Remove all the dead leaf litter, this is a haven for slugs. Post #151 shows slug damage to new cotelydon leaves. I see you have used pellets. But I have found a treatment of Nematodes in the previous Autumn is more beneficial. The small black slug is the culprit for damage to young seedlings in my experience.
What if i place them near a location far from any soil? Or do the slugs hide under the pots themselves?
Under the pots, in the soil, under leaves. But yes, if you can move the pots to a surface that isn't slug friendy it will help.
I forgot they target the seedlings as well. i hope 40 days of stratfification doesnt go down the drain! unfortunately cant do anything about it until friday because of divorced parents. afraid its a waiting game till then.
Not at all Soumil, every few years we might get a little snow. The problem we have these days are the late Spring frosts. Seems to be getting worse tbh.
must be a pain separating all those seedlings when they grow large! i killed a lot of seedlings digging them up the wrong way
If I get the timing right I should get near 100% success rate on transplant. My preferred method is to wait until the first phase of top growth has ended, at this stage the stems will be somewhat lignified to facilitate easier handling yet the roots will still be small to facilitate easy separation. Also, at this stage the plants are just entering a period of root expansion which will help in establishment in the new pots. For Japanese maple seeds grown outside in my climate the ideal time would be around late May into June, for these ones from the greenhouse it will be earlier, probably early May. I will try and post some pictures at the time...
I've checked my seedlings this morning (seeds I put in trays outside in November 2021), and lots have now come up! Not as good as @maf 's senkakis though! The seedlings coming from seeds planted in November 2020 and that came out last year in April, have now started leafing out (I transplanted them into 9cm pot (from 7cm) a few weeks ago)
These are the seeds that will be treated with ga3: they are all sugar maple seeds. ( not soaked in ga3 yet)
Sugar maple soaking in ga3 water (you can tell by the bubbles thats ga3 and not just water like the orevious photo)