Hi mandolls,

Oh my goodness, about the middle of January every year I always get anxious to start some seeds. However, knowing that itâÂÂs just too early, IâÂÂm usually able to force myself to be patient :-)

This year though, IâÂÂll probably start Vinca (Cora) seeds in late February. IâÂÂve read that theyâÂÂre very slow to grow so thought IâÂÂd start them a little earlier than my other annuals. Although not an annual, IâÂÂm growing Verbena hastata 'Pink Spiresâ from seed for the first time as well. They were stratified in the refrigerator all of January and IâÂÂll be sowing those seeds (slow to germinate) tomorrow.

Art

This post was edited by art33 on Fri, Jan 31, 14 at 19:51

I live in zone 3 so you can set things out 2 or 3 weeks earlier than me. If I'm growing geraniums from seed I start them around the first of February and I start my cuttings around that time too. This year I started them a bit earlier so I'll have good sized plants to set out. I have around 90 cuttings that I started 2 weeks ago and they are all showing signs of new growth so I may not lose any. My friends are going to love me because I can't possibly use them all.

I start my Impatiens mid March and my snapdragons a week or so later. If I am starting perennials from seed they may get started then too but my space under the lights is limited so I tend not to start too much that early

Anything else will wait until I open my greenhouse in mid April. I find most annuals only need 8 weeks at most to grow into a good sized plant. I don't like my plants to be overgrown and blooming. I prefer healthy plants that are just starting to bud. Then they can do all their blooming in my flower beds.

Plants like coleus and ivy that I use in my pots and of course geraniums are brought in in the fall and grown all winter but with reduced light and I never allow them to flower. These produce cuttings. My geraniums I start early like I said but the coleus and ivy are started in the greenhouse and do fine

I have geraniums that I grew from seed last year, but I found seed for a couple of others that I wanted to try. Begonias, Geraniums & Persian Shield I have regularly grown from cuttings in the past. I didn't manage to bring in any Coleus this past fall, so I'll have to grow them from seed again. I only had Black Dragon (which were all planted in the ground) and Lime Light, which were in pots, but were huge, and I didn't want to commit the space they would take up over the winter.

Mid March is when I am on "spring" break, so its a perfect time to get most of my seeds going, but I do like to get some plants going early. Having to tend to the seedlings in February makes me happy and makes me feel like spring really is coming.

Art - Those Pink Spires are great looking - but in my head perennials are different. They can be started almost anytime. I usually do perennials after my annuals are out from under the lights (only so much room), and then plant them out mid-late summer. Last year I managed to get about 30 Columbines started and am looking forward to the blooms this spring.

Hi Mandolls,

So far I have started Dragonwing Begonias and New Guinea Impatiens. I started the dragonwings on Dec 29th and they are still so small you can barely see them and some have not come up yet. They take forever! The NG Impatiens were started on Jan 12th and most are up now.

Today I am planting 5 types of geraniums. I am also going to start some Kong Coleus, impatiens and petunias (I got several wave types and the Dolcissima Flambe seeds to grow this year). I think I will wait a few more weeks before starting these.

I am not sure how early I should start the Kong coleus. Does anyone know how fast they grow?

We have had pretty nice weather with all the snow melting off the front yard (south facing). It is making me really anxious for nicer weather but we still have a couple of months to go for that. It is nice to get stuff growing in the house at least!

Linda

I don't - it's too early. Not many seedlings need more than 12-13 weeks indoors; there are some, but none that I've grown with the exception of heliotrope off the top of my head (and I've tried a lot of stuff over the years). You guys in colder zones have a later planting-out date than I do. A lot of flowers only need 8-10 weeks indoors, vegetables 4-6 weeks; of course it varies by plant, but info is readily available on the seed packet. Geraniums are easy from seed and don't need 4 months indoors, either.

If you have a good light set-up and can keep the seedlings from getting lanky and you keep up with fertilizing, you could do it - but why? Start the seeds at the proper time, and there is less chance for the plants to get lanky, less labor involved (watering, fertilizing, tending), less cost (running those lights costs money), and will yield overall better results. Any good seed-starting manual will tell you this.

That being said, I absolutely understand the itch to get started and grow something with the cabin fever setting in and all - but still, I would wait until the proper time.

Mxk3 - your advice is completely sound. I do wait until more appropriate times for my vegetables (though peppers I will start 12-14 weeks prior).

For me when it comes down to it, its not about economy, its about sanity. And starting a few things early keeps me sane. Also with such a short growing season in WI, the bigger the plants are when I put them out the more blooms I have through growing season.

I think how early you start things depends quite a bit on how much room you have. As inâ¦if you don't have room to get things potted up to larger sizes you are in trouble. My plants go from 3oz cups to 9oz cups, and most are completely happy in that size. A few end up in 12 or 16oz cups. I like using plastic cups because the take up more vertical room, than horizontal room as they increase in size.

Hi Linda - I have grown Dolcima Flambe for the past few years and love them. I am sure you will too. I started Coleus from seed last year - but they do seem to vary in growth rate from type to type and I didn't grow Kong. I started Black Dragon and Giant Lime both Jan 19th. It was perhaps a little early, but they stayed healthy with some pinching back. The Giant Limes grew much faster (and bigger) I will do those again this year, but will wait until mid Feb to start them.

Abutilon! I love these blossoms. They bloom in early spring and they can be grown both indoors and out, so you shouldn't have any issues with them being too early. They are by far...my favorite! You should try 'em!

Here is a link that might be useful: Abutilon Mix seeds

I haven't heard of Abutilon before. Did a little reading, and may have to get some seed. Thanks for the heads up!

Mandolls - getting pretty antsy here too with this continued cold and snow! Generally I get things going around March 14th - 21st, but for some things, I will go earlier. I'm with you, though, about the staying sane issue - having my little nursery at this point keeps me from climbing the walls till I can get outside and DO something. I also transplant 2-3 times before the plants ever make it outside, but likewise, light table space (and some years the amount of propagation mix I have on hand, as it is getting increasingly difficult to go to any nursery to get a decent size bag) is a limiting factor. Am intending to start 1st of March: petunias, annual lobelia, my peppers and eggplants and probably the butterfly delphiniums I just bought.

I couldn't wait any longer, yesterday I started my:

Petunias - Baby Duck, Fluffy Ruffles Mix, Celebrity Niagara Mix, Shockwave Denim, African Sunset, Tidalwave Silver, and Avalanche Reds

Geraniums - Black Velvet Salmon, Raspberry Ripple

Bedding Dahlias - Pompom mix and Dandy mix

Impatiens - Showstopper Cherry Flair

I have some Columbine and Snapdragon seed that are doing a little cold stratification for a couple of weeks and loads of other seed to start next month.

I'm excited!!!

I'm so envious! Really wanted to get more petunia varieties this year, but needed to save the money for veggie seeds. That sounds like a beautiful mix of colors.

Yeah - I sort of splurged on the petunia seed again this year. Last year I gave away 10 hanging baskets to friends and family, and had about that many in my own yard. I used to hate petunias. The garden centers around here have such a poor selection compared to what is available from seed. If they have nice ones they tend to put them in huge $30-$40 baskets, which is out of my price range.

If I was thriftier and better organized I would take cuttings from my petunias in the Fall and keep them going over the winter, and just propagate from cuttings. I know it can be done.

I started some more seeds last weekend too-

Petunias- Tidal Wave Silver, Easy Wave Plum Pudding mix, Shockwave Power mix and Dolcissima Flambe. Some of these have already sprouted ;)

Impatiens- Sunny Lady mix, Xtreme Rosy mix and Utopia mix.

A couple weeks ago I planted some geraniums seeds, none of these have come up yet...how long to geraniums take to sprout? Some were planted on Feb 1st and others on Feb 12th. They have been on the heat mat and still nothing...

Oh and I also started a few carnations and Rocket snapdragons.

Spring seems like it will be early here this year. We have had above average temps and I am really getting the spring fever!

Linda

Hi Linda - Last year was my first year for geraniums, so I don't have that much experience. Looking at my notes they started sprouting in 3 days. The geraniums I sowed this year (4 days ago), haven't sprouted yet. I looked at Swallowtail seeds info and they say at 75degrees it is 14-21 days. Dont know why I got such fast germination last year. I am sure it varies among the different types.

I have to confess that I bought more seed on line yesterday. I was looking specifically on Swallowtail's site for more coleus, but I ended up spending another 41 bucks (free shipping for $40 orders). Along with the coleus I decided I would give Begonias and Lisanthus another try - they didn't do well for me last year. It actually a little late to start them, but - what the heck. Also got some more impatiens, scabiosa, zinnia, and yes - two more types of petunias, Dolcissima Frangolina and Sophistica Lime Bicolor. The Frangolina are similar to the Flambe, but the color is deeper.

They have really nice varieties of annuals available and are a little cheaper than Johnny's or Parks.

Mandolls- that mimimum amount for for shipping will get you every time! LOL

What kind of Begonias did you buy? My dragonwings are still so small and I started them on Dec 29th.

I also have some Zahara mix Zinnia seeds but I am not starting them yet. I have never seen Lisanthus around here. Maybe it doesn't grow well here.

My Snapdragons sprouted pretty quickly and I see a few Impatiens coming up too. Guess I won't give up on the Geraniums yet.

I saw the Frangolina in the Parks catalog and I LOVE them. Wish I had some of those!

I think I will go look at the Swallowtail site right now!

Linda

Begonias were a big miss for me last year. It was the first time I tried them from seed. I got good germination, but I couldn't keep them alive. They stayed tiny tiny, and then died. After a little reading, I am going to use much coarser mix for them this round. I got seed for Bada Boom mix ( I like the dark bronzy foliage) for a shady border, and Illumination apricot, for baskets.

I have a couple of big Dragon wing (or Angle wing?) begonias that I winter over inside and take cuttings from. They root up really easily and grow fast.

Lisianthus I have grown before, but not with great results. I never get a very good germination rate, and I always lose some when the are small. But the ones that make it are beautiful.

These are Cinderella Lime from last year.

Those Lisanthus are beautiful! I've seen them in the catalogs, but never have tried growing them since I got the impression they needed extra time and care, and perhaps a warmer climate. But I see you're even colder than we are. When do you start your seed usually, and do they have particulars for germination?

Lisianthus are really really slow from seed. I have tried them for the past 3 years, but don't pretend to be an expert. Last year I started them mid January and that pic was from mid August. - so 7 months to bloom! Germination has been spotty. Last year, one type I tried only 3 out of 10 seeds sprouted, while 8 out of 10 seed of the other two came through for me. Not a lot of people grow them so there isn't lost of info that I can find on the net.

Like Begonias, they stay teeny tiny for a long time, so its difficult to keep them from getting to dry or to wet. A much coarser mix than the standard seed starting mixes helps, and once they germinate cooler temps are better. The first year I tried them I didn't start them until March but I grew them in pots so I could bring them in if they were blooming when frosts hit - and they were. They did great inside on the window sills. The blooms hold a long time. I have continued to grow them in containers. If you like a challenge I recommend them.

Mandolls - think I'll pass for now. I'm going to concentrate my "challenge" energy on hybridizing zinnias, as per another forum on here. It's caught my fancy. :) Those lisianthus sure are pretty, though. Roses without the thorns.

Yes, they are very beautiful...maybe I will try some next year since they will need to be started very early.

Linda