6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Hi...I have read through the different ways to grow a RP from a seed. I got 2 seed pods that have about 8-10 seed in each so I have alot of seeds to play with. I have been on the internet trying to find the best method to grow them. I have read that if you cut a "small" piece from the bottom it make the seed able to grow easier. Also, a method of boiling 1- boil water
2- take the boiling water off the stove
3- put the seeds in the boiling water
4- after a couple of minutes add cold water until the temperature drops to 110 degres F (45 C): the water should feel very hot but not burning
5- leave the seeds in the water overnight
6- after 24 hours the membrane covering the seeds peels by itself
7- put in moist motting soil
8- the seedlings show up in around a week or less
I have enough seeds to try all these ways but I was wondering how "karyn1" seeds are doing and any other help or comments! thanks, M

All I do before actually sowing the seed is stratify it with a nail file. It has worked from experience for me.

Growing plants with different temp requirements isn't really that hard. You just need to understand microclimates, and what different temperatures are going to do to your plants.

Yes, peppers and tomatoes are "warm-loving" plants. BUT, that is what they need to set fruit or to germinate. Once they are germinated, growing them in cooler conditions 55-65 degrees will not do them any harm, in fact, it is probably a benefit. They will grow slowly, so they will be stout and strong. The distance between each set of leaves will be very small. That is actually very beneficial. Also, by growing them in a cooler environment, they will have a much easier time adapting to outside conditions (specifically, night time) when you harden them off and plant them outside. The ground will be significantly cooler than the air when you plant them out, and if the difference in temperature for the roots is that great there will be a greater amount of transplant shock. Keeping it all cooler while growing under lights is a good idea. Just be sure that the temp doesn't drop below 45 degrees.

Another good plan, even in a cool environment, is to blow a fan on them for several hours per day to give them a "wind" condition. This will also help the plants to grow stronger stems and prevent "legginess". Leggy plants are ones with thin, weak stems that easily fall over and large distances between branches.

Thanks for the info, too late on watering them though, I did it this morning before work after seeing the first reply. How do you tell when the top 2/3 is dry? THe containers are a little small to stick a finger down in there, I'm afraid I'll disturb roots or something. The top layer did feel dry, some of them soaked it up faster than others but it probably wasn't dry that far down. I think some of the peat on the sides is from when I first planted them, I filled the trays and then once I watered, it mostly sank down but some was still around the edges.

I have been blowing a fan on them each evening for a couple hours but when I saw them curled up like that I turned it off thinking it was too strong even on low. I've also been turning on the heat when it drops down to 50 to bring it up to 55-60. Should I stop doing that?

I will use your suggestion for the rack. I didn't think the lights would make a difference. They aren't hot to the touch and I put the thermometer in the basement right next to a tray under the lights and it didn't seem any different than 6 ft away.

I know the Bibb in the pellets doesn't quite have any true leaves yet, they are just starting to come up, but, should I thin those out now? They seem a little crowded to me. What about if 2 seedlings came up right next to each other? Do you snip one off or wait until they are bigger? My peppers just germinated 4 days ago but in 2 of the cells, seeds sprouted right next to another one.
Thanks for all the help.

Thanks for the input, appreciate it!

foolishpleasure,

A word of caution... if those seeds were saved from a hybrid cantaloupe, it may grow a completely different cantaloupe than the one that you ate. I wish you luck with it, but unless the cantaloupe was an heirloom, I'm not sure that you will enjoy what you grow as much as the one you bought.

Middle of January is really early! You have been taking good care of them. I am in zone 4 so maybe my sowing in mid March is almost as early. Last year I started in February but that was definitely to early with the light set up I had at the time. Everything survived, but some plants were getting kind of straggly.

Reading your blog was fun. I have been keeping a gardening diary but its just for me, and I haven't been taking pictures which maybe I should do.

Nice Orchid pots ! I make pots too. Have some in a show in Chicago right now. Check the link if you are interested in seeing them.

Here is a link that might be useful: my pots

Nice pots mandolls! So, you like to play with mud? I just started to take pictures and upload them to my blog. To view them, go to blog and click on "The Clay Work" button and then "Stoneware Pottery". For now that�s the only page with some pieces. Check the pottery page from time to time as I add more every day. However, once the outdoor gardening and golf season starts, my computer time will be limited.
I like your bowls with spoons, very whimsical.
You can write mi directly to "jkubera-at-rogers-dot-com". Of course you will have to replace that at and dot with proper character.
As a side note, my snapdragon Rocket is in bloom! Yup, I started a bit too early this year. Lesson learned. Good thing that everything I have done is posted on my blog so next year I can go back and see the time line.

Here is a link that might be useful: Main blog

Looking good.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Growing Adventure

Some of the first trays with the early germinators (hot peppers, some tomatoes).

I'll be using hydroponic nutrients at diluted strength for the 8 weeks.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Adventure in Indoor Growing

Well, Kerrian and misss I Just looked at my fert specs and WOW! I did not relize what I was using was 30-9-16 (lawn food?), would excessive nitrogen cause leaf curl? I am planning on not adding any fertilizer until they are in ground/pots do you think I will be okay?

Here are a couple pics from today. 3-27-11

Yeppers! You found it!

They should be okay. I would give them a good soak to try to 'rinse' out that fertilizer, but I think they will grow out of it.

I am glad you found it! That was stumping me

Keriann~

I love your planter lol.

Read on the Internet, fill a bucket (or container)full of fallen Osage Oranges, and some water, and leave them set out all winter (Ohio). In the spring they'll be brown and squashy. Mix them up into a slurry, dig a furrow about 1-1 1/2 deep, and pour in the slurry, cover with about a 1/2" of dirt. Tried this last year 2009-2010 and had plenty of germination. Furrow was about 8' long and probably had 100 seedlings, and this is in hard clay.

Thanks! I was thinking about what to put underneath it, too. I save all those sheets of Styrofoam that come with a shipped box, I was thinking about using those.

Is there is list somewhere that says what temperature various seeds like to be at? It's been a long time since I've started from seed. I'd like to start caladium bulbs to get a head start, and mostly flower seeds. 80-90 degrees would be great for caladiums.

I found this site helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell growing guide

Wow! Flora that is a great link. Parents and teachers should all download that one. Al

When I was about four years old my grandmother got me hooked on growing from seed by taking a mason jar with some soil and slipping some beans and corn down between the soil and the glass. I could see the seed swell and sprout and become a seedling. There was a lesson about 'monocotyledons' and 'dicotyledons' there too but since my grandmother never learned how to spell her name she probably didn't use those words when showing me what happened.

Some years ago myself and someone else on one of these forums suggested schoolteachers should do like the cooking shows do and start the finished product ahead of time so that when the preparation and sprouting and growing was running into time constraints the finished product could be taken out and displayed. We would appear to have failed but there is no way of knowing I suppose.

When you take the cover off the plants start transpiring away the moisture in their foliage and they wilt. When the cover is on the humidity is 100% and they don't transpire. The moisture to keep the plant and foliage turgid is provided by the roots. The problem can be soil that is too dry or even too wet. Correct the soil moisture and open the cover gradually as art suggested. Al

Thanks, plant friends. I think the soil was possibly too wet. I appreciate the advice.

You should have started indoor tomatoes in Feb for zone 6, I would wait and buy plants late April ,early May. Peas, including ornamental sweet peas now. Dill now, any flowering seeds that need stratification now(cleome, morning glories, etc). Onion sets, carrots, radishes now and potatoes anytime soon. Good luck...suggestion:buy a gardening book, or check one out at your local library for zone 6. I research like crazy,,then experiment. I live in zone 6, but sometimes can get away with zone 5 plants.

I think nothing. The soil still wet for the teller to work out. Unless may be you have raised beds small enough to works with shovel.