6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I gave them about over a month, since most sites say germination time is about 10 days.
Doesn't it need sunlight to germinate? Or artificial light will do? The design of my house is done in such a way that no direct sunlight gets through the windows. It is cooler in the house if the air cond is on, but it's not always on.
Sometimes the house is warmer than outside, depending on the weather; it's rather erratic during this time of the year.
Susan, a specific seed starting mix isn't the normal product used in winter sowing or sowing outdoors. You may have found a potting mix with a pre emergent included but I've never seen it in any of the brands I've purchased and I don't think it's typical. You make a good point for reading the labels though ;)
Wow! I sure got a lesson in Liatris! Thanks! We have some growing in a patch we let go wild in our front yard. I always wondered why there weren't more of them. We recently went for a drive and saw tons of them growing near the ditches. I guess moisture does play a major factor in their germination. Thanks morz.
I don't really get enough summer heat to make them truly happy and only grow them occasionally, but -
"Zinnias will cross-pollinate. Gardeners should only grow one variety at a time to save pure seed, or isolate varieties by 1/4 mile. "
Oh great, thank you for pics and info!I can now clearly see the tan colored Echinacea seeds. I had rubbed them off the flower head, together with the black spikes. It will be a job to separate them... or, since there is plenty, should I start all over ? But how do you poke the seeds out from between the spikes without also getting the spikes ? I don't seem to see well enough...
Re: portulaca, how do you know when the seeds are ripe? Yesterday I had collected several of these soft " buds" and left them in an open paper bag to dry. I just looked again, some of these "buds"are still very soft, when I squeeze them they turn into a mushy mess with nothing remotely like a black seed in sight. However, I can also see some tiny black dots sticking to the inside of the paper bag....obviously some of the buds contained them, but which ones? In other words, what am I looking for that will contain ripe seeds? It's pretty cool and rainy now here in Toronto, the portulaca stopped blooming a while back, I am assuming that the seeds should be ripe now, unless they already fell to the ground?
The ripe pods would be open, they would split if they have spilled their seeds. Look for some intact, and while not completely brown and dry looking, look for those at least more yellow green than green. Open one, see if the seeds inside are black and mature to get an idea of which will have the ripe seeds.
If you are finding them unripe, another way to avoid missing the ripe seeds before they are released from the pod and spilled onto the ground, bag the end with the pod (s). Take a square of nylon stocking and a twist tie, that way you can leave it on the plant ripening until the last possible minute and not risk losing the seeds.
I have a lot of unripe monkshood and turtle head pods right now, I'll be bagging this weekend with the weather getting iffy so I don't lose them in a Fall storm where I'm not paying attention.
Hi Tom, I got mine at the local 5 & 10, an ancient, ramshackle store that is stuffed to the gills with practically everything. But you can find them online, Amazon and Walmart etc. have them. They're called "coin and small parts envelopes".
They are more expensive than the plastic zip bags, but paper might be a better storage material because it allows the seeds to breath. But I have good results with both. Storing seeds in the fridge maintains their viability for many years.
I started out using small plastic bags, but I sometimes had mold problems if the seeds had any moisture. Then I used pieces of paper that I cut, folded, and taped. Then I moved on to cutting up larger envelopes, which didn't involve as much cutting and taping. And then I discovered "coin envelopes" at Staples. They measure 2-1/4" X 3-1/2", are made from manila paper, have a gummed flap, and they're just the right size. A box of 500 costs about $17. For me, that's at least a 5-year supply, and it saves me a lot of trouble.
Here is a link that might be useful: Coin envelopes
The best thing to do is to make your own. What you want is a soil block maker. These can be moderately expensive, but it's also fairly easy to make your own from scratch if you're a little but handy. Just Google "soil block maker" and you'll get lots of hits for instructions on how to make your own and to videos showing their use. Below is a link to one reliable source if you want to get an idea of how much they typically cost. The video on that same page is helpful to watch as it shows how you can use different size cubes to "pot up" if you want to.
Here is a link that might be useful: Soil block maker
One other thing. You might want to read these reviews on Amazon for the tool I linked you to in my previous post as the comments give some helpful tips as well.
Here is a link that might be useful: Soil block maker review
I don't know what part of the country you are in, ProMix and Fafard are both well liked for sowing those seeds by many who don't want to use a regular seed sowing medium.
Neither are available to me here (No Ace Hardware here either, if they don't stock I think they will order ProMix and let you pick it up for no shipping.), I use the Cornell Peat Light 'recipe' but mixed, bagged for us by a local nursery - I don't have to buy the ingredients in bulk and mix myself.
As for the vegetables tossed back into the garden, some may germinate...it will depend on weather, birds, rodents too to some extent, things that would eat the seeds. I've had tomatoes, cukes germinate and grow in the compost pile, not peppers.
If you allow your zinnia seeds to dry thoroughly, then put them someplace cool and dry to store, they should germinate at 70-72F when you sow them in Spring. No pretreatment needed.
Don't know about zinnia seeds, but I can tell you from experience, be careful where those tomato seeds go. They self-seeded in the garden, the compost and thus plant pots, other parts of the garden. Their tough seeds live through city sewage treatment!
The Dowdswell Site is excellent, but keep in mind for growing on the plants if you did achieve germination - NZ has 4 distinct (even if mild) seasons. Their weather is approximately similar to my own. I've purchased their seeds and it's a wonderful company, but sadly it does not sound as though you have the climate to raise the plants if you did manage to germinate seeds.
If I couldn't sow them outdoors, the info I used when sowing came from Penn State hort and it said you really don't want them frozen solid for any length of time...so yes, I'd use the fridge. Hopefully no one will sit a holiday turkey on them, or assume they are leftovers gone bad or something :)
Seriously, what I've done is clearly mark a container so there is no mistaking it's something I want, put it in one of the bins, in the back. No body but me would ever clean the refrigerator so safe here.
I can't help you as I am not familiar with your climate but you could try the Winter Sowing Forum here on GW. Their definition of 'winter' is pretty flexible. Or the Annuals Forum.
Here is a link that might be useful: Annuals Forum
cribscreek, it sounds like your cool Fall vegetables may be a little late if a normal weather year - the suggestion is September for quick to mature vegetables. But, do you have a County Ext agency near you where you could get information specific to your area?
I know you've been warmer and with more sun than this Z8, my sis is in Raleigh this week greeting a new granddaughter ;) You could sow seeds for poppies and nigella now, they will likely germinate in the next few weeks with some sun and thundershowers but many of the seedlings will make it through winter, even brief snows. What I do with both those seeds is toss some out in Fall, again December, again early March - in a bad winter year I'll have seedlings from one of those sowings, and in a good year I'll have some from each sowing for a longer succession of blooms.
Here is a link that might be useful: ncsu.edu Fall sowing
If you mean when would you start them for next season, I would say around early March. I'm in a colder zone and I start my peppers indoors in mid-March for planting out in June. You might peruse the Hot Pepper forum to see when others start their seeds.
If you mean how soon can you start them after harvesting, I would say any time, as long as the peppers were ripe when you extracted the seeds. They don't need to be dried for immediate use(they may even germinate sooner than dry seeds), but do need to be dry before storing them for later planting.
Fuyu Persimmon only needs one tree to bear fruit. Mine does. I don't think you need 2 trees for that.
I wonder persimmons need to have male and female plant to bear fruit??? I have only one plant and it has plenty of fruits.