6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

That's the problem Morz8, the Deer! This has become an over populated area and the Deer have just about demolished everything. Even the wild rose bushes.

You can see the fox scouraging for food!

I can only do what I can.

just a thought, but depending on your locality, especially in the eastern states, overpopulation of deer has led to states and municipalities adopting year long bow seasons. If this is private property you are having problems with there are probably hunters in your area who would be more than helpful. Also, some states allow the taking of deer from private land without a tag, something to keep in mind. I am not necessarily saying it is the best option but for most deer overpopulation it can be beneficial to both your tract of land, the plants and animals on it, and whatever crops you may be thinking of putting in.

If it is public land, please disregard most of what I just said. You may want to encourage hunting in the area come deer season.

I placed my Hazzard's order yesterday and got their year-end free shipping. I ordered 12/31 last year too. I don't know how long the free shipping lasts but it's worth waiting for if you know what seeds you want ahead of time and can hold off ordering. I ordered some salvia and an heirloom Romaine lettuce Cos Rouge de Hiver (which means something like cold red). The small seed pack has 5,000 seeds/$5.35 so I'm splitting the order with some friends. Also picked out a stunning California poppy called Thai Silk Appleblossom Bush.

Hi Bob,

Thanks for that suggestion for Geoseed and the link. I'll check them out too. I love your idea about doing a search for a trial. I never thought of that. I always like to hear what someone's experiences are with something.

Hi gardenweed, I did head over to Hazzard, I was trying to think of any seed that I might need that much of and there were very few. No one to split one with either, but who knows, next year may be a different story. I really do like that Thai Silk Appleblossom Poppy!

I have overseeded my lawn with white clover several years in a row to increase its presence. The easiest way I have found to do it is to have the yard core aerated with a plugger that pulls plugs of soil out of the yard and then hand broadcoast the seed. Clover seed is very small and you can spread it too thickly very easily. I have never had to add an innoculant to the white clover seed I have sowed and it germinates just fine.

You group of morons are the dumbest I've seen, look up what inoculating means you freaking retards

OK, thanks. I didn't know if it was essential to keep the seeds moist for calla lilies or not.

I always shell mine out once they're fully dry, just because it makes it easier to put them in envelopes, label and share. They come up just fine.

I haven't started bleeding hearts from seed, but the plants I have reseed profusely by themselves--at this point I'm running out of room for more plants and have to pull the new seedlings as weeds. So you might try buying one established plant from a local nursery and letting it reseed. These are the big old fashioned ones--the fernleafs don't seem to reseed. One new seedling turned out to be an alba, even though the original plant was classic pink.

thank you all for the great advice!!!!!!!!!

My Goodness, there is always one in every crowd isn't there? I know a quilter like that. Always ready to put people down and ready to accuse other quilters of stealing things. She had so many people convinced others talked about them not to mention accussing others of theft. Guess what? She is being investigated of breaking into someones house and taking thousands and credit card theft and now it seems that stuff always went missing only when she was around. The police said she has 9 aliases and has records a mile long. Wonder why she is not in jail. It takes time but they get found out.

It seems to me that no matter how common your plants are (and I don't believe they are), as long as they sell and the money goes to a good cause, what the heck does it matter.

I am new to gardening, the last 3 yrs now, and I find gardening to be a relaxing, rewarding and gracious task. You take a small seed or plant and pour your heart and soul into it. Everyday that plant expresses it's graditude to you by growing strong and vibrant sharing it's beauty and wonder with you and those who happen by. To take that love and care and share it with someone else is as good as a heartfelt hug in my book! The joy of a plant or flower has been known to heal many wounds and to take that joy and dampen it with such negativity is very disapointing.
Common or uncommon each plant and seed is a gift from God and each in it's own way has it's own personality. So.... even though your plants are not that common, even if they were purple cones or shasta daisies somewhere there is someone who wants to share their heart and garden with a wonderful plant! Keep donating, you do it for the joy that it brings someone! Let the negative nancy find her own joy!!!!!

$30 is not really expensive. Relatively dollars are almost toilet paper they way they print them, thats why things cost so much its just wages are not increasing with this.

But The shops lights will be good while their seedlings, but they might a get a big "Leggy" so you got to keep them close, after a certain point it won't be enough to pentrate several layers of branches/leaves.

Myself I used a Floru tube called a "Grow N Show" I bought several years ago at Wal-mart for $20. It worked somewhat well this year for my seedlings, then growth just dimsished. (not enough light)

I bought a 125 Watt CFL which is misnomer becuase there not really compact there quite huge. The 125W CFL are sold for around $60 and give off about 8,000 Lumens. From my understand LUMENs are the most important part of a growing light. If you can afford get something rated around 10,000 lumens like a High Pressue Sodium or Metal Halide Lamp, or try the the 125 or 200 Watt CFL grow lights and your plants will grow very good like they are outside.

I've had good success using simple shop lights. As lazyhat suggests, you need to be careful about "leggy" seedlings. I have a couple of pictures of the setup that I used. Basically its a pole with some chains which you can use to lower the light and mitigate the legginess of the seedlings.

Here is a link that might be useful: cheap grow light setup

North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Overcoming Seed Dormancy: Trees and Shrubs Vinegar is safer (but less effective treatment) and can be used for species that do not have an extremely hard seed coat; the technique is the same as with sulfuric acid.

Wonderful news kayjones, Trudi and Albert. Trudi our winters are so mild here it's like spring most of the winter. We have had one cold day so far I guess average around the valley got down to 36 or so. Next day it was in the 70's. This is the time of year I start many seeds in small styrofoam cups so I can easily bring inside incase of really cold weather. Right now I have 13 differant peppers, 8 kinds of basils, amaranthus, blue bonnets, marigolds, etc..that have all been started from seeds. They are all just waiting to go into the garden beds. I also have all sorts of tropical hibiscus and the bouganvillas I am rooting for the first time. The begonias and angel trumpets are all doing fantastic with lots of new growth. I would love to know what everyone is growing.

You really will have better germination with the pasque flower seeds if you provide a warm moist period to begin with.

Approximate temperatures and timing - 71F for 4 weeks, move to 39F for 6 weeks, move to 50ish for germination

many thanks :))

One problem comes to mind for me and that would be the weight of the sand. It is much heavier than perilite. For some small seeds the sand might just be heavy enough to cause emergence problems. In addition the perilite helps maintain moisture, I'm not sure about the sand. It would be a shame to sow that many flats and there be problems.

I think you could order the perilite online and the weight of it should be a plus in shipping costs.

If it were me I would order some perilite and sow like you have in the past and experiment with a tray or 2 of the sand and see what the difference is. If the sand works that would be great and you could save money in the future. Heaven knows we all want to save money. Be sure to let us know if it works for you!

Good luck.

For germinating tree and shrub seeds I generally use all sand or a combination of sand and Pro-Mix. So far my results have been very good, however I have not tried this with veggies so I'm not sure how well it would work with them.

The sand I use is the unscreened, coarser type of sand and not the very fine "play sand". I simply mix equal amounts of the Pro-Mix with this coarse sand and I have a good seed starting mix. So far the trees and shrubs do very well in it.

HTH.

JZ