Seed #4 - I Really Need to Be More Careful

Seed #4 has been one of my sequoia superstars. I just finished setting up my new grow lights to help speed up growth in my sprouts, and I might have accidentally killed this little guy. I tried gently wetting the sprouts with a spray bottle, and when the spray hit this one, he fell straight over. This is the second time this has happened to me. The first one didn't make it but another day or so. I've propped him up with a toothpick, and am going to wait it out a day.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try the equivalent of open heart surgery -- I'm going to see if I can put just the right amount of soil around the base of the sprout to help hold him up. I have no idea what the chances of him making it are, but I'm not that optimistic. If seed #4 dies, I'm down to only five sequoias (from seeds).

It's getting more and more difficult to keep these sprouts alive. I might be watering them too much - or, maybe they're not getting enough light. Whatever the problem is, they're not talking. I'm done using spray bottles, that's for sure. Instead, I've found that watering them from underneath works really well. I fill the tray with about an inch of water, and wait for the driest cel-pack to moisten, usually after thirty seconds.

In any case, I'm not looking forward to another sequoia dying. I think it's time to order a few hundred more seeds, and really go nuts. If they're going to give up on me, then I'm going to fight back by bringing in reinforcements!

Time for Sun and Fertilizer

I think I've been coddling my sprouts a little too much. They're over a month old and haven't seen any direct sunlight. Each of them has a set of secondary leaves, and are seemingly healthy and eager for more growth. So, I've started giving them small doses of direct sunlight, and much more outdoor shade. I know I'm crazy, but I'm convinced that a few of my sprouts grew a tiny bit from their time outside today.

Also, since the soil is probably starting to lose its nutrients, I gave each seedling about a tablespoon and a half of 1/4 -strength fertilizer (24-8-16 water soluble from Giant-Sequoia.com). If they don't react negatively to the treatment, I'll continue to apply small amounts of diluted fertilizer every seven to fourteen days.

I also tried out watering the sprouts from underneath, which seemed to work well. To do so, I placed the block of nine cel-packs in an inch of water, and waited for the top to become moist (fifteen to thirty seconds). I'm going to try this out every other day, rather than spray the sprouts twice a day with a spray bottle.

Seed #6 - Still on Top

This little guy towers over the other sprouts by at least an inch and now shows a healthy set of secondary leaves.

Current State of the Union

When I first started growing trees from sprouts a couple months ago, I didn't expect myself to go this far. My original goal was to photograph each tree sprout every few days, so you could track its progress with tag filters. That worked for the first month. At this point, here's what has sprouted so far (with more seeds still to germinate):

• 20 bristlecone pines - (9 outdoors in rocky soil, 11 indoors in seed-starting soil) between newly-sprout and 2 inches high
  
• 9 coast redwoods - between newly-sprout and 1 inch high
• 1 dawn redwood - about 1 inch high
• 7 giant sequoias (from seed) - between 2-3 inches high
• 13 giant sequoias (purchased as 1-2 year old seedlings) - between 6-15 inches tall

So, I'm at the point now where I can recognize that it's not feasible to keep track of each sprout anymore. I'm going to try to tone it down a bit and focus more on star-performing sprouts and my favorite photos... that, or completely lose what little sanity I have remaining...

Seed 4 - Fun with a Tripod

I just dusted off my old tripod, so I thought I'd try some extreme close-ups. This little guy is still my favorite.

Seed #15 - Cotyledons Opening Upwards

Seed #14 - Secondary Leaves

Seed #10 - Straightening Out

This one is almost pointing straight up, but the seed coat still seems to have a pretty firm grasp. I'm never too optimistic about the seed coat coming off when it's on that tight.

Seed #9 - Secondary Leaves

Seed #7 - Goodbye, Old Friend...Hey, Nice Roots!

I was sad to see #7 go, but in his passing, I got a peak at some pretty cool roots. All of my sprouts that emerged with the seed coats have had a tougher time than the others, but on top of that, this guy's root system didn't go very deep at all. I wonder if that had a hand in his early death - too little surface moisture could have done him him.

Seed #6 - Secondary Leaves

Not the best close-up, but you can see the little secondary leaves poking out.

Seed #5 - Secondary Leaves

This is the first I've been able to see secondary leaves on this little guy.

Seed #4 - My Pride and Joy!

This guy was my first to show secondary leaves, and since then, they haven't stopped showing off. In another couple weeks, I can start giving this one tiny amounts of direct sunlight, and shortly thereafter, diluted fertilizer.

Seed #3 - Pushing Cotyledons From Seed Coat

I gave up on my toothpick method for this seedling. The seed coat was slipping out from the toothpicks, and the stem didn't look like it was responding well to the force. It's not looking too bad, however. If the cotyledons keep pushing, they might break free from the seed coat.

Seed #1 - Secondary Leaves

Looks like this one's going to make it after all, despite the shriveled cotyledon. You can see the secondary leaves pushing out from the center.

Seed #15 - Sprout Turning Upwards

Not the best close-up, but good enough to show what's going on.

Seed #3 - The "Toothpick Method"

After so much success with seed #14, I'm trying again, this time with seed #3. This one didn't lend to my new method as well as the other - it was already pointing upwards, so I had to carefully bend the sprout in half so I could pin down the seed coat. I'm hoping to see the sprout opened in the next day or so, leaving the seed coat behind.

Seed #14 - The Toothpick Method Worked!

Yesterday, this little sprout was still stuck in his seed coat. So far, those that come up with the seed have had a hard time breaking out of it, so I tried holding the seed coat down with toothpicks. Well, it actually worked! When I got home today, the seed coat was still pinned down, and the cotyledons were pointing upwards.

Seed #14 - Further Out of the Soil

By tomorrow, this should be in a mostly upright position. So far, my sprouts that emerge from the soil without their seed coats seem to be the healthiest. What's happening is, as one stands up, if its seed is buried deep enough in the soil to be held down, the rising stem and buried seed coat help pull them apart.

I thought I'd try a little experiment here. I just placed two toothpicks (not pictured) in an X across the seed coat, with the hopes to keep it pinned down as the stem stands up. Hopefully, later tomorrow, the plan will have worked, and the seed coat is laying on the soil, with the cotyledons fully exposed.

Seed #13 - Standing Tall, Cotyledons Opening

Just yesterday, this sprout was bent into the soil in an upside-down U. It's amazing what can happen in a day. This photo is a bit out of focus, but you can see how the cotyledons are paired up on either side. I expect them to open up in the next few days.