Strangalia maculata , are also able to assist in orchid pollination, as they can efficiently access the complex flower structures of some wild orchids.

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