trees for life seed planting

now that the tubes are filled with soil, i had to wait until the advised date to sew some of the seeds. i had three boxes to do on the same day.

first you wash the gravel and leave it to dry

 

i had to pre treat 2 sets of seed, by putting them in a cup with boiling water and letting them sit over night.

 

these are the other seeds that were ready to go without any pre treatment

 

i planted 2 boxes of silver mulga

 

and one box of drooping sheaoak

 

i put the seeds on a plate and then using a chopstick i made a hole in the soil and placed the seeds in the hole.

 

there are 60 tubes per box, but there are enough seeds to put a few in each tube.

 

they tell you to plant all the seed they give you, so i went back over the box with the excess seed to use it all up.

 

then you cover lightly with the soil and then put the small gravel mulch that was washed earlier on as a mulch. this helps keep the seed and soil from blowing away int he wind or washing away in the water when watering.

 

this box is done

 

a close up of one of the seeds in the hole in the tube

 

with three boxes planted i then needed to cover them with 50% shade cloth.

 

a few sticks and voila a shaded seed raising place. the shade cloth stays on until the second set of true leaves are in place. I plant out another box in a couple weeks and then the last 2 just after christmas. now I just wait and hope they all sprout!