6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

You can separate lobelia by gently pulling the clumps apart. If you turn the clumps carefully out of the cells and put your thumbs into the centre of the clump and ease them apart they will come to no harm and you will not be cutting any roots. It's a bit like opening an egg after you have tapped it on a sharp edge. They transplant easily and thrive on the hunk method. If you go and look at plants for sale at the garden centre they are almost always multiple clumps, not single plants. And like Al said, I'd wait a bit longer before separating them.

Like I said, I will wait. There is no rush. We just got blasted with another 2 inches of snow. Yesterday my lawn was green! At least we never have an earthquake, hurricanes, brush fires or tsunamis! Snow will melt and flowers and veggies will grow and everybody happy. Well, almost everybody.
BTW, since I have a lot more Lobelias then I will need I might experiment with one cell.

Hey georgez5il

The watering thing may be it. No chemicals around to do damage. Any suggestions as to how I might tell if it's a watering issue?

Thanks!

Dale

I have had the same issue with my basil seedlings. Only potting soil and seeds, and amister to spray. Maybe the mister isn't soaking them enough?

Thanks for your help! Many of the acorns have managed to find new life. Currently four already have shoots that are about 1.25 inches tall. Many others have continued solid root growth and a few that were whole when I found them have recently started growing tap roots. In total,about 27 out of the original 65 are still alive. The others had suffered severe root damage or had been exposed to poison when I found them and are now clearly dead. That's about a 42% survival rate if the living continue to thrive.

That's great, 42% considering the circumstances...you must be pleased. I'm glad they seem to be working out for you.

I'm going to try coir pots for a few orchids, the supplier claims they will not fall apart when wet, rich in nutrients, Ph neutral, and will last up to five years.Judging from above, the suppliers seem to say anything they please to sell these pots. Guess experience willtell us what the real story is.

My wife grows orchids and watching what she is doing with them and a medium she grows them in these pots are perfect! I was lucky to transplant my flower seedlings from these pots before the roots got entangled in the fibers. What a great idea to grow orchids in them. I am going now to shred them and give them to my wife as a new fangled grow medium! Thanks for the tip. BTW, they never expanded when soaked. Jiffy pots just grew as you watched.

Weedlady
I did baptisia several times- presoak with winter sowing method/ see FAQ winter sowing forum/- got good results every time.

The seeds I collected this fall were half dark (dk brown) and half pale yellow. After chilling all winter and soaking (presently) the dark seeds are sprouting but nothing from the lighter seeds. These seeds all came from seed pods on the plant. What is the difference?

As morz8 explained, Salvia patens seed should be placed on the surface of the soil and can be covered VERY lightly, but it does need light to germinate. By carnations, if you mean Dianthus, they also require light to germinate. Of course, once they have germinated, they need at least 14 hours of light from both the warm and cool light spectrum (what you get from a grow light) about 4 inches from the top of the leaves.

Thanks for your help. I planted the carnation (heirloom seeds - dianthus caryophyllus, from Renee's Garden) on Saturday and they sprouted on Sunday. I made a mistake, as I put them in the cell tray with S. patens and delphiniums. Now I see that delphiniums germinate in a cool environment and I've been using a heat mat. The salvia are beginning to sprout. How do I nurture these along and not let them become spindly? Using a grow light about 2" above seedlings but carnations already look spindly. Removed heat mat today. Thanks for any info.

Patreesh

I have yet to buy my first pot to use in my propagation program. All my pots are salvaged from bedding plant purchases made over the years and used over and over. The regular square four inch nursery pot is as large as I ever go for tomatoes that will go in the ground very quickly as soon as the temperature allows. Al

I get the 16oz plastic cups from the dollar store and use them for years or until they split, in which case I cut wedges out of them and use those for labels.

Your seed can be considered to 'be in the dark' as long as they buried in the soil. The germination flat or trays don't need to be covered. Some seeds require light to trigger germination, and need to be sown directly on the soil surface. Other seeds are neutral, and others (like your onion, need to be buried with a little bit of soil.

Your choice of potting medium may make it a bit difficult to avoid diseases. Fine textured mixes can cause a lot of problems when trying to balance the moisture content.

Now that the seeds have germinated, you should probably keep the cover off so that the whole thing can be exposed to air. Good light, air circulation, and very careful watering techniques are all important to avoid those dreaded 'damping off' diseases so common to seedlings. Excess humidity and moisture, darkness, lack of air circulation will invite problems. Those fungual spores are ubiquitous.

Many people have reported good success at keeping fungus infections at bay with cinnamon sprinkled on the soil surface or with diluted chamomile tea used to water the flats (or mist the surface). You could even dilute some hydrogen peroxide to mist on the soil surface. Mix household peroxide (3%) at the rate of 1 ounce per quart of water. It can also be used to water the plants.

Be sure that you pull the plug on your heat mats, if you used any. Extra heat isn't required after germination.

Thanks! So far, I think they're improving.

I gave them some water last night and today...I think I was underwatering for fear of over watering. It's good to know that the dark isn't needed, sometimes it's hard to sift through all of the info out there.

There's no sign of fungus anymore, but I have some cinnamon at the ready.

As for the potting medium, what is recommended?

Also, should I anticipate problems with the 72 cell trays? I did notice that when I bottom watered some cells were moist while others were bone dry. I switched to a mist to avoid that. What other problems should I expect. Yikes!

Thanks again!

Spindly plants mean that they are to far from the light. Move them close but not touching you grow lights. soon as the second set of leaves come on re-pot them. Bury them up close to the leaves. This was they will root all along the stem.

Spindly stems can also mean that there's too much bottom heat on the sprouted seeds. Be sure to turn off the heat once the seeds have germinated; they'll be much sturdier and stockier.

Thanks for the helpful comments. As a neophyte, I've apparently way underestimated the light requirements. I now have my light right down nearly touching them. Is it possible to give them too much light, i.e., could leaving it on all the time counteract the spindly syndrome?
Thanks again.

No! don't leave them on 24/7. Plants need a sleep time (so to speak) 14 to 16 hours on is enough. Don't let the leaves touch the lights. They do burn if the bulbs are very hot. Another thing! Always water from the bottom, You don't want Damping off to get those tall seedlings. Good luck.