6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Yes planting Tomatoes deep produces plenty of roots and this is good. My problem is the cantaloupe thay grow leggy and tall. If you deep transplant them thay die. I had to put stick support to hold them other wise they will bent down and break. How thay get the Cantaloupe at nursery store short and thick. I wish I know that.
Well I grow the chilies in full sun, they need the heat and they sun to produce HOT peppers. IF you dont have an AeroGrow anymore, you can put the pot with chile seeds in it, with the Saran Wrap on it, if the sun is on it till like 11am or so. The heat is what makes the seed sprout. I dont know where you are located,. But in south Fla,if I put seeds in direct sun,on a windowsill,in the Saran wrap method, as long as the sun is off it by 11am or so, they sprout. But the lights in the AeroGrow make the soil very hot as well. Once you take the Saran Wrap off,after you get seedlings, then the direct sun will get the chilies to grow. They need heat and sun to grow. My 'Ghost Chilies' need the hot soil and direct sun nearly all day,once they are up and growing. Or they stop growing, and will just stand still doing nothing, until they get more heat and sun.
So if it is HOT peppers you want...you want hot soil,(cool water), sun and heat...if you only have the sun to work with, just try my method, and try it till about 11am if you are in the south, longer if you are way up north. If you lived here in Ft.Lauderdale, I would sell you one of my AeroGrow gardens, I have 3 of the big ones. I have been wanting to go down to 2. But Shipping anywhere cost a fortune and its next to impossible to pack,so nothing breaks. Give it a try,if you have enough seeds to try it. It works.
aveo,
Actually I will try your method. I will try the litle pot with saran wrap. Now I just have to look for a place that gets sun until 11am, but I think I know where. I definitely imagine how it can work as chiles need very warm soil to germinate. Thanks again!
Z
I start germinating my tomato and pepper seeds in sandwich baggies in wet paper towels on a tray on top of my aquarium lights.(Too cold in my basement to germinate seeds, I have had very poor results with a heat mat, and have no space upstairs to start seeds in a warm area safe from my cats in a starting tray.)
When they germinate (root and stem with leaves), I transfer them to 72 cell trays ( flimsy Burpee trays work best for me). I put up to four seeds in each cell, one in each corner.
When they grow out a few permanent leaves, I use an iced tea spoon to scoop out the 1/4 of the mix in the cell containing the subject plant, without regard to whether I am cutting through any roots, and move it into a 9 oz. plastic cup of potting mix.
I grow them to a good size for planting out without further manipulation, other than moving them to my greenhouse when I have too many for my indoor lights, then moving them to my outside screened shelter for hardening off.
In five years of growing them this way, I have never killed a plant by damaging roots with my iced tea spoon! Every year, I seem to have one or more "runts" that only seem to have one or two roots, but, so far, they have all gone on to be good looking plants by planting-out time.
The chance I would spend time untangling the roots of a few tomato or pepper seedlings? ZERO!
yiorges,
Thanks for the response. I lost a couple do to earwigs/slugs but the rest are still alive. The beans don't look that much better but are growing. The okra now are coming with yellow cotyledons...but I'm hoping they will green up now that they are seeing the light of day..??
Z
Hi Flora_uk, thanks for your reply. Sorry I haven't been checking because the temperature have been cold anyway....
I have some marigolds, celosia, and salvia. According to the seed packet, I can start them outside now (since we have past our last frost date). Does that mean I can harden my seedlings off now? Or could it mean that I don't have to worry about hardening off and can move them outside directly since there won't be any frost anymore?
The weather forecast says for the next 10 days, the minimum is 41.
For my maters, if nights get below 55 or it's going to storm, it will be too much for them & I bring them in. For the peppers, nights below 60-65 are when I bring them in. My first set of mater & pepper plants have now been outside for 3 days & are doing great! Gotta bring them in today though. We're getting that storm front that hit the midwest with all the tornadoes & such today through tomorrow night, so temps are supposed to drop to the high 40's.
As soon as I see the root...but sometimes I forget to check and the leaves start to emerge, so I plant those with the leaves just at the soil line. I make a deep wide hole and carefully cover the root, curving it around if needed in the hole. The roots can go from barely there to an inch long overnight, so once they start to sprout you need to check on them frequently.
Oddly enough, I sowed some Arugula seeds and they didn't appear to want to sprout. To test them before giving up on them, I sowed 6 (2 to three different cells of a heated seed flat) and in two days 5 out of the 6 sprouted. Two of the seeds from the original flat they were planted in ALSO sprouted in the same time.
Just kinda weird, but cool too.
Hmmm, I also have been having slow progress with my Thyme seeds this year. Last year I didn't plant thyme until the middle of summer, and it did very well, so maybe it's a temperature thing. But perhaps I'm also covering them with too much soil, like someone mentioned above. I think I will try again, with just pressing them into the soil like Mandolls described.
I have given up too early on some seeds. Usually, I plant several different types at once, and when the others have sprouted and I still have a few lifeless pots, that's when I "recycle", I plant in new seeds, or empty the pots and put in fresh soil. I have a habit of reusing my soil too (which I've learned is not a good idea, as the soil might not be sterile and could destroy my plants) -- and this has led to some surprise seedlings from the seeds I "gave up" on.
One example: this past winter I planted some quince seeds that I saved from fruit, but they never grew and I assumed I did something wrong; so I forgot about them, and casually left the pot on the sill. But one day there was a sprout! It was kind of like that thing with water, it won't boil if you watch it. I've learned to be a little more patient, and also to have faith that, even when I mess up in gardening, nature will find it's own way. :)
With most annuals, you are safe sowing after you have reached your date of average last frost in your area.
Perennials are a different story, some will need a period of moist chill before they will germinate while others do not.
You can look them up here, find sowing suggestions:
Here is a link that might be useful: Clothiers database
Some other ideas...need evenly moist but not soggy soil. In pots, fertilize weekly with a diluted fertilizer solution (begin at 1/4 strength and work up to max of 1/2). Also - temperatures should not fall below 65F; if they do get chilled, the plants respond with yellowing of leaves and stems.
Hi Kujen,
I have grown Mimosa pudica, more commonly known by my students and educators as the TickleMe Plant for over 30 years. You won't need to buy Nitrogen fixing bacteria as the Rhizobia live in nodules in the plant's roots and are usually found in the soil. We have grown our TickleMe Plants in peatmoss, potting soil and coir all with excellent results and no leaf fall. Your potting mix will work fine. I agree with morz8 that the key to growing healthy plants is to keep the temperatures high and I suggest an even higher temperature range starting at 70 degrees to 90 degrees.When the plants get older they are more tolerant to lower temperatures. Too much water (never let them sit in water) will also cause yellowing and dropping of the leaves.
If you want to get your plants to flower even in the middle of winter, I highly suggest, for all Mimosa pudica growers, the book called "The Sensitive Plant-Growing the Mimosa-That MOVES When You Tickle It!-The TickleMe Plant Book-Your Complete FUN Guide." It's the authorative source on growing this plant and my students have used the book to conduct over twenty controlled studies on everything from germination rates to using flourescent lights to stimulate flower production. If you have any additional questions about this plant, contact the plantdoctor@ticklemeplant.com as he has helped my students with their questions and to set up science projects. I hope this helps!
Here is a link that might be useful: TickleMe Plant Seeds Products and Videos
Thank you. I started late in late March. I should learn my lesson and start in February. I looked at the Nursery Store plants and was amazed how did thay get them to grow that big.
Abe
Greenhouse growers start early and control light, temperature, moisture and fertilizing. Most of us can't do that at home, but our plants will catch up eventually when planted outside. They don't have to be huge in order for them to be planted outside, but the soil temps need to be right, and they will take off.