Diary of a Volunteer Grower: Lets do it again (2010)

I have registered to grow another 6 boxes of seedlings for Trees for Life this year. It is almost time to pick up my supplies and I am getting excited. I have no idea what sort of plants I will be growing or when I will need to do my planting. Depending on the species of seeds that I get given to grow, I might be sowing seeds any time from late November to late January.

This time I booked in for a propagation workshop. It was good to go along and meet some other growers. About half of the people at the workshop were first time growers but a few attendees have been growing for years and came along to get some extra tips. The most important tips I picked up were;

Make sure the tubes are filled correctly and the soil goes all the way to the bottom of the tubes. When filling the tubes the soil needs to be damp (not wet but not dry). The tubes need to be filled firmly with a cylindrical shape and a flat bottom. Also check that the small drainage holes at the bottom of the tubes are not folded over.
With dry hands it is quite easy to pick up the seeds to sow them in the tubes. Last season I spread out the seeds on a small plate and pushed the seed off with a rubber baby spoon. My process worked but this year I will try picking up the seed and sprinkling it by hand. It will make it easier to spread the seed around the whole tube.
Transplanting takes time. Last year I pulled out the small seedlings and put them in the new holes. When pulling our the small trees I literally just pulled them out by the leaves. At the workshop we learnt to dig out the seedlings and try to keep most of the roots with soil attached to the fine root hairs. The roots can be pruned back to make it easier to get them into their new tubes. Last year I was careful and most did survive but this year I will try to dig them out carefully.

After the workshop I was a little surprised that my plants were such a success last year as I did not do everything perfectly. With over 1000 volunteers growing seedlings each year for Trees for Life not everyone will do everything perfectly and some will still grow successful seedlings. As long as you follow the instructions as closely as possible and give it your best shot you should be ok.

Here are a few more photos from the trees I grew last season