6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
This is my first year with soil blocks. I'm using the 2 inch. I used a seed starting mix (sunshine 360 and second time Promix) combined with compost. 3 to 2 ratio. I had a pretty decent germination rate, I think. I put 3-4 seeds per block, though, so I can't be exact, but I do have lettuce growing in every block and many require thinning. Mine did best without a germination mat and in my basement.
I was coming to the board to ask about soil blocks and the brassicas. Everything else has done very well in the blocks except the brassicas. I sold my extra seedlings, and everyone seems very happy with their plants. I am really pleased with the soil blocks so far.
Mix your fertilizer into the water, then use that to water your seedlings just as you would use plain water. You don't want to flush what you've provided out and make it unavailable to the roots, you want them to 'drink' it....and I'm sure there is a better way of wording that but it's been a very long day now :)
I use an all purpose fertilizer formulated to be mixed with water when I water seed pots, but i dilute it to approx 1/4 the package directions, increasing that for more mature plants to about 1/2 strength but rarely full strength for anything. If your product states it is specifically for seed trays and flats, it may be fine used according to the package measurements - however, be aware most fertilizer products come with directions for using more than is necessary.
The grocery store has these living lettuce plants in a neat container. We eat the lettuce, punch holes in the container, and sew seed there. The lid, when closed keeps moisture in and makes a nice little greenhouse. I am currently working on 5 split leaf philodendron seeds purchased on Ebay. Two have sprouted. These are common house plants, but when grown outside in our climate, they will climb the highest tree, and produce an amazing fruit called Monstera Deliciosa. I put them outside during the day in partial shade, then bring them in to spend the night on a heating pad turned on low.
Suzi
I buy my starter plants from a local mom & pop seed and feed store for $1.89 a four pack. I purchase heirloom seeds online from Baker Creek. As I get better at starting from seeds I buy less and less starter plants. I am not militant about it but seed saving and sowing just makes better sense. A lost art being revived.
container vegetable gardening 365 days a year in zone 9b.
I am not familiar with your seed, but generally with seed that size with a hard seed coat, I use course sand paper fastened to wood blocks and role the seed between them to wear through the coat. Then when they are soaked the seed will swell indicating the moisture is into the seed. Al
They should germinate.
Don't even need to dry them.
I usually break up old pumpkins (some rotted, some not) and throw them in the garden. They germinate very well, don't even need to bury the seeds. Just place the seed side down on the ground with the pumpkin section on top.
I'm not sure it helped all that much, it sounded a little vague to me - like they don't think it would hurt seeds but aren't positive enough to clearly say it absolutely won't hurt any, or any type.
I took it as maybe they would be fine, or maybe you should take them with you :)
It is slow to recover but I think it is recovering. Still broken glads and my zinnia is the slowest I've ever seen it growing. It looks like they started from scratch and with the heat maybe not growing so fast. The cosmos is such a gangbuster. The ones that I didn't stand up have started rooting on the ground and growing up from the horizontal stems. I thought about trying to throw more cosmos seed out there but I've never threw out seed this late. I guess it won't be that expensive an experiment. I figure I probably get germination from late season seed throwers anyway that bloom towards the end of the season so why not. I did take the opportunity to go ahead and purchase a couple at a time perennials so I did cheat a little.
Here are my pictures. The salvias are all taken from my previous house and are taking off like expected. There is a bee balm moved from the old yard too and I added a few low growing varieties in front of it. You can see the small zinia seedlings that I wonder if I'll ever get bloom from and the cosmos in there. Even some with a couple little buds but I snipped those off already.
In the middle here are the four o'clocks. Gotta have those. They never fail and laughed at being trampled. Unfortunately, the front of the 4 o'clocks is the only area the portulaca seems to be growing so I may try to move some of the seedlings to more bare areas in the front of the border where I wanted to anyway. All the rest have dissappeared and never to be seen again.
This area took the brunt of the abuse. You can see some of the cosmos laying on the ground between the 2 healthy ones. These are the ones that are rooting so I am going to leave them alone. I figure eventually they may be bushier than the others the way the vertical growth is coming off the horizontal ones. Hopefully they will fill in the area, but this is probably where I'll throw some extra seed.
I read this when you first posted and felt just awful for you. So glad so many plants are recovering so well. Don't know how much is "missing" but what is there looks really great, especially after reading what happened. Absolutely still time for more seeds! Keep up the good work!
I had windows replaced once and the entire area outside 2 of the windows was a flower bed. They used a few concrete cinder blocks with a board laid over them to give them a place to step without stepping in the garden. Hopefully your wall won't need maintenance for years now, but just wanted to mention that for next time somebody needs to access a flower bed area, it might be a workable solution.
I use Oasis foam to start my seedlings, and I often reuse foam from seeds that didn't sprout in the bottom of containers when I pot my seedlings. This has caused some seeds to decide they *want* to grow- I have sunflowers coming out of pots with seeds that are more slow-growing!
Hi cookie,
Yes, you should put drain holes in the bottom of the trays; the soil needs good drainage to allow oxygen to reach the roots. The soil needs to be damp but not wet.
Don't know what kind of plastic trays you have, but some plastics will crack or break if you try to drill holes through it. I usually burn the holes through using an old soldering iron, but of course anything hot enough would work as wall.
As for what to cover the trays with, keep in mind that the only purpose of covering the trays is to prevent the soil from drying out too quickly. If you're home all the time and can make sure the soil stays slightly damp, you really don't need to cover the trays at all. In fact, in my opinion, it's better if you can get by without covers. If you work all day and can't watch the plants close enough, then you might be better off covering the trays with something that would let the light in (glass, clear plastic, or even Saran or Handi Wrap).
Hope this helps,
Art
Yes, trays without holes are intended for holding other containers like cell packs, containers that already have holes in them. Solid trays should not be used for direct planting in.
Since it is already planted, rather than drilling you can use a hot nail, solder iron, woodburner iron, etc. to melt small holes in the bottom of the tray.
Dave
Hi thank you
I also forgot to mention.
I belong to zone 11, generally nice sunshine throughout the day, temp especially during the summer is around 80s, upper 80s.
Recently, some of my seeds started sprouting and noticed white fuzz around the stem where they emerged. I wonder if this is a cause for alarm (warning sign of damping off etc)
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