# Glenn's Propagator.



## glenn (14 Sep 2009)

so i have had a propagator sitting round for a while, and befor i set my tank up i think its a good idea to see if i can grow my own platns emersed so nearer the time i dont need to buy as many when it comes to planting if i allready have a few.
its a normal 40x25x25cm heated propagator. i wont be using the heater.
when i went up to the oliver Knott demo i picked up 2 pots of HC cuba, 1 pot of Utricularia Graminitolia, and 1 pot of P.Helferi. i also got a free bee, i cant remember the name, it grows leaves like vallis and sends of runners, its quite new to the trade apparently, any way its in the middle of the propagator, and i dont know how it will get on.
its got normal damp potting soil in. and i am going to use a 11w desk lamp as the light source, enless some one tells me its a bad idea.  
i mannaged to break the HC cuba in to about 20 small portions, the UG in to about 6 portions and the P.hlferi in to 5 plantlets.
this was very monotonous, but i got to try out my tgm scissors and pinsets that have been waiting to see some greenery, they are very nice to use   
the pics















in situe




to keep the humidity up, i will keep the soil damp with tap water.also i have made a NPK and trace soloution in seperate mister bottles, i will spray the platns once or twice a day with this.
i think i will keep the vents shut to keep it humid but run a air pump tube through a hole to keep fresh air and co2 redily avalable.
this is new to me so any one with a emersed set up, tell me if any thing i am doing is crazy or unnecessary.
thanks for looking


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## Garuf (14 Sep 2009)

That vallis is going to die, if it is vallis it's a true aquatic and has no emmersed form .


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## glenn (14 Sep 2009)

its not a vallis, the vines just look like vallis vines.


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## aaronnorth (14 Sep 2009)

couldnt you just lift the lid a couple of times a day to allow fresh air in? or do they really use that much CO2 emersed :?: 

i am going to give this a try one day.


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## Dan Crawford (14 Sep 2009)

Looks great Glenn


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## glenn (14 Sep 2009)

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> couldnt you just lift the lid a couple of times a day to allow fresh air in? or do they really use that much CO2 emersed :?:


well im not to shure, i was reading that there is somthing like 100-200ppm of co2 in the air, so way higher than in water, but even so, some people inject co2 in to their propagator to try and raise it even higher. and im at school in the day so opening the lid every now and again cant be done, and if i leave it a jar i think they will dry out.  :? 



			
				Dan Crawford said:
			
		

> Looks great Glenn


thanks dan, with your set up, you use a mister dont you? are they worth the money? and what are yours plants planted in. do you use and fertilisers on them also? 
thanks for the help and comments.


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## Ed Seeley (14 Sep 2009)

Why not rig up a DIY CO2 kit to pump CO2 into the propagator to get some fresh 'air' in?  One of my profs at uni was looking at the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on terrestrial plants and he found levels up to twice todays levels produced great effects with plant growth!  Might be worth a try?  The excess air will leak away from the gaps in the propagator and you could always open the vents at night when they don't need to CO2.


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## glenn (14 Sep 2009)

thanks for the great idea ed, im glad i kept the yeast and bottle with airline. but last time i made it with warm water and yeast in the bottle, once the yeast cooled down it stoped producing co2 so i stoped it. any ideas why?


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## Nick16 (14 Sep 2009)

spray misters are well worth it, you can get them from 99p from shops like poundland and allsorts!!!


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## glenn (14 Sep 2009)

Nick16 said:
			
		

> spray misters are well worth it, you can get them from 99p from shops like poundland and allsorts!!!


yeah i have 2 misters, one with macro in and one with trace in. then a couple of sprays a day.


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## Ed Seeley (14 Sep 2009)

glenn said:
			
		

> thanks for the great idea ed, im glad i kept the yeast and bottle with airline. but last time i made it with warm water and yeast in the bottle, once the yeast cooled down it stoped producing co2 so i stoped it. any ideas why?



Two guesses.  Either the water was too warm and killed the yeast or you got old, rubbish yeast!  I've found the little tubs of cheap bread yeast the best so far, rather than the little packs - don't know why!  

Did you also put baking soda in?  It helps keep the CO2 production going IME.


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## aaronnorth (15 Sep 2009)

marmite is supposed to be a better alternative. more CO2 is produced for a longer length of time.


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## mr. luke (16 Sep 2009)

Misting is 100% un-necisary ime......
As is the extra dosing   i just dump syring full of all in one fert every month or so into my hc set-up


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