6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

I want to chime in and say how great it is that he is learning through this about the plants so that in the future he'll most likely be such a helper you'll wonder what you ever did without him. Kudos to him for being teachable and willing to admit his helping wasn't quite up to snuff, and kudos to you for nicely teaching him via experience how he can REALLY help! Sounds like ideal gardening partners.

Update. We went out to put the babies to bed last night. They had to go back in the hoop house because the low last night supposed to be 30. My 16-yo looks at the pathetic maters and asked "what is wrong with these?" Before I could speak hubby jumps in and says "sunburned".

By George, I think he's got it!!

I'd move them to 4" pots now, then to 6" pots if they outgrow those. Individual pots are better than putting them together in a big planter and then having to untangle their roots. But I like oilpainter's idea of asking the people who are selling you their house.

Keep them outdoors in at least 6 hours of sun daily. The plants will get leggy and be useless if they don't get plenty of sun and cool overnight temps ... but small pots can dry out easily. If you can't be home to water them on warm days, you can bury the pots in a garden bed up to the rim, and lift them every day or two to make sure the roots don't grow through the drainage holes.

I suppose the big question is whether or not the June 4th move will be to a place where they can go into the ground. What you really want to aim for is to reduce the number of times that you transplant but at the same time get them out of the pots they are in now. The current pots are far to small and will negatively impact future transplants if you leave them much longer. If you are unsure then go for the 6' pots. You can always leave them in there even after you move to a more permanent location until the plants are ready for another transplant. Try to keep them well watered in the meantime to discourage additional root development.

Here is a link that might be useful: Irrigation Equipment

Here is my update. My husband does NOT have cancer. It was chronic/acute kidney failure and he is now recovering at the Gainesville, FL VA hospital which is the best hospital we have ever been in! Thanks to God!.

I have not had any time to do anything. We have been traveling back and forth with a rental car (ugh! $$) and My seedlings have been hanging in there.

I've got the Tomato, Cheyenne Bush Squash, and Yellow Cucumber, Jenny Lind Melon , Malabar Spinach seeds, Summer Squash and some Milkweed seeds started.

I had to put them in small pots because I have not had time to get them into the ground. My garden area is not even prepared yet.

My husband should be out in a few days and I will just have to see what I can do.

I have read on some of the packages that some of them (don't remember which, I'm stressed still) do NOT like to be transplanted, but we will see what God will allow to happen when the time comes.

Thanks,

Halime

PS I have some Wax Myrtle shrubs that I planted last year and had to move during the month of November. They got very leggy and I took the advice of people on here to just "whack" them close to the ground. THEY ARE LOOKING BEAUTIFUL. Nice and bushy and green.

Yay! I'm glad!

I've actually had no experience with most of the plants you're growing (don't know what to do with squash and don't even know what a milkweed is! :)) but I hope everything works out ok with them. I, too, was running behind this year. Sheer ignorance on my part, but I am suprised how quickly my peas and spinach have caught up. Even bought some herbs yesterday.

Kim

When you bring them in, don't bring them into a heated room. It is better if you bring them to a unheated garage, e.g.; otherwise a process of "reverse hardening off" might occur.

When you bring them in, don't bring them into a heated room. It is better if you bring them to a unheated garage, e.g.; otherwise a process of "reverse hardening off" might occur.

It would take more than just overnight or even a couple days to do that.

Well you're on the right track sleepy but the thought was if the bulbs were higher wattage than the ballasts which would make them under powered. If the ballasts are electronic then putting a lower wattage bulb in them would overdrive the bulbs making them brighter.

And zinnia is considered a little difficult to transplant... not as difficult as poppies, but you still need to be a little careful when you transplant.

But it is near the time to plant zinnia directly outdoor! Yes, you will get it a little later, but you will still have plenty of zinnias this spring/summer. :)

You mean "shot up" to 25 degrees *celsius*, right?

Oh yes, Susan - we have been using Celcius here in Canada for many, many years.

Sarah, the temps. here are unseasonbly warm. We do not usually get these temps. until late May/early June, so I was starting them indoors to get a head start. But realizing that we are already frost-free, it occurred to me that I might be able to try this. Thank you.

Maybe I'm confusing nominal wattage with actual wattage. What wattage would I actually be looking for in a 2' fixture over one flat?

I have very little space in my room (it's about 80 sq. ft, with a bed and a desk taking up much of that), but I do have plenty of space out on the south-facing lawn of the building. I can leave massive pots out there and groundskeeping is happy to just leave it alone. And if there's ever any trouble, one of the other dorms has a garden plot that goes mostly unused. It's a little far away, but if I had to, I could replant into the ground there.

Depends on the bulb. T12s are 20w, T8s are 17w and T5s are 14w.

Good Grief! People are going to wonder about the "nuts" in my name............

I meant to say that I could then call a person with a long torso, leggy. Ha! Ha! Now is it funny?

My bad.

Yes, skinney stems are often associated with leggy seedlings because they are stretched out.

You are correct : )

I liked your example :)

Keriann~

Waiting an extra week to sell may not be a bad thing for your customers. When are they going to be able to (realistically) plant tomato plants in Minnesota?

Average last frost date is May 15th. I usually wait until Memorial Day. But everyone is anxious because we've had the warmest March and April in the history of record keeping.

It's in the low 60's today. I put them outside, but took two storm windows and propped them up against the house. It upped the temp 10 degrees. I'm thrilled! Made a little greenhouse.

I still plan on selling them a week later though. Too much anxiety trying to get them out earlier isn't worth it.

For what its worth..... I was trying to germinate Marketmore 76 Cucumbers and it took 11 days to germinate. This to me took way too long as I was using the oven light to create heat and my wife wasn't very happy about tying up the oven. I then went out and purchased a Ferry Morse (jiffy) Heated Proffesional Greenhouse @ Lowes for around $32.00. The next batch I did was of the same seeds and took less than 48 hours to germinate. This made everyone happy :-)

I tried a dome for the first time about a month ago, and had terrible luck with it. My seeds cooked and my sprouts rotted, even after taking the dome off.

I decided to try again without the dome, controlling the conditions a bit more, misting morning and night. So far, this seems to be working pretty well. The Phacelia all sprouted by the 3rd day, the onions by the 4th day, and the licorice mint by the 5th day. Now, on the 7th day, I also have a pumpkin sprout, a watermelon sprout, a peppermint sprout, two ground cherry sprouts, and two strawberry sprouts.

I'm really hoping that a few more of each will come up over the next couple of days, but I can at least say that I'm doing much better now than I was with the dome.

You're welcome nutsaboutflowers:

I might add that the same goes for any plant you buy or grow annual or perennial. If the roots are a tangled mess on the bottom--if they are going round and round at the bottom. That means they are pot bound and you have to loosen them so the plant can take up nutrients from the soil. Otherwise they will continue to be a tangled mess in the ground and the plant can't get what it needs to grow.

Oilpainter I knew that plant roots need to be "disturbed" if they're root bound, but thanks for telling me, in case I didn't know. =:)

The only annual I've ever had trouble with is marigolds. I posted last year that my marigolds embarrassed me, and suggestions from that post led me to be rather nasty to them when I planted them. They thrived for the first time.

BTW I transplanted 4 of my seedlings to see what happens. I may have given them too much water. In two days, if they're O.K. I'll do some more. I didn't have enough courage to try all 14 of them.

Here is a hint, that was presented by another member...

Instead of trying to prick the seeds out of the paper towel, just cut or tear the paper towel, seed and all, and then plant them like you would seed tape. No need to disturb the delicate seedling.

Evelyn

Columbine/aquilegia is an excellent candidate for Wintersowing. Check out and search the Wintersowing forum for much advice and opinion.