Essential Plus 1-0-1 . . .

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Essential® Plus Organic 1-0-1 Root Stimulant and Soil Conditioner is a 100% organic liquid that can be used year-round as an amendment for soils and as a safe, effective root stimulant. (Taken from their website at http://www.growthproducts.com/pages/arbor_care.asp?tables=featured&product=81 


Phil Reilly talked about Essential 1-0-1 on the email robin and gave the following information:


"Good "ol Danny boy (Dan Trimmer) has been consulting with some super breeders in the backwoods of Georgia, and has "borrowed" their technique. Dan swears by this and is really getting super results. So I'll pass the info along to all of you so we can all achieve better results together.
There's a product called- "Essentials Plus 1-0-1". It comes in both gallon jugs, and 2.5 gallon jugs, and it is a powerhouse of bonafide nourishment for daylilies, especially seedlings.

Here's the recipe--
In a two gallon watering can, (available for $1.99 at K-mart, wal-mart and lowes,etc.),
Mix- 3 ounces of liquid "Essentials Plus 1-0-1"
3 drops of SUPERTHRIVE, (yes-Just three drops, not more.).
3 levels tablespoons of Peters water soluble 10-10-10

That's it. don't add more than what is shown here. You may burn your little babies.!
Water your seedling trays well, or thoroughly.
Repeat every four days for about six weeks, and stand back. You will witness a small miracle that will be the envy of every daylily nut for a hundred miles around.
Your little babies will grow into lush juvenile plants in one season, and may even send up a scape to surprise you. Just don't overdo it. A little "extra" in the mix does more harm than good. Be warned.! That's it. Enjoy,!
Phil Reilly, down in Mecca, dead center......"

I have just made my second application on the seedlings in the greenhouse and I can see dramatic results in growth. Here is an image made on August 20 prior to using the above formula.

And below is an image taken on August 29th. The First application was made on Tuesday, August 24, and the second application on the 28th. These are now 4-week old seedlings. Here is the image.

 
Essential Plus 1-0-1 is rather expensive at $170.00 for 2½ gallons, but it is available in gallon jugs also. I googled for Superthrive and found it on Amazon for a little less than $7.00 for a 4 oz. bottle. You only use 3 drops in the formula, so it doesn't take a lot.


Since I have so many to water, I use a "Hose On" applicator which connects to the faucet and with a rubber tube that is attached and in the bucket of mix, it will apply about 16 to 1 ratio. So, my mix is 24 oz. of Essential Plus 1-0-1, plus 24 drops of Superthrive, plus the water soluble fertilizer into one gallon of water which I use soak the plants. It does have a pretty bad odor.


A seedling which is reblooming here today is Seedling No. 0642 (Doc Branch X Yo Rick Yost) of which I am quite fond.

Now is the time to start planning to attend the Daylily Hybridizer's Summit in Chattanooga (formerly the Myrtle Beach meeting)  on December 3-5, 2010. For more information, contact me at LeePickles@epbfi.com

Exciting things happen to those who hybridize daylilies!

Life is very, very good. Remember, when the bloom is gone, you still have your friends!

Lee

Seedling field preparation . . .

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About three weeks ago, I sprayed the 2008 seedling field with Round Up to kill any seedlings that were left. Well, you know Round Up, when you want it to kill something, it does not do a very good job. A few days ago, I decided to till in anything that was left with my 18 hp Kubota tractor and Woods tiller. Let me tell you, that woods tiller will make anything ready to replant in just a couple passes. Here is the tractor and tiller.

My neighbor kids me that the tiller paint and the tractor paint do not match. However, I know how really jealous he is.

This is what the seedling bed looked like when I started tilling it. Notice that the Round Up application did not kill everything.

Here is what it looks like behind the tiller on one pass through the seedlings. I know I will need to make at least one more pass.

 

This is what the whole bed looked like after 2 passes with the Woods tiller. I know there will be some partial crowns that will start growing and I will need at least one and maybe two more passes to clean up everything. There will be enough room in this field to plant at least 5000 seedlings next spring . . . if I am crazy enough to start that many seeds. I would probably be a dead husband if I did! :-)

There has been some discussion on the email robin lately about yellow daylilies. Yellows are my ultimate favorites. Here is Seedling No. 0651 (Macho Macho Man X Wonder Of It All), A 6" + citrus yellow, lightly ruffled, lightly sculpted, green throat, and great wide blunt sepals. A real stopper in the garden. Here is No. 0651.

Just a few plants yet to line out and the fall gardening will be done except for normal upkeep. This has been a hard summer with many 90° + days in a row with very little rain. It is getting so I don't know what a normal year is anymore.

Now is the time to start planning to attend the Daylily Hybridizer's Summit in Chattanooga (formerly the Myrtle Beach meeting)  on December 3-5, 2010. For more information, contact me at LeePickles@epbfi.com


Exciting things happen to those who hybridize daylilies!

Life is very, very good. Remember, when the bloom is gone, you still have your daylily friends!

Lee

Seedling trays in greenhouse . . .

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An update on the seedlings started from seed in the greenhouse on July 29, 2010. They are now about 3 weeks post planting. There are even some still germinating. The image below is shows the 3-week seedlings. This will also give me a benchmark picture at the time of drenching with the Essentials Plus 101 mixture posted on the email robin. Thought I would give it a try.

If you have never seen albino seedlings, check the image below and you will see two. Albino seedlings lack chlorophyll which is needed for growth. No matter what you do to these seedlings, they will not survive. Here I show the albino seedlings.

I started planting the peat pots on August 2, so they are about 18 days old at this time. I never get as good of germination planting seeds in individual pots as I do when I plant them in bulk. Don't know what the difference is. Maybe some more of these will germinate yet. Here are the peat pots.

Remember the plants I lined out in 100° heat and I was worried about their survival. Well, here is a picture taken today and you can see that they have even started growing, showing new green growth. Let's hope they continue. Since lining them out, we have had over 1½" of rain so I hope all that moisture doesn make them rot in this heat. 

You can compare all of these picture to ones posted earlier on this blog.


Because of all the heat and lack of rain, we have not had much rebloom here this year. One seedling that is reblooming now is Seedling No. 0769 (Mandalay Bay Music X Belle Cook). Please notice all of the tentacles on the lower edge of the petals.

Now is the time to start planning to attend the Daylily Hybridizer's Summit in Chattanooga (formerly the Myrtle Beach meeting)  on December 3-5, 2010. For more information, contact me at LeePickles@epbfi.com


Exciting things happen to those who hybridize daylilies!

Life is very, very good. Remember, when the bloom is gone, you still have your friends!

Lee

Seedling trays in greenhouse . . .

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I guess if Bill Waldrop can show pictures of his cat, Sammy, I can show a picture of Shiloh. Bill tells of the escapades of Sammy, hunting, sleeping, sleeping, etc. Well, I will guarantee you that Sammy cannot play Solitaire like Shiloh. Here is Shiloh playing Solitaire on the computer, and not only playing, he wins. He likes to follow the cursor around the screen.

Today is Friday, August 13, 2010. Here in Chattanooga today, the temperature rose to 101° with a heat index of 110°. I looked at the thermometer in the greenhouse and it registered 120°. This has been a brutally hot summer in many places. I thought I would show the seedling trays as the are growing in the greenhouse. These images were taken at 5:00 pm when the temperature was still 100° outside.

The first three trays were the seeds planted on July 29. As you can see, they are doing quite well in this extreme heat. I have noticed that the seeds from one of my previous introductions, H. 'Aztec Sunrise', seem to be infertile. None with different crosses have germinated. Maybe I picked them too early, I don't know.


I have never tried lining out in this extreme heat before. I normally wait until the latter part of August, but the plants do not have enough time to recover doing it that late. My friend, Karen Newman, kept writing about lining out, so I called her and asked how she was doing it. She told me the secret of lining out in this heat was to cut up the clump and leave it lie in the dry shade for a day or two to let the cuts heal, then plant, and do not water too heavily. Also, wait until later in the fall to mulch. She said she learned this trick from David Kirchhoff. Here is my line out attempt.

Football time is quickly approaching. I am anticipating a great college season. Next it will be college basketball. I do like the college sports, especially the Lady Vols basketball team. Pro sports is just a job.


Exciting things happen to those who hybridize daylilies!

Life is very, very good. Remember, when the bloom is gone, you still have your friends!

Lee

Planting seeds 2 . . .

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Seed planting is done here at Chattanooga Daylilies, I finished this morning. I would estimate approximately 4500 seeds were planted, unless my math is off, which is entirely possible. If I get my usual 90% plus germination, I will end up with 4000 seedlings to plant/transplant. It is so much fun to try and visualize the outcome of a certain cross. For instance, I have some seeds planted of Melanie Mason's  H. Cherries Jubilee X H. Camelot Red, a 2011 introduction from Jeff Salter. I can see a 32" heavily ruffled blood red with a vibrant green throat and to top it all off, it would be dormant. What fun!


Anyway, here is an image of all the trays on one of the growing benches in the greenhouse. I have positioned them where the exhaust fan pulls outside air across the trays, so the temperature should be about the outside temperature. Notice I said "should." There is a shade cloth on the greenhouse which should help.

Above, you can see all the trays on the growing bench. To the left, there are 12 No. 1020 trays that have a six compartment insert with each compartment being about 5" wide and 7" long. In a previous post, I showed that each of these trays was scored with four rows and an estimated 12 seeds per row depending on the number of seeds in the cross, some more, some less. To the right, there are 20 trays with 50 2" X 2" X 3" peat pots in each tray, so there should be a total of 1000 small pots. I am hoping that my germination rate in these pots will be better than what I have experienced before. It is planned that these peat pots will be planted in trade 1 gallon pots which will be grown in the greenhouse. Hopefully, I can get them to bloom in 9 months doing it this way. Whatever happens, all seedlings will be transplanted to the field in April 2011 for growing out and selection.

The image to the left is of the growing bench taken from the end with the 2" X 2" peat pots. I can hardly wait until I can post you a picture showing all green instead of potting soil brown.

Above, if you left click and enlarge the picture, you can see some of the germinated seedlings from seeds planted on 7/29/2010. They are really starting to pop. Planted in the trays above, I have gotten as high as 95% germination which I attribute to being able to keep the moisture level fairly even throughout the tray. Normally I don't start them until September and then I will put an electric blanket covered in plastic under the trays with the temperature set on high. The bottom heat really makes them pop. With the greenhouse as hot as it is, I didn't think I needed the bottom heat this year. We shall see!

To the left, I show what the heating blanket looks like when I use it. I lay down a layer of newspaper, then the blanket, then another layer of newspaper, then a plastic sheet which will, naturally, keep it dry when watering the seedlings. The heat is set on high. I have been asked if I were not afraid that set on high, it would be too hot. Normally, it is used to cover a human, and it doesn't burn them. I have also been asked, "Why an electric blanket, and not the electric mats used for that purpose?" Have you priced those mats? A mat the size for one tray can run as much as $50.00. The electric blanket . . . free from a friend.


If you are still reading, I appreciate you checking out our blog.

Exciting things happen to those who hybridize daylilies!

Life is very, very good. Remember, when the bloom is gone, you still have your daylily friends. Plan to attend a daylily function somewhere this winter.

Lee

Planting seeds 1 . . .

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It is seed planting time right here in the Scenic City! I am estimating that I made about 6000 - 7000 seeds this year, but I won't plant all of them. Don't have the energy or the space.


My normal method of planting seeds is using 1020 trays with a 601 plastic insert. The 601 insert has 6 trays to each flat, approximately 5" X 7" each and about 2"+ in depth. I like this method best because I can control the moisture more evenly in each tray. Here are some images of what I am doing.

 Left is a 1020 flat with a No. 601 insert. There are six 5" X 7" trays to each insert. The trays are filled with seed starting mix which is a very finely ground mix. Four rows are scored in each tray as a guide for planting seeds.

If you will enlarge this image, you will be able to see the seeds planted in the rows. I plant anywhere from 8 to 15 seeds per row, depending on the cross length. I estimate that there are 300+- seeds per tray. The seeds are then covered with more seed starting mix. This is my most successful method for planting seeds. I will get approximately 95% germination using this method.

Here are the first trays that I have put in the greenhouse. If you enlarge the image, you will be able to see that I mark each cross and I date each tray when it is planted so I can see how long it takes for the seeds to start germinating. The tray number and date label is white. You can see the first four trays were planted on July 29, and the other three were planted on August 1. When germinated, these seedlings will be transplanted into #38 seed trays for growing in the greenhouse over winter to plant in the field next spring.

If you will enlarge this image, you will be able to see the seedlings are starting to germinate. These seeds were planted on July 29 and this image was taken on August 3, five days after planting.

I am always trying something new even though I have found that starting seeds works the best for me in the 1020 flats above. But you know us guys, we always have to try something new. This year, I am trying 2" X 2" X 3" peat pots for some of the seeds. I tried three trays earlier and only got about 50% germination, but I mark that up to the seeds not being in the refrigerator long enough. I plan to plant these peat pots, when and if they germinate, into trade gallon pots and grow them over the winter in the greenhouse. I believe that I can get most of them to bloom next spring . . . we shall see.


In addition to the above seeds, I have approximately 2000 more to plant. Planting is always an exciting time, trying to visualize what might come from a cross. I have gotten smart this year. I carry the trays filled with seed starting mix to the patio and sit in the shade to palnt the seeds. Sure beats the heat of the greenhouse.


Let's hear how others of you out there plant your seeds.


Exciting things happen to those who hybridize daylilies!

Life is very, very good. Remember, when the bloom is gone, you still have your friends!

Lee