6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I would not put out till after frost (that is my plan and I am in PA) Check out the website below - they have great advise on how to grow lupines.
http://www.snakeroot.net/farm/index.html
Here is a link that might be useful: lupines
Tried growing lupine from seed... planted about a dozen 3 yrs ago in sunny sandy location. One survived and looks healthy but have never had a bloom yet. One source I saw said they are annual and require seed to come back but apparently not so.
This year I purchased about a dozen potted plants, post-bloom, on clearance. They've all wilted way back before I got a chance to plant (though they've been watered regularly) and am nervous they have died off! Any comments? I LOVE lupines and can't wait to get them established in my yard in MN ;)! Thanks, Sarah
I have been very pleased with the performance of Snapdragons. I planted four inch pot size last October in full sun and they bloomed all winter until I took them out in June and replaced with Lantana for the summer months. The removed Snapdragons I planted in a tray in partial shade and cut them way back. They have grown new foliage and look like they may be blooming and ready to replant in the garden this fall. Al
I have the exact same problem -- mine are also in buckets, but I'm growing them outside, so I don't think the problem is that they are being grown indoors, or that you're lighting them artificially.
Did your soil settle a lot since the original planting? My suspicion has been that either (a) I didn't plant the seeds deep enough, (b) the soil was too loose and is settling below their leaf line with watering, or (c) when I thinned, I thinned by leaf size -- I found that the sprouting plants with smaller leaves that I pulled out had much deeper roots, so perhaps waiting to thin until the plants reach this stage is better than thinning early by leaf size.
Do not mistake a pre-emergent with a herbicide. The best known herbicide is sold as Roundup. It only works by being absorbed by growing foliage, it does not affect seed which has not germinated. During the 1950s herbicide was sprayed on fields by aircraft, but because of lawsuits from neighboring property owners from crop damage caused by drifting herbicide the practice was stopped and it is now sprayed by on the ground sprayers. There is also soil sterilizers which prevent growth in the soil for up to a year. Total Kill sounds like one of those. Al
There's nothing better than a nice garden! Okay, well maybe I can think of a couple things, but that's besides the point.
This year we decided to do more of the Heirloom and Non-Hybrid varieties so we can learn to save our seeds year after year.
We bought a seed kit from a company called SeedsNow.com. They had a crazy deal where we ended up get almost 60,000 seeds and 50 varieties of the non-hybrid types I was looking for. Definitely got some good seed this year.
I got worried at one point this summer though because it was so hot for a week straight. But now it's like an edible rain forest in my backyard :)
prhart - you can effectively stratify White Swan (or any other) Echinacea seed yourself very easily by winter sowing the seeds. Check out the Winter Sowing forum here on GardenWeb and read the FAQs. I'm actually summer sowing White Swan Echinacea from commercial seeds at the moment and they sprouted in just 7 days. Germination appears to be about 60% so far but I expect more will sprout in the days ahead.
I prepared a recycled milk jug with drainage holes, filled the lower half with growing medium, moistened it and sprinkled the seeds on the surface. I did not cover the seeds. Stuck a label in the jug, closed it with duct tape and set it in the shade on my breezeway. The seeds were Burpee, bought at a discount outlet for 50% off.
I have to agree with the outdoors voters. Apples are totally hardy and would be much healthier and happier outdoors. Once hardened off - and that is important - there is no reason to waste energy on growlights. You could put them under cover if a storm was threatening. They also need to go dormant come winter to remain healthy and they won't do that under lights indoors.
Outside definitely...Even in a hurricane the seedling is likely to be unaffected unless a tree drops right on it and crushes it. The wind just plain isn't going that fast that close to the ground and the seedling is tiny and has no wind loading....big tall trees are in danger of high winds, young trees are not.
I grew an avocado from seed that I ate from the store. I put it in peat and top soil 50/50 mix waited 2 weeks under a clamp lamp with an incandescent bulb and 3 flourescent tubes and had me a nice 5 inch seedling! I soaked the seed in warm water for 5 hours and peeled off the outer layer, worked for me at 80 degree F.
The Clothiers site says only to direct sow weigela seed. Druse (Making More Plants) states simply 'seed - outdoors in Spring' so from that I'll assume they germinate at coolish temps but don't need a prolonged moist chill.
Plant World Devon (and they do give very good sowing suggestions with their seed) says "Sowing advice: COVER WITH COMPOST OR GRIT 2mm. DEEP. SOW ANY TIME IN A COOL BRIGHT SPOT OUTSIDE. MAY BE SLOW TO GERMINATE. GROW ON INDIVIDUAL SEEDLINGS IN 3" POTS. PLANT OUT IN A WELL-DRAINED SHELTERED POSITION".
I wouldn't usually quote a seed vendor for growing instructions, but I'm not finding a lot of propagation info for weigela seed (and probably because they are easier, faster, from cuttings) in my usual sources and I do have plenty of experience with seed from Plant World - if that helps you at all.
I grew delphinium from commercial seeds via the winter sowing method in 2010 and got lovely, healthy plants that bloomed this year. You might also check Swallowtail Garden Seeds' website--they include seed sowing instructions for all the seeds they sell, including delphiniums.
Summer is a bad time to sow seed in hot climates. Many plants go into a kind of dormancy when temps are high, even if they have enough water. You could speed things up by sowing in late winter/ early spring. My late sown peppers usually flower 6- 8 weeks after sowing and peppers start to form a few weeks later. I find they crop better though when sown in late fall, when it is still pretty warm, so germination is good, then grow fairly slowly over "winter", which is not very cold here, to flower and fruit late spring to summer. That way they also withstand drought better. Plants that are allowed to develop more slowly are often more robust. I used to grow Alyssum in England and I would think that would do best in the coolest possible conditions.
I start fertilizing mine when they go into four inch containers. I mix a half teaspoon of timed release into the soil as I pot them up. I use 18-6-12 with minors. Al
I always fertilize after 4-6 true leaves develop. A regular slow release or a weak Miracle Gro starter fertilizer or even an 8-16-24 to prevent shock.