6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Lol, I am idiot!!! I always confuse hollyhock and hibiscus. Can anyone say, DUH?? lol
Read Carolyn, Read!!
Omit the first paragraph please, lol. The rest still applies even for a hardy or tropical hibiscus, accept for the page location on the web page I posted. :D
Oh, and I looked at your link for the shelf/light units. That ready-made-for-gardening stuff still seems way over-priced to me. I'd go with an inexpensive(but sturdy)shelf unit and separate lights(using regular flo bulbs)that you can attach yourself. I tried to find shop lights at Walmart's site, but none showed up. I know they have them though. Here's a link from a big box store...
Here is a link that might be useful: shop lights
FWIW - you can sprinkle ground cinnamon over the surface of your growing medium to retard the damping off fungus. It won't hurt the seedlings but will neutralize the fungus. I grew things indoors before I discovered winter sowing and even with a fan to circulate the air the damping off fungus developed. The cinnamon really worked. Dollar store brand works just as well as the named ones.
Your hat is on WAY too tight. You have just suggested something so absurd I couldn't even begin to address it.
If I've participated in a thread where you have posted, totally coincidental and no different than I've done hundreds of times. One last time....I responded to Mike. His question piqued an interest. It had nothing at all to do with you. I don't know you, but will suggest you find something real to defend yourself against.
I do apologize to Mike, I see he has his thread marked mail copy to original poster and I'm sure is not happy to be finding this trivia in his emails.
In other words you insult that many that you can't recall the incident I mentioned?? (not looking for an answer I got it in the previous post)
Lol, your not worth it morz!!!
Garden web I sure wished you had the option to ignore a user!!
Almost all tomatoes sold today are hybrids (like we humans are all hybrids). So, unless very special precautions are taken, all the seedlings produced by cross-fertilization will be hybrids. Some will have blue eyes, some brown, some will be tall, others not. The only way gardeners can avoid this variation is by cloning. The natural method is a lot more fun....
Here's a link to a GW thread about growing them from seed.
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing gerbera daisies from seed
Denise, can you add your climate zone or state to your member page, we don't know what kinds of temperatures your daisy has been exposed to.
In general - the gerbers should be brought in a few weeks before first frost. They are winter hardy in the ground in Zones 9 and 10, will sometimes survive with winter protection in Z8. (they'd have been toast in this Z8 already this year, got too cold last week :))
If it has been exposed to frost but had spent flowers still attached, and those flower/seed heads contained ripe seed, you could still harvest that - use the photos supplied by gardenweed above to help you determine if seed is present.
Thanks. I did not try a cold... I stuck the remaining seeds in an envelop in the fridge. I'll try again in January. Hopefully that will be enough time to get the going for spring.
I realize they probably won't bloom this year, and i don't care if what they look like - I am just looking for a cheap way to fill in a large area with something that blooms alot.
"remaining seeds in an envelop in the fridge". Dry?
That's only storage, in order for the chill to be helpful it must be moist. Either sow and refrigerate the pots, or put the seeds in a tsp or so in a tiny zip lock of moist (not soggy) sterile vermiculite or moist sterile sand....later you can sow the seeds, vermiculite and all.
I'm not sure what you mean about the baggie method but once the seeds have spouted to where there is an actually little stalk (not with the seed just cracking with a nub sticking out)you can transplant the seedlings into a tray or pot. Make sure the roots are facing downward and that the area where the seed is is just slightly buried under the soil. Be careful to be very gentle if handling and potting small seedlings as they are very delicate. once they are in a tray in pot you can water lightly to make sure the soil is moist but not soaked.
I love to grow from seed just to see if I can accomplish the task and also learn as everywhere I have lived it seems to be a little different. I also learn what does well in my area plus all the joy of watching them when they do well. I even enjoy finding those 10 cent seeds from time to time just for the pleasure of finding out if they are worth the trouble, and end up with many surprises. My soil plus my cat makes growing some plants a large task to get them to survive so I have to plant something in my little space quite often in the hopes I will win against my cat and the soil.
Mike,
Have you looked into plugs. Commerical growers around here use them. They speed the growing time. I put a random link below. They might me more expensive but you could do multiple seasons of plants.
Also, would the new Tecoma stans Mayan Gold or hardy Hibiscus grow in your zone. When you move into shrubs from seed you might get more per plant with the same effort. Of course, you know what you are doing; I haven't ever attempted what you do, but your efforts are intriguing.
Wally,
I can relate. My issues are soil, whether my bugs will like or dislike a new plant, whether I know how to water and fertilize a particular plant correctly, and my garden cats. These are various neighbors cats who like to come by and visit because they know we're home and there is food for them. Plus my special cat who I keep indoors except when I go outside.
Bob
Here is a link that might be useful: one plug producer
cuttings will give an exact copy of the parent plant.... take a tip cutting. apply 0.1% IBA (rooting hormone) stick in well drained soil & mist taking 25-80 days to root.
from seed you will find many small plants arount the parent. it takes 1 year for some flowers to form & the 2nd year will be even better... so....check the flower color & keep the ones you like
Rose of Sharon seeds will re-seed themselves if there is any bare ground near the parent plant, but as yiorges-z5il says the only way to get an exact copy is through cuttings. Almost all the ones I have grown down this way are little tree-type plants that seem to grow to about 6' and don't seem to grow too much taller for many years. I always ended up with several colors, some bi-color. But for double blooms they only seem to come from cuttings. Even then I have found some revert to single type blooms, but I enjoy all colors and types as I just love flowers of all types, colors and forms.
Cinnamon - sprinkle it over the surface of the growing medium. It kills the spores but won't hurt your seedlings. I grew hosta, daylily & false indigo indoors & used the cinnamon to retard the damping off fungus. A fan on low to circulate the air will also help.
Once on the forest floor, seeds will apparently not germinate unless soil temperatures are high enough to indicate that direct sunlight is available. Allen (1956) indicates that fire also aids in stimulating germination. Otherwise, the seeds will remain dormant in cool soil, waiting for a tree-fall, landslide, or even road-cut to provide them with an opportunity to sprout.
Try a heat lamp to simulate open sunny area. Some seeds need a scratch on the shell to allow water to penetrate the shell.
I set my seeds out side to start them this wasn't enough. What I am suggesting I tried on other seeds and it worked for them.
Hi Mary, I found seeds on mine and they were germinating right on the plant. I did some research and found this....Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 8 - 12 weeks warm followed by 8 - 16 weeks cold stratification and can then be sown in a cold frame[78, 98]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 8cm long taken at a node or with a heel, July/August in a frame. Very easy[200].
heres a link where the article was posted.....http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Euonymus+alatus+apterus
hope that helps.
YES - pink_petunia is right. What I did was planted the seeds 1/16" in peat moss in a milk jug that I cut in half, indoors in November. I misted the top of the peat each day. In February, I taped the top of the milk jug onto the bottom and placed it outside. Once the weather got a little warmer, I could see the seedlings.
As has already been suggested I think the Winter Sowing - GardenWeb people could be very helpful.
I used to start seedlings under lights 5+ years ago, and can't even remember when I would start them. Maybe about 6 weeks before the last frost? Now I start all seedlings outside, winter-sowing perennials and "spring-sowing" the tender plants like basil and tomatoes, usually in the 1st half of April.
The perennials go under the shrubbery on the east side of the house and I don't worry about the snow or frost with them. The tender heat lovers get sown in large cups, the cups are lined up in a large plastic container, and the containers put along the foundation on the south side of the house. This is the warmest spot outside - the foundation holds heat at night and the southern exposure receives maximum sun at that time of year (until the trees get their leaves!). There has been a hard frost in the rest of the yard and the seedlings along the foundation aren't at all frosted, so I don't even usually cover them on cold nights. I water them from the top and bottom by filling the container with a bit of water. This method works really well - no lights, no damping off, no extra elec. charges, and the herbs and tomatoes grow great.
However, if I really wanted earlier yields - I would start a few things under lights to get a jump on the season. (Or you can buy big seedlings someplace, but seeds are so cheap and easy.)