6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

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!

Someone at a local nursery told me that you can grow them from seed, but they will get to blooming size several years faster if you grow cuttings.

I was asking for cutting on this forum but no luck as well. It was a failure with seeds, and I wish I would have better news to write about. I am still looking for someone who will be willing to share few cuttings.

You may have enough room for a tree which can reach 90 feet, and you may not object to digging out many seedlings which grow as fast as weeds, but you should think about this before planting Acer macrophyllum. Al

I am growing a few dogwood/cornus from seeds. I have not had much luck with purchased potted dogwoods. I agree with planting the seeds outdoors now. Let the weather do its' thing over the winter months. My cornus floridas only got about 3" tall the first year. Others grew faster. Protect them from wildlife chewing them up. I stake a "tube" of chicken wire around them. Then I don't run over them with the lawn mower either. Keep them protected for several years (or longer).

'Most are annual' is not completely accurate. Many of the most useful and popular are perennial eg sage, thyme, mint, rosemary, bay, lavender, oregano and chives. I cannot comment on the suitability of August for sowing because I do not know your climate but I would suggest you look up each herb you want to grow since they do not all require the same conditions. Some such as Parsley, coriander, and dill resent transplanting so are best sown straight into their final homes.

There is a Herbs Forum here on Garden Web where you will find several experienced herb growers to help you.

I would not suggest starting Rosemary or Oregano from seed. You may be able to find someone in your area that could give you a cutting or plants. It is suggested that herbs should be fall planted for our area but then not not all annuals, such as Basil or dill. Mint needs to be by itself as it as well as Oregano love to wander. Some Sages are annuals, bi-annuals but some will last for many many years once established. Bay trees do okay in our area. Lemongrass does not like a freeze but here if we expect cold weather we can take cuttings and store in our ref's for save keeping for when our weather warms back up for the summer.

Thanks very much Art. Although the 3 tablespoons of citric acid per gallon of water might not be exactly 10,000 PPM I think it should be close enough for use on seeds with very hard seed coats.

Thanks again for your time.

I just heard about citric acid soak for germination for seeds. On the container, it says for sprouting seeds. My friend tried it on some almost impossible to germinate silky camellias and the seeds are germinating about 2 days. I would like to try it on some daylily seeds - has anyone ever soaked daylily seeds in this? Can anyone provide other information on this? I normally soak mine in a hydrogen peroxide/distilled water mix. Thanks for any advice......