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Antwerp, Belgium

Hi,

A few years ago I read somewhere of the "technique" of seeding on the bottom of a plastic bottle(of course the upper small part of the bottle is cut off).

Put a light above the bottle and the seedling starts growing. While it's growing, you put more and more soil in the bottle until it's full.

After that, you don't water anymore until the soil is dry. Then you gradually give very little water to avoid the water to completely reach the bottom of the bottle. The plant should get side roots over the total length of the bottle.

By doing so you should get a seedling with a root system of a young plant. Planting outside by laying the bottle horizontally in the plant hole and cut it open, bend the seedling a little bit to come above the ground.

Do some of you seed like this or did it earlier?

If so, what are/were the results?

Thanks in advance for any reaction!!

2/22/2020 6:28:26 AM

Bethlehem CT

I have never tried any technique like you mentioned above. I am not sure if it would be of any major benefit. I remember an old article that was published on this site many, many years ago that explained how to do something similar to what you are saying. I am attaching it for you to read if you are interested,

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=65

2/23/2020 7:38:44 AM

Syracuse, NY

Wim - the only modification i can think of quickly is to fill the bottle half-full so that the roots can grow downward, continue as you said, and the bottle may be cut from the bottom to the top on 2 or 4 sides and held together by ***partly-used*** duct tape (duct tape the has been stuck to and removed from your pants leg bout 4 times, to reduce the stickiness) or even a weaker-adhesive tape such as 1-inch-wide blue painters' tape...oh, yeah, leakage and maybe messy, but, oh well - in any event, if you could figure out how to grow a plant like this and in the meantime (you'll have WEEKS, but do it long before crisis mode, lol) make a hole in the pumpkin patch for this creation to be set down into and the rest i'll look forward to any further steps 'cause i'm outta ideas at the moment. there WERE other posts in recent years about using LARGE pieces of PVC pipe that could be hinged and simply opened like a clamshell, out comes the plant and into the hole with it - all very interesting, huh?!

shameless plug for your perusal:

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=300830


eg

2/23/2020 11:18:29 PM

Bethlehem CT

Pumpkinpal really cool experiment with the agar. Are you going to use agar to start your seeds this year?

2/24/2020 7:21:37 AM

50 Acres

Reads like another winter contest folks. kills the boredom of winter.

2/24/2020 9:11:52 AM

Syracuse, NY

yes on that one! gotta find a larger/cheaper quantity, and soon, lol--eg

2/24/2020 1:11:35 PM

Antwerp, Belgium

Thanks all for the reactions!! I'll let you know if it worked. One thing though, I remember that you had to burry the root system horizontally

3/2/2020 10:12:22 AM