6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
They will need good light the moment they pierce the soil or growing medium. They have green leaves, however small, and are photosynthesising right from the start. But direct hot sun would be too much for them.
I can't answer the question about the porch since I don't know what temperatures your plants can take nor what temperature the porch reaches.
keep in mind that beach peas grow in full sun outdoors. if grown in a screen porch, they will not be happy. i have a screen porch and sun loving plants hate it there, even in sunshine. if they don't get full sun when they sprout, they will get leggy trying to reach strong light. a sunny windowsill is better.
I would also plant the seeds in those six packs you get with annuals. They tend to rot out really easy if sown too close together. Also keep a good amount of air flow where you sow them. If in a green house use a small fan on the lowest setting. Do not over water them, that also will contribute to them rotting. They usually have the hardest time with rot when they first start to germinate. When they get their first leaves. After they get to be about 2-3 inches and they have their true leaves they seem to be ok. They do not like to be transplanted so try to keep them in the six packs as long as you can until they need to go outside. I hope all this helps. Oh, when you water them, if your using a sprayer, try to water the soil only. Wetting the plant itself also contributes to the rot.
Jello is gelatin. It is commonly used for bacterial cultures. I wouldn't use that. Water Gel that is used for cut flowers are polymers that have been shown to hold on to water pretty tightly. I would think agar is the way to go. You would basically be starting seeds in what amounts to tissue culture. Yes, it will work. People start hard to germinate seeds in vitro all the time. You will want to make sure to sterilize your seeds before putting them on the agar.
here are a couple of good places to start.
home tissue culture site
Well there were going to be a couple of links, but yahoo groups are blocked, so you'll have to find your way to the yahoo tissue culture page yourself. It contains quite a bit of very valuable information.
I didn't know what species 'Bottle Gentian' was, so I Googled. Instructions for propagation are at the link. If your winters are 40 degrees or less for 3 months this sounds like a prime subject for winter sowing. There's a Forum here on GW for that technique.
Here is a link that might be useful: Gentiana andrewsii
I realize my answer only applies to crawling insects; in the spring my seedlings can get wiped out by crawling insects. This last spring I placed each flat on a brick that had duct tape dangling all the way around the 4 edges. The bugs got trapped in the sticky tape and never made it to the seedlings. Of course the sticky part is facing towards the ground.
If available stack two bricks under the flat to raise the tape high off the ground. I just planted 4 flats and will do the brick/tape trick tomorrow.
For a lot of flats there are a lot of ways to raise the flats as a group (I use plastic grids/grills) then only put the bricks with tape under the entire system at 4 or 6 points.
That doesn't address your flying insect issue. I started spraying this year for the first time for the ones that fly. I mainly do flowers.
Bob
When the seeds start germinating, if you do not remove the plastic, your seedlings will suffer from fungus at the soil level, causing them to collapse. More seedlings are lost from too much moisture, than from too little. Move your lights closer and install a fan to move the air around. Al
General comments about growing bamboo from seed (1) Many of the species flower once every 100 years (2) To germinate seed do not cover seeed soil temp for germination 65-75F (3) seed MUST be "fresh" and most of the seed is steril
Division still best method
I'm not sure how small these are - could you lay them on a rag after soaking, give them a rub with the edge of it? Sometimes a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid in the soaking water will help to loosen any pulp, especially if sticky or oily (like magnolia).
I like sterile vermiculite for the moist chill, or sterile moist sand. It only takes a teaspoon or two for many seeds in a small ziplock and at the end of the chill period the contents, seeds + vermiculite, can be sown without extracting the seeds again. Others will use the coffee filters but I'm not a fan of them.
Thank you for the information! I'll try perlite, it seems similar to vermiculite.
The seeds with the flesh attached didn't look as developed as the rest and the flesh is right where the root should come out. But they looked very nice, vibrant after the cold stratification in soil and still had that brownish stuff attached to them. Well, I'll try to rub them. Thanks!
Yes growing from seed. how big untill transplant?
and they will do ok in the 2 different soil types?
i have begun to put one type of plant in its own container the last few years, especially large plants like coleus and elephant ears. this way they don't overpower other plants and you can move the pots around to suit them in an everchanging arrangement.