Hi all,

I have some questions regarding germinating seeds...

I have a very top of the line incubator with heat and humidity controls right down to the slightest fraction. Could I germinate seeds in this? There is no lighting, just a clear panel on the door.. If I can, should I also put them in a bag or container within the incubator, or would that be redundant?

Also, I live on Vancouver Island BC, and I would like to get a longer growing season out of my Palms and Bananas. I have a large greenhouse and I am going to heat it this winter... My question is, do tropicals in general need a period of dormancy to live? Hypothetically, if I were to use hydroponic lights in the greenhouse along with heat, would this speed up growth? If so, significantly?

At what temp do most tropicals stop growing?

Thanks so much

April

I don't know about germinating seeds in an incubator, but for your greenhouse, I'd try not to let it get above 85F/30C. I live across the Strait from you, and have had significant growth from most of my greenhouse plants all winter without any extra lighting, and my hibiscus plants bloomed all year. That is, until I lost power on the coldest night of the year and everything died.

Thanks for your response. Do you use supplementary heating in the winter? Is your greenhouse poly, double poly or glass? How cold does it get in there?

Thanks

April

My greenhouse is pretty small, and has a sort of woven plastic skin -- I don't recall the exact material, but you can't see through it; it probably filters out about 30% of the sunlight that passes through it.. I put a heater in there in the winter, otherwise it gets just as cold inside as the outside temperature.

bananas in the greenhouse;
make sure you have a good current of air or fans blowing on your trees cause if they dont move around the trunks get very weak and when you put them outside again the first good shot of wind will snap the trunk like a twig .