6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

One point about nurseries/garden centres which is certainly true over here, is that they will frequently get plants out on display far too early just to get the sales. You will see tender plants(in our climate) such as petunias and pelargoniums available long before it is safe to put them out in our gardens. They push the plants with fertilisers and light manipulation to get big flowering specimens to tempt the unknowledgable buyer. So don't worry too much about what nurseries are doing. Just try to get good healthy plants suitable for your own garden. They will make up the time if they are happy.

Flora UK

Petunias and peligoram Geraniums are not tender plants. Both will take a light frost.

The temperature of the soil is more important than the earliness. If the soil is cold few plants will grow well. Don't be afraid to put these out early if the soil is warm.
I find that big box stores and groceries tend to do that here, more than nurseries who grow their own plants

Keriann When I say cold, I'm talking 1-2 degrees celsius , which is about 35-36 fahrenheit. That's nighttime temps. Unusual for this time of year. If 45 F is warm enough, we've been barely above that most days. Now we're warming up.

So, I can gauge how long to harden off by what the marigolds are doing? I thought they needed at least 7 days.(?) Daytime temps will be 68+ . Won't the sun burn them if I don't do it really gradually?

Ah yes. Taking the plants for a walk.

I have a couple of raspberries in the house (they were in quarantine) and I've been taking them out for a walk for about a week, trying to get their delicate over-sized house plant leaves used to the sunshine.

My grape cuttings have finally been moved outside. I've got them on a cart so I can get them out of the sun after a couple of hours, so they don't get a sunburn. But they are dealing with the air temperatures quite well.

Pumpkins desperately need to be hardened off, but they hate being moved and their garden won't be ready for them for a couple more weeks, so I won't take them out for a walk until closer to time to plant them. They act like spoiled little brats, whining and drooping if they get moved.

Tomatoes need to go out, but I have to re-pot them first. It's June, for Pete's sake. When is it going to stop freezing at night?

Morz, they don't have a botanical name on the package, it just says Bellflower, Blue (Ferry-Morse). Directions say to sow directly in the ground after frost. I sowed in a tray though. What I really wanted was Campanula Portenschlagiana (Dalmatian Bellflower) but this probably isn't exactly the same, although the picture on the package looks very similar. I have a stone wall in my garden and was hoping to get them to self seed around in that area.
Thanks for replying.
Susan.

They might be the tiniest seed you've seen. Drosera capensis seed is about the size of spidermites.

Personally, i would say u might be over watering them
but i really shouldn't be giving my opinion on plant issues
when it comes to gardening, i have an Armageddon-thumb ;)
but im learning!

Thanks, oilpainter! I AM pretty exicted about this whole gardening thing. :) And out of frustration/too little space, I did snip the tops off of a couple before you told me not to. I was interested to see what happened. A few tiny leaves formed just under the cut, but are way slower to grow. Like you said, probably couldn't get anything from them this year. So off to the compost they go.

Sharvil, ha! An Armageddom thumb... have never heard that one!

Kim

I think it is a moss rather than the usual mold we sometimes say as I have seen some of the same on similar plugs, newspaper pots, and biodegradable pots that had gotten too warm and damp during storage - in plastic no less. When I tested them it never seemed to bother the seedlings in any way and once they were dried out it quickly disappeared.

So for that reason I wouldn't hesitate to use them.

HOWEVER, please do note that there are other potential problems with these: (1) they wick water from the soil similar to the peat pots so watering must be carefully monitored, and (2) the plants will do better when transplanted if you first strip away the majority of the pot itself. In ground they tend to turn harder and root penetration is slowed substantially.

While their cost and advertising is appealing, if one plans to start seeds the following year it is cheaper to buy the plastic cell starter trays and then the following year re-use them and only have to buy a small bag of seed starting mix to fill them with.

Dave

I bought these mostly because they were on clearance for $2, to save for starting seedlings next year. When I opened the plastic wrap and took off the cardboard cover/label, I could see mold in some of the sections. The mold on the ones I bought was white. The trays come pre-moistened, which doesn't make sense to me. I have read that mold on peat pots is not really harmful to the plants, but I think if I tried to save these as is until next year, they would degrade to a pile of moldy mush. And these don't appear to be peat, but some type of cardboard similar to cardboard egg cartons. I opened one tray and used a few sections to start a few seedlings for a few places where previously-sown areas did not seem to be growing anything. Once removed from the packaging, the rest dried out, which gave me the idea to unwrap the rest and put them outside in the sun to dry out and then perhaps they can be salvaged for next year. Overall, however, I would recommend sticking to dry peat pots and a bag of potting soil.

My neighbor has a Paulonia at least 50 years old that blooms beautiful every spring. He has no reseeding or sucker problems. Check with your local extension service to see if it is a problem where you live. Al

It depends where you live. If you live in this shades area, I would NOT recommend paulownia, because it could become very invasive. In other places it may still become invasive, but it should not be an issue.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for39/fff00166.gif

However, if you live outside, I would give it a shot despite what some others say. It is not the tree from hell, it just needs some TLC the first few years, don't just plant it and leave it be...otherwise it will become an invasive trash tree. If you have time, keep it, if not, move it to the garden and coppice it each year for its large tropical leaves.

And even though people say its hollow, compare a hole the size of your thumb with a mature tree. Not very noticeable now is it? On younger stems, about 50% is the softwood, but in the "hollow" part, it has some light plant material and is fairly strong and limber, again, just needs some TLC to keeps from getting too frail.

If you decided to get rid of it, might I suggest the northern magnolia? It is a little compact, but has nice medium large pink blooms that do not attract bees, and have a light sweet fragrance which is could for those who have allergies. Hope this helps!

A weeping cherry grown at ground level has very little weeping room and as was mentioned, needs height to weep. If you intend to keep this in a container permanently you could raise the container to get the height. Al

I was fortunate to find a weeping cherry seedling growing from in the crotch of it's parents branches. I now have it growing on the edge of a land terrace to assist with the weeping room. It survived the winter! I transplanted it in the fall, so didn't realize that the supposedly sunny spot is now shaded. Now that it's getting second year leaves and what looks like side branches, what's next? It's parents are growing in a park and I've seen them in bloom. They're beatuiful and old!

Thanks taz and gardenweed. I would eventually like these to go in garden beds, but starting them out in pots for awhile would be okay- just don't want them to get rootbound overwinter.
These are medicinal herbs mostly- so they don't have the best germination rates to begin with. They are like wild flowers, and to germinated need the outdoor weather that they'd typically get.
Thanks for your advice, I have enough seed to try to save some, and sow some like you said.
Thanks again!!!

You haven't missed the ideal planting time for your zone. Your plants will be fine, heck my basil, parsley, rosemary, oregano, thyme, mint and chives are doing fine, the only one that is hating the heat is the dill!

The link in my posting above is wrong. I was sure that I used the Burpee Viola Blackjack link and now I can't find that link anymore on Burpee. It has been changed to the
king Henry Viola - cornuta

My photos pertain the Burpee, which has a better germinate rate then the Botanical Interests. When I grew the prince john I got exactly one plant, that did not even look like the correct plant.

The johnny jumps up which are also posted a photo earlier are viola tricolor and the ones I was trying to grow are viola cornuta. Someone else commented that the link was wrong, but now it's really wrong, I don't know why it keep changing. But, I just got those seeds at Lowes Osh or home depot, so it may be possible to find them out there in the racks if one wanted to try the same flowers. One can also buy johnny jump up seeds but those are viola tricolor.

Here is a link that might be useful: Johnny Jump Up defintion wikipedia

LOL! Wikipedia information is entered by everyday people like you and me and has as much mis-information as any forum. Try googling johnny jump up flower or try daves garden and you will see that JJU is viola tri-color.

Christy: Kim is correct on the direct sow.. a seed is planted directly into the ground/pot (final resting spot)

Yes you can leave the dome on inside until they germinate as Kim said. As soon as the first one pokes through the soil, you need to take it off. The dome is not a necessity. It merely helps keep the soil moist for germinating purposes.

No silly questions! We all learned someway~

What are you growing from seed?

Kim: I would wait until they Âneed the compost. I add about an inch in the garden mid July to give them a much needed boost.

I think it may be too much for small seedlings right now.

Keriann~

Don't need a dome inside unless you are growing exotic seeds that need higher temp / humidity. You can use the dome outside to keep the seeds warm - but be sure the top vent is open or you prop a corner up so they do not get too hot. don't use it if the temps are 60F or above. I only use a dome inside for my tropical seeds that need 95F and humidity to germinate and grow - never use it for veggies or the seeds that germinate at 80F or below.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I left a mouse trap last night, but no result. Thankfully, other seedlings are intact. Also, checked at night - nothing of note. Will leave the trap in balcony for some time.

I lay a piece of chicken wire over my seedlings. And after they are 1" tall I remove that piece and then put a circular piece about 12" high and 12" in diameter around the sprouting. I don't remove it until the plant fills the space. This protects the plant from squirels, rabbits, and deer.

Pumpkins and Squash don't like their roots disturbed. Best to plant them straight into the ground. They also like the soil to be warm before you see growth. That is my experience with pumpkins and squash.

NO seeds have to be planted inside. NO seeds have to be planted outside. All seeds must be given favorable conditions to germinate.
You don't have to kill anything as stated above, you can transplant instead. I've had no problem transplanting anything you are growing as long as you take as much soil as you can to minimize root disturbance. One plant per pot means you can transplant the entire contents of that pot with minimal root disturbance. Just don't pack the soil in around it, instead water it in.

since you stated you have a bird yard, you need to protect the seeds from the birds until the plants come up. You can do so by placing some bird net or fine chicken wire over the top of the seeds. As stated previously, some seeds take longer to germinate than other seeds. Some seeds need warmer soil before they germinate and if the birds hadn't eaten all of them, they will likely germinate when it warms up a bit.

Let me repeat this one more time. What kind of herbs did you plant? No one and I mean no one can tell you what you did or didn't do right until they know the species of seeds you planted. Herbs is too vague.