6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I frequently save zinnia seed in the "green seed" stage, when the petals still have come color but the seeds have fattened up. I either plant them immediately for a quick second generation, or dry them for storage.
There are at least two advantages to saving zinnia seeds in the green seed stage. First, you give birds much less chance to eat your zinnia seeds. Second, you avoid the danger of a wet spell pre-germinating your zinnia seeds in the seedhead. And, if you are trying to grow a second generation of zinnias, you get several weeks headstart by gathering the seeds in the green stage and planting them immediately.
ZM
White fuzz isn't damping off - it's just some external mould. You get it on peat pots too. Ignore it. If you really had damping off your seedlings would be falling over and dying.
True damping off is easily prevented by simply not over watering your sowing medium. I wouldn't worry about the potting soil at all as long as you water sensibly. It will never be truly sterile from the moment you open the bag. We are surrounded by fungal spores all the time but as long as you don't provide the conditions they need to grow they will cause you no problems.
Transplanting them into larger plastic cups will do them a world of good. In cell packs, you can bet that their roots are already hitting bottom. You dont have to wait for true leaves to transplant. Tomato seedlings are pretty tough little guys. At 5 weeks old they should be a lot bigger than 2". I started mine at least a week later than you and in 16oz. cups they are 5-6 " tall working on their 3rd set of true leaves. I started fertilizing after transplanting, but with a very weak solution.
Yeah, I would keep them under lights until they can stay outside.
I would check out there root system as mandolls said. If they are becoming root bound, transplanting them into larger containers, buried deeper would help. I would hold off fertilizing until they settle into all these changes. I use miracle grow at 1/4 strength and just bottom water with it once a week. I hope that helps! Happy gardening
Keriann~
I can't think of a selective herbicide that I would trust for seedlings. There may be a couple on the market you might feel confident using around established mature plants but I would hesitate even then.
A preemergent wouldn't have helped you, it would have prohibited germination of your flower seeds too and not just the crab grass. I think your best choice is going to be to pull the grass seedlings, and when your plants have reached a better size, mulch between and around them to cover any more existing weed seeds.
It's called weeding, we all do it :) But don't despair, this first year of reclaiming a weedy area that had been let go will be the worst, if you keep up with the weeding (let none go long enough they produce and disperse seed) -you'll find you have less and less as seasons pass.
Check out the Seed Saving forum here for storage and use guidelines. It is linked on the front page of this forum and provides detailed FAQs on your question.
As Al said air tight, steady temp, no light exposure, avoid exposure to heat and humidity, etc. works best. But fridge storage is convenient for many and poses no problems for the seeds. Most, not all, seeds are usable for many, many years when properly stored.
Dave
Hi Yippee,
"...so long as seeds are kept in the proper environment, can they be used a year or two later or do seeds have a certain shelf-life, even when kept in optimum settings?"
Seeds do have a "shelf life". The longevity of seeds in ideal storage varies greatly with the variety of the seed. As you can see from that table, some seeds are lucky to last for a year, while others are good for many years. My hobby is growing zinnias, and fortunately their seeds are fairly long lasting. I store my zinnia seeds in Ziploc bags on a shelf in my basement. I hope to improve on that in the future. While a refrigerator might not be necessary, it would be insurance against the seeds getting too hot in a room environment. And it would keep the seeds away from exposure to harmful levels of light. When my budget allows, I think I will get a small refrigerator for seed storage.
I also recommend you read the article Giving Seeds What They Need In Storage that is also linked on the Hill Gardens of Maine website. I think the tip about keeping stored seeds away from exposure to light is something that many people overlook.
ZM
Some "tricks" that work for me - use a sterile germination mix (I use Burpee's mixes, but there are many other good ones); use plastic cell packs (I use deep six packs that I purchase in bulk from a greenhouse supply site - a case lasts me a long time); wet the medium thoroughly before planting (I fill the cells dry and use boiling water to wet them, the leave them overnight to cool and for the moisture to be thoroughly distributed and absorbed); cover the seeds with bird gravel or fine chicken grit (I read this tip once to prevent damp off, and over the years it has proven true for me); water each planted cell with a small, gentle shower of water to settle the grit; cover with a humidity dome - propped slightly open to prevent excess moisture build-up and allow air circulation; resist watering again until well after you see germination unless the medium becomes very dry (unlikely if it was thoroughly wetted before planting); remove humidity cover and put directly under lights once there is germination. Water seedlings only as needed (when I think they need water, I check the weight of the six pack to confirm that they need water; it's a test that I find useful to avoid overwatering). I do not feed seedlings until they are planted out. I also have a fan circulating air and blowing on the seedling. Don't skimp on your light setup (I mean amount of light, not necessarily $ - there are frugal set-ups that work just fine). Make sure it is big enough and adjustable - you'll be much happier with your results if you can give the seedlings sufficient indoor light.
Of course, YMMV.
No lawn specialist (you might ask over on that forum here) but it sounds to me like you need to be watering less frequently but for a longer period of time. Well-watered it shouldn't be drying out that quickly.
Depending on the temps and the exposure I'd water 2x a day - early morning and again mid-afternoon - for a good hour or more and do that until it showed good germination. Then cut it to 1x a day. That's what the lawn guy recommended to us when we re-seeded part of ours that was a full sun plot and 80 degree days.
Either way if it is drying out then I don't think you need to worry about over-watering it.
Dave
Congratulations on your sproutlings!! May they live long, bloom-heavy lives and grow to be colorful additions to your flowerbeds. It's easy to get impatient when you provide the best growing medium & optimal growing conditions but it's best to stand back once that's done and let the seeds do what they do best...sprout when the time is right. Tomorrow I'm going to be planting ornamental dogwood trees I grew from seed via winter sowing--they're nearly 3 ft. tall and well branched so it's time to get them in the ground and let them do their thing. It'll be bittersweet in some ways--I'll be planting them beside the stumps of mature dogwoods that snapped off 12 ft. from the ground back in the October snowstorm and had to be cut down.
actually as long as it isn't a deluge, a day or two of rain will be just the thing. It will give the ground a nice deep yet 'soft' watering which is a perfect start.
I planted my carrots and beets a few days ago, knowing we had a couple days of rain ahead.
But yes overly hard or extended rain is not good.
The one on the left, along with 4 others that look just like it, were under 2 - 4' long cool fluorescent tubes. The one on the right, along with 4 others that look just like it were under 2 - 4' long fluorescent tubes, but one was a cool light tube and the other was a warm light (aquarium/plant type light bulb.) So I believe the reason the one on the left is so scrawny is because it was only under the cool lights. I now have it under the same lights as the one on the right and hoping it catches up quickly. :)
Hi Kim ( heirloomjunkie )
Good things come to those who wait ;-)
I took some pics of my garden this morning (90 actually) but I won't boor you with them all,but here is a few ,notice the Chard (Swiss and Rainbow) and of course (just to rub it in) an up date on my Spinach ;-)
Oh, Jon! These pictures made my night! Are you able to grow such stuff now because you're in a maritime climate? I'm so envious!
The reason I came to the thread, though, is that I've never ever had a successful crop of spinach. Obviously I am doing things terribly wrong! I'm in Missouri and have planted from March to May over the years.
A few sprouts at most. My soil is organically cared for, fed well, mulched. Something I'm doing is DEATH to spinach! Any ideas?
Thanks for the lovely walk through my future summer greens. :D
I'm not sure but it looks like that one may be wahlenbergia cuspidata Blue Cloud -
You may have the seeds a little warmer than ideal at 75ish, and going by whats helpful with the others, if its been more than a month, I'd put the sown seeds (moist) into the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks (wrap the tray/pot in saran). Bring them back out and if you have someplace about 10F cooler than the 75F they are in now to leave them for a while, do that.
Here, I'd put the pots outdoors now but I understand you aren't having the same cool weather (50 and raining at noon). If its difficult for you to control the temperature and not have them too warm, if you have more seed why don't you sow again in late Fall, leave the pots outdoors. Surface sow these, don't cover the seed.
Thanks for the helpful info, morz. When the seeds self-sowed, it was in summer and temps were in mid 70s, so I tried to give the seeds those same temps. I'll try to stratify them, as well as a few other methods you suggested. I have lots of seeds, so it couldn't hurt to try a few different methods at the same time to see what else works.
If no seedlings germinate, it could very well be they're no longer viable. They're about 6 years old and from what I understand, the longer seeds are kept, the less viable they become.
Rene - you can plant Brassicas deeper when they go out into the garden. It will support them and they are able to root from the stem. Here's a discussion from a while back.
Here is a link that might be useful: Planting Brassicas
It's possible but not definite unless it is a real incline where they are planted. What is most likely is that it floated many of them into clusters and clumps. Once they sprout you can thin them out or transplant them as needed.
Of course you can always over seed the area again to be safe but will likely have to really thin them out then.
Dave
I did reseed the area that I planted up the day before the hard rains...it was one solid puddle. But I'm leaving the other beds alone. After those 2 rainy days we had 85 degree weather, and it will be 90 today. If those seeds don't start popping up soon, I guess I'll have my answer!