6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Thanks for all the responses.
First, silly puns are acceptable on a gardening forum, maybe the only place...but they are acceptable...and yes my cups do runneth over.
I had considered potting up, but with almost 40 total seedlings, maybe 20 or so would need a larger pot, thats a lot of new pots. I think I am going to risk taking a few losses and get them outside. I have already begun hardening off. At this point they go out in the morning when it is still cool, 6:00-6:30, and stay out until after dark, so far so good.
There is a house in my neighborhood that has had small seedlings planted for a month, and with volunteers from last year surviving in a small bed out back I am confident they will make it, as long as the transplant doesn't shock them to bad.
If they haven't been outside, you'll want to harden them off gradually (as much for wind as for sun) and it would be best to wait until after danger of frost. When you do plant them, will you be there and able to water through the hot months this first spring/summer season?
I get my supplies from Charleys, not that I expect every hobbyist to special order pots :) It can be difficult to find pots for plants that will form a tap root that are not as wide as tall and take up more than their share of room. My starter/first pots for indivdual trees, shrubs, perennials are 3.5x5" deep and I have a few of the tree pots, about 4x9" deep. You could get creative, use water bottles or litre pop bottles with drainage holes cut in (make sure they are adequate) and the tops cut off in a pinch.
Here is a link that might be useful: Charleys
Thanks so much for your help! I'll be gone for much of the summer BUT most of my property is woodland and in shade so I'm hoping that this will help. Just hope I can deer proof everything, though I *think* buckeyes are not a delicacy for deer. I did make a pot w/2 milk bottles for a paw paw once...guess I just didn't research buckeyes well enough...I will check out Charleys. Thank-you!
Thanks, Dave. I missed that. The mention of lights had me confused. I guess they were added. It looks like a patio greenhouse. I think if the doors were left open (or the cover off altogether) it would work fine for starting seeds inside.
Cover comes off just as soon as the first plants begin to sprout. Many discussions here about this, some just down the page. You can either remove the ones that have sprouted and leave the rest under the cover or take the cover off all of them and the rest will continue to germinate.
Also check out the FAQs.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: FAQs
Hi Sharlene,
The Echinacea varieties you mentioned are 'PPAF'(plant patent applied for) or PP (plant patent). This means that asexual propogation (cuttings, root divisions) are legally prohibited. These varieties are most likely F1 hybrids...so to produce these varieties � given that asexual propagation is not allowed � one MUST buy the seed from the 'owner' of the variety.
The plants will probably produce seed, and it might germinate, but will likely not resemble it's parent. Seeds produced by an F1 hybrid (F2 � or the second generation of offspring from the intentional cross that created the F1) when grown out typically express a wide variety of traits. I say, go for it. If they make seed, grow it out and start your own selecting! Who knows...after a few generations you may have a beautiful, stable 'Sharlene's Secret' echinacea!
hope this helps,
winston
Newbie, not knowing what you have sown, a broad answer is that most seeds need water, oxygen, and proper temperature in order to germinate. Some seeds require light too but not all - a lot of seeds are fine covered after sowing - at the right depth - and your seed packet will tell you which need to be surface sown, which seeds will benefit from some light.
There is only a certain amount of energy contained in the seed for germinating, pushing up through the soil (or sowing medium) towards light. Planting seeds too deeply could cause them to use all of their stored energy before reaching the soil surface, buried under your mulch for a month and kept damp, some could have germinated and died.
I'm having trouble picturing how you could remove mulch and find your seed. If it were my garden, I would pull back the mulch where I want plants to grow, sow new seed, then push the mulch back again (up to but not over the crowns of the seedlings) when plants are up and growing.
I don't think anyone is necessarily born knowing how to garden, we all make mistakes along the way. Keep asking questions and enjoy yourself, enjoy the learning process.
If on your sign in line where your user name is - you could add your gardening zone or State, it would be helpful in answering future questions. We could be more specific to needs in your particular climate then - see my own, Z8 WA coast
Today I read on another forum that the mulch will keep them from germinating due to lack of light getting in.
90% of seeds do NOT need light to germinate. Now you don't tell us what seeds you planted, what you used for mulch, how thick you put it on, or where on earth we are talking about - all vital info :) - so we can't say for sure about yours. But the odds are something else besides the mulch is wrong if none of yours have germinated after a month.
Need much more information please.
Dave
like long white filaments or hair on top of the soil, and they move
look like the trails left behind by slugs, but they move, like worms
Those are 2 very different descriptions. There are any number of airborne fungus spores and one of the most common looks like long white hairs laying on the top of the soil and they appear to move as they shift with the slightest air current.
Then, if the plants are outside and you are using garden dirt, there are nematodes. Long wire/hair-like parasites.
Otherwise, without at least a picture of what you are seeing there is no way to know. But fungus is by far much more likely than anything else.
Dave
will asume you mean cineraria = Senecioif so then need to winter sow the seed or store at 40F for 12 weeks. do not cover seed soil temp 60-62F takes 10-21 days to germinate.
OR
Cineraria - pericallisno pretreatment do not cover seed soil temp 70-75F & takes 10-14 days to germinate
Thanks for clearing that up Dave. I should be fine I'm assuming. I have no trees and an open yard. This year is a big trial and error phase for me. I have about 25 peppers (bhut, sweet, habanero) all coming up. As well as sprouts and onions.
Everything seems to be doing very well under 16 hours of light a day. The last thing I want to do is lose them because I didn't harden them off correctly. Thanks again for the info...
I will try moving them outside durring the day to see if they develop better..
You will have to harden them off well before you can do that or it will kill them.
Plus even outside there aren't enough hours of sunlight this time of year to prevent leggy seedlings.
Dave
It's hard not to go "gung-ho" when you first start gardening, but if you do too much too soon, you can be overwhelmed. Let's take it step by step and see if we can help you succeed.
Is soil amended(as questioned above)?
How much sun does your garden area get(how many hours a day) and what gardening hardiness zone are you in?
What are you fertilizing with(if at all)?
How is the 'traffic' in your garden area(kids, pets, wildlife)? I only ask this because my DS wonders why he has trouble with his garden area, but allows the GKs to walk and play on the raised beds which compacts the soil.
Hi, Destinee! What is your dirt like? How is it to dig in? Hard to dig?
Are there rocks? How big were the holes you made to put the plants in? You need to give the plants a really good start when you put them out, by adding in stuff from nature, but the right stuff. If you haven't added anything, your plants could have just starved to death.
What's the watering situation? Is it a wet area, a dry area, or do you know? Any details will help!
How much sun is there where you plant? Veggies need a lot of sun.
Let us know on this stuff and then we can tell you more things to do to give your plants a better start in life. You can do this! :D
Maybe you could pick the top three things you need to grow happily, and we can show you how to do those, then we'll add the other ones in as we go. You can't learn it all at once. It simply can't be done. But a lot CAN be!
A Teacher
(Not of gardening...grade school!) :D
The seed need 4 weeks at 40F as a pretreatment...If they did not get this then store in refrigator for required additional time....
then lightly cover seed soil temp 70-75F for germination.. taking 10-12 days..... germination to transplant 8 weeks.