FINCHforum

I have been mixing my own seed for the last couple of months because the local petshop don't really have a mix that I like. The finchmix has canola seed in it, which my birds won't eat and the wild finch mix has niger and crushed maize in it which my birds don't eat. I use a mixture of white, red, yellow and jap millet and canary seed. When I look at the seed husks, it is clear that they prefer canary seed over the others. I know that canary seed is very rich in oil. I suppose that I must increase the ratio of canary seed in my mixture. The spray that I buy are a kind of golden brown colour and carry a lot of seeds. It seems that the seeds are sterilized to prevent people from growing their own spray, because this seed won't germinate. I wonder, how do they sterilize the seed? Do they subject the spray to some kind of radiation?

MariusStegmann....seed won't germinate?

I wouldn't feed it to my birds

dutch I believe than some seeds are sterilized to prevent a weed that is regarded as a pest, start in a country. I believe that the USA sterilize thistle seed before it get sold in the USA. In this case the company that engineered this particular seed spray is preventing people from growing the seed commercially. Every spray has thousands of seeds instead of the of the normal amount.

I get the versele-lage foreign finch seed locally and use it both dry and chitted so it's not sterilized, i havn't tried sprouting any seeds from the sprays.

Have you tried sprouting the std red and white millet from your dry seed as i believe it's the same and just harvested from the sprays ?

Yes, those sprout nicely. It is just the spray seed that won't sprout. I think that it is gene manipulated seed and they don't want people to grow their own.

It looks like this:

MariusStegmann - There's a way that they sterilize seeds with a powerful light.
It scrambles up the DNA somehow.
It's also used to kill mold and so forth. I believe that's the primary function.

I believe it's similar to the light thingies that they use to sterilize hospital rooms. (Those scramble up the DNA of the bacteria/viruses).

MiaCarter Thanks Mia, light is definitely ok. When I heard radiation I thought of radioactive material. I don't want 2 headed birds.

When doing a seed mix of my own I found that at particular times of the year (seasonal) the seeds/crops were not available. It is good to offer a variety of the ones they like just incase one kind is not in stock/season.

Brown top and Japanese were the two they love the most and are seasonal.

Marius, now you have me wondering. I haven't tried sprouting the millet spray but the normal seed (jap, panicum, canary etc) sprouts nicely. Weird...

*Makes note to self to go home and sprout some millet spray*

I googled the different versele-lage mixes for finches/waxbills and found the base seeds which they use. I now just make up my own mix as well. Works out cheaper in the end too.

I've never bothered sprouting the spray millet. I always just grew my own. French White millet makes the best green seed.
Like this: Jap get's mouldy too quickly. As the heads are dense and even after sterilizing they get mycelium. I'm phobic about mould on bird seed, so refuse to grow them for seed head.
I have yet to try the panicum which is grown locally for food. It grows like foxtail. Might give that a try this year if I can source some seed, or if it is the right season to sow. The wild swees raid it every year at our botanical garden I also mix my own seed. The premixes that are available are either very expensive or have too many "wasted" seeds for my liking. The only seed mix I buy as an addition to my own mix is the Aviplus small seed eaters mix. I give this separately when my birds go into breeding season. They love it.

monotwine my seed bed has started sprouting! First time I am trying it in a bed instead of a pot, so feeling more hopeful this time

We had a pair of Swee's in our garden for the first time 2 weeks ago. Beautiful little birds! I really hope they come back

You'll be surprised at how well a garden produces, instead of a pot. Any extra can be frozen for future use.

Sweet Rox, hope the Swees become more permanent visitors. They are flighty and come and go on their own season.

My son complained about the wild seed that I grow for the birds. He says that it is shameful. I suppose that the bird need must not always have priority. I am going to cut them down.... soon.

Lol Marius, your son sounds like my friends/family. They all think I give the birds way too much priority. But hey, it keeps me happy

My son asked me some time ago why I left a patch of lawn unmowed. When I showed him that there are a lot of chickweed growing in that spot, he thought that I was crazy.