October to December 2011: Building up the know how for the management of seedlings
14.12.2011
The seedlings need intensive care in the first 2-3 weeks of the healing phase. Even after a cut with a very sharp knife some of the tissue of the cut surface dies off and immediately other organisms start to grow on the dead material. Underneath the new skin grows and after 3-4 weeks the biofouling and dead tissue can be removed.
If we bring the seedling down to a round figure after every cut, the cure can be accelerated. The sponges go inherently for a round figure. If the cutting edges are not rounded, the flesh on the edges die and offer contact surface for parasitical encrustation. Thanks to this and other experiences the mortality rate of the seedlings could be reduced to a minimum.