6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I think that it is inevitable that amateurs will begin dabbling in genetic modification. Most of the genetic modification is now done by big companies in expensive laboratory facilities, but amateurs will devise ways of doing it without big investments or elaborate laboratories. Science Fair projects by children will do genetic modification. For example, the gene gun was originally a modified Crosman air pistol. Kids will enjoy creating new forms of life. Welcome to living in a science fiction world. Will things go wrong? Probably.
ZM
Right now, most GMO seed is for big ag commodity crops- RoundUp Ready soy, corn, canola, and now alfalfa. There is also BT corn & BT cotton, which has BT wedged in there to kill the corn & boll worms when they take a bite. They are evolving to resist that now....
You have to buy GMO seed from the source- Monsanto or whoever, and you have to sign a pledge that you won't perform any experiments with it, and that you won't save the seed. There can be pollen drift which containmates regular seed being grown nearby, (like with corn) but in general, the average gardener cannot get their mitts on GMO seed.
Hybridizing plants for disease resistance & other qualities has been going on since the dawn of time. The key element there, is that it is cross pollination within the same species, and is perfectly natural.
Some Hybrids aren't all that great though- it depends on how much & in what way they have been tweaked. There is some debate to their nutritional value. But there are also Hybrids which have been developed to bump up nutrition, so...read the fine print with them, do trials, etc.
But Hybrids are not GMOs. GMOs are created when one species' genes are inserted into another species' DNA. With BT corn, a bacterium's gene (bacillus thuringiensis a known caterpillar kiler) is inserted into corn or cotton DNA. I don't know what RoundUp Ready seed has inserted, but the basic function of RoundUp is to weaken the plant's natural defenses to enable soil borne pathogens to take over & kill the plant. RoundUp resistant weeds are evolving & becoming a problem now. Old school pesticide companies are quite happy about that~
Google Don Huber & glysophate. Not only are we eating loads of RoundUp every day in soy, corn & canola products, but we are destroying our soil and reducing nutrient uptake by the crops that are sprayed with it....and our livestock is starting to show signs of infertility from GMO feedstock.
As to the Safe Seed pledges- it is incredibly expensive to test for GMO contamination. Organic seed, by definition, has to be GMO free- but I don't know if it's 100% anymore, as the USDA has watered down Organic standards to be almost comical.
Anyhoo, any seed house that makes the pledge is at least aware of the problem & is doing what they can.
Understanding the pollination of whatever you want to grow will help your decisions: if you want to grow corn, which is primarily wind pollinated, don't fool around, buy Organic seed. (Unless you know for sure it's been grown far away from any GMO corn fields.) Stuff that is mostly self pollinated and non commodity (like tomatoes, peppers, melons, etc.) there's not alot to worry about in terms of GMO contamination. Yet!
I hope this helps- it does get confusing & alarming. But at this point you're more likely to eat GMO food than accidentally buy GMO seed. But they have all kinds of GMO plants & animals in the pipeline for eventual release. ...
Johnny Chapman may have been a nut but he provided apple trees for over 3 states for the local farmers for 5 cents per seedling. As for me I have never eaten any apple that was home grown that was not 10 times better tasting than any store bought apple. Red and Yellow delicious have a great taste if picked off your own trees, store bought just do not have that much flavor. I learned a while back that there are no such things as an expert, only educated guessers.
You can put something like chicken wire around to keep your dog away from eating your tender plant again. About all it will be good for is looks anyway. My wife seems to love them also but now I have a Mango tree that has frozen back so is of no use as a fruit tree due to the bitterness of fruit from a mango that has died back to the ground but she like to look and seen this tree which has now become a bush with many trunks.
heavenlyfarm,
Here is a very good article on how to grow pansies from seed:
Regards,
Rokal
Hi there!
I just got some pansy and viola seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds. I am wondering if anyone here can tell me when would be a good time to start them (approximate date) for planting them outdoors in the springtime...early spring. I am fairly certain I planted the ones I bought at Home Depot in early April last year. I plan to let them germinate in darkness, and then grow them under lights inside. Any advice on the process would be welcomed since I've never started pansies or violas before!
Thanks in advance :)
I winter sowed both kousa dogwood and regular white-flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) two years ago and got 100% germination from the seeds. Trees grew about 14 inches per year. Last year I winter sowed apple & pear tree seeds and again had 100% germinate. This year I've sowed Acer palmatum/Japanese red maple, Cornus sericea/red-twig dogwood & apple. Germination should occur sometime around the middle of April based on last year's results.
Winter sowing is a USDA-approved method of growing annuals, perennials, vegetables, trees, shrubs, etc. in recycled containers set outside in winter. There is a winter sowing forum here on GardenWeb.
I have sown white-flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) directly into the ground and lost all to chipmunks and squirrels (rats with bushy tails). The few that sprouted were eaten immediately after sprouting in the spring.
This year I have winter sown into milk jugs and hope for better results. See Winter Sowing Forum:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/wtrsow/
and the winter sowing FAQ:
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/wtrsow/
I previously stratified, but the instructions I read said nothing about warm stratification. I pulled off all of the pulp from the berries and soaked the seed in warm water for about 4 hours. Mix some warm water with some sifted sphagnum peat. (Shaking the peat and water in a jar is a quick way to moisten the peat. All excess moisture should be squeezed out of the peat. Too much water will rot the seed.) Mix the seed with the damp peat. I put the seed/peat mixture in a zip lock bag. (Punch a few air holes in the bag.) Place bag in refrigerator for 100 days. Check occasionally to be sure the peat is still moist.
A few of the seeds were already sprouting after 100 days. I planted the seeds/seedlings in an outside transplanting area. The squirrels and chipmunks soon ate those, also.
I may try to winter sow these directly into the ground, and put a quarter-inch-hardware-mesh wire cage over the top. (Something similar to a bottomless bird cage.) A few bricks on top to keep the critters from pushing/pulling it off will hopefully aid in survival of the seedlings.
Here is a link that might be useful: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/wtrsow/
This won't answer your question but... A few years ago before I discovered winter sowing I found an article on starting daylilies from seed. It said to throw some Perlite in a ziploc bag, add just enough water so the Perlite was damp, not wet, toss in the seeds and set the bag in a sunny window. I followed the instructions and, sure enough, 14 days later I had 12 two-inch daylily sprouts--100% germination from the 12 seeds I sowed. I potted them up to grow on, they went dormant in the fall, came up again the following spring. I finally potted them in gallon pots; one plant bloomed last summer.
I was able to find a stainless steel sink with large drain area on both sides, that had been removed from a lab. It is large enough to take a whole flat of sixpacs. My bottom heating bench, kept at 70 degrees tends to dry the soil very fast, and while using it I need to be able bottom water frequently. As soon as possible after germination I move off the heat. Al
I grow Lupin every year and have not noted the problem you are having. For me there has never been anything difficult with starting Lupin from seeds, my own saved or purchased. For purchased seed I always soak in hot water first, for my own fresh seed this is not necessary. Al
I grew all my plants via winter sowing--set the seed in a recycled milk jug with plenty of moist growers mix, stick in a label, tape the jug shut and set it out in the cold. Seeds will germinate around mid-March; plants will bloom second year. None of my winter sown lupines lost their true leaves after planting out or potting up except when they went dormant for the cold weather.
I have currently got seedlings growing at about 4 to 6cm. Orange, lemon and tangerine. All from shop bought fruit. The system I am using to get the seeds started is to give the seeds a light cold water wash to avoid them growing the own fur coats, fungus. Then place them on wet paper towels folded over to cover the seeds and place in large transparent plastic bags. They are then left in a dark cupboard for about 3 to 5 weeks until they produce roots and shoots before being transferred to pots. So far they seem not to care what they are planted into, soil or pots. I had so many germinate that I ended up using anything and everything I had in the garden because I didnâÂÂt think that it was going to work, but it has done. I do by the way live on the South coast of Spain so do have a small advantage. My advice would be try it, all you would be wasting would be your own time, and when the effort works you will glad that you did. Fruit or no fruit.
I am currently sprouting wild tangerine seeds. My grandfather had a lemon that died back in the early 80's. It came back from the rootstock as a wild tangerine. Since then about 10 more have popped up in the yard (mainly because as kids we had tangerine wars around the property. Each bore fruit within two years and each had wonderfully sweet fruit. Hopefully I will get the same result.
Lettuce does best in the spring, how close is your house to providing spring like conditions? Cool moist temperatures with lots of sunshine provides the rapid growth for lettuce. Difficult to provide indoors, but any leaf lettuce would do as well. Al
We grew it inside last year, too. The lettuce was tender & tasty cut as baby lettuce several times. We reused the clear container from purchased lettuce as described in the link. It was easy to harvest with scissors & very clean!
lights: just put it on top of stove to use the range hood CFL (stacked containers to adjust height) It was easy to adjust height of containers to keep leaves close to bulb. My family adapted well to the routine to remove it during the day & return for bright light at night.
Grew lanky still, so our method isn't perfected. I think it may have needed a liquid fertilizer more often. Since it was in clear sight it didn't get a chance to dry out.
Here are my notes from the article I've put in the link.
Lettuce Inside Notes:
Lettuce grows best indoors when the temperature is between 40 and 65 degrees and when it receives 6 to 10 hours of bright sunlight daily. Consider purchasing lights designed specifically for plant growing if your room does not receive sufficient light. Select a container at least 10 to 12 inches deep to accommodate deep roots.
soil:
Mix equal parts potting soil, vermiculite, peat and perlite and place into your container. Place your lettuce seeds in 1/8-inch deep and cover with soil mixture. Add water until the soil is soaked.
thinning:
Germination should take place after one to two weeks, at which time you will need to thin your lettuce to give it enough room to grow. You will need to remove extra seedlings so there is one seedling every 6 inches
watering & fertilizing (I would use worm or compost tea)
Add a mixture of balanced fertilizer that is equal parts nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium every two weeks.
Water the lettuce as often as necessary to keep the soil moist without being fully wet.
harvesting:
when leaves large enough to pull away or use scissors to cut & it will grow again
Here is a link that might be useful: Lettuce indoors
Your lights must be close to the plants. To do it well you will need 4 bulbs side by side for one flat. However if you used 4 bulbs you could do 3 flats. The end of your flats need to hang over the flat a few inches. You will not burn your tomatoes with grow lights. You can germinate with cool white lights. I think the other trick is to time it just right so that they don't out grow the amount of light you'll need for them to be surrounded efficiently. You will need to transplant also which means you must prepare to have more lights as they grow or just start smaller. How many flats do you plan on sowing?
It is my opinion to use smaller containers to start seeds in so your seeds wont rot. It gets to me a juggling act too to keep them at just the proper dampness. Use a spray bottle to mist them frequently on top. You don't want the mmedium soaked. Be sure to use those doam lids as they hold in the right amount of moisture.
If you haven't invested in heating mats it would be an excellent investment, trippling your germination rate. They are inexpensive if all you want to do is increase the ambient (surrounding temperature in the room) up 10-15 degrees. Once your seedlings germinate you're done with the mats. I'd be careful using bottom watering until you at least have germination and becareful not to over water.
You can also make a tent to keep the right moisture in the rooms. At this time is is of the utmost importance that you do not let the top of the seedling medium dry out or the seeds may be cooked. You must check them once or twice a day. take off the domes and give them a good mist. You can get hydrolic misters for 6 bucks at Walmart but I doubt they are in stock, just get a good spray bottle. Too much water is another major culprit for leggy tomatoes. My suggestion is to sow about as half as many seeds as you have lights for now because once you start transplanting your seedlings will take up twice the amount of space.
Another trick is to transplant a tomato plant deeper than it was grown, this goes for anything transplanted for the most part. Always pot up one size larger. It is important the plants do not sit in mushy medium. You may also pinch off a couple new leaves, this also helps to bush the plant out. I'd wait a little while though. Also don't over plant, or if you do get rid of the weaker ones early enough they are not affecting the nearby ones. Instead of pulling them out snip them off so as not to disturb the soil. I would also start fertilizing a weak solution. Look into what is best at this time. Be careful of not too my nitrogen so you don't get a lot of green but not fruit. (Research the best fertilizer for tomatoes sprouts. Some are for healthy root development, which maybe you want now. Whatever you choose dilute the solution about 1/4 and give it to them every time. the bottom watering suggestion is good but keep the mats handy incase your medium gets water logged and you have to evaporate the water fast. I prefer a heavy mist until I have reason to believe roots are extablishing.
I've grown many things in the basement, many heirloom tomatoes, so good luck, I'd get grow bulbs with the whole spectrum of lights, but cool white will germinate the seedlings due to the plants don't need light to germ but heat. Good luck, hope this has been helpful,
Micki
Of course harden off your seedlingsusing your coldframe. I'd love to make a coldframe. Yours sound like the ritz. Have you considered Winter Sowing your seeds? the benefit to that is your seedlings will be stronger and heartier. Here's a link you might be interested in. I'm sure your cold frame would be put to much good use, and you'd eliminate the problem of the seedlings being spindly. Winter sown tomatoes don't germinate as fast but because they have been grown with Ma Nature they are much hardier and catch up to their counterparts,
Let me know what you think,
Micki
Here is a link that might be useful: winter sowing tomato seeds
Hello neighbor! Is this your first time starting toms from seeds? I've started a few, and here's what I've found, especially for our neck of the woods.
I would wait until at least April to start any seeds. I had the same idea you had and started last week of March my first time and they grew WAY too big to have inside the house. Once they germinate, they grow very quickly. Mine got huge without being under lights towards the last 3 weeks because they were too tall for my shelf. I stuck them in my 3 season porch and they continued to grow until the last weeks of May when they went out, at almost 2' tall!
I suggest starting no earlier than mid April, since even if you have lights, they still get leggy because they are such sun lovers. Also, toms don't do well with nighttime temps less than 50F, so in my area outside of Boston, that still means I don't set them out permanently until Memorial Day, hence the mid April sowing. They take 4-6 weeks to be ready for transplant.
I did not use a heating mat to start the seeds; just sow and they came up inside my dining room, which is around 67F. Kept them moist with some plastic shrink wrap over the top and took the cover off as soon as there was a sprout. Just watered from the top when the soil dried out some. I did however grew them in potting soil, not seed starter mix, and there was no shock from transplant. Since there was slow release fertilizer already in the mix, I didn't do any fertilizing until they were outside. I also plucked off the bottom 2 leaves when I transplanted from a 3" pot to a 6" pot, and then again when they went out to their final containers. I started the seeds in the 3" pots. Since I had them out on the porch and in the sun during the warmer days of May, that hardened them off for me.
Oh, and drainage, drainage, drainage! Make sure you at least add some more perlite to the mix you buy or mix so they aren't standing in water. Keeping moist in one thing, too wet is another.
Good luck with your upcoming tomato jungle!
You don't say where you had the young roses, what kind of conditions they were exposed to. Some generalities:
Don't overfeed, forced new growth will be more susceptible to diseases. Good air circulation will help. Water early in the morning but only as needed, and if you don't have all day sun for them - place them where they will get morning sun so the foliage is dry from night air as early as possible.
There's a chance you did nothing wrong. Your roses from seed if taken from a hybrid plant or cross pollinated could have just had dominant bad genes and were destined to be disease prone - there is always that chance when growing them from seed that you will need to choose the healthiest and best looking from the lot and discard others.
Hi Laurie,
The mold I've seen on soil is more like a whitish colored fluffy stuff, but I think there is a reddish colored mold as well. In any case, mold is a fungus that feeds on decaying matter and is usually harmless to your plants. It is however unattractive and an indication that you might be keeping the soil too wet. Scrape the mold off the best you can, cut back on your watering and make sure you have plenty of light on the plants. Improving the ventilation is also very helpful. For example, a small fan on a timer could be used.
Hope this is helpful,
Art
Sprinkle cinnamon over the surface of your growing medium. It will neutralize the mold, inhibits damp-off and won't harm your seedlings. Smells pretty good too.