6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Gardens North (Canada, one of the few companies that will ship moist packed seeds of those that don't do well if allowed to dry) They will add a fee for the phytosanitary certificate so be aware of that.
Chiltern Seeds (UK) (no fee)
Plant World Seeds (UK) (no fee)
I've had good luck with Hazzard's Seeds and you certainly can't beat their huge selection. Their CS is great. They've offered free shipping on New Year's Eve the past two years so I try and wait until then to place my order. They're a wholesale seed seller but anyone can order.
Diane's Flower Seeds is a Gar*den Watch*Dog Top 30 seller + she provides great information for growing the seeds she sells. I've had good germination from Diane's seeds.
Botanical Interests includes lots of great information on their seed packs about growing their seeds.
I usually get annoyed when someone says go look somewhere else but this time I think the suggestion to go to Annuals - GardenWeb is a good suggestion. There seem to be a lot of zinnia enthusiast cluster there.
I don't usually tell people to "go look somewhere else."
There is so much info about zinnias, a most unusual plant, on the other forums, I would have felt compelled to paste several entire threads here to answer OP's questions.
I winter sowed several different penstemon types (Mystica, Esprit & P. strictus 'Rocky Mountain') from traded seeds and not only did they all sprout, they grew into good-sized healthy plants. They're excellent winter sowing candidates. To be quite honest, EVERYTHING I winter sowed grew into healthy, beautiful plants and many bloomed first year from seed including two dwarf hollyhocks, lupine, turtlehead, butterfly bush & blackberry lily.
Wow! I never heard of winter sowing and Gardenweed has me all excited - I have a brown to black thumb but love flowers. NM is a HAARD place to garden if you don't want to make your own soil! I have noticed store bought plants grow better if planted on a cool day late in the day - esp. If it might rain during the night or next day, or at least is cool the next day or two.
THANK YOU ALL!!
Mandolls-Thanks for your post. This was my second year starting seeds inside.
The first year, I used a fan on my seedlings at least 15 minutes daily, but forgot this year. We are in a very windy area. I set my pretty plants out for a few hours a few weeks ago and killed off all of them! I then had to go spend a lot of money on plants so that I would have a complete garden this year. What a devastating way to start the garden season ;(
But what a payoff like you had this year it will be to master being self-sufficient and not relying on the nurseries to decide which varieties I should plant in my garden. Plus, at 30, I have a lot of years to benefit from figuring this out.
How do I post my own question about melons? I just joined this sight today and I do not know much about how to use it. I want to know what kind of melon Cindy Crawford uses in her Meaningful Beauty products. It is a melon found in Europe or some other country, she has said the name of it on TV, but don't remember the name or where it is grown. I would LOVE to grow them myself. Anyone know?
I get seeds from all of my shasta daisies every year and replant them in different places in my yard. I wait until the fall or late summer when the flowers turn to seeds, and they are dry and when I pick one and the seeds are loose. I have given hundreds of seeds away as each flower produces hundreds of seeds. I do not have the shasta that you have. I would love a few seeds to plant in my yard, and will give you some of the seeds I have. I have 2 different kinds.
Bookjunky, it is known for being weedy or invasive but not prohibited that I know of. Easily spread by birds picking up the seeds so you may not see the effects close to home...
"Sow seed in spring in a cold frame (stored, dried seed germinates better if it is stratified - given a moist chill of several weeks) Remove any fruit flesh from seed before it is sown since this can inhibit germination. The seed can also be sown in outdoor seed beds in Fall" PFFD database
Both celery and carrots are commercially grown here along the coast as winter harvested crops. Weeds will germinate long before these crops and overwhelm them as yours are doing. The farmer waits for the weeds to germinate and hits them with a herbicide spray before the carrots or celery have broken ground. This is very effective in weed prevention. Al
I think every gardener can appreciate your situation. If you have seeded veggies in rows, I have found the best way is to get down on the knees on a garden pad and pull them by hand. I can quickly pull the weeds in between the rows and then I focus on the weeds closer to the veggie seedlings. I pull them carefully, one at a time, around the vegetable seedlings. I then hill some soil around the disturbed veggie seedlings and carefully water as soon as possible to minimize plant stress. I think the number one trick is to pull weeds when they are small - they are easier to pull and have smaller root systems so the veggie seedlings are disturbed as little as possible. Once the area is weeded, maintain it by pulling some of the new weeds every time you go to the garden.
If the weeds near the veggie seedlings are too big to safely pull, then cut them off with a pruning shears and continue to remove any new growth until your veggies are harvested.
I do not do block planting so I have no advice to offer you if this is your seeding method other than to remove the weeds when they are young.
Whatever happens, do not give up on gardening. Weeds are very frustrating but you will be better off stress-wise by accepting that this problem will occur every season. Weeds must be dealt with to get a good harvest so experiment and find what works best in your situation. Many, many weed control methods and strategies exist out there and are used with varying degrees of success.
Good Luck!
-Tom
With annuals that have yet to flower, if i cont to keep pinching them back and cut off any buds, will this give me stronger plants if i manage to overwinter and they survive? Many of them have had a sudden spout of energy and its nearly september now so it quite late in the year. Im thinking to prevent the flowering stage until after last frost so the plant will stil need to bloom to carry on its life stages. Am i right or is this a bad concept?
Aha - I have just realised where you live.
The following are hardy annuals or biennials and can overwinter outdoors in the UK: aster, snapdragon, sunflower, poppy, larkspur and viola. However, they will need good drainage and protection from slugs and snails. The dahlia, lobelia and impatiens will die with the first frost. Personally I would not bother to bring them inside as they are highly unlikely to make it through the winter in the house. If you have a greenhouse with above freezing temps they might live over. The shrubs and perennials will be fine and need no help to overwinter. The Fuchsia might die depending on whether it is a hardy variety or not.
It sounds as if you need a good basic book on gardening in the UK. The sweet peas, for example, would have been best sown indoors in late winter. All should be in the ground by now, not in pots, and that may well be part of your problem. You have quite a mixture of plants there some of which need quite different conditions so I'd recommend looking them up. Also some are very easy eg Euonymous fortuneii and some are quite tricky eg Rodgersia. Advice from the US, while sometimes helpful, is often from people unfamiliar with our kind of climate. The whole zone concept means very little in the UK. Theoretically we are in z 8/9 but it doesn't mean much as we do not get the highs and lows of US zones 8/9.
The link is to an article on sowing hardy annuals. You need to look down the page.
Here is a link that might be useful: When to sow annuals
One point not made here, only relative to those planting in the garden or in containers, in the garden. When sowing sweet peas, it is wise to bait for slugs at the same time. I have seen gardeners complain their seeds never germinated, when in fact the slugs ate them as they broke ground. Al
I start my seeds in four inch salvaged nursery pots. I can grow up to 50 plants to transplant size in this pot. I cover the pots with plastic wrap held on with a rubber band, until germination. They must then be moved to a cooler location with more light and good air circulation. Al
alex2828 - if you have an area outside where you can put containers, I suggest you check out winter sowing. There is a winter sowing forum here on GardenWeb where you can read about it and ask questions. It's fun, easy, low-cost and a great way to play in dirt right through the winter. There's no guessing/worrying whether the seeds need light or dark because it's all up to Mother Nature. She's been doing it for a few million years and is pretty good at it.