6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
No one I know are starting tomato or pepper seeds in early September. Where are you? I have never used your planting system, but from your picture, your mix has shrunk and pulled away from the pot sides. Looks like it must be made of peat, and once dry will be difficult to accept water. It is difficult to believe the cover was just removed and the mix has lost that much water. Al
'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.
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......
Conocarpus. I've found a picture of the seeds online, but nothing in any of my propagation books on germination other than statements similar to - " producing large number of small seeds with low germination and survival rate. " This one sounds much easier from cuttings than sowing...but of course you have nothing to lose by trying :)
Here is a link that might be useful: 
hi everyone. my tomato plants have grown really tall 5'-9" to be exact with the help of a nylon line with a counter weight..but i've notice bottom branches wither and turn yellow or stay curled up and plant doesn't get thicker like i've seen in other tomato plants.. ill appreciate any help im a newbie growing tomatoes..thank you all for your time
Hi Tamara,
The National Research Council Canada suggest using beans, peas, radishes, or navy beans for that experiment. See link below.
Art
Here is a link that might be useful: Science Experiment
I've always found that cucumbers sprout fairly quickly on just damp paper towels. Since you're using black paper as "soil," that might help you out. Make sure the seed is on top of the paper instead of under it--they probably won't break the paper.
Don't buy seed in advance farther than a year or two if you decide to do this year after year--the germination rates go down as they get older. Even if you get an awesome deal on a thousand seeds, they probably won't work past four years or so. You'll have trouble getting even little roots to sprout.
That said, it's also a good idea to give each student two or three seeds for his/her bottle, in case one just doesn't for some reason. That happens too. With two or three per kid, you can be sure that everyone's will sprout.
And... are you seriously telling me that my high school is not the only one whose students are several pies short of a potluck? Heh. What do they mean, plants don't move? Sunflowers do. That's why they're called sunflowers--they move their heads to face the sun at all times. And if they base their definition of "alive" on whether or not it moves, then... well, by that logic, zombies are also alive, as is, say, moving machinery. ... Never mind. *shakes head*
--Rebekah, 15, Iowa
Of the common fruits, peaches are a good choice to grow from seed. Peaches fruit in 3 or 4 years, and since they are self fertile, you have a pretty good chance of getting decent fruit from a seedling (unlike apples for example). Several people on the fruit forum have grown peach trees from seed. I had a volunteer that fruited in it's third season at 9 feet tall. The fruit was pretty good, but I cut the tree down because it was a pest magnet....borers in the trunk, Japanese beetles eating the leaves, and moth larvae in the fruit.
I would plant the seeds now where you want the tree to grow. Protect the area with a screen cylinder/cage so no animals dig up the seed or eat the seedling when it emerges in the spring.
Alex
Hi,
Never heard of this plant but googled it...looks as if the seeds are not exactly microscopic but are very small so I'd go w/"the hard little nut in the very center of the pod".
Here is a link that might be useful:
Most Calceolarias sold as pot plants are hybrids so be warned that if you do manage to raise new plants they will not necessarily look like the plant which died. They can also be raised from cuttings. Go to the second plant down at the link.
Here is a link that might be useful: Calceolaria seed