Holiday Line-up

I took time to photograph first 16 seedlings as they are arranged on the white patch. Every picture was normalized to approximately the same size and lighting.

Click to enlarge:

From this picture, the current top five are:

1. #39
2. #38
3. #31
4. #33
5. #34

Pervious leader #31 went below #38. #38 was growing the green trunk faster than any other seedlings. It appears it is poised to overtake #39.

The tallest one at this time is #44.

#39 at 5 day interval:

Curiosity killed the sequoia?

I wanted to see how long of a root a 2 inch sequoia seedling had. I picked a victim and started cutting it open.

#15 December 25, 2012. 1 month and three weeks old.

#15 stopped growing a while back after turning mostly purple due to presumably fungus of some sort. It has been declared dead, but apparently it is still surviving a few weeks after that episode. There were no new needles in over two weeks now while many other seedlings flourished and perished in the meantime. I chose #15 to be a victim because my hopes for its survival are very low, yet it remains visibly intact.

A very simple procedure was to cut through the ductape and unfold the two PVC halves.

Next, a great care was taken to slowly remove the soil starting from the top of the root. As I kept going down inch by inch using hands, a spoon and a water bottle, the root kept going on until it stopped at astonishing 9 inches long for a total of 11 for the entire plant:

The scary part is the segment immediately below the stem. It looked brown, thin and overall unhealthy:

As I started revealing the root, seeing this terrible section made me believe that it was all lost. However, as I kept going down I started noticing not only the bright white main root, but also little branches coming off of the main:

After half an hour examination I poured cactus soil in abundance on top, added some water and re-sealed the tube.

Whether this invasion is going to kill #15 or not remains to be seen. Based on what I observed, I will attempt to keep top 4" of soil as dry as possible by adding water through the side holes and a syringe.

Brown Patch Fix

I decided to measure the temperature near the floor where the brown patch seedlings were growing. It was 66F, a whooping 6 degrees below recommended 72F. It was very wet and cold - not the most optimal conditions for seedlings to grow. Here is how I fixed it.

I brought a few edging blocks and built a tunnel. I then placed the trays on top of the tunnel. A small heater is blowing through the tunnel raising the temperature from beneath. I then adjusted the temperature setting on the heater with the thermometer placed inside the tray so that it would stabilize at around 70F.

I also got a large syringe, which is used for injecting liquid spices into food that I can now use to inject water more precisely at various depths. The idea is to keep the root ends with most moisture while keeping the region above it somewhat dryer. Both brown and white patches can use some more precise moisture control.

A new leader emerged over last few days. #39 overtook #31. #33, #34 and #38 are all looking like they can spring to leadership. Here is #39:

#39 December 23, 2012. One month and two days old.

Here is what the white patch looks like today:

I made half inch cuts through the plastic cups near edge and attached the cups to the labeling sticks. The fan that is blowing through is quite intense. I did not want the seedlings to wobble too much. The cups placed on the side of the fan serve as a wind breakers.

Finally, I have been running a humidifier placed on the table between the white and the clear patches. The humidity in the room dropped below 30% a few days ago. With the humidifier I am able to keep it at about 40%.

Time to Start Taking Things Seriously

I have been messing around with this sequoia growing thing for four months now. I think it's time to get things really moving now that I got some hang of it. So, what is wrong with this picture:

?

If you bother to check out the numbers on the white sticks you will notice a very peculiar pattern. There is a huge difference between some of the seedlings. Some are way ahead of the others. One noticeable pattern is that the ones that are flush with numerous green needles happen to be in the "magic 30" range. All seedlings below 30 and all above 42 are weak. Those below 30 are mostly dead. I am now in the range of 70s for those above ground level on the brown patch. As I will show later the seedlings in the 50-70 range are way behind in development as compared to the 30s.

And what in the world is this:

I decided to dig into the photographic evidence in attempt to understand the "magic 30" mystery. Here is what I found. The brown patch that had the 30-early-40 range seedlings was kept mostly dry, with the moisture being added in the form of water poured into the holding plastic pan.

After I prepared a pretty moist mix I kept the pots wet through adding water from the bottom.

This is a picture of seedling #36 taken during the "surgery" on Dec 1:

#36 December 1, 2012. 12 days old.

The length of the root of this less than two weeks old seedling is 1.5" - same size as the seedling above ground. Now, compare it against this one:

#82 December 22, 2012. Two weeks old.

#82 does not have the root length of the #36 while being two days older. The part above ground is remarkably similar. Now, look at this interesting phenomenon:

#67 December 22, 2012. Three weeks and 2 days old.

This is a three (!) weeks old seedling. It does not appear to be in distress. The green is green, the purple stem is sick and springy. At the same time it's not developing anywhere near the pace of its younger siblings.

What I believe is happening is that the "mystery 30" range got exposed to the condition where the seedlings had to grow downwards to get water. This allowed the root to get long and strong over first few weeks of development. Other seedlings were treated to too much or two little water. "The secret sauce" appears to be a thoroughly moist starter mix, followed by soaking of the bottom of the cups with water a few times a week. As you look at the #36 December 1, 2012 it shows how the end of the long root dips into the dark moist soil in the middle of the cup. 

#82 (and several others I checked) are getting too much water from all over. It allows the above ground part to grow fast with little need to develop the root. #67 and a few others I checked were in a very fluffy soil with a lot of air and not much water. Seedlings seem to be very resilient to the lack of water, but development screeches to a halt. With too much water, like in the case with #82, once placed into a real soil rather than the peat moss, bad things happen quickly. The lack of the developed root leads to the root rot. #67 and alike do not perform much better, sort of hanging around for a few weeks and withering away. 

With this new hypothesis, I planted a brand new germinated seed:

#102 December 22, 2012. Zero.

I made a reasonably moist core peat moss inside the cup. I placed the seedling as depicted above - white (future) root and the seed casing pointing down, with the purple (future) stem forming a loop pointing up. This has been one of the most consistent observations - nicely formed loop leads to good looking seedlings. I am not going to add much water to #102 from the top. I placed this sample into the pan with others and will keep adding water to the bottom of the pan holding the cups:

Will see how this is going and then I have about 5,000 more seeds to play with.

The Upside Story

What if a giant sequoia started growing up-side-down? Strange dream? No. A real thing on the brown patch. Not just one, but two.

#77 and another one that I did not record got terribly confused:

#77 December 18, 2012. Upside down.

I added some water and slowly removed the confused ones from the soil. I flipped them and planted right back in:

#77 December 18, 2012. Right side up.

The next batch of the brown patch is getting busy:

Mad Growth

It appears a fine balance has finally been established. Every time I say this, some sort of a distaster occurs shortly after. For now, things are going exceedingly well. Only three deaths over last week. About a dozen new seedlings moved from the brown patch into more permanent White and also now Clear patches. Clear patch is made from 3" acrylic clear tubes.

I was keeping conditions unchanged over last 7-10 days with regards to the light (about 8" above tops), moisture (water when meter falls into 1), the air (two fans on Low, one on the same timer as the light), and the temperature (72-74F during day, 68-70 during night).

Current leader is #31, but there are a few new contenders in making. Old leader #4 recovered almost completely now, but it's not in a position to compete with the younger seedlings.

#31 December 16, 2012. 1 month old.

For comparison, here is the #4:

#4 December 16, 2012. 1 month and 3 weeks old.

From the new seedlings, #39 is a curious one. It was one of several I did a "surgery" two weeks ago. In  the process of moving from the brown cups into the PVC, I completely removed the root from the soil and washed it with water. Apparently the seedling did not mind this invasive procedure at all. Here is a repeat of the picture I did on December 1:

#39 December 1, 2012. One week and 3 days.

And what it looks like now:

#39 December 16, 2012. 3 weeks old.

There are also many more very strong seedlings in the 30 range, a few decent ones in 40 range, and none in 50. Then there are a few showing some promise in 60 range. 70 and above are still in the brown patch.

Finally, #15 is showing how the purple fungus is retreating. Note that the purple spots that were covering pretty much all needles are becoming smaller, while the new needles remain mostly green:

The Road to Recovery

One of the ex-leaders is recovering while the other one still struggles.

The #4 has been growing taller and showing more green, even on the needles that were very purple last week. Here is a picture against the measuring tape. It grew 1/4" over last 3 weeks:

#4 December 14 2012 

#15 December 14 2012

Show off

The new leader #31 is growing extremely fast. Just one day change is staggering.

Here is a composite over last two weeks (click to enlarge):

#31

From environmentals, I also wanted to note that I have been adding water when the moisture meter drop into mid 1 region. I add between two and four 1/4 cup scoops (50ml per scoop) of water to each pot when it the moisture falls into 1.

Moisture meter: time to add more water

It rises very fast to 3 or 4 and then hovers around 2 for a day or two. #4 sample, which has very dense black dirt it stays in 2 region for longer - 3-4 days. #15, which has very loose soil, it drops to 1 within one day no matter how much I pour. The water just exists at the bottom. Most of the remaining seedlings use a mix of black, fluffy brown soils. Some have a bit of vermiculite and some even now have cactus soil added. The latest mixes tend to hold 200ml of water for about 3 days, which seems to suit seedlings well. There are now many healthy looking samples in the #30-40 range.

White patch December 10, 2012

The king is dead. Long live... wait the king is not dead yet.

Five days after the two leaders were pronounced dead, both keep standing. Not only that but #4 shot a new green needle. #15 still looks very grim with almost no green in sight, but it keeps standing without signs of withering. Five more seedlings have died meanwhile since the announcement of the leader impending death.

#4 December 9, 2012

However, the real good news is not about old leaders but about the new ones. #31 exploded onto the scene with a great bunch of secondary needles, overtaking best of all previous results.

#31 December 9, 2012

From the environmentals, I have added a retractable cord for the light hanger. I keep the light generally higher than before, about 8" above the seedling tops. Occasionally, I move it higher, up to 20" or lower to about 4". When I move the light lower, I increase the fan speed to get it cooled a bit more. I also added one more fan that sits on the same timer as the light. The idea is to move more air when the light are on. That's in addition to a constantly blowing fan.

I built a second grid for the new seedlings coming from the brown patch. I now started using clear acrylic for the pots.

Crisis in Paradise

The two leaders are on unrecoverable path.

Both #15 and #4 are now clearly beyond the point of return to survival. The fungus that is taking over them is moving very fast.

#15 December 7 2012.

#4 is doing slightly better than #15, but the recovery is unlikely:

Trouble in Paradise

Not a real trouble yet, but some signs of problems with #4 and #15, the two undisputed leaders. They continue to grow, but the shapes and especially the color are taking on an unexpected form.

Look for yourself, they are no longer green! #15 is almost purple with #4 not far behind.

#15 December 5, 2012. 1 month old

#4 December 5, 2012. 1 month and 1 week old.

#4 is doing clearly better, judging by the number and the size of secondary needles. #15 secondary needles have one clear leader, which is now approaching the size of the initial needles, but they are thinner and have a strong purple tint.

From the environmental conditions stand point, the very bright light (4x 6400K and 2x 3000K 24W lamps) is the biggest factor influencing the seedlings at this time. I also started watering #15 with significantly more water, because moisture meter that I now use was showing Very Dry readings at all depths. This is because I used pure light soil mix for #15, without addition of the heavier black dirt used for #4. The water has no chance of sticking inside tube #15. To mitigate that issue to some extent, I placed a thin layer of vermiculite and then a layer of peat moss on top for a total of about 1/4 of an inch.   I also use a plastic cup with a hole on top to further keep the moister in #15.

I am adding about 150ml of water every two-three days to #15. The moisture meter shows Very Wet for a few hours at depth of 2" and then the reading quickly drops to Dry and then Very Dry. I still do not add water for one extra day after it shows Very Dry.

I also moved the light rack to about 8" above the plants from 4".

Other trouble in (brown patch) paradise is that some seedlings got white fungus of some sort before even emerging from the ground:

#54 Germinated November 24, 2012

I applied fungicide on top of the two affected seedlings and will keep them for control a bit longer. Several seedlings from the same germination batch have been already standing green for a couple of days.

Surgery

Today I moved several seedlings from the brown cups to the long PVC tubes. While doing that I decided to look at the roots by carefully removing the soil, here is what I found.

#39 while being re-planted:

The root was almost transparent, strong and very flexible. I ended up washing the dirt away from it and then planting carefully in a longer term tube.

Now more confident, I used second brown cup without applying a lot of water, just carefully removing the peat moss. I found a very nice look inside the cup: notice how deeper and closer to the center area of the cup is wetter than the rest. It makes the top of the seedling root dry, while providing moister to the lower part of the root:

Fast Growth

Not often I have to tell this: the growth in the last 4-5 days was dramatic. Whatever I am doing, it's working!

The two leaders really took off. #4 and #15 are growing over 1mm per day for the new needles. The stems continue to get thicker as well. There are three more seedlings that are still not doing well, with one expected to die by tomorrow morning.

I have been slowly transferring seedlings from the brown (underground stage) patch to the white patch, with 15 out of 16 slots now filled with nice little green growings.

I added a much more intensive light over the white patch. However, this just happened yesterday and can not account for the good growth:

Here is a few samples from today:

#4 took a solid lead over #15, claiming its previous spot as biggest and healthiest:

#15 is no slouch either, but was progressing just a bit slower that #4:

#30 is the sickest one of the white patch at this time:

Two Juniors

Two more seedlings moved from the peat cribs into the grown-ups tubes.

#32 and #31 emerged above soil level and showed some green. Here are the pictures just prior to the move:

#32 November 27, 2012. DOB Nov 25, 2 days old.

#31 November 27, 2012. DOB Nov 26, 1 day old.

There are 4-6 more seedlings in the brown patch ready to become erect trees rather than purple loops. For the first time the white patch is to get more green than dead seedlings, some time over next weekend.

Three existing seedlings on the white patch starting to look somewhat sick, with just one very likely to die in the near future. #23 turned completely inwards, but the stem remains of a healthy color:

#23 November 27, 2012. 2 weeks old.

I have replaced the 24W 6500K grow light lamp with a very warm 24W 3000K one for a few days. The new 6-lamp light is coming by the weekend. The idea is to mix both cold and warm lamps when it arrives. The humidity has been dropping recently, reaching 30% today. I added a humidifier that I put next to the white patch area. I am still blowing a gentle breeze with an oscillating fan.