6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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.
DionKar,
I've grown the Ballerina Purples, from my saved seeds, for the last three years. Sometimes the seed pods turn brown before splitting open and sometimes they split open while still entirely green. I don't know why that is, but in both cases the outer part of the pods are always "soft mushy" and the ripe seeds are a light brown color. If you open one of the seed pods before it splits on it's own, the seeds will be white.
Also, when I say they 'sometimes turn brown', I don't mean 100% brown. I guess I should say that the green pods are in the process of turning brown. I've never seen one that was completely brown.
Hope this helps,
Art
Ok so I did a bit more digging around and pulled up some interesting facts:
1) Contrary to what a lot of people say, drying seeds to 0% humidity might not be bad, according to this site:
http://www.seedcontainers.net/a_guide_to_long-term_seed_preservation.html
2) Certain seeds can be dried "desiccation-tolerant":
http://howtosaveseeds.com/store.php
Any additional comments would be appreciated!
I think you would learn a lot by reading the work of Norman C Deno. The professor spend many years experimenting with seed viability and storage. His work is now free on the internet. Look under his name or 'Seed Germination Theory and Practice'. Al
Hmmmm. It shouldn't need any kind of pretreatment, although a brief moist chill wouldn't hurt it either. How deep are you covering the seeds - barely cover and see if some light helps you.
Stachys coccinea - Sow at 68F, should germinate in approx 2 weeks. Warmer temps may delay germination.
Are they in seed trays or individual pots? 5cm is getting a bit tall for tomatoes still to be in trays. You should prick them out into individual pots of seedling compost and when they are about 15 - 20cm tall and have two or more sets of true leaves you can plant them in their final positions. Can't help you with the melons really as I can't grow them in my climate but the same would apply to pricking out and then transplanting into final positions. BTW the rate of growth sounds normal to me but I do live in a cool climate. I sow tomatoes in late March to plant out in late May.
Welcome compostkid to the GardenWeb. When I read your post my first association of Victoria was not with Australia. I agree with flora's advice, but would suggest you edit your posting address to indicate your zone and your down under location. Al
What you are looking for is PLUGS. Not typically sold at retail level. Jiffy makes pre-forma plugs, but again, for commercial growers. You may be better off trying to find a greenhouse in your area that either grows or purchases plugs, and seeing if you can get something from them
thanks ilovetogrow & purpleinopp, I really thank you for the information. I have no basement, but do have an extra fridge that I keep my tulip bulbs and other tubers in. I just keep it set on about 50 degrees. I will check about my zone 7 here in middle tn (used to be z6)
thanks again
Tom
The look like little shuttlecocks. Squeeze the end of each one to be sure there is a ripe "egg" that is viable. If they're flat, you might not have a good seed. Also, the seed should easily come off the head if you flick it with your fingernail. The hairs are sharp and getting stuck gives me hives, so watch out.
HTH
You might find this helpful.
http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn_and_garden/GROWING%20VEGETABLES%20IN%20SOUTH%20FLORIDA.pdf
Here is a link that might be useful: Easy to grow vegetables
wannabe - if you have germinated Leucanthemum superbum (Shasta) or L vulgare (ox eye daisy) they will not need any protection from a UK winter. As long as they cannot be damaged by animals e.g. birds or squirrels, or washed out by rain, they will be fine outdoors. A cold greenhouse would be OK but not necessary. They definitely don't need feeding and will only need watering if they are under cover. These plants are totally hardy in a UK winter and frequently self seed all by themselves. If there are a lot in one pot or tray you can leave them till the spring and then prick out to individual pots or wider spacing in trays. Or you could do it now if they have a few true leaves. Once the plants are a reasonable size you can plant them out in the garden. This can be done throughout the year in our climate once they are big enough, providing it is not frosty or very hot and dry (ha ha). Don't feed and don't water except when first planted out. Most average UK soils are fine for these tough plants with no additional fertilising. A mulch of compost once a year is all they need - in fact these don't even need that.
I reiterate my recommendation to get a good basic UK based gardening book. All this would be covered in a good text.
Heat pads are not that popular here. If you Google you will find references to arthritis and reptiles, rather than gardening. They are just a way of getting warmth under seed trays. You might see heated propagators in the garden centre. I have one but gardened for at least 20 years before I got one - and that was a present. Left to my own devices I probably wouldn't even have one now. You will also see people on here talking about lighting set ups for indoor growing. Don't bother. They are totally unnecessary in our conditions where we have a long slow growing season and don't need to get our plants ready for a short planting window in the spring. Our climate is very forgiving of lazy gardeners and a week or three either way makes little difference.
Enjoy the current Indian Summer. Flora.
What a terric post Flora, thank you it explains an awful lot.
I wish I was as experianced as you. I just want to do so much, I find this gardening so exciting.
Yes I've looked at heated propagators and was thinking of getting one, but perhaps not after what you said.
I've got loads of gardening books and I look at gardening sites but none seem to go into detail and detail is the bits I'm missing so I get so far and don't know what o do next!
But Flora you have made a lot of things clear Thanks and Thanks again.
Yup, what a lovely Indian summer - long may it last (well a couple of days more at least).
wannabegardeninggirl SE UK
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.
Same here . . . I'm the only one who cleans the fridge! I just got finished cleaning about 20 seeds. I'll do more tomorrow. Can't wait to try this. Thanks again. Donna