Tebuconazole, anyone have any problems?

[Huntsmanshorn]

Anybody use tebuconazole on seeds? The Sarr seeds I treated with this stuff during stratification didn't germinate very well at all. Wondering if my problem might have been the fungicide.

 

[Not a Number]

I've never used it on seed. No problems when used on Cephalotus, Sarracenia, Drosera, Utricularia and Sphagnum. No problems on Drosera put in the refrigerator for dormancy either.

 

[Huntsmanshorn]

Yes, I've used it on plants too without any problems. It's just kind of strange, that out of the dozens of seeds I stratified this past Winter, only two seeds have germinated. Usually I get 80-95% and the only thing I did different was use Tebuconazole. Of course, I did have to use it several times on the same seeds, since it just doesn't seem to work as well as the stuff I used before. Maybe I just used too much.

 

[Not a Number]

Antibiotics and such typically work by disrupting the mechanisms of cellular division so it wouldn't surprise me if a long persistence systemic fungicide would impact seed germination. A short persistence fungicide such as Neem oil might be safer. However a paper I read on Neem said it's anti-fungal properties comes from disrupting the mitotic processes. Sulfur is often recommended as an antifungal agent for seeds.

 

[kulamauiman]

I have used ground/milled LFS and coffee mill ground up/chopped live sphagnum to prevent most fungal problems.......

 

[Huntsmanshorn]

Antibiotics and such typically work by disrupting the mechanisms of cellular division so it wouldn't surprise me if a long persistence systemic fungicide would impact seed germination. A short persistence fungicide such as Neem oil might be safer.

Good to know and it would explain a few things. Since I didn't find tebuconazole to be all that effective perhaps I'll give Neem a try.

Sulfur is often recommended as an antifungal agent for seeds.

I have some sulfur and find it an adequate preventative but I have read that it isn't very useful as a systemic. Next year I will have to pretreat with the sulfur and see how it goes. Live and learn, I guess.

I have used ground/milled LFS and coffee mill ground up/chopped live sphagnum to prevent most fungal problems.......

Or perhaps I will try this, or combine the two maybe. Hmmm. Thanks guys!

 

[jlechtm]

I already did (combine the two) .

I sowed Sarracenia seeds (untreated) in milled LFS this past winter and left them to stratify/vernalize in the greenhouse. Collected last August/September, planted 2/25/13, germinating between 4/5 and now. Because I was nervous about fungus, I repeatedly sprayed the surface of the moss with a water suspension of wettable sulfur:

Don't have a control (since this was the first time I've ever really set out to germinate Sarracenia seed in quantity), but germination is high in most cases and the first true leaves are now appearing on my oreophila and montana seedlings. All were treated the same way, so I attribute the variation in germination rates (to date) to just that ... variation .

Hope this helps.

 

[Huntsmanshorn]

Yea, I'll have to try something like this next time. Anything will have to be better then last Winter:-(.